Mark “The Howard” Hinderliter is one of our RDC contributors who also drives around the state. A lot. He’s a geotechnical engineer and does soil and sub-surface testing for various projects that invariably lead him across the creeks and rivers of Oklahoma. And, underneath the bridges to take photos. A few weeks back, some of our readers were having a conversation about the funky creek names in Oklahoma. Here are a few of their comments:
Dog Thrasher Creek. I don’t remember exactly where it was but around Pawhuska to Drumright-Pawnee area of Oklahoma..
@Mike – somewhere (I think close to Woodward?) I drove by Skunk Creek.
One of my friends, (name omitted), told me that on road trips with her grand-kids they played a “game” of sorts where they would try to decide why a creek got its name. I’ll try to send you a pic of Hog Shooter Creek soon. We have some great names in NE Okla.
There’s “Suck Creek” but that’s down around Chattanooga.
Anyway, you get the picture…then Mark chimed in and said he had photos of several creeks in Oklahoma…and, well, there’s our Silent Sunday “trip” for you today. He wrote about these photos he loaded for you, “The great old bridges of Oklahoma display a lot of different designs but they are being replaced. Enjoy these pictures, but be grateful you won’t have to drive across them anymore.”
Throughly enjoyed your site!! My great grandfather had ranches in OK in the late 1800’s and drove cattle throughout OK and refered to one of his favorite spots as ” Blood Creek”. I heard a fishing show called Jimmy Houston Outdoors last week and he was fishing Blood Creek. It brought back memories. It looked to be possibly the name of a creek that entered into some lake. If you know of a Blood Creek I’d sure appreceiate your input. Would like to go there and take some pics for some geneology work. You don’t have to respond if you’ve never heard of it. Thanks RK Epperson
Hi, Robert – this is Red Dirt Kelly. I’ve done a little research in the Oklahoma State University Library records but can’t find anything on Blood Creek just yet. I’ve spoken with Mark who took these photos, and let him know about your comment. I’ll also talk with some of my colleagues up at OSU and see if they have some information. If you know the county, of course, the county seat records might really help you out. Good luck!
Robert, I found a refrence to Blood Rush Creek in the vicinity of Logan County. The article didn’t describe the history of the area; it was titled “The Aqutic Macrofauna and Water Quality of Cottonwood Creek, Oklahoma” from the OSU Digital Library. Yikes! Anyway, like Kelly said, if you know the county there are numerous resources for tracking down the creek without too much effort. Thanks for reading!
Dry Creek runs through the eastern part of our place… and even now, in a drought, it isn’t dry 😮
I live at the headwaters of Hog Creek in eastern Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In fact I own the land where Hog Creek starts. It trickles on down and ends up in Thunderbird Lake east of Norman, Oklahoma. I have thought about putting a little dam on my place and see if I can dry up Thunderbird Lake. When I told my wife this she said I have too much time on my hands.
I just found something pretty cool; Wikipedia will give you a list of rivers and some creeks in Oklahoma, some of which have their own pages. You can go to the river or creek page and click a link to get a topo of the headwater or the mouth. “Fourche Maline Creek” is another good one, though not particularly funny, just funnt sounding when people say it.
Yep, that’s a good one. I like “Clear Boggy Creek” too.
Hogshooter Creek, not too far from Bartlesville….We pass over it on our “Sunday” afternoon drives! Great bridge pics, btw~
I love the name “Hogshooter Creek.” It’s really, really funny.