Oketo Museum
Oketo Museum
Location: Oketo is located about 10 miles northeast of Marysville in Marshal County.
Contact: The Oketo Museum is open by appointment only. Here are a list of numbers to call for arrangements. All numbers are in the 785 area code. 744-3516, 744-3460, 744-3245, 744-3316, 744-3497.
Fee: Donations appreciated.
Photos Copyright Harland J. Schuster. Please do not use without permission.
There was a period history in Kansas when towns sprang up and grew like mushrooms after a Spring rain. Some prospered and grew while others did not. It was a unique time when folks gambled all, and came to settle a wilderness. The Oketo museum chronicles the events in one such small Kansas town. Though the town lost its post office in 1970, and there aren't really any businesses left on main street, the town still exists. A meeting hall serves as the focus of social activities, and the museum preserves the past. Life goes on here, but at a slower pace than during the boom years.
Items line the shelves of the general store section of the museum, just as they would have 100 years ago.
Various wrenches line the wall in another section of the museum. In the olden days, most farm equipment came with a set of wrenches. Often, to maintain and adjust equipment required special tools specific to that brand of equipment. Today, it is all the different shapes of the various tools which catch the eye. Like anything else old and unique, to a collector, some of the rare tools can bring a good price on auction.
The stone building which houses most of the museum was originally built as a general store in 1884. It functioned as a post office until 1970, and was turned into a museum in 1972. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The name "Oketo" was derived from the name of a famous and colorful Otoe Indian Chief named Arkaketa. The Otoe people lived nearby, and numerous Indian artifacts have been collected in the area. A few of these are on display at the museum and include a number of arrowheads and grinding stones. A contemporary painting of Arkaketa, painted by an Otoe artist is on display in the museum along with a few personal items which belonged to the chief.