Sectional Map of Oklahoma Traversed by the Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railway

OKLAHOMA, THE NEW STATE

Ride the lines of the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas (MKT) Railroad to claim your piece of the new state of Oklahoma with this map, published shortly after statehood around 1907 by the Lambert-Deacon-Hull Printing Company of St. Louis. It was distributed compliments of the Broken Arrow Real Estate Company to the waves of hopeful emigrants who flooded to Oklahoma in the early years of the 20th century.

The town of Broken Arrow (circled in blue) was established along the MKT in 1902. Ironically, it was named after a nearby village established by Creeks from Alabama after the arduous Trail of Tears. Elsewhere in the image, the lines of the MKT reach numerous towns across eastern Oklahoma, including the state capital at Guthrie.

Bold red text highlights local commodities such as cotton, corn, livestock, and vast prairie lands. Large coal fields and asphalt beds are circled and average annual rainfall is noted in several locations. Perhaps not surprisingly, resources are omitted from western Oklahoma, presenting the southern and eastern ends (along the lines of the MKT) as plentiful and a good opportunity for both agriculture and industry.

Source: History of Broken Arrow; Oklahoma Historical Society