Charles P. Wickmiller
Charles P. Wickmiller
“He underwent all the hardships and perils of frontier life and demonstrated the nerve, courage, and enterprise of the best of the cowboys, scouts, and pioneers.”
Biography
A pioneer druggist and historical photographer in Kingfisher, Charles P. Wickmiller came to Oklahoma with Captain Payne’s boomers, a group of white settlers led by Kansas pioneer and politician David Lewis Payne, who tried to settle in the Unassigned Lands in the heart of Indian Territory in 1883. Wickmiller was a charter member of the Oklahoma Historical Society at its organization in 1893. He was also instrumental in bringing about the opening of the Kingfisher area for settlement and became an honored civic leader throughout the area.
Fun fact
Charles Wickmiller was the only person ever to record photographic evidence of the life and times of Captain Payne’s Boomer expedition. His drugstore, located in Kingfisher, was famous for its display of Wickmiller’s stuffed animal trophies from his hunts as well as priceless artifacts of the Southwest’s nomadic Native American tribes.
Oklahoma connections
Wickmiller came to Oklahoma Territory with Captain Payne's Boomers in 1883.