A United States Post Office was established at Antlers, Indian Territory, on August 26, 1887. According to early European-American settler Colonel Victor M. Locke, Jr., the following is an account of how the name was attached to it. A hunter was encamped at the spring at present-day Antlers early one autumn and killed a "magnificent buck." He nailed its antlers to a tree close to the spring as a challenge to other hunters, who followed suit. Railroad officials later designated the new station stop as "Antlers" in recognition of this prominent local landmark tree bristling with points.