Glenn,
I've done some reading on this topic and can refer you to some published materials I've come across. Off the top of my head... Angie Debo's article suggesting the Twin Mounds site was published in the Chronicles of OK in the late 1940's. She makes a very good case for the Payne County location though she readily admits the evidence is not conclusive. Seems there's a later Chronicles article building on her case for the Payne County location (by Bahos?).

In the 1960's, in the book "Civil War Sites in Oklahoma", Muriel Wright placed the location at a point which is now about 1 mile south of the Keystone Expressway/Cimarron Turnpike on the west bank of Keystone Lake. (This book also mentions the 1869 gunfight at Twin Mounds). I was unaware until Ralph mentioned it that Ms. Wright also suspected an area further south (but I assume still north or just east of Old Mannford).

Robert Demoss, a resident of Cleveland OK has published his case for a site north of the Keystone Expressway, a couple of miles NNW of Wright's location -- with skirmishes occuring over several miles along the Cimarron. There is a book by O'Brien following Demoss's case that describes the locations in detail that I found at the libarary. Some of Demoss's materials are in the Debo collection at the OSU Library. They may be available for purchase around the Mannford-Cleveland area.

Among the disputed points between the two are:
- Opothleyahola may have been headed to Walnut Creek. Was this the Walnut River near present Ark City KS or Walnut Creek north of Keystone?
- Was Opothleyahola only moving 3 miles per day? If so, he could have never covered the distances from the Payne County site to his known locations at later dates.
- Is the "Cox" map accurate? Cox was a Kansas soldier at Ft Gibson when he made the map. He was not at Round Mountain but participants were at Ft Gibson when he made the map. The map indicates a Keystone area location.

One participant in his memoirs said he thought the location was north of "Cashon" (Cushing? -- i.e., the Twin Mounds area). Spark's memiors mention "mountains" -- presumably the steep hills on the northside of Keystone Lake. There are certainly no mountains in the Twin Mounds area. There are a lot of bits and pieces that suggest one area or the other.

We have to remember, west of Tulsa was "wilderness" in 1861 and few named road/trails existed. There may have been one permanent Natchez village in the general area but other than that it was ruled by the migratory Plains tribes.

I suspect that Opothleyahola's followers were converging from many locations (from multiple tribes -- Creek/Muscogee, Seminole, Delaware, etc.). Some Creek had gone west for safety and then returned home before heading north. So... the references to locations may refer to separated groups, not to the main body. I believe they were converging on the fords over the Arkansas in the Keystone area near the mouth of the Cimmarron with the idea of connecting with Loyal Cherokee in the region. I don't believe the main body could have covered the distance through Payne County to get there nor could Cooper have covered the distance from Ft Gibson to Twin Mounds and back per his reports.

I'll get the names of specific sources I'm aware of and post them in a later email.

Ken