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56-477: The mountains are home to numerous working ranches and quarry operations, the state reformatory , recreational homes and campsites, and scenic parklands. Fort Sill , home of the U.S. Army Field Artillery School , occupies a large portion of the southeastern end of the mountains. The Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge , a favorite for hikers and rock climbers in the region, is located adjacent to Cache , Medicine Park , Indiahoma , and historic Meers , and

112-592: A holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth 's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is chemically equivalent to rapid-cooling, fine-grained basalt . Much of the Earth's oceanic crust is made of gabbro, formed at mid-ocean ridges . Gabbro is also found as plutons associated with continental volcanism . Due to its variant nature, the term gabbro may be applied loosely to a wide range of intrusive rocks, many of which are merely "gabbroic". By rough analogy, gabbro

168-460: A dioritoid typically has less than 35% mafic minerals, which typically includes hornblende. Gabbroids form a family of rock types similar to gabbro, such as monzogabbro , quartz gabbro , or nepheline-bearing gabbro . Gabbro itself is more narrowly defined, as a gabbroid in which quartz makes up less than 5% of the QAPF content, feldspathoids are not present, and plagioclase makes up more than 90% of

224-467: A failed continental rift. The mountains themselves are Permian landforms covered and preserved by river-borne sediments in the Permian and partially excavated only in recent geological times. Exposure of these fossil mountains is greatest towards the southeast; much of the western part of the Permian range remains buried under sandstones and mudstones . The geologic history of the region began with

280-527: A gabbronorite. Gabbroids (also known as gabbroic-rocks ) are a family of coarse-grained igneous rocks similar to gabbro: Gabbroids contain minor amounts, typically a few percent, of iron-titanium oxides such as magnetite , ilmenite , and ulvospinel . Apatite , zircon , and biotite may also be present as accessory minerals. Gabbro is generally coarse-grained, with crystals in the size range of 1 mm or larger. Finer-grained equivalents of gabbro are called diabase (also known as dolerite ), although

336-536: A highly respected farmer and physician, as warden of the Reformatory. During his years as supervisor of the prison, Waters requested that the Board of Public Affairs create a general library for the inmates, consisting of 500 books while also connecting with local charity organizations willing to donate books. In addition to reforming the prison within its walls, Waters trained the prisoners in scientific agriculture on

392-660: A more civil and humane prison needed to be constructed in Oklahoma. Within two years, Barnard persuaded the legislature to authorize development of both the Oklahoma State Penitentiary and the Oklahoma State Reformatory. The reformatory was established by an act of the legislature in 1909. Construction began shortly thereafter, housing its first inmate in 1910. Situated adjacent to Granite Mountain (also known as "White Mountain"),

448-411: Is pyroxene-plagioclase adcumulate . Gabbro is much less common than more silica-rich intrusive rocks in the continental crust of the Earth. Gabbro and gabbroids occur in some batholiths but these rocks are relatively minor components of these very large intrusions because their iron and calcium content usually makes gabbro and gabbroid magmas too dense to have the necessary buoyancy. However, gabbro

504-501: Is a medium-security facility with some maximum and minimum-security housing for adult male inmates. Located off of State Highway 9 in Granite, Oklahoma , the 10-acre (4.0 ha) facility has a maximum capacity of 1042 inmates. The medium-security area accommodates 799 prisoners, minimum-security area houses roughly 200, and the maximum-security area with about 43 inmates. The prison currently houses approximately 975 prisoners. The prison

560-578: Is a short drive from Lawton and Walters . Bison , elk and deer are protected on the 59,020-acre (23,880 ha) wildlife refuge. The refuge also manages a herd of longhorn cattle. A scenic highway [Highway 115] traversing the park permits leisurely views of these and other fauna. Backcountry camping is available in the Charon Gardens Wilderness area . The park is home to a small number of fishing lakes. There are several trails for hiking. The Treasure Lake Job Corps site [now closed]

616-514: Is an essential part of the oceanic crust, and can be found in many ophiolite complexes as layered gabbro underling sheeted dike complexes and overlying ultramafic rock derived from the Earth's mantle . These layered gabbros may have formed from relatively small but long-lived magma chambers underlying mid-ocean ridges . Layered gabbros are also characteristic of lopoliths , which are large, saucer-shaped intrusions that are primarily Precambrian in age. Prominent examples of lopoliths include

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672-496: Is based on the relative percentages of plagioclase, pyroxene, hornblende, and olivine. The end members are: Gabbros intermediate between these compositions are given names such as gabbronorite (for a gabbro intermediate between normal gabbro and norite, with almost equal amounts of clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene) or olivine gabbro (for a gabbro containing significant olivine, but almost no clinopyroxene or hornblende). A rock similar to normal gabbro but containing more orthopyroxene

728-497: Is called an orthopyroxene gabbro, while a rock similar to norite but containing more clinopyroxene is called a clinopyroxene norite. Gabbros are also sometimes classified as alkali or tholleiitic gabbros, by analogy with alkali or tholeiitic basalts, of which they are considered the intrusive equivalents. Alkali gabbro usually contains olivine, nepheline, or analcime , up to 10% of the mineral content, while tholeiitic gabbro contains both clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene, making it

784-452: Is classified as olivine gabbro or gabbronorite respectively. Where present, hornblende is typically found as a rim around augite crystals or as large grains enclosing smaller grains of other minerals ( poikilitic grains). Geologists use rigorous quantitative definitions to classify coarse-grained igneous rocks, based on the mineral content of the rock. For igneous rocks composed mostly of silicate minerals, and in which at least 10% of

840-637: Is located here. Additional points of interest include the refuge 's visitors center, Holy City of the Wichitas, Quanah Parker Lake & Dam, Lake Jed Johnson , and Lake Lawtonka . Great Plains State Park is located near the geographic center of the Wichita Mountains, north of the town of Mountain Park . Quartz Mountain Nature Park and Arts Center is a recreation area located north of

896-661: Is to basalt as granite is to rhyolite . The term "gabbro" was used in the 1760s to name a set of rock types that were found in the ophiolites of the Apennine Mountains in Italy. It was named after Gabbro , a hamlet near Rosignano Marittimo in Tuscany . Then, in 1809, the German geologist Christian Leopold von Buch used the term more restrictively in his description of these Italian ophiolitic rocks. He assigned

952-777: The Bushveld Complex of South Africa, the Muskox intrusion of the Northwest Territories of Canada, the Rum layered intrusion of Scotland, the Stillwater complex of Montana, and the layered gabbros near Stavanger , Norway. Gabbros are also present in stocks associated with alkaline volcanism of continental rifting . Gabbro often contains valuable amounts of chromium , nickel , cobalt , gold , silver , platinum , and copper sulfides . For example,

1008-479: The Merensky Reef is the world's most important source of platinum. Gabbro is known in the construction industry by the trade name of black granite . However, gabbro is hard and difficult to work, which limits its use. The term "indigo gabbro" is used as a common name for a mineralogically complex rock type often found in mottled tones of black and lilac-grey. It is mined in central Madagascar for use as

1064-597: The National Prison Association and was appointed into Oklahoma's Hall of Fame in 1935. Mrs. Waters was warden during the infamous prison break in Granite on February 17, 1935. The prison employees of the Oklahoma State Reformatory were caught off guard when around 31 inmates attempted to escape. The prisoners had managed to smuggle two guns into their possession, using them to threaten the officers on duty. Eight surrendered and two returned voluntarily

1120-572: The Mount Sheridan Gabbro, is exposed in roadcuts at Meers and underlies the Mount Scott Granite on the north side of the wildlife refuge. Weathered gabbroic soils are thicker and support more vegetation than those generated on weathered granite , so the tree line on the north side of Mount Sheridan approximates the contact between the Mount Sheridan Gabbro and the Mount Scott Granite. Geologic relationships suggest that

1176-412: The Oklahoma State Reformatory and observed that the inmates were going to school for half a day and working for the other half. He was impressed by how many of the prisoners were learning a trade, such as bakery, cooking, plumbing, cleaners, and stonemasonry. With the death of Warden George Waters in 1927, Mrs. Clara Waters replaced her deceased husband, becoming the first woman to head an all-male prison in

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1232-468: The Oklahoma State Reformatory charged with the murder of an Oklahoma service station attendant. During his time at the reformatory, Carnes and two other men were convicted on federal kidnapping charges and were sentenced to 99 years in prison. Instead of serving his time at the reformatory, Carnes was transferred due to his behavioral problems to Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay. At age 18, he was

1288-614: The Pennsylvanian and Permian Periods. Extensive weathering produced the tors of the Charon Gardens region and the "river" of boulders that descends the west slope of Mount Scott. Likewise, weathering produced the bowling-ball sized boulders in the Permian Post Oak Conglomerate locally found in and around the mountains. In addition to outcrops of the conglomerate, the boulders are preserved in

1344-509: The QAPF content, and plagioclase makes up more than 65% of the total feldspar content. Gabbroids are distinguished from dioritoids by an anorthite (calcium plagioclase) fraction of their total plagioclase of greater than 50%. The composition of the plagioclase cannot easily be determined in the field , and then a preliminary distinction is made between dioritoid and gabbroid based on the content of mafic minerals. A gabbroid typically has over 35% mafic minerals, mostly pyroxenes or olivine, while

1400-633: The Rock Island Railroad Company, using the state-owned mountain of granite and the reformatory's inmates for labor. After three years, Governor Williams claimed an enlargement and improvement within several prison industrial and buildings. During World War I, the institution assisted the U.S. military by supplying the Aviation Field at Fort Sill with building materials. When James B. A. Robertson replaced Williams as governor in 1919, Robertson appointed Dr. George A. Waters,

1456-491: The United States. Mrs. Waters was well known for her unique style of punishment. It was not uncommon for the young men at the prison to be dressed in women's clothing and then displayed for visitors to taunt and ridicule them. In spite of her unusual punishments, Mrs. Waters focused mainly on educational and religious programs for prisoners. She created an educational program within the facility, which would later become

1512-482: The Wichita Mountains (including areas outside the refuge) is Haley Peak, at 2,481 ft (756 m). Haley Peak is located on private property just outside the northwest corner of the refuge. When the area was part of Indian reservations and therefore off-limits to non-Native Americans, the Wichita Mountains were rumored to contain rich gold deposits. When the area was first opened up for settlement, many prospectors staked mining claims, and towns were laid out to serve

1568-595: The cessation of magmatism , the region subsided and was inundated by a shallow sea, resulting in the deposition of detrital sediments followed by carbonates . The change marks the local expression of the Sauk Unconformity . The light-colored rocks exposed in the Slick Hills are lower Paleozoic marine sediments, and are equivalent to those exposed in the Arbuckle Mountains , 100 km to

1624-630: The city of Altus . At 2,464 ft (751 m) Mount Scott is the second highest mountain within the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge boundary. Mount Pinchot in the Special Use Area is 12 feet (4 m) taller. A paved road leads to the summit of Mount Scott, offering views of the granite promontories to the west, the wind farm on the Slick Hills to the north, the lakes to the south and east, Fort Sill , and Lawton . The highest peak in

1680-569: The dark gray rocks found throughout the Raggedy Mountains, the central lowlands region of the wildlife refuge, and to the immediate north of the refuge. Uplift and erosion followed, as the layered complex is unconformably overlain by the extensive lava flows of the Carlton Rhyolite Group. The rhyolites are a brown-red to orange porphyritic rock with 5–10 mm orange-colored alkali feldspar crystals. Most of

1736-466: The day of the escape. Eighteen were still at large the next day. Mrs. Waters was fired from her position as Warden, ending the Waters' family era within the reformatory. The Oklahoma State Reformatory was home for roughly fourteen months to aviator Wiley Post . A native Texan, Post moved to Oklahoma to work in the prosperous oil fields in order to raise money for his own personal airplane. During 1921, he

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1792-522: The death penalty because he did not murder officers assigned to him during the escape; he lived until 61, dying at the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri. Gabbro Gabbro ( / ˈ ɡ æ b r oʊ / GAB -roh ) is a phaneritic (coarse-grained and magnesium- and iron-rich), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling magma into

1848-703: The deposition of late Precambrian to early Cambrian sandstones collectively known as the Tillman metasedimentary group. These sediments were intruded by a coarse mafic layered complex as the region began to rift apart during breakup of the Neoproterozoic continent, Pannotia . The exposed portion of this unit, named the Glen Mountains Layered Complex, consists of gabbro , anorthosite and troctolite . Recent high-precision dating yields an age of 532.49 ± 0.15 Ma. These are

1904-509: The distinctive rock buildings of Medicine Park . As the Permian progressed, river sediments buried the Wichita Mountains, preserving them from further weathering. Recent geological erosion has removed these sediments, excavating these once buried fossil landforms . The most common soil in the Wichita Mountains is Brico series, which has a topsoil of brown cobbly loam over a reddish brown to red cobbly clay loam or clay subsoil. Oklahoma State Reformatory The Oklahoma State Reformatory

1960-919: The east. During the Pennsylvanian Period (330–290 million years ago) the region was subjected to intense pressure during the continental collision or orogeny which produced the Ouachita Mountains to the east. This resulted in faulting and folding striking along a WNW direction and includes the Arbuckle and Wichita Mountains of southern Oklahoma and the Amarillo Uplift of the Texas Panhandle . Up to 20,000 feet (6,100 m) of local uplift occurred during this time. This uplift locally created rugged mountains reduced by erosion to their present state largely during

2016-438: The facility were weakened. The governor of Oklahoma in 1915, Robert L. Williams was primarily concerned with the economic interests of the reformatory. Through his speeches, he saw no difference between the penitentiary and the reformatory, believing that the reformatory should become a second penitentiary and its warden to be businessman-like. In an attempt to make the prison more self-sustaining, Governor Williams negotiated with

2072-600: The farm land surrounding the Reformatory, establishing experimental seed farms and specialized husbandry for cattle, sheep, and hogs. Waters acquired technical aid from the Agricultural and Mechanical College at Stillwater . In 1923, John C. Walton replaced Robertson as governor, splitting the Robertson-Waters team and ousting Waters from his position as warden. During his brief term, Governor Walton exchanged Waters' employees with unqualified people to work in

2128-792: The feldspar content. Gabbro is distinct from anorthosite , which contains less than 10% mafic minerals. Coarse-grained gabbroids are produced by slow crystallization of magma having the same composition as the lava that solidifies rapidly to form fine-grained ( aphanitic ) basalt . There are a number of subtypes of gabbro recognized by geologists. Gabbros can be broadly divided into leucogabbros, with less than 35% mafic mineral content; mesogabbros, with 35% to 65% mafic mineral content; and melagabbros with more than 65% mafic mineral content. A rock with over 90% mafic mineral content will be classified instead as an ultramafic rock . A gabbroic rock with less than 10% mafic mineral content will be classified as an anorthosite. A more detailed classification

2184-587: The first official high school established behind the walls of a prison in the United States, Lakeside High School at Oklahoma State Reformatory. Mrs. Waters was highly regarded locally as well as nationally. In October 1930, she was appointed to attend the annual meeting of the American Prison Congress in Louisville, Kentucky by the governor at the time, William J. Holloway , as his personal representative and delegate from Oklahoma. There she

2240-432: The granites and gabbros intruded at depths no greater than half a kilometer in the crust. Minor uplift ensued, and magmatism concluded with the intrusive emplacement of subvolcanic features: rhyolite and diabase dikes . These are poorly exposed, with the exception of a large diabase dike in the Mount Scott Granite revealed during the recent widening of Oklahoma State Highway 49 , just west of Interstate 44 . Following

2296-444: The institution had one main guard tower, dedicated to a former warden, on which stood cell houses on either side. The facility currently operates two of the four towers which are manned by armed officers for direct observation. The granite walls surrounding the compound of radiating cell blocks rise approximately twenty-four feet tall with a thickness of three feet at grade level and two feet at its top. Layers of razor wire extend along

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2352-501: The mineral content consists of quartz , feldspar , or feldspathoid minerals, classification begins with the QAPF diagram . The relative abundances of quartz (Q), alkali feldspar (A), plagioclase (P), and feldspathoid (F), are used to plot the position of the rock on the diagram. The rock will be classified as either a gabbroid or a dioritoid if quartz makes up less than 20% of the QAPF content, feldspathoid makes up less than 10% of

2408-520: The name "gabbro" to rocks that geologists nowadays would more strictly call "metagabbro" ( metamorphosed gabbro). Gabbro is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic ) igneous rock that is relatively low in silica and rich in iron, magnesium, and calcium. Such rock is described as mafic . Gabbro is composed of pyroxene (mostly clinopyroxene) and calcium-rich plagioclase , with minor amounts of hornblende , olivine , orthopyroxene and accessory minerals . With significant (>10%) olivine or orthopyroxene it

2464-449: The peaks and highlands in the eastern Wichitas and the isolated peaks of the western Wichitas. Some are equigranular , but most are porphyritic . The Mount Scott Granite is the most extensively exposed Wichita Granite. It forms the topographic feature from which it takes its name, and it is distributed throughout the northern half of the wildlife refuge. Dark rounded alkali feldspars , typically one centimeter or less in diameter, dominate

2520-523: The porphyritic texture of this rock. SiO 2 levels in this granite range from 72.8% to 75.8%. Relatively small and compositionally distinct plutons , known as the Roosevelt Gabbros , are found in the eastern and central Wichita Mountains. Like the layered complex, these are dark rocks. Unlike the layered complex, they contain appreciable amounts of biotite , a mineral that forms in magmas with elevated dissolved water. One of these bodies,

2576-484: The presumed bonanzas, but no economic deposits were found. The gold boom was prolonged by some unscrupulous assayers who found gold in every sample, but the miners eventually gave up, leaving behind ghost towns such as Wildman, Oklahoma. The Wichita Mountains are rocky promontories and rounded hills made of red and black igneous rocks, light-colored sedimentary rocks, and boulder conglomerates. The Wichita Mountains were formed in four distinct geologic episodes following

2632-457: The prisons' shops, which greatly damaged the shop's inventories. He altered, even eliminated, several constructive projects Waters had helped create and build. Due to massive amounts of corruption at all levels, Walton was impeached only a year into his term and replaced by Lieutenant Governor Martin E. Trapp . Waters was reappointed as warden and began to clean up the damage to the Reformatory. In 1926, Warden J. J. Savage made his Annual Report of

2688-567: The reformatory was constructed through prison labor using the granite quarried from the mountain. A large factor in the selection of the institution's site was the prospect of employing the prison's inmates to work in the quarry for minimal wages. No original structures in the complex remain. The oldest standing, the Oklahoma State Industries broom factory/upholstery building, was constructed in 1921. All other buildings currently in use have been constructed since 1957. In 1928,

2744-605: The rounded hills on Fort Sill are made of this rhyolite, including Medicine Bluffs. Additional exposure of the rhyolite is found in Blue Creek Canyon, where Oklahoma Highway 58 cuts through the Slick Hills. Tabular intrusions of granite and plutons of hydrous gabbro exploited the boundary between the layered complex and the rhyolites. The granites, collectively named the Wichita Granite Group, vary slightly in composition and texture. The granites form

2800-450: The term microgabbro is often used when extra descriptiveness is desired. Gabbro may be extremely coarse-grained to pegmatitic . Some pyroxene-plagioclase cumulates are essentially coarse-grained gabbro, and may exhibit acicular crystal habits. Gabbro is usually equigranular in texture, although it may also show ophitic texture (with laths of plagioclase enclosed in pyroxene ). Nearly all gabbros are found in plutonic bodies, and

2856-558: The term (as the International Union of Geological Sciences recommends) is normally restricted just to plutonic rocks, although gabbro may be found as a coarse-grained interior facies of certain thick lavas. Gabbro can be formed as a massive, uniform intrusion via in-situ crystallisation of pyroxene and plagioclase , or as part of a layered intrusion as a cumulate formed by settling of pyroxene and plagioclase. An alternative name for gabbros formed by crystal settling

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2912-424: The top as well as inside of the wall's interior. These wires are linked up to an Intrepid Micro-Point Intrusion Detection system, monitored by the central control room, which detects vibrations caused by cutting and/or climbing. In 1914, Barnard stepped down after seven years as Commissioner of Charities and Corrections and was succeeded by William D. Mathews. After her departure, the original rehabilitative goals of

2968-484: The youngest inmate ever imprisoned within its walls. While serving his sentence in Alcatraz, Carnes was involved in an escape along with five fellow inmates and took over a section of their cell block. U.S. Marines as well as prison guards from distances as far away as Kansas were sent to retake the facility. Three of the six inmates died during the assault, and two others were executed shortly thereafter. Carnes avoided

3024-544: Was established by an act of the legislature in 1909 and constructed through prison labor, housing its first inmate in 1910. The facility is well known for the significant roles women played in its foundation and governance, most notably having the first female warden administer an all-male prison in the nation. In 1907, Kate Barnard was appointed Oklahoma Commissioner of Charities and Corrections. After visiting prisons in Kansas detaining Oklahoma offenders, Barnard concluded that

3080-667: Was involved in a robbery and was sentenced to ten years in the reformatory. After only serving about one-tenth of his original sentence, Post was given a full pardon in December 1934. After his time at the Oklahoma State Reformatory, Post went on to be one of the first pilots to make a non-stop flight from the United States to Germany and the first to fly solo around the world, setting many record times. His life, as well as that of Oklahoma's beloved Will Rogers , ended on August 15, 1935 when his airplane crashed near Point Barrow, Alaska. In 1945, Clarence Carnes , known as "Choctaw Kid," entered

3136-693: Was nominated to the board of directors of the National Prison Organization. She was considered one of the most convincing women speakers in the country; indeed Mrs. Waters was informed by the Democratic National Committee in September 1932 that her name was on the list of speakers designated to tour the country. In October 1933, she was also elected in Atlantic City, New Jersey as the vice-president of

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