Gerty

History

During the early 1830s, as a result of President Andrew Johnson's Indian Relocation policy, the Choctaw Indians began moving into this part of what was called Indian Territory. One Choctaw community, then called "Buzzard Flop," became a rest stop for travelers and freight wagons headed westward. The site provided ample clear spring water and adequate level ground on which to camp. The Choctaws also found that the site was suitable cattle country, and several families built ranches in the area. By 1880, the Choctaws had found that this made ideal country of cattle raising. In 1891 the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway (also known as the CRI&P or "Rock Island") built an east-west line ten miles north of Guertie. In 1893 James S. Raydon, a Choctaw who had already received his allotment of land from the Dawes Commission, built a log cabin, put in a store, and established a post office. The latter was approved by the federal government on June 15, 1894, and called "Guertie", for Raydon's daughter. Raydon was the first postmaster. After the Dawes Commission had finished allotting land to eligible Choctaws, George Sorrell sold his quarter section, containing Guertie, to the federal government. The townsite was then surveyed and the lots sold, stimulating settlement. In December 1907 the town name was changed to Raydon. In that year of statehood the town had population of 600, four general mercantile stores, three hotels, three drug stores, two blacksmith shops, three active lodges, three churches, a hospital, a bank, a café, a sawmill, and a newspaper called the Guertie News. Because citizens began to get mail intended for an office name "Ragan", in June 1910 the Post Office Department changed the name back to Guertie and then changed the spelling to Gerty, to avoid…

Geography

Gerty is located in southern Hughes County west of U.S. Route 75, southeast of Allen, southeast of Holdenville and south of Calvin. The town drains south to Panther Creek, a tributary of Muddy Boggy Creek and part of the Red River watershed.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• CALVIN ES
  Elementary · Calvin · 143 students · 11.9:1 ratio
• CALVIN HS
  High · Calvin · 48 students · 16:1 ratio