Where Did Hooker Get Its Name?

It's unusual, and seeing or hearing it usually brings a smile, a giggle, or a sly comment. Despite what you might think, the story behind the name Hooker is about a real person. The following story was taken from the book, Lost Trails of the Cimarron, by Harry Chrisman:

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John (Hooker) Threlkeld was so nicknamed after Gen. "Fighting Joe" Hooker of Civil War fame, some say. Others say he received his name after an old cattleman of the Beaver River whose name was Hooker. Still others say he received his name by being such a "hooker" of cattle, that is, top roper. Wherever he received that nickname we know how the town of Hooker, OK received its name. For it was named after John "Hooker" Threlkeld.

 

Hooker was born in Kentucky, Nov. 13, 1846. He came west with his parents to Missouri. On May 15 1864, he joined up with a freight outfit and bull whacked west from Omaha to Virginia City, Montana with his two brothers. In 1873 Hooker came to No Man's Land where he spent the next 30 years in the saddle. He was foreman for the OX Ranch for many years.