Wichita Falls "the gateway to Texas" is a really cool little ol' Texas Cowboy cattle & oil town…read morewith some really cool Texas Rodeos, yeehaw!
It is also a filthy rich little Texas Cowboy oil town.
Most business men "cowboys" that live here or have lived here own their own little planes and usually fly to Dallas etc., for meetings. My father used to live here. It's quite a trek by car to Dallas or OKC. So, most just fly.
It's also the home of Sheppard Air Force Base. Home to Sheppard's Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program. This international flavored program is utilized by seventeen different NATO countries for the finest fighter pilot training in the world.
It's a cute little Texas Cowboy town and, yes it does have a waterfall & water park.
The City also has a fabulous twenty-mile-long trail system that winds through all the little Texas country neighborhoods, along little streams & pretty little lakes for use by anyone who wants to exercise, bicycle, or rollerblade etc.,
With an additional park system featuring 39 parks all within the city limits. And, there is more mountains, parks and lakes nearby to explore. A nature lovers dream.
The legend is, that the land of Wichita Falls was won in a poker game by John A. Scott of Mississippi in 1837. Much later on, Scott's heirs discovered the lost certificates, and commissioned M. W. Seeley to map out a townsite on the Wichita River tract.
Then, in July 1876, the townsite, as platted by M. W. Seeley, the original land, had a small waterfall on the local Wichita River, that was later washed away.
Before the land was "won" in a poker game it was the Choctaw Native Americans. They settled this area in the early 1800s from their native Mississippi area.
It was the Americans that negotiated the relocation of them, after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. That treaty was signed in 1830-1831.
Then later, in the 1860's the American settlers arrived, mainly as cattle ranchers AKA, Texas Cowboys! And God bless 'em.
We LOVE our Texas cowboys! yeehaw! :))
The city was named Wichita Falls on September 27, 1876, for the local Wichita River. There was a waterfall in the river's course in 1876. However, years later in 1886, a flood destroyed the original waterfall.
After nearly 100 years the city built an artificial waterfall beside the river, in Lucy Park. They just sorta recreated the original water falls. They are 54 ft high and recirculate at 3,500 gallons per minute. They are visible to south-bound traffic on Interstate 44.
A great little Filthy rich Cowboy town to visit with excellent mexican food.
God Bless Texas!
Recommend.