The Spanish conquistador was traveling northeast across the prairie in search of a place called Quivira, a city said to be fabulously wealthy with gold.

Because Coronado's route across the plains is speculative,[6] it is quite possible that the expedition passed through present-day Elk City or the nearby area.

[citation needed] Elk City's history dates back to the days immediately following the opening of the Cheyenne-Arapaho reservation in western Oklahoma Territory on April 19, 1892, when the first white settlers made their appearance.

Prior to this time, many early ranchers had driven cattle over the Great Western Cattle Trail from Texas to Dodge City, Kansas, the present townsite of Elk City being in the direct path of that famous trail.

The creation of Elk City was an idea conceived by land promoters from Weatherford, Oklahoma, when they learned that the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad (CO & G) was coming to the area (in 1898, the CO & G Railroad completed its western route to Weatherford; beginning in 1901, it continued building west).

Probably the most important day in Elk City's history is March 20, 1901, the date the first lots were sold by the Choctaw Townsite and Development Company.

On that day, the townsite company sold $32,000 worth of property (about $870,000 in 2012 dollars) and continued doing a good business for some time thereafter.

Marcy and his troops had left the Wichita Mountains and the waterway which he named Otter Creek during his exploration, and they were traveling northwest along the North Fork of the Red River.

On May 31, in the official journal of the expedition, Marcy wrote about the productive soil, the dense grass, and the vertical red clay banks of a "bold running stream of good water."

Continuing, he wrote, "From the circumstance of having seen elk tracks upon the stream we passed in our march today, I have called it 'Elk Creek'.

I am informed by our guide that five years since, elk were frequently seen in the Wichita Mountains; but now they are seldom met with in this part of the country."

The first regular train service commenced seven days later on August 20, and city folk rejoiced, predicting that the dugouts, claim shacks, and prairie stables would soon disappear and be replaced by handsome residences, commodious barns, and granaries.

Petroleum, agriculture, wind energy, transportation, tourism, manufacturing, and healthcare all contribute to Elk City's economy.

Because of this, the city is the self-proclaimed "Natural Gas Capital of the World", complete with Parker Drilling Rig #114, located downtown.

Bar-S Foods Company operates a packaged-meat warehouse and distribution center in Elk City.

[18] Great Plains Regional Medical Center is Elk City's largest employer and serves Western Oklahoma and the eastern Texas Panhandle.

The hospital has been named by OKCBusiness and Best Companies Group as one of the "Thirty Best Places to Work in Oklahoma" for three consecutive years: 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Soon afterward, a $2.2 million federal grant was provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to help fund the project and bring more jobs to Elk City.