Editing Alfalfa County, Oklahoma (section)

===Early history===
[[Indigenous peoples]] inhabited and hunted in this area for thousands of years. By 1750, the [[Osage Nation|Osage]] had become a dominant tribe in the area. About one third belonged to the band led by Chief [[Black Dog (Osage chief)|Black Dog]] (''Manka - Chonka''). Before 1800 they made the Black Dog Trail starting east of [[Baxter Springs, Kansas]] and heading southwest to their summer hunting grounds at the [[Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge|Great Salt Plains]] in present-day Alfalfa County.<ref>[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=BL002 Burl E. Self, "Black Dog (1780-1848)", ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''], accessed November 5, 2009</ref><ref>{{Cite web| title = Full text of "Wah Kon Tah The Osage And White Man S Road"| access-date = January 14, 2012| url = https://archive.org/stream/wahkontahtheosag012195mbp/wahkontahtheosag012195mbp_djvu.txt}}</ref> The Osage stopped at the springs, which attracted migratory birds and varieties of wildlife, for its healing properties on their way to hunting on the plains. The Osage name for this fork of the Arkansas River was ''Nescatunga'' (big salt water), what European-Americans later called the [[Salt Fork Arkansas River|Salt Fork]].<ref name="USACE1">[https://www.swt.usace.army.mil/Locations/Tulsa-District-Lakes/Oklahoma/Great-Salt-Plains-Lake/History/ U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, "History of the Great Salt Plains Lake"] Accessed June 22, 2016</ref> The Osage cleared the trail of brush and large rocks, and made ramps at the fords. Wide enough for eight men riding horses abreast, the trail was the first improved road in Kansas and Oklahoma.<ref>[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS001 Louis F. Burns, "Osage", ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''], accessed November 5, 2009</ref>