In 1811, Sans Orielle, an Osage Indian, with others of his tribe, guided
Major George C. Sibley, Indian Agent from Fort Osage, Missouri, and his party to the Salt Plains. They are thought
to have been the first white men to see the Plains, which Major Sibley called the Grand Saline. The Salt Fork of
the Arkansas River, flowing around the plain, was known to the Osage as Nescatunga [big salt water]. Another early
day explorer to see the Plains was Capt. Nathan Boone, who headed a Government expedition from Fort Gibson into
what is now central Kansas in 1843.
The Great Salt Plains have been the scene of many Indian Councils, both of
war and peace. In drafting the treaty which defined the territory to become the so-called permanent home of the
Cherokees in 1828, the United States Government withheld the Salt Plains area with the provision that, "The
right is reserved to the United States to allow other tribes of red men to get salt on the Great Salt Plains in
common with the Cherokee Tribe." The value of the Plains lay not in its salt alone, but in the rich hunting
afforded by the animals migrating there for the salt supply. Possession of this area is said to have been the cause
of many Indian battles. The refuge was established March 26, 1930 by executive order of President Herbert
Hoover and contains over 32,000 acres of protected land as habitat to approximately 312 species of birds and 30
species of mammals. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in June 1983.
In the earliest of the settlement of the Indian Territory, Western Kansas
and Texas cattlemen sent wagons to the Plains to haul away great loads of salt. A local legend of interest concerns
a cache of gold that was reportedly buried in the vicinity of the dam. In 1850, five men were returning to Missouri
from California with fourteen hundred pounds of gold. In the vicinity of the present dam, they were attacked by
Cheyenne-Arapaho Indians, three of the men being killed. The two remaining men wrapped the gold in a buffalo skin
and buried it, marking the spot with an end-gate rod from their wagon.
In 1901 Carl Sheldon, a homesteader and part time piano tuner from Fort Cobb,
arrived in the area with a map showing the location of the buried gold. Two years later he found the end gate rod,
and the general location of the gold. The men went to work digging but after only a few feet, struck water and
quick sand. They made a core-drilling rig and drilled to what they thought was bedrock. One of the men took a sample
core to Wichita for analysis. Chemical analysis had revealed buffalo hide and gold in the core. While he was gone,
a fellow worker blundered and pulled the drill out of the ground.
Sheldon worked through the winter of 1904 trying to pump the water and sand
out of the hole with a pump powered by a steam engine, only to have it fill with sand and mud again and again.
The other men gave up the effort in despair but Sheldon worked relentlessly on, sinking shaft after shaft in the
tricky quicksand, but the gold was never found. He purchased 20 acres of land for the next 35 years searched in
vain for the elusive treasure. The Oklahoma Planning and Resources Board paid Sheldon $350 for his land in 1940
when construction was begun on the dam....fifty dollars less than he had paid for it. The Great Salt Plains
Dam and Lake located on the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River is the oldest Corps of Engineers' project in the Tulsa
District, authorized by Congress in the Flood Control Act of 1936. Construction was started by the Little Rock
District in September of 1938. When the Tulsa District was organized in July of 1939, the project was placed under
their jurisdiction and was completed in July of 1941 at a total cost of $4,626,270. To accomplish its authorized
purpose of flood control, Great Salt Plains Lake has two types of storage: conservation and flood control. The
conservation storage provides 31,420 acre feet of storage used primarily for the propagation and protection of
fish and wildlife.
The project provides 271,400 acre feet of flood control storage. This storage
provides a high degree of flood protection on the Salt Fork and has been credited with preventing over $5,100,000
in flood damages since it was placed in operation.
Flood control operation at Great Salt Plains lake is automatic. Water releases
range from the low flows that are regulated by two gated 36 inch pipes through the middle weir to 13,600 cubic
feet per second through the four ungated conduits when the lake level is at elevation 1138.5 above mean sea level
[top of flood control pool]. The drainage area is 3200 square miles.
The refuge was created to be a resting and breeding ground for migratory
waterfowl. Over 300 species of birds use the refuge throughout the year - most notably during fall and spring migrations.
The entire refuge is "Critical Habitat for the Endangered Whooping Crane". Most actively seen during
fall migration, but also in the spring. Up to 75% of the nations population passes though this refuge. In addition, the refuge is
home to endangered least terns, threatened snowy plovers, threatened bald eagles, peregrine falcons and more.
Large populations of American White Pelicans migrate through in August/September, staying on the Great Salt Plains
Reservoir. The Ralstin Island Rookery (closed to the public) boasts being Oklahoma's Largest Rookery and
houses more than 30,000 birds during breeding season. Over 30 species nesting in the colony, includes the white-faced
ibis, great blue herons and most notably, the tricolored heron. Visitors can view up close island video footage
in the refuge office by remote camera. Ralstin Island was formed after the dam was built on the Salt Fork
River in 1941, creating Great Salt Plains Lake. The island was originally part of the farmland owned by Albert
and Margaret Ralstin.
[Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]
