| Cherokee Strip Museum Plates - Wetzel | |
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| Cherokee Strip is a narrow piece of land in Oklahoma. It is an area of more than 6 million acres, located east of the state's panhandle. The area was once part of the Cherokee Nation lands and was sold to the United States in 1891. The Strip was opened to non-Native American settlement on Sept. 19, 1893, causing the greatest land run in U.S. history, in which more than 50,000 staked claims. Oklahoma cities that sprang up that day include Alva, Enid, Ponca City, and Woodward. The Cherokee Strip was included in the Oklahoma Territory and later (1907) became part of the new state. The land rush of 1893 has been memorialized in movies, US postage stamps (as shown below) and even carnival glass. | |
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| The Cherokee Strip Museum, in Alva OK, made several carnival glass plates to be sold as fundraisers. The plates were made by Wetzel Glass and the Wetzel name is hidden in the border of the plate similar to the NCCC souvenir plates. Each of the six plates share a common leaves and grapes pattern for the border. The center pattern was unique each year. These plates are quite rare as each year was limited to a production run of about 300 plates. The plate number and the total production run is etched onto the back of each plate. | |
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| Below are the six known plates, the year made, the color and the subject of the plate:
1979 Cherokee Strip Museum Plate - Red/Amber - Indian on Horse 1980 Cherokee Strip Museum Plate - Blue - Windmill 1981 Cherokee Strip Museum Plate - Ice Blue Slag - Plow and Homestead 1982 Cherokee Strip Museum Plate - Green - Buffalo 1983 Cherokee Strip Museum Plate - Light Amethyst - Covered Wagon 1984 Cherokee Strip Museum Plate - Green - Swallows |
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| For more information on these plates see: | ||