Wichita Falls TX

 Sunday was spent in Wichita Falls seeing the main attractions through geocaching. Here are my highlights:

The Sikes House

This is the official home of the president of Midwestern State University and serves as the site for official receptions and dinners hosted by the president.

It was built in 1939-40 by Louis Sikes and his wife Glenna. Sikes was an oilman and rancher. The 9000 square foot home is a replica of Mt. Vernon sitting on 43 acres. The Sikes lived in the home for 31 years. Midwestern State University purchased the property from the Sikes in 1971. It has been the home of the university president since 1974.

There was a desperate need for office space in Wichita Falls in the early 1900s. A Philadelphia oil man/promoter named JD McMahon came running to the rescue with blue prints in hand and selling $200,000 in stock to investors caught up in the quick-buck frenzy of the day. 

What JD neglected to tell the investors willing to invest in multi-story office buildings in the downtown area was the size of the proposed office buildings. The scale of his blue prints was in inches, not feet! This building was completed in 1919. It is 12 feet long, 9 feet wide and 40 feet tall. When the construction was completed, McMahon was nowhere to be found. Duped investors tried to track down the scam artist with no luck. They also sought legal action only to be told the building was built to the blue prints specifications.

Kells House

Frank Kell moved to Wichita Falls in 1896 at the urging of his brother-in-law Joseph Kemp. The two men were involved in the grain industry, the development of Lake Wichita, utility companies, the newspaper, street car system, the railroad, the local college and more. In 1909 Mr. Kell purchased land overlooking downtown and built this home for his family. The Kell House is a museum displaying original family furnishings, textiles, decorative arts, and historic costumes. Currently, it is being renovated.

The mascot for Midwestern State University is the mustangs. We saw numerous horses in various poses and assorted decor throughout the downtown area and in the shopping areas near the university.

Wee-Chi-Tah

This sculpture of a Comanche family crossing the Wichita River was created by Jack Stevens, a local artist. The sculpture reenacts a legend of how Wichita got its name. The woman is testing the river's depth and describes it as waist deep, which is how Wee-chi-tah is translated. (Click on the photo to enlarge and see the woman holding her skirts.) The artist disputes the legend as his research showed the Comanches did not have a word for waist-deep; the Caddo Indians called the Wichita people Wichitas, which means big arbor because they built their homes along the rivers, often using leaves and limbs to thatch their homes.