Okemah Boom Yet To Come
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Submitted by Rusty Lang (rlang90547@aol.com). Reprinted with permission from The Tulsa Tribune, Sunday, February 10, 1929.

OKEMAH BOOM YET TO COME, SAY CITIZENS
Agriculture Is the Basic Industry But Oil to Play Part in Future
In Center of Big Fields
With 6,000 Population People Boast of the Largest Town in the U.S.
By Dal Dalrymple, Tribune Staff Correspondent

In Asia there was an entire country, the celestial empire of China, shut off from the rest of the world by a great wall. Europe had its cities and feudal estates which sought security behind towering walls and deep moats. In North America a barbed wire fence sufficed for the wall of what was to become the biggest town in the United States.

It’s the Okfuskee County seat, Okemah, biggest town in this county, more of that anon - and of which I am writing.

When Okemah was founded it was walled in, just as feudal cities of  old were walled in; but Okemah’s wall was of barbed wire instead of stones and mortar.

As the townsite of Okemah was in the heart of a vast cattle country, several thousand head of semi-wild cattle were grazing on the prairie around the town when it was founded, so it was necessary to build a strong fire fence about the entire community to keep them out. These cattle were mostly of the Texas longhorn type, dangerous if a person was caught on foot. It was unsafe for anyone to travel over the country, except on horses or by train. There were cases of people being trampled to death by these cattle.

So the early Okemah citizens walled their town in with a barbed wire fence. Two self-acting gates were placed at each end of the town’s principal street, Broadway, to keep the cattle from coming into the town to do damage to persons or property.

NEARLY 27 YEARS OLD

The town dates its beginning to April 22,1902. The ground upon which Okemah first was started was the allotment of Nocus Fixico and Mahala, west of the depot; and Peter McKnac and Eliza Harjo, east of the depot. The allotees were creeks, and the original townsite of 400 acres was in the Creek nation. The town was surveyed by H.B. Dexter, Perry Rodkey and J.M. Bently, all of  Shawnee. The location of town was made for the purpose of serving as a junction for two railroads, the Fort Smith and Western and the Ozark and Cherokee Central. The latter was taken over the Frisco, however and Okmulgee was made the western terminus. Thus Okemah was left with bus one railroad, the first Fort Smith and Western train reaching there May 12, 1903.

The town was incorporated in the following year. J.E. Galloway was the first mayor. Peace officers up to that time had been United States commissioners, the first one being Orlando Swain, now a well known citizen of Okmulgee. The commissioner held court every 30 days, and appeals were taken from his court to the district court at Okmulgee. There also was the "travelin’ court," presided over by wagon from place to place and who was liable to drop in any time and deal out justice to those guilty of law violation.

From the beginning Okemah has come down to the present time as one of the most law-abiding towns of Oklahoma. Even during hectic days of oil booms the law-abiding citizens kept their heads and prevailed over the lawless. The rough and ready justice of pioneer times had made it comparatively easy for succeeding generations.

Okemah was started and has been built without the aid of a trunk line railroad. It has had its drawbacks, its slack times, its townsite differences, its knockers and its boosters, but fortunately there have been so few of the knockers that the town has enjoyed a steady growth since its beginning.

IS INCORPORATED TOWN

It has grown until today it is the biggest town in the United States. That’s no hooey; that’s a fact, say Okemah citizens who quote government population statistics to bear out their contention.

How do they get that way, you ask. Why here’s Tulsa. And Oklahoma City, you say; and there’s New York and New Orleans and countless other places throughout this nation which are larger than Okemah, you insist.

You’re perfectly right in what you say, but Okemah folks seem just as correct in what they say. Those places you mentioned are cities; Okemah doesn’t claim to be a city.

It is an incorporated town of the second class, and as such it is not a city. It is a town, and the largest of them all. All other places of similar size or larger are designated as cities.

Okemah, with a population of about 7,000 is governed by a town council, comprised  of five aldermen who select one of their own number as mayor. Right now Dr. C.M. Bloos is mayor of this largest town.

Their city government is one of the things to which the citizens of Okemah point with pride. Economy in government is the watchword of the board of aldermen, and the present board is living up to that watchword with rare diligence, Okemah folks told me. Okemah hasn’t voted bond issues right and left, as have some communities, and it has sought to keep at a minimum municipal expenditures. As an illustration, the town has no fine city hall, auditorium or public building for which it had to go in debt. Result, taxes are lower in Okemah than in many other communities of comparable population.

The town does own and operate its own water system. It has spent money on this system to make it one of the best in the state, but money hasn’t squandered on the waterworks. Expenditures have been made only after careful consideration and with the idea of getting the most possible value for the money sent. The nearby North Canadian river affords an abundance of water to supply all needs of the community. All other utilities are privately owned

OIL PLAYS ITS PART

Oil has played an important part in the history of Okemah and Okfuskee county has it has, indeed, of many other Oklahoma towns.

The Okfuskee metropolis is the geological center of the great Mid-Continent fields. The town is surrounded by five important fields, the Josey, Deaner, Lyons-Quin, Slick and Cromwell pools. The Cary field is being developed  three miles north of town.  There is scattered settled production in every direction from Okemah, yet reliable geologists say the oil resources of  Okfuskee county scarcely have been touched. Few Wilcox tests have been drilled in the county,  most of the Okfuskee wells producing from the Dutcher and Deaner sands. Oil activities are continuously going on the country with some of the old wells being deepened, and new wells being drilled in proven and wildcat areas.

The county seat long has been important trading center for the nearby oil fields, and it continues to be such, with prospects of even greater importance in this respect in the years to come when more extensive drilling gets under way.  Six  oil well supply houses and the Hinderliter (?) Tool Co. have plants in Okemah.

The town has profited from the booms that have followed in the discoveries of new oil fields in Okfuskee and adjoining counties but it has not suffered to any great extent from the inevitable reactions that follow booms. The town hasn’t overbuilt., the merchants have kept their heads and the law enforcement officers have retained control of the situation at all times. Consequently, Okemah did not suffer with the passing of the respective booms as have many other Oklahoma towns; although business may have suffered for a time, it quickly recovered and the old town kept right on progressing.

NEWSPAPER MEN AGREE

"We know we have oil around here and that the petroleum industry is going to play a big part in Okemah’s future, but we are not booming it for we realize Okfuskee is primarily an agricultural county and always will be such." E.L. K. Rice, editor of the Okfuskee County News, told me.

Right there is one place where I found two rival newspaper men in agreement. W.G. Strong, publisher of the Okemah Daily Leader, agreed with his friendly competitor that not only are Okfuskee’s future prospects based on agriculture, but that much of its prosperous present is due to farming.

"We have a very choice agricultural county, with some of the state’s best farming lands," Rice said. "We don’t expect to make of Okemah the leading city of the state, or even a big city; but we do expect it to continue as a prosperous, busy agricultural trading center and to grow in importance and enjoy increased prosperity as its farm resources are more fully developed."

Both of the newspaper men seemed to voice the sentiments of the majority of Okemah’s business men that their best prospects for future advancement are to be found farming.

"Okemah is a good a very county seat town, made so through the medium of agriculture, aided and abetted by oil," said one business man, who, through an unusual aversion to publicity, request that his name  not be used. "Right now greater efforts are being made to develop the dairying interests of the county than anything else. Okfuskee county agent, J.L. Bankhead, is doing much to help build up dairy farming and, while the industry still is in its infancy, is making headway. This has been a good farm town since it was founded and it will continue to be such, with farmers becoming more progressive and the community becoming more prosperous as the years pass."

DAIRYING INCREASES

The Kiwanis club is working in cooperation with the county agent and the farmers for greater diversification in crops, and for development of dairying industry in particular. Dairy farming has been proven profitable in Okfuskee county, is slowly increasing in importance and is meeting with satisfactory success.

The establishment of a cooperative creamery in Okemah in the near future is anticipated. Merchants and farmers are working on the plan, which, it is believed, will be carried out within the year, possibly. It is proposed to be operated along the cooperative lines which have proven successful in Vinita. That an undertaking of this kind in Okemah is feasible shows by the success which the Okemah cooperative cotton gin has enjoyed.

Okfuskee county is said to lead the state in 4-H club enrollment, with more than 1,000 boys and girls engaged in demonstration work. The county also has 11 active farm women’s clubs.

One of Oklahoma’s most successful agricultural projects, the Camp Brothers’s model farm, located six miles west of town, indicates what can be done in Okfuskee county when up-to-date farming methods are employed. This place, owned and operated by T.P. and  Sterling Camp, is one of the agricultural showplaces of Oklahoma. It not only is a model farm in name, but in every material way – a small city in itself, with hundreds of acres of fertile lands under intensive cultivation.

The curing plant is one of the outstanding  features of the farm, with three buildings being devoted to this business alone. Sweet potatoes are raised in abundance with each year’s crop being cured and handled right there on the farm. Next in importance to the sweet potato crop comes Irish potatoes, alfalfa, cotton, corn, peanuts, fruit, hogs and cattle.

THEY IRRIGATE

T.P. Camp began farming on a small tract of sandy desert land near Okfuskee about 10 or 12 years ago. He was soon joined by his brother Sterling. They installed an irrigation system, watered their lands from the Canadian river, used other modern methods of farming. From year to year they enlarged their holdings and increased the scope of their activities. Today they have one of the state’s most successful farms - a veritable garden spot where some money crop is being grown every month in the year.

Okemah and Okfuskee county boast several other large farms, as well as innumerable smaller ones. Located west of town, several miles beyond the Camp farm, is the large and modern ranch of W. H. Dill and son. This partakes more of the nature of a ranch than a farm because the owners specialize in livestock, turkeys and the like. It is operated by Glen Dill.

All of the conveniences, utilities, up-to-date mercantile establishments and civic improvements to be found in the more progressive towns of the period are at Okemah. The business district, indeed, gives the visitor the impression that here is a well built, substantial town. The residence district too is impressive with modern comfortable residences the rule and shack style of  house the rare exception.

"Citizens of Okemah pride themselves on the general appearance of the community,’ said W.G. Strong of the Daily Leader. "Few are  the towns of 10,000 or less inhabitants that can boast as many substantial businesses and residences. That’s largely because his is a home town and one that has seen prosperity more often than adversity. The merchants and business people live here, they expect to continue to make this community their place of habitation, so they have built upon the theory that nothing is too good for their home town. Okemah has built for permanency."

HAS NEW COURTHOUSE

Okfuskee county’s courthouse is one of the most imposing structures in the town. It is the "last word" in courthouse structures, few Oklahoma counties having any public buildings that can compare with it. The building was completed in 1927, at a cost of $170,000. It is five stories tall, modern throughout, with an abundance of rooms, fireproof vaults in all offices, elevators and other conveniences designed to make it the perfect court building. It is finished in Twentieth century architecture.

Erection of a new post office building is scheduled to being the latter part of this month, weather permitting. This will cost the government $20,000 and will make Okemah postal facilities adequate for the needs of a considerable larger city.

Another new building on which work may begin within the year is the proposed new edifice for the First Christian church. Plans for a church have been drawn and the congregation has already raised $28,000 for the building fund. The building will include a separate educational unit.

Okemah evidently has given much thought to its religious life, judging, from its excellent church buildings. Practically all of the leading denominations are represented, and most of them have commodious buildings.

The churches include St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal, South, of which Rev. R. C. Alexander is pastor; First Baptist, Rev. J.W. Hodges, pastor; First Christian, Rev. L. F. Depoister, pastor; First Methodist Episcopal, Rev. H. Ivan Byrd, pastor; and the First Presbyterian, no resident pastor at this time.

The First Methodist church is being remodeled and modernized, at the cost of  $12,000.

The public schools are headed by A. Estill, superintendent. W.P. Hooper is principal of the high school and Mrs. W.P. Hooper of the junior high school. They are assisted by an efficient faculty of experienced teachers. The high school is a fully accredited institution.

BANK DEPOSITS INCREASE

The last year has been particularly good one for Okemah and vicinity, judging from the condition of  the town’s  three banks. Here’s what the Daily Leader had to say in part, about the latest bank reports:

"If large and substantial increases in the amount of bank deposits have any bearing on the prosperity of a community, Okemah is considerably more prosperous and well to do than at this time last year.

"Total deposits in the three Okemah banks made a gain of $322,839.55 during the 12 months period from January, 1928 to January, 1929, figures published by the bank during those months reveal. The figures also show that the average monthly gain in deposits in the three banks here was $26,906.49. Each bank showed a consistent gain throughout the entire year. None of them appears to carry an excessive amount of paper on their books so the figures may be considered as having been "boiled down fine" to contain only facts of the most accurate nature.

"A number of reasons have been advanced by the heads of the banking houses for the large gains recorded. The fact that the cotton crop in this country was far superior in volume than to any recent year and that a larger percentage of  farmers have been able to meet their obligations than was true last year are largely responsible for the increase. Increased  activity in oil development also has brought a larger amount of money into the banks. Payroll checks and deposits constitute Okemah’s chief bank revenue from the oil industry."

BUILD NEW ROADS

Okemah is fortunately situated as to highways, and highways development has an important part in the community’s building program.

State highway 266 runs east and west through the country, intersecting the Broadway of America, Canada to Gulf route at Okemah. The contract has been let for the hardsurfacing of 12 ½ miles of the highway east of town, the completion of which will give a hardsurfaced road all the way to Henryetta. Work also is being done of the north and south road, grading and draining it, preparatory to future hardsurfacing.

Four bus companies operate out of Okemah, affording bus service in all directions every two hours. The Union Transportation Co., operates between Okemah and Tulsa on regular schedules. Daily truck lines also operate between Okemah and Tulsa and Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

Okemah has no chamber of commerce, but its five civic clubs more than offset the lack of such an organization.

The Kiwanis club is the oldest and  largest civic organization. Martin L. Frerichs is president of the club; L.R. Russell, secretary, and V.K. Chowning, treasurer. The club has 65 members.

This organization has been largely responsible for enlarging the sewer system, erection of the courthouse, extension of the waterworks and other civic improvements. The Kiwanians have sponsored the Boys Calf club, importing a herd of thoroughbred jerseys and distributing them among the farm boys. They have sponsored the 4-H clubs for boys and girls and have worked in cooperation with the county agent for the general improvement of agricultural conditions. The club has done considerable child welfare work, and has other activities under way.

ACTIVE ON CIVIC WORK

The Lions club is a comparative new civic organization, but it  too has taken an active part in civic affairs. J. Hugh Nolen is president and Jack Castle, secretary. This organization has given much of its attention to aiding crippled children in securing treatment, Dr. J. M. Cochran, a member of the club, donating his services to the cause through the club.

The Okemah American Legion Post is known throughout the state as an active organization, it having had the fifth largest membership of any Legion posts in the state during the last year. W.G. Strong is post commander; Charley Cornett, adjutant, and Ross Elson, service officer. The post owns its own home, a log cabin for which Legionnaires hauled logs from Arkansas. It is completely furnished for dancing, banquets and other social affairs.

In conclusion, a word is due the town’s newspapers.

Each weekday in the year the Daily Leader is issued, keeping Okemah folks posted on what is happening in their home community and the world at large. It is one of the best edited of the smaller dailies in the state, presenting a newsy, interesting appearance with each edition. It uses the United Press news dispatches and has a bevy of country correspondents furnishing the county news. The daily is in its fourth year, and stepping along nicely.

Mr. Strong is the publisher and business manager for the Okemah Publishing Co. Other members of the firm are Raymond Fields, who is publisher of the Guthrie daily paper, and E.M. McIntyre. Henry C.Jones is editor of the leader and E.D. Schnedly is advertising manager.

The Okfuskee County News is a weekly paper, published by E.L.K. Rice and C.P. Penfield. Both concerns have well equipped printing establishments and do job printing in addition to the newspaper work.

This page was last updated on 10/12/11

 

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