Editing Medicine Park, Oklahoma (section)

== History ==
Medicine Park was founded on July 4, 1908, by [[Elmer Thomas]], a young lawyer who had just become a member of the [[Oklahoma State Senate]] and would end his career in 1951 as a [[U.S. senator]].

In the spring of 1906, five years after the establishment of the Wichita Mountains National Forest, Elmer Thomas envisioned the need not only for a recreational area but for a permanent water source for the newly founded nearby city of Lawton.

When the resort first opened, it consisted merely of a large surplus Army tent with a wooden floor where hot meals were served. Two dams were constructed on Medicine Creek to form Bath Lake Swimming Hole, and a limited number of campsites were constructed.

Tourists came to Medicine Park from around Oklahoma and [[North Texas]]. Soon, there were two inns—the Outside Inn and the Apache Inn.<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:MP Dam Cafe.jpg|right|300px|Dam Cafe circa 1950]] -->
[[Bob Wills]] and [[The Texas Playboys]] became regulars at the Dance Hall from 1929 through the late 1930s. Soon numerous other famous bands of the day made their way through Medicine Park en route to big city venues in [[Oklahoma City]], [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]], and [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]].

The nearby Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge and [[Lake Lawtonka]] attracted thousands of people each weekend and throughout the seasons. Medicine Park became the “playground” for the state's rich, famous and notorious. Outlaws and horse thieves mixed with noted politicians and businessmen, soldiers and officers from Fort Sill, families, and socialites in the new cobblestone community. The pages of the town's colorful history are filled with such figures as [[Will Rogers]], [[Wiley Post]], [[Frank Phillips (oil industrialist)|Frank Phillips]], [[Al Capone]], [[Bonnie and Clyde]], [[Pretty Boy Floyd]], [[Lil Hardin Armstrong]], Colonel [[Jack Abernathy]], [[Les Brown (bandleader)|Les Brown]], [[Roy Rogers]], and [[Dale Evans]].
<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.lasr.net/travel/city.php?Old%20Plantation%20Restaurant&Attraction_ID=OK0203020a001&City_ID=OK0203020 | title=Old Plantation Restaurant - Medicine Park, Oklahoma }}</ref>

An Oklahoma television station reported on June 13, 2018, that [[Expedia]] had named Medicine Park as "... the fifth prettiest town in the U.S."<ref name="KFor">[http://kfor.com/2018/06/13/oklahoma-town-named-among-most-beautiful-towns-in-america/amp/ "Oklahoma town named among ‘Most Beautiful Towns in America’." KFOR-TV. Undated.] Accessed June 13, 2018.</ref> The Lake Lawtonka Trails, including around Medicine Park, were rated by one mountain bike enthusiast site as the No. 1 best mountain bike trail area in Oklahoma, out of sixty-two contenders.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.singletracks.com/mountain-bike/best_trails.php?new_state_id=417| title= The BEST Mountain Bike Trails in Oklahoma| publisher= singletrack.com|accessdate=February 15, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.singletracks.com/bike-trails/hoof-gullies.html| title= Lake Lawtonka Trails| publisher= singletrack.com|accessdate=February 15, 2020}}</ref>