I'm planning a trip to the Oklahoma Panhandle to do some research on one of my outlaw brotehrs who settled there circa 1900 in the area that eventually became Beaver County at statehood. His brother (who did not ride with the brothers in their cattle rustling days) had settled out there a few years earlier. While they lived next to each other, one wound up in Beaver County, the other in Texas County.

Has anyone reading this board ever researched out there in the courthouse. Since all the panhandle was called Beaver County, pre-statehood, will all those records be in Beaver County? Or where those that wound up in Texas County shipped off to Texas County at statehood?

I also want to go down into Ochiltre Co., TX while there as one of the brothers live near Gray, OK. As I understand it, when the railroad came through Perryton, Gray all but disappeared and many Oklahoma residents did business (including getting married and dying) in Perryton.

Thoughts anyone?

Well out of pure desperation I made a trip out to the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles to do some research. As luck would have it I did find the information I was needing in Beaver County, Oklahoma. Beaver County has records going back to 1897 - while I didn't specifially ask if records were sent elsewhere at statehood, it appears many of them were kept there in the county at statehood.

The only thing I would say to anyone going out there, make sure your gas tank is full.

I admire your tenaciousness and thanks for sharing another possible source of records. Now, does anyone know of a source for the other "blackhole" in the state--Old Greer County.

You probably are already aware of this, but just in case. The Old Greer County Musuem, while a museum, has a library and a records room. There is a website under "Old Greer County Museum" that tells all about it. Haven't a clue what they have in those two rooms, but I have found infomration in some of the most out of the way places. Might be worth while to check out.

For the "black hole" of Old Greer County

Research in Greer County
http://www.rootsweb.com/~okgreer/greerres.html
The Old Greer County Museum
Greer County Genealogical AND Historical Society
Greer County Courthouse
Greer County OKGenWeb

http://www.rootsweb.com/~okgreer/otgreer.htm
OLD GREER COUNTY, TEXAS/OKLAHOMA TERRITORY

AND
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~swokla/greer/greer.html
History of Greer County
Articles, shared resources and links

Thanks for giving the urls. Great information!