Perry

History

The Treaty of New Echota, May 23, 1836, assigned the Cherokee Outlet to the Cherokees as a perpetual outlet to use for passage to travel and hunt in the West from their reservation in the eastern part of what became Oklahoma. This was in addition to the land given to the Cherokees for settlement after their arrival from their home in Georgia. Perry's original name was Wharton, the name of a train station built in 1886 by the Southern Kansas Railway (part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway system) about 1 mile south of the present city and it was located within the Outlet. Before the 1893 Cherokee Outlet Opening, the U.S. government selected a site a mile north of Wharton for a land office. A town around the office was named after J.A. Perry, a man sent by the government to lay out land office towns. Perry later became one of the township location commissioners. Noble County, then known as "County P", was named after John Willock Noble of St. Louis, the Interior Secretary for President William Henry Harrison. The Dalton Gang, which at that time included Bob Dalton, Emmett Dalton, Charlie Bryant and George Newcomb entered Wharton to rob a train in May 1891 earning $1745. Shortly after the robbery, Bryant fell ill and was taken to Hennessey to see a doctor. After being spotted and arrested by Deputy Marshal Ed Short. During an escape attempt Bryant and Short would kill each other. Among those within the boundary of the Strip prior to the opening, were the notorious Bill Doolin gang. A Santa Fe train was robbed at Wharton before the opening, and the gang escaped into Osage County. U.S. Marshall E.D. Nix and 100 deputies were commissioned to police the area and keep order. Timothy McVeigh was stopped on April 19, 1995, along Interstate 35 outside of Perry…

Geography

Perry is north of Oklahoma City, }}

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• PERRY ES
  Elementary · Perry · 552 students · 14.2:1 ratio
• PERRY HS
  High · Perry · 298 students · 19.9:1 ratio
• PERRY JHS
  Middle · Perry · 165 students · 13.8:1 ratio