Bernard de la Harpe 1719

Historical marker location:

Wilburton, Oklahoma

( Marker is at the intersection of U.S. 270 and McCabe Road, on the right when traveling north on U.S. 270.)

Marker installed: 1995

The French explorer Bernard de La Harpe came north from Louisiana seeking trade with the Wichita Indians. He camped three miles east of Hartshorne on August 25, 1719, on his way north to the Canadian River and Wichita villages.

Oklahoma was originally home to many Native American tribes, including the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole nations. These tribes were forcibly relocated to Oklahoma from their ancestral lands in the southeastern United States during the 1830s and 1840s in a tragic event known as the Trail of Tears.