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Boise City, Oklahoma

Boise City, Oklahoma

Boise City is the only town in the continental United States that has been bombed. An Air Force B-17 crew mistook the lights around the courthouse square for the bombing range thirty miles to the southeast.

No one knows how Boise (rhymes with "voice") City got its name. Before statehood there was a Boice Cattle Company near here (with a difference in spelling), and at one time there was a civil war hero, a Captain Boise (spelling uncertain) known in this area. Perhaps the town was named for one or the other. Or maybe for Boise, Idaho, with a change of pronunciation.

Evidence of the historic Santa Fe Trail can be seen at several spots nearby. During the Santa Fe Trail Daze held each year during the first weekend in June, Boise City becomes the site of the World Champion Post Hole Digging Contest.

Boise City became the county seat of Cimarron County, Oklahoma in 1908, in an election held just after statehood the previous year. The town grew slowly until 1925 when the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway was established. Soon grain elevators were built along with substantial businesses and residences. In 1930, the Santa Fe Railway built it's second rail line through Boise City. In 1927 enough oil was discovered a few miles north of town to create excitement but it wasn't until 1950 that commercial oil and gas production began.

Attractions and Upcoming Events

"Cimmy", the Apatasaurus

Bones of prehistoric dinosaurs were discovered in 1931 about eight miles east of Kenton which included an almost complete skeleton of an apatasaurus, thought to be the largest specimen of its kind in existence. "Cimmy"

Boise City, OK Arts

Black Mesa Nature Preserve

The 1,600 acre preserve protects about 60% of the mesa top in Oklahoma in addition to talus slopes and plains habitat. A native granite monument marks the highest point in Oklahoma - 4,973

Boise City, OK Nature Preserves

Black Mesa

Lava from an extinct volcano created the rugged setting of the Black Mesa which is the highest point in Oklahoma, just short of 5,000 feet above sea level. Here in the western end of Cimarron County, history is revealed with a lid some 50 to 60 feet thick, about 50

Boise City, OK Natural Attractions

"Old Maid" and "The Wedding Party"

About six miles east of Kenton, a group of formations can be seen east of the 101 Ranch on the south side of the road. This group is known as "The Three Sisters" or "The Wedding Party". One mile further east on the north side of the road is the formation known as "The Old Maid". The Old Maid (

Boise City, OK Natural Attractions

Boise City Bombed

JULY 5, 1943 12:30 A.M. Boise City, Oklahoma was the only city in the United States to be bombed during World War II. On Monday night, July 5, 1943, at approximately 12:30 a.m., a B-17 Bomber based at Dalhart Army Air Base (50 miles to the south of Boise City)

Boise City, OK Historical Markers

Things to do near Boise City, OK

First Lady's Collection

Doll factory....

Whirlwind Cemetery and David Pendleton (O-KUH-HA-T

In 1981, a stone was laid to mark the grave of the Reverend David Oakerhater Pendleton in a small cemetery west of the presen...

Ferguson Chapel

Carnegie Library

Kaw Lake Eagles