Here in September, 1885, the first telephone in Oklahoma was connected for service. It was the first telephone in the Mississippi Valley west of St. Louis. The company was organized by a group of Cherokees, namely, D.W. Lipe, L.B. Bell, R.M. Wolfe, J.S. Stapler, J.B. Stapler, and E.D. Hicks.
This monument was erected as a public service by the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company.
Adjacent to this marker is another marker reading -
John Brian ( J.B.) Stapler
- The first man to speak on the telephone west of the Mississippi from Fort Gibson to Tahlequah.