Hugo
Oklahoma
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Hugo Area Chamber Of Commerce
Hugo is the county seat of Choctaw County, located in deep Southeast Oklahoma, approximately 60 miles from the Arkansas and Louisiana borders, and 25 miles north of Paris, Texas.
A part of Indian Territory until statehood in 1907, Hugo was first explored by other than Native Americans when Bernard de la Harpe, explored for the glory of France in 1718. Unlike Western Oklahoma's flat, red and dry lands, Choctaw and surrounding counties abound with beautiful wilderness rivers and streams and numerous lakes. The area is often billed as a "Sportsman's Paradise" because of plentiful game and fishing opportunities in, and surrounding Hugo and Choctaw County. Much of this outdoor paradise lies in and around the Kiamichi (Ki-A-Mee-Chee) Mountains and the Kiamichi River, from which the Hugo Lake is formed. Though once believed to be an Indian word, the word 'Kiamichi' was introduced by early French explorers, who found the area abounding with wild game, and also a very large and outspoken woodpecker. They named the bird and the area 'Kiamichi' --their word for "raucous bird."
In the 1800s The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek required the removal of many Choctaw Indians from Mississippi to the Oklahoma Indian Territory. In these early settlement days, supplies were brought into Fort Towson 15 miles east of Hugo. Fort Towson, built in 1824 along with Ft. Gibson in anticipation of the coming of the Five Civilized Tribes, became a hub trading village. Supplies were brought up the Red River from the Mississippi on steamboats going to Denison, Texas. Stops were made at Pine Bluff Ferry on the way upriver and Folson's Gin on the down-river return trip. Later, the St. Louis-San Francisco "Frisco" Railway was completed in 1887, providing rail freight and passenger service from Monette, Missouri to Paris, Texas.
Hugo's Mount Olivet Cemetery is internationally famous for its Showman's Rest section which includes a special section of Circus Tents and Animals as monuments to the men and women who spent their lives entertaining American children and families as Circus performers.
Another tourist attraction in Mount Olivet Cemetery is the resting place of two Rodeo Legends. The first was Freckles Brown, who rode the never-before ridden bull "Tornado" in the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City in 1966.
Later, a young PRCA Champion Bull-Rider would be buried only a few feet from Brown's grave. Lane Frost, for whom the International Movie "8 Seconds" was made, died after being gored by a bull during a rodeo performance. He said if anything ever happened to him he wanted to be buried next to Rodeo's all-time Bull-Riding legend, Freckles Brown.
Today there is a tremendous amount of optimism and developmental spirit in Hugo, Oklahoma. Economic Developer James Rayhas a plate full of projects underway to enhance tourism and economic development.
A part of Indian Territory until statehood in 1907, Hugo was first explored by other than Native Americans when Bernard de la Harpe, explored for the glory of France in 1718. Unlike Western Oklahoma's flat, red and dry lands, Choctaw and surrounding counties abound with beautiful wilderness rivers and streams and numerous lakes. The area is often billed as a "Sportsman's Paradise" because of plentiful game and fishing opportunities in, and surrounding Hugo and Choctaw County. Much of this outdoor paradise lies in and around the Kiamichi (Ki-A-Mee-Chee) Mountains and the Kiamichi River, from which the Hugo Lake is formed. Though once believed to be an Indian word, the word 'Kiamichi' was introduced by early French explorers, who found the area abounding with wild game, and also a very large and outspoken woodpecker. They named the bird and the area 'Kiamichi' --their word for "raucous bird."
In the 1800s The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek required the removal of many Choctaw Indians from Mississippi to the Oklahoma Indian Territory. In these early settlement days, supplies were brought into Fort Towson 15 miles east of Hugo. Fort Towson, built in 1824 along with Ft. Gibson in anticipation of the coming of the Five Civilized Tribes, became a hub trading village. Supplies were brought up the Red River from the Mississippi on steamboats going to Denison, Texas. Stops were made at Pine Bluff Ferry on the way upriver and Folson's Gin on the down-river return trip. Later, the St. Louis-San Francisco "Frisco" Railway was completed in 1887, providing rail freight and passenger service from Monette, Missouri to Paris, Texas.
Hugo's Mount Olivet Cemetery is internationally famous for its Showman's Rest section which includes a special section of Circus Tents and Animals as monuments to the men and women who spent their lives entertaining American children and families as Circus performers.
Another tourist attraction in Mount Olivet Cemetery is the resting place of two Rodeo Legends. The first was Freckles Brown, who rode the never-before ridden bull "Tornado" in the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City in 1966.
Later, a young PRCA Champion Bull-Rider would be buried only a few feet from Brown's grave. Lane Frost, for whom the International Movie "8 Seconds" was made, died after being gored by a bull during a rodeo performance. He said if anything ever happened to him he wanted to be buried next to Rodeo's all-time Bull-Riding legend, Freckles Brown.
Today there is a tremendous amount of optimism and developmental spirit in Hugo, Oklahoma. Economic Developer James Rayhas a plate full of projects underway to enhance tourism and economic development.