3 9002 07135 5151 :¦¦' ; . II YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ^^ DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF WESTERN NORTH AMERICA COLLECTION OF WILLIAM ROBERTSON :-;€i<>'-k; W. F. KERR The Story of Oklahoma City Oklahoma a The Biggest Little City in the World''' Written and Edited by W. F. KERR Of the Oklahoma Historical Society AND INA GAINER Of The Oklahoma City Times Editorial Force VOLUME I 1922 THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO CONTENTS PART I RELEVANT APPROACHES PAGE Them Halcyon Days, Dr. A. C. Scott 13 Introductory 15 A Cottage for Two 33 ¦ The Founding of Oklahoma City 61 PART II THE SPREAD OF TPIE YEARS The Lot Jumpers 81 Government Established 99 The Second Opening 121 Boomers Active Again 133 Dream of a Commonwealth 141 The Active Ten Thousand 151 Choctaw Railroad Enters 161 Fusion and Free Silver 169 The Seekers of Pie : 179 On Trail of the Volunteers 189 Council Versus Congress 201 Franchises and Bond Sales 211 Oil and Another Opening 221 More Business, Less Society 229 In Earnest About Statehood 241 In Bib and Tucker at St. Louis 253 Sidestepping an Issue 263 A Gold Pen and a Quill 273 Politics, Prejudices and Victory 283 New Jerusalem Approved 303 Coming of the Packers 313 The Capital Achieved 329 A Charter Adopted 345 A Fight Against Expenses 359 A Preacher 's Farewell 373 The Central Hundred 389 Passing of Pioneers 403 The Food Strikers 415 The City Goes to "War 427 Helping to "Win the War 445 Prosperity and'High Prices 465 The Results of War 479 Tiding Over 491 vi CONTENTS PART III RESUMES, REVIEWS AND CONTRIBUTIONS PAGE The Old Home Town 509 Development of Social and Club Life, by Irene Bowers Sells 523 The Fight for the Capital 547 Schools of Eighty-Nine and Their Development, by Mrs. Fred Sutton. 559 Vision, Leadership and Faith, by William M. Jenkins 569 Oklahoma City's Part in the World War, by Gen. Roy V. Hoffman. . 573 A Tribute to Oklahoma, by Sidney Clarke 583 Making Beauty Spots, by C. A. McNabb 587 Captain Couch, First Mayor, by H. C. Evans 601 Character of C. G. Jones, by 0. P. Sturm 605 Character of Henry Overholser, by Elmer E. Brown 615 Seminoles and Colonists, by J. L. Brown 625 Articles of Confederation 635 Milling and Grain 641 Business Women 's Club 647 City an Oil Center 651 Gas and Electricity 667 The Telephone Business 669 Lot Titles Investigated 675 PART IV IN MEN'S MEMORIES A Propitious Monday 679 In Camp Oklahoma 687 A Pioneer's Recollections 689 The Oklahoma City Club 699 Bill Starts a Graveyard 703 Colcord Has an Idea 709 Pioneering in Journalism 711 Hanging Pants and Song Pants 713 A Rushing Bread Business 715 "A Bad Man from Texas" 717 A Lot Jumper Wins 719 Snaking Houses at Night 721 For Better or Worst 723 "Tails Up" Wins a Bride 725 Medical Society Formed 727 The First Newspaper 729 The Post Trader's House 731 PART V MISCELLANEOUS The City's Constitution 735 The Organic Act 781 First Opening Proclamation 823 Oklahoma Enabling Act 831 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE W. F. Kerr Frontispiece Former Presidents of the Chamber of Commerce 17 Residence of E. H. Cooke 25 Residential Street 25 Oklahoma City's First Settlers 35 Original Site of Oklahoma City 41 A Group of Pioneers 47 Two and a Beauty Spot 55 Where the Ranch Stock Watered 55 Group of Pioneers 63 Early Settlers 67 Captain W. L. Couch 71 First Post Office of Oklahoma 75 Oklahoma City in 1889, Before the Run 83 Oklahoma City on April 24, 1889 83 Dr. A. J. Beale 89 View of Oklahoma City in 1889 95 Captain A. B. Hammer 101 Present Site of Culbertson Building, Broadway and Grand Avenue. . 109 D. W. Gibbs 117 American National Bank Building 123 Home of the Daily Oklahoman 123 W. J. Gault 135 O. A. Mitscher 139 Leslie P Ross 145 Frank McMaster 150 Nelson Button 153 Main Street, Oklahoma City, 1889 157 Captain E. H. DeFord 163 Charles G. Jones 171 J. P. Allen 181 Richard Caffrey 191 Wheeler Park .' 197 Lee VanWinkle 203 Clifton George 207 First National Bank Building 215 Sectional View of St. Anthony 's Hospital 225 State University Hospital 225 The Baum Building 235 . vii viii ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE The Continental Building 235 Farmers National Bank 245 First Methodist Church 255 Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club 255 Dr. J. F. Messenbaugh 265 Oklahoma County Courthouse and Jai1 275 Henry M. Scales 285 St. Luke's M. E. Church, South 291 Federal Building 297 View at State Fair Park 297 First Presbyterian Church 305 Former Occupants of the Coleord Building Site 305 Entrance to the Oklahoma National Slock Yards 315 Pens at the Oklahoma National Stock Yards 315 Temple B 'nai Israel 323 Packing Plant of Morris & Company 323 Daniel V. Lackey 331 Main Street of the Buggy Days 335 Broadway, Looking North, 1910 341 Whit M. Grant 347 Central High School 351 Carnegie Library : 355 Huckins Hotel 355 Maywood Presbyterian Church 361 First Baptist Church 367 Residence of W. R. Ramsey 367 First English Lutheran Church 375 First Christian Church 375 , Skirvin Hotel 381 Oklahoma State Capitol 388 First Week between California and Grand Avenues 391 View of Skyscrapers from the Wholesale District 395 Residence of C. F. Coleord 399 Residence of H. Overholser 399 Edward Overholser 405 Epworth Methodist Church (Originally Epworth University) *. 411 Residence of C. P. Site" 417 Mercantile Building 429 Security Building 429 Catholic Church . . .- 439 Byron D. Shear 447 View on Grand Avenue Looking East from Terminal Building . ... 453 Lakeside Golf and Country Cub 459 J. C. Walton 467 Salvation Army Home 473 Broadway, Looking North, in 1921 481 Y. M. C. A. Building 487 ILLUSTRATIONS ix PAGE Home of Oklahoma City Club (Erection begun in 1922) 493 Main Street of an Early Day 511 Business District from an Airplane 517 Cheyennes and Arapahos Counseling for Cherokee Outlet 525 Chiefs of Cheyennes and Arapahos 533 Tradesmen s National Bank Building 543 Gloyd-Halliburton Building 553 Liberty National Bank Building 563 The Guaranty Bank 563 Gen. Roy V. Hoffman 575 O'Neil Park 589 Stiles Park 593 Residence of Gen. Roy V. Hoffman 593 Entrance to Wheeler Park 597 St. Paul's Episcopal Church 607 Patterson Building ... 617 Santa Fe Depot the Morning after the Run 627 An Early Day View 627 Grain Exchange Building 640 Plant of Oklahoma City Mill and Elevator Company 643 Plant of the Plansifter Milling Company 643 Magnolia Petroleum Company Building 653 Scene in Oil Refining District 659 Section of Refining Plant of Choate Oil Corporation 659 Home of the Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company 666 Home of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company 671 The Morning before the Run 681 Captain D. F. Stiles 686 H. C. Watton 695 Plant of Liberty Cotton Oil Company 705 West Main Maternity Sanitarium 737 Terminal Building of the Oklahoma Railway Company 745 Masonic Temple 755 The Coliseum 755 Home of Hahn Undertaking Company 765 Mount Saint Mary's Academy 775 Classen Junior High School 775 Security National Bank 785 Empress Theater 795 Orpheum Theater 795 Second Presbyterian Church 805 Christian Science Church 805 Monument to Soldier Dead, Fairlawn Cemetery. . 813 Coleord Building 825 Herskowitz Building ; 825 Southwest National Bank Building 833 Libertv Theater 843 PART I RELEVANT APPROACHES The Story of Oklahoma City "THEM HALYCON DAYS" By A. C. Scott When 'er I think of '89, its halcyon days around me shine ; its days of spring divinely fair, its days when sand drifts filled the air ; its days so hot the hair they 'd curl, its days so cold the snow would whirl, stinging against the window panes, and freezing on the icy plains; days when the sand filled Main street full, and clays when Main street was a pool ; days and days of every kind, that nowhere else on earth you'd find. But what did we for weather care1? We all were young, the world was fair ; something would happen every day, and not in just the usual way. What booted it that lots were jumped, and in the fracas some one bumped; that Seminole and Kickapoo kept hell a-poppin' all night through"? Throughout it all we sang and danced, and Sundays to the Weaver pranced, ostensibly of course to dine, but in reality to shine, in raiment exquisitely new, to let the proletariat view — the ladies decked from top to toe (much more than they are now, I trow), in silks and satins, unseen hose, the men all moulded in their clothes. To ice cream socials, too, we went, to that extreme on pleasure bent; though chaperoned with eagle ej^es, love "car ried on" with small disguise, and many a marriage altar fine, was just a dream of Eighty-Nine. And who'll forget those autumn days, all shrouded in their purple haze, as if all na ture's course stood still, to put away the coining ill? But when grim winter came at last, fast riding on his borean blast, our flimsy shacks shook in the gale, the howling winds drove sleet and hail. But did we whine, or knock, or wail? We took the hammer and the nail, and boarded up the shriek ing cracks, and papered the inside with tacks. And while the winter ripped and roared, we served upon 13 14 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY our festal board such dainties and snch viands rare that lords might envy us our fare. Oh, who'll forget those wondrous eats — the market places on our streets with long festoons of luscious quail, or prairie chicks and cotton tail, of squirrels gray and squirrels red, of mallards dropped from overhead ; of pinioned deer with spreading fronds, of turkey gobblers bathed in bronze — not them that strutted barnyard floors, but lived in nature's out-of-doors? Oh, well. I reckon it is best, that we've outgrown that far-off West; but sometimes when I'm tired and bored, run down by auto and by Ford, I take a backward look and say, as one did say who's gone his way, "Of all the times I've ever seed, them was the halycon days indeed." INTRODUCTORY A conclusion that organized effort is ninety-nine per cent responsible for the present stage of maturity of Oklahoma City is inescapable after one has made a detailed study of out standing events of these thirty and two years. This statement may bear a shade of triteness ; it may exhibit the earmarks of the prime principle of city building written into books on that subject; it may be casually dismissed as a foregone conclusion reached by regimes and generations of constructionists since the peopling of the Middle West began ; but, in this instance,. it is re-enlivened and re-envisaged for a purpose of compari son. It is a notable fact that some heavily peopled communi ties of the Southwest have attained levels of municipal supremacy directly and almost solely as a result of the en deavors of a few superior men associated for business pur poses. Their number is small to be sure and their accomplish ments are marvelous exceptions to the well-established rule of organization. Nearly every prosperous community has had its foundation laid by a few men associated for business pur poses, but eventually masterful things have been accomplished by a combination of several of such associations whose pur pose was beyond immediate individual profit and involved the common weal. This is the fundamental principle, of course, of society, of cooperative education, of religious enterprises, and of free government. The mental largeness of a few men, the money-making capacity of a few men, the dickering and negotiating instinct of a few men, and the promotion predilection of a few men, — ungrouped, unorganized, established in shacks and shanties, unrestricted by conventions, squatted on a windswept sage- grassed plain, — ran in grooves cut with their own picks and shovels; and, when there was increased light upon possibili ties, these grooves diverged and merged into channels and channels confluenced into streams and streams emptied by their own predestined bent into this sea of business, religious,. 15 16 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY social, educational and political metropolitanism. That, in short, is the history of Oklahoma City. And it teaches that divergences and confluences are essential to the filling of the sea and the replenishment and maintenance of its waters. In dividual efforts of pioneers produced gratifying results, each separate^ as a business enterprise. We are pleased to re flect the honor that is due them, and frequently we are con strained to assert that but for them the entire history of the city's twenty latest years might have been so different that perhaps a competitor would have outshone it in glory. In dividual efforts were substructure material. A few of them could have brought the hundred thousand here ; it is not likely that they would have. Inevitably the drawing power lay in concentration, and the hundred thousand came when the draw ing power was created. The drawing power was the Chamber of Commerce, and to that body this work is dedicated. Oklahoma city originally was nature favored. Perhaps the thought entered the minds of none, or if any but a few, in the first raw, undisciplined years, that the lines of common wealths would be so manipulated that the city would lie with in five miles of the geographical center of a state. It was with in a five-hour horse trot of the border of Indian Territory and therefore far to one side and close to a river-arched corner of what everybody predicted would become the eventual Okla homa Territory ; that is, the territory as geographies pictured it after all the Indian reservations west of Indian Territory had been opened for settlement. But Nature and the eighty- niners were not in cahoots, because the eighty-niners were ignorant of the politics of the future. If Oklahoma Territory had become a separate state, Oklahoma City, geographically considered, would have had small call for the capital, which Congress already had located at Guthrie ; nor would Guthrie have been secure in that honor. This very fact accounts in part for a majority of the residents of Oklahoma City in later years, disregarding political alliances on the capital issue and standing unitedly in favor of a single state to be formed out of Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory. Nature re vealed itself in consideration of that issue. In view of its geographical location, and in disregard of political eventualities, it was destined to become the inter- FORMER PRESIDENTS OF THK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE M. Gloyd, Anton H. Classen, Ed S. Vauglit, G. B. S tone, George Frederickson, T. D. Turner, C. F. Coleord THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 19 Section point of two trunk lines of railroad. Several years before the opening in 1889 the Santa Fe had constructed a line north and south through the Territory that entered near Arkansas City, Kansas, and passed into Texas near Gaines ville. This line lay twenty-five to thirty miles east of the one hundredth "meridian and in general it separated the prairies of the west from the timber lands of the east. It was a divi sion mark between the " short- grass " country and the "sticks." Settlement of the west side of the original Indian Territory, or the Unorganized Territory as it was later desig nated, of course demanded railroad facilities from the east as well as from the north and south. Probable connections with Texas Panhandle points were in early years not a matter of vital concern, for the wind-stripped Plains were yet climati cally discredited. One of the first organized industrial efforts of the city resulted in its securing a line of the Rock Island railroad that built eventually from Memphis, Tennessee, to Amarillo, Texas, and split the two territories wide open from east to west as the Santa Fe had done from north to south. The Rock Island, originally called the Choctaw, did not come in a night, nor did it come gracefully and with facility. It came after much dickering and much bickering, after fights between ambitious communities, one of which was Guthrie, Oklahoma City's earliest, most formidable and longest-lived commercial and political rival, and after the travail of hard work and sleepless nights. But when it came, Oklahoma City's commercial position was for the time being secure. It was of debatable tenure, however, for a trunk line of the Rock Island system had paralleled the Santa Fe through the State, passing within thirty miles of the city on the west, and on it, nearly due west of the city, was founded the town of El Reno. This town early gave evidences of rivalry with Oklahoma City and those evidences were enhanced many fold when the Mem- phis-Amarillo line was made to intersect the Rock Island trunk line at that point. And this incipient rivalry, more menacing than any the city had faced, explains why the city's big men in the '90s so vigorously celebrated the entrance of the Frisco from the northeast. The entrance of the Frisco, indeed, was the most important event of a decade, if not the one clinching and determining event in all the city's history. 20 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Sedate, silent and unobtrusive Nature, perhaps better identi fied by the term Geography, again favored a city wavering and debating in insecurity. In this instance the favor was doubly purposeful, for the railroad builders foresaw the opening to settlement of the big Kiowa and Comanche Indian country, situated in the southwestern part of the territory, and Okla homa City lay on a direct route between Sapulpa, the Frisco terminus, and the central section of the Kiowa and Comanche reservation. In a sense, political subdivisions were of secondary con cern, in the view of the eighty-niners, for the city was located in the center of a fertile agricultural section that embraced contiguous territory of part of the new Oklahoma and of na tions of Indian Territory and other Indian reservations soon to be opened. They entertained a mild trust in the Santa Fe, expecting active cooperation of its immigration and coloniza tion departments. The Santa Fe, however, could scarcely be a respecter of municipalities on its line, and the eighty-niners early learned that self-dependence, self-assertiveness and the boldest sort of influential preponderance of effort would get results. When the coming of the Frisco eliminated El Reno and Shawnee as contenders for municipal supremacy, only Guthrie remained an antagonist. She was a formidable antagonist, be cause she was the political pot boiler of the Territory, the capi tal, and the receiver and dispenser of information that came out of Washington where lay the converged ends of the strings of government. She was influential in Congress and in the Governmental departments. During the greater part of Okla homa City 's creative era the republicans were in control of the National Government and Guthrie remained rock-ribbed re publican, whereas normally Oklahoma City was democratic. It was the seat of democratic organization in the Territory, the chief convention center and the home of several of the party's most astute leaders. Here was published the leading democratic newspaper, The Daily Oklahoman, while in Guth rie Frank Greer ramrodded the official mouth-piece of the republican party, The Oklahoma State Capital. Political enmity ever was perceptible. Almost equally as formidable as Guthrie's political influence was its power to command THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 21 railroad investment. During the years that Oklahoma City was pulling tooth and nail for two strategical lines Guthrie was making itself the snug center of a web of no less strategi cal but less influential and less competitive lines. Six short branches were laid into the capital from as many points along the Santa Fe, Rock Island and Frisco trunks. It looked definitely and permanently secure. Its population grew to over fifteen thousand and always for many years it was a hubbub of business and political commotion. These skeleton facts will assist the reader to more fully appreciate how extraordinary were the accomplishments of Oklahoma City in that period between the entrance of the Frisco and the removal of the state capital. To secure the capital Oklahoma City knew that Statehood first was essential. Although an attempt was made in the early '90s to have the Legislature declare Oklahoma City the capital, the matter was permitted to remain in abeyance while the overshadowing issue of statehood was given supreme attention. Had Guthrie been given an opportunity to vote on the question of state hood, doubtless a considerable majority would have favored two states. On the other hand a preponderating majority in Oklahoma City would have favored a single state. The crea tion of a single state was the greatest boon that Congress could confer upon the people of the Territories, and it was the one act necessary to assure supremacy to Oklahoma City. Whether one is a political partisan, affiliated this way or that, does not alter a majority opinion here existing that the city's leanings toward the faith of the democratic party counted for an almost incalculable lot in the capital contro versy. The conjoining of Indian Territory with Oklahoma Territory gave the democrats of the state a majority of about twenty-five thousand. Political leaders in that party natu rally were considerate of the claims of a democratic stronghold for capital honors. This consideration was intensified during the first campaign when Charles N. Haskell, the democratic nominee for governor, most bitterly denounced the Guthrie oligarchy and several individual members thereof; and, in advocating a "Jim Crow" law, with characteristic sarcasm and invective, accused republican leaders of Guthrie of har boring a large negro population for political purposes. Un- 22 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY questionably exaggerations and unqualified falsehoods gained currency during the campaign, and these are not condoned in this screed, but the burden and the bulk of events tended to ward both political and commercial repudiation of Guthrie, and that fact the most partisan reader is entitled to know. With the democrats in control of the state government it was virtually a foregone conclusion that the huge democratic ma jority in the state would, when opportunity was presented, take the capital away from Guthrie. There was more of the South in Oklahoma City than in Guthrie and there was more tolerance among persons from widely separated sections of the United States. Kansas and Texas met on common ground, fought out their differences in a week or a month, and became neighbors and friends. Mich igan locked horns with Massachusetts and in a magical amal gamation the one abbreviated the stretch of his r's and the other interjected that letter into his alphabet. Here the best ideas and ideals of North, South, East and West were cast into the mill hopper and that which was best came out as acceptable food and that which was chaff was not even fed to swine. To some extent socially a similar milling process operated in Guthrie, but the politicians would have none of it. The politicians were in control of the destinies of the city and they countenanced no forgiveness, compromise or retreat. Oklahoma City's characteristic and widely advertised spirit of business and social communion was an asset of incalculable value not only in enterprises of municipal or state concern but in modifying and mollifying notions about it in faroff places of the Nation, and from hundreds of these faroff places came no small percentage of the hundred thousand. After searching through the more or less browned and frazzled-edged records of these thirty-one years the author finds himself in possession of some opinions not previously entertained regarding both policies and men, and of more well- defined opinions about divers things than he formed when transpirings were current. We look upon an event more generously and more charitably after its recession into fifteen or twenty years of history than when the heat and the labor and the turmoil of the day were upon it. By the same yard stick we measure men and organizations. We sift out the THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 23 faults of leaders, which usually we find were of minor degree, and laud and extol their virtues. We forget their passions and even condone the law infractions of a few in consideration of their genuine worthiness as building and boosting citizens. We are penitent that we made unrighteous charges against associations of men. There are residents of the city today who speak unkindly of these associations out of a thimbleful of tattled information who twenty years from today will regret the speech and wonder how it came about that they permitted the progress train to go by without their taking passage. The Chamber of Commerce reared Oklahoma City after it reached its teens. A small and unorganized group of men presented it for adoption when it was time to discard sailor collars and knee breeches, when its vocal organs were chang ing and it had had some scattered and smattered conceptions of a career. Trained directorship was required. In short, if the metaphor may be changed, business prophets saw a long and steep hill to be ascended and they knew that even the first rest level could not be reached unless the team was re- cruited and every puller pulled his prorated share of the load. A history of Oklahoma City, touching commercial and in dustrial activities, during the last twenty years is a history in major part of the Chamber of Commerce. The author admits that this is a revelation to him. It was Mr. Charles G. Jones and Mr. Henry Overholser whose initiative induced the Frisco to build hither, but their efforts might have been fruitless had not the commercial organization of that clay helped them to execute the contract. It was the Chamber of Commerce that secured the two great packing plants. It was the Chamber of Commerce that put brains and energy and money into the campaign that won the state capital. And that body during the World war divested itself of virtually all other purposes and sent its membership into the several war-work enterprises. The Chamber of Commerce did not win the war, nor did any other single organization win it, but its services were of such magnificent proportions, directly and through unnumbered ramifications, that what it accomplished may be candidly classified as the third of its three greatest endeavors during the last twenty years. The commercial appetites of the pioneers were insatiable. 24 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY This singular characteristic was no more extraordinary than their appraisal of the size of the bites they could chew or the capacity of their stomachs. They were in an unpeopled out doors with everything under the sun to ask for and 10,000 acres on which to place all they received. But the number of things they received was so small compared to the number they asked for that it would be infinitesimal if it were not so consequential. As one frolics back over the years to form the acquaintance of men and to envision little spots of progress and wide acres of mediocrity, he is drawn now into a group of sober-minded men asking for a great portion of the fulness of the earth and then into another group of hurrahing men who appear to have even a greater portion than the other group sought. Railroads was an obsession. During a period of ten years no less than fifteen paper railroads were laid through Oklahoma City, and the wonder is that there was practically as much enthusiasm over one scrap of paper as another. The policy of the pioneers was to let nothing slip, to take a shot at everything that had a face of silver even if it lacked a heart of gold and didn't cost in excess of a million dollars. They were liberal-hearted if sometimes flat-pocketed. given to the sport of voting bonds and to the setting of corner- lot posts ten miles into the country ! They foresaw a city of a quarter of a million by such and such a year and made praise and rejoicing over the suspected jealousy of St. Louis, Kansas City and Denver. Optimism probably was an equal of ideas in the kit of con struction tools. You were made a believer whether you willed it or not. A large party of editors of the country came this way once and held their meeting in Guthrie, after which they were taken over an arch of the western part of the Territory. Oklahoma City was the terminus of the tour. As they entered the city, Charles G. Jones walked with heroic tread through the long line of coaches and announced in his homespun Eng lish that the visitors were now entering an honest-to-goodness city. "We have showed you the towns of the Territory," he said, "and now take pleasure in presenting the metropolis of the Territory." At that time census-takers doubtless would have had to pad the returns to make a total of 12,000 souls. But the population disported itself with cosmopolitan grace RESIDENCE OF E. H. COOKE RESIDENTIAL STREET THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 27 and Delmar Garden never put on airs to a better advantage. No editor who wrote of his experiences upon returning home was so ungracious as to omit a paragraph of praise for this wonderful spot, and the Chamber of Commerce was kept busy for weeks sorting its press clippings. It was a few years later, when paving was extended beyond Thirteenth Street and motor-cars fell into the hands of real estate dealers, that a gentleman from Kentucky, having had it proven to him that Fortieth Street was but five minutes out, paid a fine figure for a raw corner lot and then discovered that the property was four miles from Main and Broadway. But the Kentuckian, remembering the speed possibilities of gasoline and its decep tion in distances, took the "skinning" with good grace and awaited an opportunity to heap coals of fire. When, yet a little later, there were populated streets bej^ond the sixties he pocketed his 700 per cent of profit, reenacted the clauses of his wrath against Oklahoma realty men and spread the news of good fortune throughout the Blue Grass country. Some persons hold that this accounts for Oklahoma's large number of ex-Kentuckians ! In the early formative years the city had a railroad today and a bursted balloon tomorrow, a million-dollar cotton mill today and an untouched industrial addition tomorrow, a gush ing gas well at its door today and an extinct crater tomorrow. On the other hand, it had a postage stamp and the price of a telegram today and six million dollars invested in meat pack- eries tomorrow, a committee seeking a few funds today and a Frisco railroad tomorrow, a little political wire-pulling today and a state capital tomorrow, a little more effort, a little more pep, a little more brain, a little more cash today and a 100,000 population tomorrow. What outcomes these late years reveal! A black-haired young man who once carried the pistol of a deputy marshal and swapped town lots on dusty corners of dull days to terrify the wolf erects a million-dohar office building, hobnobs with the leading captains of industry of the country and is called Colonel Coleord. The proprietor of a livery stable, who hauled homesteaders, homeseekers, contestants, lawyers, squatters, speculators and probably outlaws over the hills and hollows of a roadless landscape and outfitted young men in spotless 28 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY clothes for Sunday afternoon buggy rides with their sweet hearts and friends, builds the city's first big hotel and one of its first Main Street office buildings, accumulates a fortune otherwise and moves up to Kansas City where they respect fully prefix a mister to the once plain Oscar Lee. A cow- puncher from the sandy lands and sapoaks of Grayson County, Texas, who, contrary to all habits and traits of his kind, ac quires the Spencerian art and passes it on to others, becomes an accountant of parts and is promoted to the office of treas urer of his state — introducing the honorable William L. Alex ander. Somehow it was expected that Henry Overholser would accumulate a fortune; he was gifted in such fashion. But it would have required uncommon prophecy to picture him in a palatial home set upon a long verdured ridge that once tempered the sting of the "northers," and more than a mile away from Main Street ! Thither also went Edward Cooke, the banker, and topped the ridge with a brick residence of English persuasion that furnished a topic for conversation intervals at many an afternoon tea. Some eight or ten years later Edith Johnson discovered that the ridge had become the pick of the exclusive rich and in their midst flowered culture and social fantasmies, dwelt period furniture and reading- lamps and servants and lions on guard at the gates. Some day every conscientious and consistent promoter will sit on the beach and witness the arrival of his ship. Some such a pro verbial notion was entertained by the contemporaries of C. G. Jones and they praised him in a spirit of realized anticipa tion when he more than once saw the gang plank inclined from the bow. And through the interlocking years run the careers of J. M. Owen and A. L. Welch and Ed Overholser and Dr. A. C. Scott and George Cooke, and a score of others, who wrestled with a mediocrity that prevailed on Main Street in '89 and conquered it in piecemeal before frost formed upon their temples. No feats were extraordinary. The city isn't set apart and billboarded with announcements that it, of all middle west cities, stands alone as a veritable wonder of the age. But the men that sledge-hammered the spikes into the sills, raised the walls, stretched the joists, elevated the rafters, nailed on the shingles and painted and furnished the house are entitled to have their names written on the box that the post- THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 29 man uses ; indeed, if it so gratifies them, to have their initials carved into the very sides of the gate-guarding lions. It has become an honor for one to say he is an eighty-niner, as much so in pleasant memories and mental apartness as if one were descended from a Mayflower passenger or a hero of the Amer ican Revolution. Graver responsibilities were upon those that came after them. Their numbers waxed smaller and smaller as the tides of the '90s ascended and so much smaller in the next three decades that their outstanding ones were the first scattered stars of evening. The researcher heartily regrets their demise, but no sooner are the tears wiped away than their successors greet him. The names of Overholser, Brown, Scott, Owen, Cooke, Alexander, Wilkin, Clarke, Coleord, Lee, Welch and Pettee go streaking through the years like super-huntsmen of a chase traversing a thousand miles of mountain crags. But ere many miles are left at rear new names are flashed upon the peaks — Classen, Shartel, Ames, Stone, Bass, Heyman, Brock, Frederickson, Warren, Gaylord, Workman, these and many others, brief ac counts of whose endeavors are found in these modest and pos sibly mediocre pages. Sitting in judgment from the vantage point of the historian one glimpses new angles of character and appraises some of them in the fullness of their careers as these lay indited upon the spread of the years. One reaches an inevitable conclusion that a man cannot occupy an exalted position in business or the professions for twenty years or thirty years, with his name gold-lettered upon the paramount transactions of the times, save and except his virtues vastly outweigh his vices. Equally inevitable is the conclusion that a display of selfishness now and then, which may inure to con siderable profit, is insignificant when one views a paramount transaction completed and observes the measure of its public benefaction. One is tempted to set up in the literature of the years little monuments of cheer built over the buried small- ness of evil and dedicated to the mountain-size bignesses of good. The pleasurable task of jotting clown a few paragraphs of upstanding things in the history of Oklahoma City has had its disappointments. They are based on the potent fact of incompleteness. For instance, one could have written a vol- 30 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY ume relating to litigation affecting the several individual tracts of land that now comprise the entity of the city, and it would have been replete with the atmosphere of tragedy, strat egy, deception and romance; but an attempt has been made to introduce the reader to the subject, to relate only important facts and dismiss it out of regard to the pressing call of an other subject equally interesting and equally important. Some excellent themes have been cruelly deserted as they hung suspended over the precipice of a chapter end. Others have been grounded for lack of substantial facts to bear them far ther. But in nearly every case the reader's reasoning will fill the gaps and afford satisfactory conclusions. The author has sought to tell in essential detail of important enterprises that were accomplished — such as the securing of railroads, the achievement of the capital and the establishment of the pack- eries — and to minimize even the glamorous enthusiasm over enterprises that failed. There was a Putnam City bubble. There was a cotton mill bubble. There were railroad bubbles in amazing numbers. There were oil and gas bubbles that spent as much gas before they burst as the average Oklahoma gas well produces. A hundred important things were started and never finished, such as a newspaper railroad into the northwestern part of the state. Most of our failures have no virtue as guides to posterity and therefore have been scantily touched in these narratives. Similar disposition has been made of crime and scandal, the muchness of which in an early decade stained the Territory's reputation abroad. Oklahoma City is an example for nearly all other cities and towns of the State. As such its influence cannot be measured in the realm of commerce, education, society or religion. Demonstration of its leadership was never more marked than during the World war. It is doubtful if more than a few of its business leaders appreciate its position, doubtful if they have given a serious thought to the fact that chronicles of their daily doings are carried by the newspapers into tens of thousands of homes out in the state and that these chronicles and the per sonality of the individuals mentioned in them are topics of street-corner, community-house and fireside discussions. It is remarked often that one goes out into the state to learn details of what is going on at home. It is of vital concern to THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 31 the State, therefore, that what Oklahoma City does should be done cautiously, properly and with due regard to its effect upon what we may appropriately call her constituency. The character of a city should be as sacred as that of an individual. Disillusionments frequently are fatal to reputation. A COTTAGE FOR TWO On the barkless white trunk of a veteran oak, long since superannuated to the service of the weary, sat Mary Lake. An October day was departing. Long shadows covered the open spaces of the little forest at the edge of the prairie. Her blue sunbonnet hung below the broad white collar of a blue waist and her brown curls dropped carelessly into little tangles under the ripples of lazy breezes. She looked with lowered eyes into miniature excavations in the loose soil where two shoe tips aimlessly carried on a process of engineering. On her mind was a problem as old as the ages. In her heart was an experience more precious than great riches. The mind and the heart were in controversy, and the subject was as ancient as the beginnings of the sex and as modern as the mighty moment. "It's desperately hard, Louis, but I feel it imperative to say it. About your people, }^our ancestry. I know nothing of them. What were your beginnings, how were you reared, where have you been, what have you done % ' ' She spoke it quickly, almost in a breath, and when it was out at last, the marks of intense seriousness left her face. She turned toward the lad sitting on the root of an ash two yards distant. Tears slipped out timidly and arrayed themselves like silver beads upon her cheeks. A smile disarranged them and they fell playfully into her lap. Something suggesting a new dawn was warped into that smile, something emblemati cal of infinite relief. The lad at the foot of the tree received the message into a mind full of trouble, a gnawing, blighting, insidious sort of trouble, deep and penetrating and calculated to thwart ambi tion and drive a poor fellow to the mad house. But it was an ameliorating message, a revivifying, soul satisfying sort of a message. It was an interrogation affirmative. It answered yes to the paramount question of the centuries. 33 34 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Louis Mason burst into laughter. He leaped from the root of the tree, twirled his soft hat into a mass of brown sage grass, cast a couple of triangles with his hands upon his hips, looked triumphantly upon the girl, and the melodies of his laughter floated vibrantly upon the breeze. She welcomed him. She divined his answer. Yet un spoken, it removed all her doubt. And when he sat beside her, enfolded her in his arms and kissed her warm desirous lips. world peace was a reality, nation became nation's neighbor, armaments were sunk in the waters of the seas, brotherly love prevailed everywhere, and heaven came down to earth and blessed it. Close beside her in the accumulating dusk of the delight ful autumn day, unmindful of the hour, unheeding of the sup per bell at the ranch house a quarter of a mile away, forgetful of the mooing cows and the neighing of hungry horses, Louis Mason told her this story : "I am a sixteenth-blood Choctaw Indian. Aboriginal an cestry exists in both my parents. My mother is the grand- 7 daughter of the first missionary that came among the Choc-' taws. Her grandmother was the daughter of a great chieftain who was a friend of presidents and a commissioner of his tribe who sat in the councils of statesmen that framed the early treaties. The missionaiw she married was a college man of New Jersey, a descendent of passengers on the Mayflower. He was beloved of all the Indians, and I believe his influence ' for uprightness would have been marked in the race to this clay had not white men without scruples taught his generation and the one before it that lying and stealing and murder were essentials to getting on well in the world. "It was this teaching that brought community troubles and open warfare into the Choctaw country many years be fore you and I were born. It led to the organization of a band of fullbloods, called Snakes, who imagined that the in termixture of Caucasian blood with Indian blood in the race drove out veneration for fullblood ancestry and caused a de parture from the ideals of the forefathers of the race. "The Snakes listed every mixed-blood as their enemy. They made him an outcast from their society. Continued in termarriage intensified their hatred, and the gradual growth OKLAHOMA CITY'S FIRST SETTLERS THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 37 in the population of mix-bloods and whites drove the Snakes into more secret hiding places and strengthened the bond of their union. At length the Snakes resolved to drive their enemies from the nation. Armed with bows and arrows, butcher knives and hatchets and a few rifles and revolvers they swept in small armies out of the Kiamichi Mountains down upon the settlements of the mixed-bloods in the valleys of Little River and the Red. They massacred men, women and children, burned their homes and their barns and put to flight those fortunate enough to escape their ferocities. Then they returned to the mountains and held a thanksgiving pow wow and ended the evil day with a dance in which braves jig jigged round the 'sacred' fire, holding upright sharp- pointed slender poles topped with bloody scalps. "This was the beginning of an extended warfare which was ended by United States troops and the execution of a treaty of peace between the United States Government and the leader of the Snakes. That was the only time the Govern ment ever made a treaty with an individual. "My grandfather was among the mixecl-bloocls who es caped the wrath of the Snakes. He crossed with his family into Texas and there remained as a peaceful farmer until the troubles were all fully ended and Indians were given allot ments. He returned to the Choctaw country, selected allot ments for all members of the family and settled down to a useful life in a rich and rapidly developing region. Mixed- bloods soon became predominant in affairs of the nation and the decimating band of Snakes maintained a secret but pub licly inactive organization back in the fastness of the moun tains. Their organization exists to this day and the oldest members of it still believe that one clay the Great White Father will restore unto them their happy hunting grounds. "My father became a judge among his people, and tradi tion says that he was a good and wise judge. And this must have been true, for in time he was elevated to the station of supreme judge of the nation. His advice and counsel fre quently were sought in Washington by members of Congress and the heads of departments, and considerable of the last twenty years of his life was spent in the capital. "My mother was a native of Virginia, a relative of Gen- 38 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY eral Lee, a descendent of a hero of the American Revolution, and a member of the society of Colonial Dames. Her mother was the wife of a Choctaw Indian of ambition whom the early missionaries sent back to Virginia to school and who after graduation from the University of Virginia practised law in Richmond. A desire to learn more of her father's people and to be of service to the tribe brought her West. She came by boat up the Mississippi and Red rivers and landed in the vicin ity of the present site of Colbert. After a few years she became the wife of Judge Mason and they lived at the old trading post near Fort Towson. "Modesty hardly warrants my saying more about my mother. Histories of the Choctaw people, some of which 1 will one day present to you in commemoration of this day's event in my own life, credit her with exceptional grace and charm, with unusual talent and tact, and with being among the founders of social, educational and religious movements that have eradicated prejudice against those of aboriginal an cestry and established for the Indians an imperishable place among the exalted races of undoubted Americanism. "My land inheritance in the Choctaw country is intact. It is a homestead of rich grasses, fragrant flowers, perpetually running spring waters, a fertile valley of brown soil, and a horizon of western hills wherein abound wild turkey and deer. In a bit of white oak woodland stands the house, a nobby little log and chink affair with a chimney of white stone, a wide hall that leads to the rock-rimmed well that is sheltered by a vine-covered roof connecting with the dining room and kitchen in the rear, and a garden of roses which my mother planted before the front porch. Some day we'll journey thither and I'l tell you a tribal legend plotted near a little waterfall hid away in my mountains. "It was a coalition of the instincts of the two races that gave me life that led me to abandon the homestead and travel outward and upward, toward the prairies and the plains, the expansive horizons and the setting sun. It's the instinct of the explorer, the purposeful man, rather than that of the idle wanderer. The Indian blood directs a search for a new happy hunting ground ; the Caucasian blood commands its adaptation to usefulness. THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 39 "Again, ranch life appealed to me. How many times as a small boy have I sat during long evening hours and listened to stories of adventure. Our Indian lads of seventeen and up ward went out green and ungainly and came back veteran cow boys, and the experiences they related of life on the ranges, of roundups, of chuck wagons, of following the herds into dis tant States, of cutting and branding, of wild stampedes, and of farflung social life, were so impelling that only the boy at the apron-string could resist the call for like adventure. "At nineteen I started on the great adventure. On these pleasant prairies and in these grassy fertile valleys I found it. I have had three years of it now. I have learned nearly all there is to know about operating a cattle ranch. The teach ings of your father have made me skillful, expert, alert. And I enjoy his fullest confidence. He trusts me absolutely. I am the boss of his ranch, the puncher in chief of half a hundred cattle hands. Disposition of his ten thousand cattle is a matter for my own judgment. "I think the thoughts of the West. I speak the language of the West. I am of and for the West. If I were the great white father in Washington I would command that it never be changed. It has a civilization of its own, and it's good enough to endure. This doctrine of the advance of civilization westward is puerile bunk. These prairies were created to support this life of the ranch, the woods to support that other kind of life that is described to us as civilization. "But the great white father, whatever may be his attitude toward us of the ranch country, is powerless to perpetuate the ranches. Kings of the cattle country have made vain ap peals in Washington. The ranches must go. Their days are numbered. We are told that we must move farther to the west with our herds or lay down the saddle and the spurs and take up the plow and the hoe. Hordes shortly will be over running our pastures and real estate dealers hanging their signs on our fence posts. And we may not speculate randomly if we close our eyes and draw a mental picture of the estab lishment on this spot of a great metropolis, 'the commercial center of the great Southwest.' " Louis Mason discoursed calmly, as if love and the win ning of a heart were of less consequence than biography. But 40 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY he spoke eloquently, courageously. Perhaps it was the elo quence and the courage of the bridegroom leading his chosen into the unfolding pleasures of the honeymoon cottage. An eavesdropping moon peeped reticently out of the Pot- tawotomie Country. The colors of sunset melted into the last faint glow of a departing luminary. A coyote cried plain tively in the dusky distance. Hand in hand the lovers walked slowly along the narrow path to the ranch house. For a long time a sort of impersonal friendship existed between Mary and Louis. She had spent only part of each year on the ranch, the remainder attending school in Massa chusetts. Her graduation was an event of the previous spring and she was now entering an autumn of respite, a part of which she expected to devote to assembling material for a book. Teachers, students and other friends in the East during the past four years through numberless queries about her life in the West had inspired her to write the tales she told them. But her plans were maturing reluctantly. Louis Mason, her father's ranch boss, had come dominantly into her life these last few months. Not Louis Mason of the saddle and spurs and not the handsome young chief of the roundup, but an invisible Louis Mason. The influence came to her unbidden. It was a friendship that came not from intimate association. Mason conceived that his employer had better things in mind for his daughter than marrying her to a half breed boss of a few happy-go-lucky eowpunchers. Nor did Mary Lake venture more overtures than a pair of pretty talkative blue eyes. She had never accompanied him on the roundup nor dined with him at the chuck wagon far over toward the Co manche Country. She appropriated all the best elements of frontier life without emulating ranch girls of atmospheric western books. Horseback riding was neither a diversion nor a hobby. Rather was she given to making flower beds and cultivating plants. Their meeting in the wood was not prearranged; it was purely accidental. They chanced to meet as she walked for pleasure and as he inspected the back fence of the small horse pasture. Inevitably a few things theretofore unspoken slipped ORIGINAL SITE OF OKLAHOMA CITY THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 43 over two pairs of unsteady lips. There were no equivocations when the ice was broken. They talked frankly and freely and unrandomty, and when it was all told and words were scarce and intervals of silence grew steadily longer and more im pressive, Louis asked her to become his wife. It was the day after the next that Mary abandoned con vention. At sunrise she climbed blithely into the seat of the buckboard with Mason and they set off for Shawnee Town, where Louis was to dicker for a herd of Texas longhorns. Shawnee Town was a village of the Pottawotomie Country adjoining the Unassigned Territory on the east. The. pair of sportive bay steeds, sleek and fat and trimly curried, leaped eagerly to the collars and bounded out into the pasture road. Robert Lake waved them an adios from the doorstep and returned to the dining room to finish his breakfast. "Whatever can have happened?" asked Mrs. Lake. ' ' Mary has never done things like that. Do you think raneh life is making a tomboy out of her1?" "I don't know what has happened," answered her hus band, his amusement unconcealed, "but the girl's acting like a regular fellow. It pleases me a lot, too, for I feared that she'd find the life monotonous and, want to go a,wi\y to the friends she's been accustomed to in the East." "Well, Louis will take good care of her, we can count on that," said Mrs. Lake. "He is an excellent young man and must have come from a very superior Indian family. I'd as leave trust her with Louis as with her own brother. ' ' They lingered at the table. The feeding season had not yet begun, for the pastures of luxuriant grass were yet pala table. Contracts had been negotiated for a winter's supply of cottonseed meal, which came from settlements in the Chick asaw Country and the rich black land cotton belt of North eastern Texas, and the labor of repairing windbreaks and fences in advance of the first chilling "norther" of the season was well under way. Robert Lake, a grey-haired man of fifty, whom the tonic of the frontier had kept physically superb during twenty-five years of his life upon it, faced the gravest problem of his business career. Singularly for one of his kind, his con cern was less over the possibility of a financial loss than the 44 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY virtual certainty of his surrendering a business for which he was specially talented, to which he had devoted a quarter century of his maturity, and in which he found pleasure, to his own way of thinking, incomparable in any other avocation of the West. It was certainly a matter of only a few years until the cattlemen occupying the Unassigned Territory of what men were now calling Oklahoma would have to move out. Fer tility of the soil had been discovered. That it was more val uable for agricultural than grazing purposes had been im pressed upon officials in Washington. And not the least consequential of those who everlastingly stressed the fact were officials of the two railroads that had been permitted to enter the Indian Territory. The railroads maintained a powerful lobby in the capital. A lobby of almost equal influence was maintained there also by an organization of cattlemen whose herds ranged over the Cherokee Outlet, the Chej^enne and Arapahoe and the Kiowa and Comanche reservations. It was evident that eventually the cattlemen would lose. Boomers were attempting to colonize the territory. Time and again their little bands had been driven out by Government officials and regulars of the United States army, and each time Washing ton was more nearly convinced that the territory should be divided into homesteads and sold to farmers. As a matter of fact, Robert Lake himself had settled here with a view of acquiring a fortune out of the cattle industry and enjoying it in later years as a resident of a modern commu nity. The lands he grazed were leased from Indian nations and he paid for grazing lights by the head rather than by the number of acres covered by the herds. But he had be come enamored of the business. The abstract thing of the business itself was not represented by the thousands of dol lars, net and clean, that lay to his credit in banks of the States. The life of the ranch was the life for Robert Lake. Sugges tions of a revival of the purpose for which he came originally were unwelcome. These suggestions were coming more fre quently now and Lake found it imperative that he begin mak ing plans for an entirely different sort of a life. "We are here by every right of law," said Lake, "and by honest effort we have built up a little fortune. But talk of THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 45 ejection is becoming general in Kansas and Texas. An order to move is likely to come any day now. Do you recall the big- swarthy stranger from Texas that came up the Arbuckle Trail last spring and camped in the pasture down on Lightning Creek °? He was an emissary of the enemies of the cattlemen, in fact a personal representative of Colonel Carpenter." "Colonel Carpenter?" exclaimed Mrs. Lake. "Why, I thought Carpenter was put in jail, that we had heard the last of the man." "Not in jail," replied her husband, "but at liberty and again very active. Using the same tactics that he used in the Black Hills colonization scheme." It was Col. C. C. Carpenter who induced Lake to enter the cattle business in the Unassigned Territory. They had met as very }roung men in Chicago, while Lake was yet a student in the University of Illinois, and Lake had promised to make the adventure after graduation. They met frequently during the succeeding few years but whatever of friendship they formed Lake severed when he learned of the character of Carpenter. "Here's the latest about Carpenter," said Lake. He re turned to the breakfast table with a late copy of a St. Louis newspaper. It contained excerpts from an Indian service inspector's report to Washington, and was written in Coffey- ville, Kan. ' ' Carpenter is here, ' ' wrote the inspector. ' ' He is the same bragging, tying nuisance that I knew him to be seventeen years ago, when he infested Fremont's quarters. He will not put his head in clanger by entering the Territory. It is a pity that the law could not hold him as a conspirator against the public peace. * * * He came to Independence, some twenty miles from here, at the end of a little spur of the rail road. The merchants agreed to give him $500 when his first party came and $1,000 more when 1,000 emigrants had been moved into the Territory by him. He could not satisfy the parties that he had a party at all. They refused to pay the first instalment and he left that place for this, saying the Independence people had gone back on him." "And last week," continued Lake, "I was again reminded of the insecurity of our position by the presence on the range 46 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY of a party of men, women and children, who traveled out here by ox wagon from the Kickapoo Country. They made camp on Deep Fork and when I asked them their mission a spokes man replied that they had come to select homesteads and do some farming. I reported their presence to Washington and President Hayes issued a proclamation warning all persons to desist from intruding on Indian lands. But they swore they had come to stay when I told them of the proclamation, and added that others of their kind were to follow. ' ' This Oklahoma War Chief also is causing embarrassment to the cattlemen. It is a little newspaper that insists upon the country being opened to settlement by farmers." He read from a recent number of the War Chief : ' ' The Secretary of the Interior complains to the President of the United States that 'intruders' and 'trespassers' are settling on Indian lands. The President thereupon (without inquiry as to whether such alleged settlement be within the limits of a regularly established Indian reservation or merely on the un appropriated public domain) orders the Secretary of the In terior to use the army in removing intruders. * * * Cat tlemen can pass unmolested, but settlers are all removed. Im plements are destroyed, provisions confiscated, men sometimes temporarily placed under arrest, but never tried. * * * No question was ever asked as to the propriety of such policy. The President relies implicitly on representations of the Sec retary of the Interior, and the Secretary of War has no choice but to carry out instructions of constituted authority. * * * The suffering settlers have no redress. ' ' Lake was not comforted by military movements or repeated pronouncements of policy from Washington. He could fore see dismemberment of this empire much more clearly than any man who simply theorized on abstract principles of right or justice or policy. Through the Lake ranch, sometimes known as the Circle Bar, the North Canadian River made a crooked thread. Over the western prairies it cut a relatively even course, but when it touched the outposts of a cross-timbers region, which rimmed the western slope of the great anticlinal Pennsylvania structure, it wriggled itself into knots and zigzagged its chan nel, thereby creating irregularly arched sections of valleys. A GROUP OF PIONEERS Top Row— Henry Overholser, J. M. Owen, I. A. Stewart, Fred Dobbin, F. M. Riley. Bottom Row— C. G. Jones, Henry Will, T. M. Richardson, Sidney Clarke THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 49 In one of these sections Robert Lake had established his branding pen. Back of the pen and fringing the red bank of the stream thrived a little forest of small ash, oak, cottonwood and elm. In the early }Tears of his occupation of the ranch Robert Lake often imagined it a place of retreat for the chil dren and the weary of a great city. If thirty years later he had returned, the joyous offspring of a new population doubt less would have proffered granddad a slide for life down the incline of a shoot-the-shoots that had been dedicated to juve nile recreation in this identical little wood by the river. On the upper side of the cross-timbers pasture and about four miles north of the ranch house three small streams with insignificant sources somewhere out in the old buffalo lands came into confluence, and a few hundred feet east of this point Lake had constructed a small dam. Upstream was a long and narrow excavation made to receive and retain waters equal to the ability of the dam to hold in check. These streams fur nished clear water that was quite superior to the muddy liquid of the Canadian, and here the horses and the young spring calves quenched their thirst. Robert Lake pictured land scaping possibilities here — a great lake with long, narrow, meandering inlets, furnishing shady retreats and picturesque nooks and little wooded islands created by canals cut from one inlet to another. Could he have returned a quarter of a cen tury later and looked upon this Belle Isle, perhaps he would have sincerely repented that his once genuine devotion to prog ress departed with the passing years. On this ranch the last buffalo of the midlands of the West was slain. The animal had strayed away from a herd driven out of the Wichita Mountains and sought refuge in the Keechi Hills. A cowboy dressed the hide and it became a rug in the big living room of the Lake home. Rainfall was regular and of sufficient quantity to make vegetation in glorious abundance. In midsummer sage grass in the valleys and the lower slopes of the rolling hills grew nearly as high as the knee of a man in the saddle. On prairie eminences and in shallower soil mesquite grass thrived. Wild flowers of a hundred shades and forms smiled in early spring, splashing the hillsides with a million fragrant bouquets. Out- 50 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY spread landscapes of trees and streams and hills and valleys and grass and flowers were clothed with beauty into the dim blue of the distant horizon. Westward from the ranch house the eye detected no sign or symbol of artificiality. It looked upon the big outdoois of God's country, a land of perpetual splendor, sufficiently varied in topography to furnish inspira tion to the elect of the painters' craft. No suggestion of the desert, so illustrative of the West. East of the land of the cactus and the haggard, drouth-blighted mesquite. East of the monotony of unending levels. Backward from the re gions of gyp, backward into the everlasting sources of ciystal pure water. "It's a wonderful country," said Robert Lake. "And it's our country," spoke his wife. She loved this West. She entered it protesting as a bride. But it wooed her into adoration. The flowers and the hills were hers, the trees and the rippling water, the mellow sunsets and even the spec tacularly dramatic electrical storms of April and November. She was unforgiving of intruders. Their motives she inter preted as ulterior. An idea of the greater good she could not entertain with this deep-seated prejudice against them. "Not our country but God's country," her husband mildly corrected her. They had sat long in thought and discussion. Mid morning slipped quickly upon them. "We won't leave it," he concluded. "Whatever happens, we'll stay. If it is opened to settlers we'll bid them welcome and divide the sunshine and the flowers with them. We'll be big-hearted, liberal-handed — and, Georgiana, don't you think we'd enjoy having some neighbors again1?" Georgiana Lake refound her girlhood and the good and loyal friends of other years. She suddenly recollected that she had been lonesome many, many times, that she had en dured adversities, that she had surrendered many of the finer things of life to live this string of years in the West with the man she loved. So she found some joy in tears and she wept them unabashed. And Memory was her pensive Ruth that went "gleaning the silent fields of childhood" to find the "shat tered grain still golden and the morning sunlight fresh and fair." THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 51 Shawnee Town, Louis and Mary found a scene of unusual activity. Its sandy little streets were trod by men of foreign habitation. They were strong men, with sunbrowned faces and bared forearms. They wore wide-rimmed hats, such as most men wore in Arkansas, and stoggy crashing boots with pantaloons crammed inside, as was the fashion in the black- lands of Texas. They carried murderous looking revolvers in scabbards at their hips and the stocks of long peppery whips in their hands. They came out of wagons covered with sheets that were weather stained and muddy and that wilted like soiled linens over the saggy bows at the rear. Their wagons were drawn by oxen. Some most heavily loaded were hitched to two or three teams of oxen. In the wagons were all mannei\of beds and boxes and implements, and above them, their bonneted heads protruding into the sunshine, scores of tired-looking women and dirty-faced children. Fifty such outfits were halted in the sandj^ streets of old Shawnee Town. They had halted for provisions, to rest the teams, to get directions for traveling, to find a convenient camping place, and to give the men an opportunity to recon- noiter. The faces of the men were not displeasing, yet one could easily imagine they carried a distrustful cast of sternness. Undoubtedly they were purposeful faces. But they were not the purposeful faces, for instance, of marshals of the Terri tory who traveled in groups with like firearms and carried Winchesters on their saddles. They were not pleasure-seek ers; they were movers. Their equipment differed decidedly from that of the average covered wagon of that day, which carried summer tourists who had laid by crops and were bound for the home of dad or to visit "wife's kinfolks." "Like as not they're goin' to take the old man's ranch," the trading-post proprietor said in answer to Louis' interroga tion. "They're headed for Oklahoma or bust, they tell me. They say there's a million acres of gov 'ment land out there and that it belongs to the people of the country and not to a few cattle kings. ' ' "That's a big country," said Mason. "Did they indicate where they calculated to stop ?" "They have had a scout over the country and he picked 52 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 'em a likely place. This scout met 'em here, and one of 'em said he told 'em about some fine land on the Canadian River near the Lake ranch." "Damnation!" exploded Louis Mason. "Who's the cap tain of the bunch % ' ' The merchant indicated the man to whom the scout had reported. "You wait here in the store, dear," he said to Mary. "I'll see what these galoots are up to. ' ' "So you're the messenger of the cattle kings, are you 1 1 smiled a big bullyragging sort of an Arkansan after Ma son had introduced himself. "I 'lowed as how the sharks 'd be sendin' a delegation out to meet us." "No delegation at all," Mason hastened to assure him. "We didn't know you were coming, or we'd have killed the fatted calf. ' ' Mason knew their kind. He spoke their language on occa sion. He knew their manner of living, their habits. They were not greatty unlike the whites and halfbreeds of his own nation, for the whites of his nation had come principally from the land of red apples, sassafras tea, and lumber camps. "We didn't expect no reception this fur out," big Bill Bryant laughed in return, "and neither did we look fur a Injun to head the reception committee. But now that we have met, what can we do fur 3rou, how are all the folks and what 's the chance to get a gallon o ' moonshine % ' ' "Where do you expect to stop in Oklahoma?" Mason asked, driving at once to the issue. "That depends on the grass and water and the lay of the land," answered Bryant. "You see we are advised by our lawyers that the whole country is subject to settlement and that the early birds may have their choice. We calculate to take the best we can find." "I fear your legal advice is unsound," argued Mason, good naturedly, "but that's not here nor there. Other people in Oklahoma have rights that must be respected. You certainly do not expect to trespass upon lands occupied by others, for if you have rights, they undoubtedly have the same rights." "We don't allow as how we'll have to do anv shootin'," the THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 53 brawny one replied, "but we come prepared. Wild Injuns might be abroad, you know. ' ' Bryant laughed coarsely. He was sagely if indelicately evasive. Mason perceived that he could make no progress in an exchange of provincial half-serious pleasantries. He wished Bryant and his crowd luck and turned toward the buckboard and the waiting girl with apparent good humor. They drove hurriedly westward out of the village, Louis silent and thoughtful. Unmindful of the seriousness of events rapidly approaching and suppressing an alert curiosity, Mary permitted the silence to continue until Louis ended it sud denly as if a conclusion had been reached. "We're going to have serious trouble," he told the girl. "Trouble!" she exclaimed. "You don't mean that those movers are thieves or outlaws'?" "Worse than that," he replied; "they are highwaymen who take your possessions in broad daylight." Then he told her a story of the long fight by heads of colo nization schemes and railroad lobbies against the cattlemen of the Unassigned Territory. He told of the powerful influ ences brought to bear in Washington, of the building of a mountain of prejudice against grazing lessees, of expeditions of land seekers and their ejection by United States soldiers; in short, of a succession of events that had transpired during the recent few years on the frontier. This information the parents of Miss Lake had concealed from her. "The days of the cattlemen are numbered," he concluded. "This gang at Shawnee Town probably will not trouble us, for I know how to deal with them peaceably; but the effort they make, which is likely to end in failure, will only add another link to the chain of events that eventually will induce Congress to let the farmers in. ' ' Conversation on the return journey was heclgy. It had a tone of depression and was sporadic. Whatever there was of it interrupted the building of two castles in the air. Brown and gold veneered the shaggy timber. The winding narrow road, of red clay on the long slopes and brown-sugar sand in the endless succession of parallel depressions, unobstructed by fences, fringed by brown grasses and shaded here and there by frowsy tree tops, was the principal highway between the 54 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY reservations of the Five Civilized Tribes and the Unassigned Territory. It was a country fit to grow fruits and vegetables, peanuts and watermelons, and its wrinkled surface, the char acter of its stone and the dip of its depressions indicated hid den pools of natural gas. Louis Mason reached the ranch without a definite light, for the gray haze of the future. Mary Lake, mindful of an increasing devotion to Louis, envisioned contentment beyond the horizon, but found only tangles of briars in the mental landscape of the day. "We'll find a way, little girl," he whispered to her in the starlight b}^ the yard gate. "I love you beyond words and that love shall be my guide, my inspiration, my comfort, until the storm clouds, are passed and my joy and my life when the fair clays come again." " It 's good to love, ' ' breathed Mary. She snuggled momen tarily in his arms and her rubicund lips welcomed the warm touch of his. "You'll find a way, Louis," she said. "Good night. ' ' Events of the succeeding months are chapters of the dra matic history of the Unassigned Territoiy just prior to the passage by congress of a bill providing for the opening of the Territory to homestead settlement. They included the migra tion of the cattle kings, dispossession of the ranges, removal of property, stationing of soldiers along the borders, ejection of persons who were called "sooners," and eventually the firing of military guns that signaled the beginning of the greatest rush for land in all history. Robert Lake was among the first to pull stake. He sold his cattle, delivered his home temporarily into possession of the Government and moved his family and household goods into the Pottawotomie Country. "Whether in the future it may be called an honor or a dishonor for one to be known as a sooner," he said, "we shall at least be immune from the charge of being obstructionists." Louis Mason accompanied them, counting this the last service to his employer. And when they were settled in an Indian-country log-cabin at Shawnee Town and the morning of a third day was dawning, he rode away through the open forest in the direction of his Indian home. TWO AND A BEAUTY SPOT WHERE THE RANCH STOCK WATERED THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 57 Robert Lake participated in the run for lands, an event transpiring within a year after his departure from the ranch. He rocle his swiftest horse and was equipped with camp para phernalia and biscuits and bacon. Every clay for three weeks before the run he had exercised himself and his horse in prep aration for an endurance test that not even the most expe rienced cow punchers ever had had to undergo. He waited with the hundred thousand at the eastern line of the promised land and when the cannon boomed, his spir ited mount charged majestically through the quickly dis arranged lines of horsemen. The country was familiar to Lake. He knew the short-cut routes of the timberland, and the crossable fording places of the large streams. He trav eled many miles alone over a southward swing, correct in the assumption that the hordes would center fire to the west or shoot diagonally to the northward. He conserved horseflesh and human strength, a precaution that never entered the minds of thousands of eager riders. He rode at a moderate speed over the middle section of the route, stopping occa sionally to let his steed blow and cool. He rode at last tri umphantly upon the old ranch. South of the river he staked a claim, with not a man to contest him. When he was fully established, with mount habiliments, a frying pan and a few victuals as wherewithal of settlement proof, he peered through the trees to the northward. He beheld the cloth and pine beginnings of a city, outspread over the near environs of the ranch house. The relative quietude of his virgin homestead lasted for but a few minutes, for out of the Chickasaw Country came a horde of mad men racing northward. Tree, high rose the creamy clouds of dust beaten out of the grass-carpeted lands by the steeled hoofs of ten thousand snorting, panting, sweat ing steeds. Heavy thunders rose out of the mighty cavalcade. The vanguard burst out of a lower line of timber upon the prairie valley of the Lake homestead. Lake watched their approach eagerly. He sensed as an observer the almost savage wildness of their protagonistic desires. Suddenly they were upon him. Their dust enveloped him so that he was hid from the sight of the rear divisions. He fled to a large elm tree twenty rods away for protection. 58 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Out of the outstripping rank a man dropped and dismounted by the tree. They faced each other half blinded. "No competition here, sir," said the arrival. It was a familiar voice to Lake. "And none here," replied Lake. "Holy hemlocks!" exclaimed Louis Mason. "We meet again and on the old ranch. ' ' "And a mighty welcome chap you are," laughed Lake. "What are you after?" "Town lots," replied Mason. The heavy cavalcade approached the river. "I'll be back and bunk with you," Mason said at parting. He remounted and his respited horse plunged spiritedly into the sand and then into the water of the stream. Reaching the boundary of the embryo city Mason turned his horse into a public corral of barbed wire, received from the keeper an identification card and hurried toward the reg istration booth. Before the booth stood a line of waiting men and women hundreds of yards long. It was at this booth that applicants for town lots stated their qualifications to purchase. Mason made another link in the waving and weaving hu man chain. The advance was a few inches at a time. After two hours he was within ten yards of the booth. The line here was on the main street of the tent city. Gamblers, high waymen, confidence men, contest attorneys, claim jumpers, traders, real estate dealers, the marks of whose professions were writ unmistakabty upon their faces, mingled and milled along the line, each awaiting his human prospect. "How much for your place in line?" yelled a coarse voice out of the din of the jumble. Mason's face veered toward the sound. "Hello, kid, I want to trade with you," called Bill Bryant. "I'll trade with you after the show," laughed Mason. ' ' Give you a thousand, ' ' roared Bryant. Mason edged forward, urged by the toes of boots at his heels, toe nudging the heels before him. Now visible before him, printed in large black letters, was a sign above the regis tration window containing rules made and posted by the Sec retary of the Interior. Mason read it. Out of his face went the enthusiasm of the quest. Castles tumbled, crashed and were THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 59 wrecks in a maelstrom of darkness. He suddenly collected himself, deliberated for a dozen seconds, envisioned the sweet and smiling face of Mary Lake, turned half about and called to Bill Bryant. "Bring along your thousand," he said, "I've had enough of this." Bryant hastened to him, counted out the thousand dollars in dirty currency, and took Mason's place in the line. "Got a bad foot, ' ' said Bryant. ' ' Couldn 't 'a ' stood it all day. ' ' Robert Lake and his wife and daughter in due time settled on their homestead beside the river, just outside the city lhnits. Early came Mason to visit them. "How's the locating business?" asked Lake. "More than I can do," answered Mason. "Wish I had a dozen of our old cow punchers to help me. I know the trails ; the new-comers don 't. I can place five men to their one. Never saw such opportunity to make monejV It was a season of sociability in the Lake cottage. They forgot business and the newness and roughness and down right crudeness of things and harked back to the days before dust, almost impassable streets of mud, assaults, robberies, killings and the hundred and one minor inconveniences and travesties. In the late evening Louis and Mary spoke quietly and alone on an old white log in the pasture. They discoursed on momentous nothings until the subject melted into moon beams, and then proceeded to settle once and for all that more practical but equally momentous question of a cottage for two. The Daily News thiiiy days later announced the organiza tion of the Commerce National Bank, of which Robert Lake, "former cattle king," was chosen president, and Louis Mason, "one of the city's most excellent young business men," was chosen cashier. Sixty days later the Daily News reported at column length the wedding of Mr. Louis Mason and Miss Mary Lake, the latter "the beautiful and accomplished daughter of Mr. Rob ert Lake and one of the fairest flowers of the land of the fair god." In the cottage for two one balmy evening of the honeymoon 60 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY they were taking an inventory of recent events. "You never told me," said Mary, "why you did'nt get that coveted Main Street lot of which you talked before the run. ' ' "Oh, I had forgotten that," Louis laughed. "The truth is, my conscience wouldn't let me take the risk. A sign over the registration window said : 'No person of Indian blood shall be permitted to register.' That's why I sold my place in the line, a place I held in all good faith until I neared the window, and a place sold in all good faith to an Arkansawyer with a disabled foot." Among the early callers at the bank was Bill Bryant. He came, he said, to express good wishes for the new institution and incidentally to borrow a couple of hundred for thirty or sixty clays. "That'll be all right, Mr. Bryant," said the accommodat ing cashier. "I take it that you can give us a mortgage on the lot you drew." "No, I can't," replied Bryant sadly. "You see, I didn't get to keep the lot. Went to court and all that, but the con testant won and I was put off. ' ' ' ' On what grounds ? ' ' asked Mason. "They proved that I was a sooner," replied Bryant, "and sooners are in bad repute hereabouts." THE FOUNDING OF OKLAHOMA CITY By De. A. C. Scott Monday, April 22, 1889, was a perfect day in the Oklahoma Country. Not a cloud flecked the sky all day long. Scarcely the whisper of a breeze could be noted, or the bending of a blade of grass. The wine of spring was in the air, and the freshness of spring was evident to all the senses. A certain area upon which today stands a city of 100,000 people was, on the morning of that day, an unbroken prairie, low and level in the loop of the North Canadian River to the South, but rising and more rolling to the North. The land had been burned clear, and the soft new grass of spring, sprinkled with multitudinous wild flowers, made the view a peaceful and a charming one. But this was in the morning, and up t< > noon. By evening the grass and flowers were crushed beneath the feet of thousands of hurrying and excited men, and the deeper scars of horses' hoofs and wheels of innumerable ve hicles. In six hours the natural beauty of the scene was com pletely obliterated — beyond recognition or hope of repair. For Oklahoma City was born that day. The Romans reck oned time for many centuries from the founding of the citv. The 22d of April, 1921, was for Oklahoma City, A. U. C. 32. Many cities, it is to be presumed, had their start on a cer tain day ; but few, if any, have started with such a rush and so dramatically. On the morning._of^Arpri-F"227~I889, Okla homa City had a name but no inhabitants; in the evening it had a population of 10,000 persons, and was permanently on the map. To one looking over it that evening, as this writer / had the privilege of doing, it was a bizarre and motley sight ; a city of tents; tents as far as the eye could see; some old and soiled, but for the most part new and very white, and giving forth a spectral aspect as the twilight fell. A very transient and fleeting appearance it had, too, as if it might 61 62 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY break camp and move on in the morning. But it was in reality by no means transient. It is interesting to reflect that these slight canvas tenements rooted their owners to the soil and gave them titles which no man could take away. The tents were soon replaced by wooden structures, and these in turn gave way to brick, granite, concrete and steel. And this was the way it happened : On March 3, 1889, by a "rider" on the Indian Appropriation bill, Oklahoma had been declared open to settlement. President Harrison had an nounced April 22d as the opening day, and 12 o 'clock noon the earliest at which one could legally enter the land. And it was in fact just the "land." It was not a territory; it was not a state; it was just "the Oklahoma country." It had no" or ganization, no government, and no laws except such as were generally applicable to Federal territory. It is important to remember this in reading the story of the founding of Okla homa City, since there were no laws providing for the organi zation of municipalities and no power to make them. There was not even any legal authority to lay out streets and alleys, blocks and lots. There was one Federal law, however, appli cable to the case and that was that if a certain number of people went upon a subdivision of public homestead land with the purpose of forming a town or city, that act segregated the land in question from the ordinary homestead land and made of it homestead lots — which means that any man could enter upon a certain number of lots and hold them, providing he was the first to "settle." In other words, the lots were to be had for the taking; and since there was a very general im pression that Oklahoma City was to be the chief city of the coming State, getting in on the ground floor seemed to offer a rare opportunity of obtaining something for nothing. And that was why 10,000 people rushed to this particular spot — a mere station on the Santa Fe Railroad — as soon after noon of April 22d as they could get there. Some even rushed to it sooner — more stealthily, however; and that explains how the word "sooner" came into instant and universal vogue in Oklahoma, and even got into the dictionaries. There were "trenches" in those days as well as in these, and when the hour of twelve arrived these trenches discharged many a man who made swift tracks for the choicest lots. C. W. Price, Colo. W. H. Ebev, Kan. John A. GROUP OF PIONEERS Blackburn, Mo. A. L. Mendlick, Wis. A. C. Scott, J. B. Wlieeler, Mich. B. N. Woodson, Texas. Kan. 0. H. Violet, Cal. M. U. Barney, 111. THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 65 The first legal settlers came, probably, from the nearest point on the South Canadian River, about eleven miles dis tant. They came tumultuously, on horseback and in wagons, reaching the townsite 20 minutes before 1 o'clock. On their heels followed other multitudes from points of entrance slightly more distant. Then came the avalanche, trainloads upon trainloads, by the Santa Fe from North and South. Every coach was filled to suffocation, and the roof of every car was packed with men. The passengers began to fall off or out of the cars long before the trains came to a stop. Every man carried stakes and an axe, because, however little he knew about the law in the case, he knew that the way to get lots was to ' ' stake ' ' them, and to stake them first. And every man hit the ground running, for he knew there was a possibil ity of staking a lot that would be worth $5,000 within a week. As a matter of fact, many a man did stake property that after noon which has since sold for a more than comfortable fortune. That was a long and strenuous afternoon. It seemed as if some thousands of human beings had gone mad. All over the townsite men were furiously driving stakes and setting up tents. Not that a man could hold all the lots he could stake. There was a limit under the Federal law, but few knew what it was, and many staked, or "settled," all they could in the hope that they would get all the law allowed in the final out come. This went on until about 7 o'clock, when it seemed to occur to everybody at once that it was supper time. A truce to rivalry seemed to be declared by common consent, and ac tivities suddenly ceased. The odor of frying bacon and brew ing coffee rose in the air most delectably from thousands of camp-fires or rudely improvised camp-stoves. Then was the city of tents seen at its best and most dramatic moment ; and as the night came on and innumerable camp-fires and lanterns gave fitful illumination to the scene, one might well have fancied that this was a military encampment or the setting of some huge frolic. Not a few worked on through the night, but for the most part the weary multitude slept with such measure of comfort as they could command. About midnight a loud, slow call floated over the townsite from the North: "Oh, Joe, here's your mule!" It was taken up by voice after voice, and the Vol. 1—5 66 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY multiplied cries passed over the town and on like a flock of migratory birds. It afterwards developed that this homely call resounded over a great part of Oklahoma Country that night, and there are many who aver that it arose in the north west portion as a bona fide piece of information to a man who had lost his mule, and was taken up by man after man in the densely populated region — though peopled in a single after noon — and thus traversed the course of nearly a hundred miles. At any rate, utterly insignificant as this incident is, it is easily the most universally remembered event of the first- day history of Oklahoma. The next morning operations were renewed with vigor. Some wooden "shacks" began to appear, hastily thrown to gether from lumber or ready-framed parts of houses pre viously shipped in. But the question began to rise very in sistently to every lip, "Where are we getting with all this struggle?" Every man was after lots, but the trouble was, there were no lots. The town was not laid off in lots and blocks. Every stake driven represented a gamble. It might be on a lot, when lots should be established, and it might with almost equal chance prove to be in a street or an alley. So about noon a small group of men, strangers to one another, but thrown together in the common confusion, decided that the best way, and indeed, the only way, to get things headed toward some sort of solution was to call a mass meeting. This was no sooner thought of than done. Half a dozen boys were found, placed on ponies, provided with bells, and instructed to ride all over the townsite calling the people to a meeting at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Nobody stayed away from that meeting. Men gathered by thousands and by acres. The writer of this sketch was elected chairman; and to have this part over, he presided also over the second great mass meeting, held the next Saturday, to which reference will be made. This fact is mentioned to give assurance that these incidents are narrated by one who had them sharply impressed upon his memory. He had one in dispensable asset, as it proved — a strong and carrying voice. Well, this Tuesday afternoon meeting raged for three hours, and at the end the chairman's voice suddenlv went out EARLY SETTLERS THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 69 in a whisper. It was not a riotous meeting, but it was a tu multuous one. At the beginning a very large and long box was found and placed on end, and the chairman hoisted to the top of it. A secretary was elected and lifted to the top of a similar box beside the chairman. Then the big talk began. There were some warm words for the "sooners" and for a certain town company which had made a pre-opening plat of the town and was trying to sell lot locations ; but chiefly the question was how we should lay out the town when there was no law for it. It was finally determined to elect a committee of fourteen men; with power to divide the townsite into streets, alleys, blocks, and lots, beginning at a certain desig nated spot, and to name the streets. The committee was in structed to proceed to its task at once. The manner of electing these fourteen men was curious, to say the least, and probably unique in the history of election. It is to be remembered that these thousands of men, coming from every part of the coun try, were almost universally strangers to one another. There fore when the first man was nominated, the instant cry was, "Let's see him." So he was hustled through the crowd to the boxes where the chairman and secretary stood, then boosted from below by those on the ground and pulled from above by the two officers on the boxes until he, too, stood exposed to the gaze of the multitude. And this proceeding was followed in the case of every man placed in nomination. If the crowd liked his looks they voted him up ; if not, they voted him down — and this without the slightest compunction. It was tough to be voted down just on one's looks. But sev eral were thus rejected. Among those voted out was Gen. James B. Weaver, once a candidate for President of the United States. But it wasn't on account of his looks, since he was a notably fine-looking man. It was by reason of some passing prejudice against him, the nature of which the writer has forgotten if he ever knew. There was no possibility of taking a "division" on contesting votes: the chairman had to judge as best he could by the size of the roars for the differ ent sides, for the crowd voted altogether by roars. But there was another limitation upon eligibility to this committee besides looks, and that was that no two men should hail from the same State. So when this most strenuous and personal 70 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY election was over, the Committee of Fourteen represented fourteen states of the Union. The committee went to work that very night and continued its labors until far beyond midnight. It met in a large, flap ping tent — for the April breeze had awakened — and its pro ceedings were conducted by the light of lanterns and torches. It laid off Oklahoma City exactly as it stands now, except for one important correction rendered necessary by the force of circumstances within the week, the story of which is a story of near-tragedy that will be told in its place. Of course, how ever, the land then laid off is but a small fraction of the area occupied by Oklahoma City today, and is now almost wholly covered by business structures. The committee employed a surveyor, and he, with his party, was instructed to begin sur veying and measuring off the lots and blocks the next morning. This was the thing that would reveal who had drawn prizes and who had drawn blanks. This work was energetical^ undertaken on Wednesday morning. Also, at its session that Tuesday night, the Committee of Fourteen appointed a sub-committee of five to follow the sur veyors, and hear and determine the rights of contesting claim ants to the lots ; for in many cases there were from two to half a dozen settlers on a single lot, and the question was, who legally got there first? As soon as the surveyors got fairly under way, marking off the lots as they went, this sub-committee began its work, passing from lot to lot, hearing the evidence of the parties, and summarily deciding the cases on the spot. An immense crowd attended the committee, and the press of the throng soon became so great that it was found necessary to nail three long boards together, thus forming a triangle within, which the committee could be protected from the crowd. This triangle the inner circle of the spectators and litigants good- naturedly bore along, and thus the peripateti^tribunal went more or less comfortably on its way. ^ Of course, there was no legal warrant for this procedure, and many who were ousted subsequently presented their claims to a commission appointed by the President under an act of Congress passed about a year later. But for the most part the contestants accepted the decisions of the sub-commit tee. Those who found their stakes and tents to be in streets ^ - ^ CAPTAIN W. L. COUCH THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 73 and alleys packed up their belongings and left, and within two or three days the streets began to be clearly defined. But trouble was brewing for the Committee of Fourteen. Reference has already been made to a town company which came to the opening with a prearranged plat of Oklahoma City. This wasthe^Sjennnele-TTTvvn Company of Topeka, Kan. . While the Committee of Fourteen was strenuously pushing its survey up from the South, the Seminole Town Company was urging people to^setfle aceording^ to its plat on"Maifi Street and to the North. And it was succeeding. Friday came, and the citizen's survey had reached Grand Avenue, the street just south of Main. And then -the "situation" sud denly developed. The Seminole Town JDompany's plat had been made with reference to the course of the_Santa-Fe-J^ai road — that is, its streete_ran^at,right angles :fo-the Santa, Fe _liacks=-and that road did not run exactly North and -South through the townsite. Therefore the citizen's survey, made in accordance with the Government township lines, did not fit into the Seminole survey. To go forward would be to dislocate the settlements made on Main Street and to deprive many men of "possessory rights" already worth thousands of dollars. The Main Street settlers warned the Committee of Fourteen that it must not prosecute its survey farther. The committee telegraphed to General Noble, Secretary of the Interior, and received a reply to the effect that the Seminole Town Company had no rights whatever in the townsite. A meeting of the committee was held that night, and after long discussion it was determined on the strength of the Wash ington telegram to proceed with the survey in the morning.1 The surveying party went to work bright and early Sat urday morning, but it had not gone far when a group of quiet / men from Main Street, with Winchesters in their hands, ap peared upon the scene and suggested that it would be just as well for the party to discontinue its work then and there. This was reported to the Committee of Fourteen, and that body immediately went into session. Its decision was that it was high time to call another mass meeting. Boys were procured^, as before, placed on horses and sent scurrying over the town- site with bells in their hands, calling a general meeting for 2 o'clock. The same huge crowd assembled. There were two 74 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY factions now, and a good chance for a clash. The meeting was not so tumultuous, however, as that on Tuesday; but there was a tenseness of feeling which suggested that trouble would come unless wise counsels prevailed. The right of the matter was plainly with the Committee of Fourteen, but expediency suggested compromise. The moderates prevailed. There was a north-side party and a south-side party, and it was voted that a committee of ten should be selected, equally divided between these parties, to try to patch up a peace. Each party withdrew to itself and nominated its five men, and then the two parties came together to ratify the action. It was di rected that a report should be made at dusk of the same day. The committee went immediately to work, with General' Weaver as its chairman. A civil engineer was called in, the two plats were carefully compared, and it was found that by creating and throwing in certain irregular lots between Grand Avenue and Main Street, much as a mason throws fillers into a stone wall, the two surveys could be welded together and the breach be healed. This sounds easy, but it took hours of weary work. And it left its mark on Oklahoma City. Not only were the irregular lots created, but the North and South-going streets at Grand Avenue did not "fit," and harsh jogs^ or notches. were produced. Strangers wonder, as they travel down a street running from North to South, how it is that they come against a solid street face at Grand Avenue and must turn sharply to the left before they can go on. If they knew it. these irregularities are very literally the scars of a bloodless __e^>nflieL Well, at dusk the great crowd met again, at a point where a magnificent hotel now stands. Flaring torches and smoky lanterns produced a weird effect. The secretary of the com mittee mounted a box and read the report. It seemed to ^please everybody, for a great hoarse shout of approval went up. And then pulling himself out like a telescope, uprose from the rude stool upon which he had been sitting a Southern Methodist preacher, Shaw by name, long-haired and bearded like a prophet, six feet and seven inches tall, with a mouth like the crater of Vesuvius and a voice like the thunders of Sii'ai, and said, or rather roared, "Let us sing, 'Praise God FIRST POST OFFICE OF OKLAHOMA THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 77 from Whom All Blessings Flow ! ' ' And this writer has never before or since heard the old doxology sung with so great impressiveness. Thus ended the first week in Oklahoma City, and this its first great trouble. In the year that followed, while it was governing itself with no law except self-made law, it had other troubles and other stirring and dramatic scenes ; but they do not belong to this story- PART II THE SPREAD OF THE YEARS 1889— THE LOT JUMPERS Two temporary municipal governments were set up when the tempest of the rush had subsided and men's thoughts shifted to enterprise of permanency. One of them attempted to direct public policies of the area originally platted and the other of an area adjoining it on the south. This latter the settlers called South Oklahoma. It consisted of 320 acres and Reno Avenue was its northern boundary. Apparently the rivalry between the two governments was not discordant. Stories have been told by Dr. A. C. Scott and others whose experiences are related in another subdivision of this history of the earliest attempts at maintaining order and the estab lishment of a government, of the controversy between the Seminoles and the Kickapoos and their conflicting methods and the overlapping of their boundaries, and of the lights and shadows of pioneer life. Five days after the opening South Oklahoma, with a popu lation of over two thousand, held an election, in which 500 votes were cast. G. W. Patrick was elected mayor, W. T. Bodine, recorder; Leslie P. Ross, attorney; N. C. Helburn, marshal ; John Cochran, treasurer, and J. P. McKinnis, S. E. Steele, E. W. Sweeney, E. S. Hughes and W. L. Killibrew, members of the council. This administration appears to have been short lived, for within a few months a directory in the Daily Times showed the government to be in control of T. F. Fagan as mayor ; J. M. Vance, recorder ; J. H. Beatty, attor ney; B. F. Waller, treasurer; R. A. Sullins, engineer; D. F. McKay, marshal, and W. S. Barnes, W. A. Robertson, W. A. Barker, T. J. Head, G. W. R. Chinn and H. F. Quinn, mem bers of the council. Marshal McKay resigned shortly and was succeeded by W. J. Fuller. Mayor Fagan resigned on No vember 27th and at a special election on December 7th, James Milton was elected to succeed him.81 Vol. 1—6 82 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Locations for business houses were in demand principally along California and Grand avenues and Main Street, and the tendency of business and residential sections was toward the north. It was toward uplands and the choice rangy hills and away from the bottoms and their skirting low levels along the Canadian River. South town, however, developed a busi ness section of its own and spread its residential area down to the river bank. It developed a society peculiar unto itself and had its churches and schools and lodges, and real estate dealers verbally dressed it up with industrial possibilities. One of its chief social and intellectual diversions of the year- was debating. This was carried on by what was misnamed the South Oklahoma Election Club — misnamed because of its frequent departure from a purpose indicated by the title. One of the most enthusiastic of these debates was on the sub ject of a herd law for Oklahoma. The chief affirmative speaker, who advocated the adoption of such a law, was J. F. Winans, and the negative side was captained by S. E. Steel. Political issues that developed during the summer in Okla homa City proper centered upon a charter that had been pre pared and presented for adoption on September 20th by a board chosen out of the Seminole group. It was defeated and out of the defeat the first regular campaign for mayor de veloped, with Dr. A. J. Beale the nominee of the Kickapoos and Henry Overholser the choice of the Seminoles. While political alliances were little considered in the nominating- conventions and political differences were of secondary im portance in the campaign, ambitious politicians made capital of the fact that Doctor Beale was a democrat and Mr. Over holser a republican. The election was held on November 27th and Beale was elected by a majority of fourteen. Less than seven hundred votes were cast. The September charter election was the more exciting of the two. As has been related elsewhere, it was a serious question who was entitled to vote, and the paramount de batable issue of the day — who were entitled to retain town lots — was ineradicable. Capt. D. F. Stiles, commanding offi cer of Government troops that were stationed east of the Santa Fe tracks, had instructions to interfere in election dis turbances. His interference resulted in the arrest of Judge OKLAHOMA CITY IN 1889 BEFORE THE RUN OKLAHOMA CITY ON APRIL 24, 1889 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 85 Brown, Capt. A. B. Hammer, R. Glasgow, M. L. Bixler, H. W. Sawyer, J. B. George, L. W. Stewart, J. H. Barry and W. L. Pendleton, who were charged with obstructing the military in enforcement of orders. The bond of each was fixed at $1,000 and some of the men, failing to make bond, were sent to jail. It appears that at least one deputy United States marshal, George E. Thornton, was in sympathy with the de fendants and others of their clan, for he was accused by Captain Stiles of "unwarranted interference with myself and the United States commissioners and is the cause of much trouble." Captain Stiles made complaint against Thornton to Thomas B. Needles, United States marshal, at Muskogee, and R. L. Walker, United States marshal, at Topeka, Kansas. "The presence here of Deputy United States Marshal George E. Thornton cannot be tolerated any longer," said the Stiles complaint. "I have had to put one of his possemen out of town as a thug and another was arrested Saturday after an election riot and is now under bond. Thornton's conduct today is unaccountable. I refer you to Commissioners Sommer, Harney and Cramer and to Deputy Marshals Bick- ford and East. He sides with the disturbing element in this city and shotdcl be removed at once." An order of removal came in due time from Marshal Walker at Topeka. It was a. mere brief sentence that was preceded and superseded by praise of Thornton's service in general in which his "honesty and integrity were not ques tioned" and in which he was "counted a good and efficient officer." It seems not to have been definitely determined whether a government marshal in Oklahoma was under juris diction of the district of Indian Territory or the district of Kansas, which accounts for Captain Stiles sending his com plaint to the marshal of each district. Probably the records show that Marshal Needles at Muskogee also issued an order < »f dismissal of Thornton. During the Beale-Overholser campaign a petition was cir culated and liberally signed asking the Government to keep the troops here until a Territorial government had been set up. It appears that the language of the petition contained an endorsement, openly or by inference, of the administration of Captain Stiles. Whether this was true or not, a belief that 86 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY it was true caused a few signers to demand that their names be erased from the instrument, and this was made an issue in the mayoralty campaign. Opponents of Overholser called Captain Stiles the "autocrat of the Seminoles," and strong- charges were made against Sidney Clarke of the Seminole Townsite Company and Captain Couch who had on Novem ber 12th resigned as mayor, both of whom were ardent Over holser supporters. The Gazette, a daily newspaper edited by Doctor Scott, was the editorial mouthpiece of the Overholser organization. Doctor Beale was endorsed on November 13th by what was called the Kickapoo council, the call for which was issued by D. M. Ross, chairman of a Territorial executive committee. Among requests made by the candidate was that the nomi nating convention should be held in the clay time. "I will never call the military down upon our people to bayonet them in the streets," he said in his speech of accep tance. He pledged himself to protect the interests of lot hold ers and to discourage and prevent lot jumping. He opposed a second attempt to adopt the charter that had been defeated. "I know neither Seminole nor Kickapoo as such," he said dramatically, "but with an eye to justice and the right, and quailing before no wrong however well supported, I will be mayor if elected." Officials of the Choctaw Railway Company looked the town over this summer with a view of selecting an objective on the Santa Fe railroad for a western outlet. As a consequence the first railroad mass meeting was held on September 7th. It was called jointly by Mayor W. L. Couch and Mayor T. J. Fagan of south town. It was presided over by Mayor Fagan, and J. K. Fisher was secretary. Right of way and terminal facilities in the city were demanded principally by the Choc taw officials, and a committee was appointed to confer with these officials to get more definite information. This commit tee consisted of Doctor Beale, J. H. Woods, A. B. Hammer, W. L. Couch and T. J. Fagan. One of the chief obstacles to progress the early settlers had to overcome was a quite widely current belief that the Territory was out of the rainfall belt and that it was similar elementally to the then unprofitable Panhandle of Texas. THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 87 This belief no doubt was responsible for an uncommonly large percentage of speculative driftwood in the towns and a small percentage of actual farmers on the homesteads. The serious- minded and determined few who came to stay permanently therefore sought opportunities to tell the world the truth about the new country. A great opportunity was afforded in Sep tember when a party of congressmen, who were scouting for ideas and wild meats, spent a day here. Undeniably it wasrt a day they should not forget and if they were mindful of the' hospitality of their hosts to a degree commensurate with that hospitality, they became deliberate and prolific Oklahoma propagandists. They had a barbecue at midday, a banquet at evening, and none was better trained to manage the former than M. R. Glasgow. And at the banquet Sidney Clarke pre sided — a former congressman who was acquainted with the little frills and niceties and figures of speech of a social re public. Between the hour of the barbecue and the hour of the banquet there were hours and hours of space and the con gressmen occupied much of it at speech making. The leading member of this party was Representative William M. Springer of Illinois' whose influence was a big- factor in the passage of the act opening the Territory to set tlement. His was the leading speech of the afternoon and it was complimentary and prophetic and the hundreds who listened gave it vigorous applause. Other members of the party were Allen of Mississippi, Baker of New York, Manstir of Missouri and Perkins and Peters of Kansas. Nearty every member of the party found here former constituents. It may be said with approximate certainty that the men who made arrangements for the reception and entertainment of these visitors constituted the first organized band of Okla homa City boosters. They conceived and first gave public ex pression to a spirit, which their successors inherited and so admirably employed, that advertised to the world the resources and opportunities of Oklahoma and made of this city the metropolis of the future state. Words, they said among them selves in the early meetings, would be insufficiently impressive when the visitors came, and the board buildings and the board walks and the modest homes and the flapping dirty tents cer tainty would be no proof that the settlers could or would do 88 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY better than this. There must be evidence of possibilities and opportunities. There must be proof that early impressions relative to agricultural possibilities were incorrect. That proof must be indisputable and the congressmen, if they were disposed to reciprocity, certainly would put some advertising for the city into the Congressional Record! More than that, these people before long would be asking for statehood, and the influence of the visitors, who know, might pass an enabling act. So they resolved to gather up and display the widest pos sible variety of field and pasture products. The settlement date was seasonable for the planting of nearly all crops suit able to this climate and hundreds of homesteaders who had brought their teams and plows with them in the run pitched right into crop making. Rainfall/and sunshine had been well proportioned and by September even the most sanguine of the ambitious ones marveled imjme presence of the bounteous har vest. Col. Samuel Crocker' was chairman of the committee appointed to assemble the products. S. Countryman, M. F. ' Waller, S. F. CrameiyG. W. Patrick and A. D. Marble were the other members of the committee. They were instructed by the club to collect "specimens of ores, minerals, fossils and natural curiosities and samples of grasses, grains, fruits, vegetables, et cetera." J. E. Saw.yer was delegated to super intend the placing of exhibits. Having heard of this enter prise and fearing that the committee would be unable to make a creditable showing, some representative men of Purcell, an Indian Territory town situated in a region that had been cultivated for a number of j^ears, offered to send up some of the best of their farm products to supplement the exhibit. The offer was not accepted, but to this day there are eighty- niners who are not certain that some Indian Territory prod ucts were not surreptitiously placed in the exhibit hall. Colonel Crocker brought in melons and pumpkins of his own, some of which weighed sixty pounds. A former Iowan de posited a beet that was twenty-eight inches long. An onion was thirteen inches in circumference. A bean vine was 200 feet long. Some corn stalks were nine feet high and had been produced without cultivation. There was a tumble weed six feet tall and forty feet in circumference and a sunflower plant DR. A. J. BEALE THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 91 twelve feet high, which made the Kansas congressmen feel thoroughly at home. A Kentuckian, jw.ko had been experi menting with tobacco, brought in & sample of the long leaf variety of exceptionally fine filn>o\ Seventeen jpexso-ns- contested the entries of the three men who laiaclaim to the lahcl on which the city originally was established and a heated and somewhat technical controversy was warming up in land office circles by the end of the year. The land office records showed that Louis O. Dick, on April 22d, filed application for entry on the southeast quarter and the south half of the northeast quarter of section 33, town ship 12 north, range 3 west, and on the north half of the north east quarter of section 4, township 11 north, range 3 west; that on April 24th, James Murray filed application for entry upon the east half of section 33, township 12 north, range 3 west ; and that on May 2d, G. W. Patrick made application to enter upon the north half of section 4, township 11 north, range 3 west. The records showed proof that all tracts were embraced within the boundaries of Oklahoma City and appar ently were being used for townsite purposes. The contestants, -of the rigMa^bf these applicants were Samuel Crocker,^ M. Gault,'^andall Fuller, Fred R.- Fuller, Stephen Crocker, Henry C. Cowan, George^E. Thornton, Ed ward DeFar, Meshock Couch, Kate E. May, Thomas Wright, Frank S. Phillips, Edward Orne, Willis Peel, James Patter son, Anson Wall and Eugene Fuller. The register and re ceiver of the land office at Guthrie denied the prayer of the contestants that the applications for entry be rejected and the contestants appealed to the general land office. An impor tant reason for the denial was an apparent overlapping of claims. The commissioner of the general land office said that undoubtedly the applicants meant to enter upon "different parts of the same town. ' ' Affidavits made by Dick and Pat rick were in the record stating that the lands had been settled upon as towns and were actually occupied for the purpose of trade and business and not for agricultural purposes, that they were populated by bonafide inhabitants and were not in any reservation not subject to operation of the homestead laws. These affidavits made a favorable impression upon the commissioner but he reserved final judgment until further 92 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY investigation should be made. He instructed the land office officials to determine whether there was more than one town on the tracts, whether they were actually settled and occupied as towns or townsites, to ascertain the number of inhabitants and the character, value and location of all municipal improve ments, and to determine whether the appellants had made settlements upon the tracts. That was the status of the con troversy at the end of the year. The position of United States commissioner was a rather lucrative one in the early years and appears not to have been affected by a strict code of ethics. At any rate, Commissioner F. L. Cramer advertised for clients. ' ' Come to Cramer, ' ' read his ad in a daily paper. He bore the title of general and held the office of commissioner of deeds in Kansas. "The editor goes to jail," announced H. W. Sawyer, editor of the Daily Times, and the records disclose that he was among the number arrested by Captain Stiles' men during election disturbances. Mr. Sawyer was a f orceful writer with a goodly store of impressive adjectives. Perhaps explosive or dynamic would be a better word. Like a frontier peace officer he fired from the hip and always in the open. The wonder is that his ink}7 epithets against the Seminoles did not involve him in more serious trouble than a brief incarceration in jail. His associate editor, Mort L. Bixler, was among the pioneer advo cates of statehood and occasionally for want of a more useful employment of time he lapsed into intimacy with the muse and delivered a select bit of poetry through a few sticks of editorial space not devoted to Sawyer's scintillating para graphs. Bixler was chairman of the first temporary organ ization of members of the Knights of Pythias lodge and Taz- well M. Upshaw was secretary. The Oklahoma Lodge No. 1 was organized during the year with Bixler as chancellor com mander and W. H. Donnough as vice chancellor. The first lodge of Odd Fellows also was organized during the year. The committee that applied for a charter from the grand lodge consisted of G. W. McClelland, Doctor Higgins, E. J. Keller, Doctor Jordan, O. A. Mitscher and William Turner. From out of the Chickasaw Nation came a rumor that a Methodist preacher had been legally advised that under the laws governing the Territory a minister of the gospel was THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 93 without authority to perforin a marriage ceremony, and this preacher was suspected of having passed the word to other preachers of his conference. Whether he did or didn't is not vital, but it is certain that the Rev. A. G. Murray, pastor of the Methodist Church in Oklahoma City, entertained grave doubts. He was the marrying parson of the village. He had a pleasant manner of reassurance that appealed to contract ing parties, his ceremony was orthodoxically and impressively beautiful, and he tied many a knot. The Chickasaw report blossomed into a street topic. It reached the ears of scores of newlyweds and these, in spite of assurances of sufficiency of the common law, doubled back upon the parson. He at length set at rest all uneasiness when he had published in the news papers a letter from William Nelson, clerk of the United States Court at Muskogee, which said: "Send along your marriage certificates and your two dollars for each and they will be duly placed of record." Doubtless the Rev. W. S. Miller, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, also was relieved of a similar embarrassment. Some other events of the year were these: Maj. J. A. Pickler was sent here from Washington by Secretary Noble of the Interior Department for an investigation of conditions (/relating to land entries and contests; on October 15th D. F. McKay resigned as city marshal of South Oklahoma, Mayor Fagan called a special election for November 2d to fill the vacancy and W. J/ Fuller was elected ; a committee of fifty was formed to make plans for appealing to Congress for governmental relief and this committee sent W. W. Witten/ A. B. Hamnjerand J. L. Brown te^Guthrie for a conference with other representative men relative to a Territorial con vention; the first Young Men's Christian Association was organized and the nucleus of its library was a history of Chi cago in three volumes presented by Mrs. W. H. Harper. Miss Jessie Hammer appears to have been the first public stenographer in the city. , ," , tr ¦ /I CALL F0E MASS CONVENTION ,df Oklahoma City, April 26, 1889. We, citizens of the City of Oklahoma, request the meeting in mass convention of all citizens of the city for the purpose r* 114 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY of nominating a temporary mayor and city recorder to hold their offices until such time as there may be elected by ballot their successors, which election shall be held within five days from and after the election of said temporary mayor and recorder. Such mass meeting to be held April 27, 1889, at the hour of 6:30 o'clock P. M., and every citizen of said city shall be entitled to a voice. The election of said temporary mayor and recorder shall be by the voice, and shall vest in them the power to appoint police to preserve the order of said city, and the power to call said election for permanent mayor, recorder and prescribe the manner of holding said election. Said mass meeting to be held at the corner of Main and Broad way. Signed: Ledru Guthrie, J. B. Weaver (not a citizen of the city but living near the same), John B. Banks, S. Lum Biedler, W. P. Easton, J. E. Carson^ D. Drake, T. B. Riley, .'C{. A^Biecller, p..m„ O. H. Violet Sidney Clarke, Bluford Wilson, D. A. Harvey, W. P. Shaw. Captain Forbush on July 29th reported to headquarters: "I desire to be informed as to whether the city of Okla homa have the right to extend the jurisdiction of their police beyond the city limits proper for sanitary purposes only. There are quite a number of dead cattle tying in the vicinity of the city, having been afflicted with Texas fever, and it is purposed to have the decaying bodies disposed of by the city within the radius of five miles and require the owners of the cattle to dispose of the bodies themselves in case of future deaths." (The sanitary jurisdiction of the city was con firmed.) "On the night of the 28th inst., a young Englishman ar rived in Oklahoma who was to join a settlement of his people between Oklahoma and Fort Reno. He was introduced to a gambling den by 'bunco-steerers,' and fleeced of about $540. The prevailing opinion among the better people seemed to be that the young fellow had been robbed, and they advised him to report the facts to the provost-marshal, Captain Stiles, Tenth Infantry, who at once informed me about it, and at the same time telling me that a man had been 'sand-bagged' in the same place but a short time since, robbed, put on the train and sent to Texas. VIEW OF OKLAHOMA CITY IN 188!) THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 97 "There is no local law to prevent gambling, and the city authorities, as well as the United States marshals, fail to take cognizance of these cases. "In the interests of peace and good order, I directed Captain Stiles ... to break this gambling den up and see to it personally that the occupant left the city. They have all departed." (This action was commended.) The enterprising individual who took possession of the only pump in Oklahoma City at the opening and sold water at so much a drink until he was ousted from his profitable "graft" was the central figure of an incident that is related in a report of Captain Stiles to Inspector General Sanger : "I have the honor to report that on April 23, 1889, the clay following the opening of Oklahoma, a gambler from Chicago named G. W- Cole, took possession of the only pump in town and sold water at five cents a drink. The man sat near the pump, and was armed with a revolver, which he kept in his lap part of the time. He collected the money himself, and had a man pump the water. There were over 12,000 people camped on the site of Oklahoma at the time, and besides this pump there were only two other places where water could be had — one a well with a bucket where there was but little water. and the other at the railroad tank, and here the supply was limited. "The people were suffering for water and appealed to me to remove Cole, saying if I did not do so they would hang him. Upon inquiry I found that Cole had no right to the pump or water, and at once removed him and placed a guard over the pump with orders to allow each person to have one bucket of water. My action in this case was at once reported to the commanding officer, Col. J. F. Wade, Fifth Cavalry, and ap proved by him. ' ' The first president of the Commercial Club was H. Over holser ; James Geary, vice president ; J. P. McKinnis, second vice president; W- H. Ebey, secretary; T. M. Richardson, treasurer. The membership of the various committees were : Executive — John A. Blackburn, O. H. Violet, B. N. Wood son, W. L. Couch, C. W. Price, W. C. Wells. Railroads— J. A. Blackburn, C. W. Price, W. H. Ebey, T. Vol. 1—7 98 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY M. Richardson, Gen. J. B. Weaver, J. E. Jones, W. L. Couch, H. Overholser, James Geary. Manufacturing — C. P. Walker, John Wand, W. L. Kill- brew, W. L. Harvey, E. W. Sweeney, F. L. Bone. Transportation and Freights — J. P. McKinnis, A. L. Woodford, J. P. Darling, John Brogan, A. L. Frick, W. J. Pettee. Advertising— O. H. Violet, R. Q. Blakeney, W. H. Ebey, H. W. Winn, J. W. Beard. Legislation — Gen. J. B. Weaver, O. H. Violet, Capt. A. B. Hammer, Ledru Guthrie, Sidney Clarke, W. L. Couch, A. C. Scott, B. N. Woodson, David A. Harvey. Finance — James Geary, W. C. Wells, Ledru Guthrie, T. M. Richardson, Maj. W. A. Monroe. Education — A. C. Scott, R. R. Connella, C. A. Galbraith, G. A. Beidler, W. W. Witten. Emigration — Victor Sherman, G. W. Massey, W. H. Dar- rough, G. W. Adams, H. W. Sawyer. Directors — O. H. Violet, C. P. Walker, James Geary, W. A. Monroe, C. A. Galbraith, J. A. Blackburn, A. C. Scott, W. L. Couch, Victor Sherman, A. L. Woodford, W. H. Ebey, J. W. Beard, B. N. Woodson, C. W. Price, W. J. Pettee, A. B. Hammer, W. McGlinchey, J. L. Brown, W. L. Har vey, E. W. Sweeney, J. P. McKinnis. 1890— GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED President Harrison on Ma3^ 2d of this year approved what was known as the Organic Act, and the Territory, after being- suspended for nearly a year in a state of insecurity, was in vested with a local government. George W. Steele, who had been a member of Congress from Indiana, was appointed governor. Robert Martin of Wichita, Kansas, was named secretary. President Harrison selected Matt Reynolds of Missouri for attorney general but shortly before the names of appointees were sent to the Senate influences back of Horace Speed did their work effectively and Speed was nominated. The first Territorial election was held on August 5th and at that time a Legislature was chosen. Fourteen republicans were elected to the House of Representatives, eight democrats and four of the alliance party. The council, or upper house, consisted of six republicans, five democrats and one of the alliance party. The second council district, which embraced Oklahoma County, elected James L. Brown of Oklahoma City, John W. Howard and Leander G. Pitman. Members of the lower house from the second legislative district were Moses Neal, C. G. Jones, Samuel D. Pack, Daniel W. Peery and Hugh G. Trosper. Oklahoma County in that election cast about thirty-five hundred votes. The Legislature convened on August 29. In view of the ambition of Oklahoma City to be come the capital of the Territory, that matter was made an issue at the outset of organization activities and the Oklahoma City delegates supported N. A. Daniels of El Reno, an alliance member, for speaker, presumably in return for a promise of at least fair consideration of Oklahoma City's claim. Coun cilman Brown in September introduced in the upper house the first bill providing for removal of the capital to Oklahoma City. This was council bill No. 7. A complete history of the fight for the capital, written by the late Frederick S. Barde 99 100 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY and appearing in another department of this history, contains details of early overtures and adventures in the fight. Among early arrivals in Washington this year in behalf of an organized government for the Territory were Charles B. Stuart of Gainesville, Texas, and W. A. Ledbetter of Arcl more, the former interested in having a Federal court estab lished at Ardmore as a consequence of an organic act and the latter seeking the designation of Arclmore as a Federal court seat. Washington, then supporting a republican administra tion, heard the noisy clamor of democrats in Oklahoma and their convention, held in Oklahoma City on March 11th, and attended by 250 delegates, sent billows of thunder in dramatic English down Washington way. Organization of the Territory easily could have been de ferred too long. As a matter of fact, it doubtless was deferred too long. License was virtually unrestrained and the wonder is that life and safety were enjoyed in such considerable meas ure. Everywhere it was believed that this small area would not long remain the area of the Territory of Oklahoma, that other Indian reservations soon would be opened to settlement. This belief produced mischief and mischief makers scouted freely about in large and growing numbers. Many of them were of the original boomer type. They demanded the open ing of the Cherokee Strip, the Sac and Fox and Pottawotomie country and the Cheyenne and Arapaho reservations. In their idleness and impatience and anger they cut the wire fences of the cattlemen in the Cherokee Strip and became so notori ously inimical that President Harrison sent troops under Gen eral Merritt to protect property and preserve order. The establishment of a local government did not at once bring unrest and disorder to an end; it was not empowered to do that ; but it had a salutary and stabilizing effect. In view of the probable opening of these reservations and of more and more insistent demands from Oklahoma City residents, a land office was established in Oklahoma City this year and that institution became a magnet in the path of the adventurer. The year probably would have been prosaic but for this, for development was retarded by uncertainty. The pioneers con tinued to build homes, most of them inexpensive affairs, and new lines of business were established, and there was a mod- CAPTAIN A. B. HAMMER THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 103 erate growth. Correspondents for newspapers of Kansas City, St. Louis and Dallas appraised news largely from the sensational viewpoint. They reveled in accounts of murders, the capture of outlaws, the chasing of train robbers and re ported Indian uprisings. Disregard for even the common law, not to speak of that of the Federal Government which necessarily was in force, was magnified by the extravagant freedom exercised by saloon keepers all over the Territory. This became so notorious and so productive of crime that the President ordered United States Marshal Walker of Kansas to raid them. Raids took place in Oklahoma City, Guthrie and Kingfisher but their effect was little more than momentary. Ten clays later forty saloons were doing business as usual in Oklahoma City, where upon the President ordered that all saloons be closedimtiHhe'" organic act was in effect. i^-~~~ In the November election D. A^ Haryey of Oklahoma City was elected as the Territory's first delegate to Congress.-- On December 13th Governor Steele issuecTa call for an election to be held December 30th, under an act of the Legislature, to create public school districts and establish schools. Women were allowed to vote in this election. Prior to this Governor Steele had had a poll taken of the qualified voters. This was the cause of many amusing incidents. Not a few adventurers refused to disclose their political affiliations and many others declared they belonged to no political party. A few demo cratic politicians took advantage of the occasion to charge that the republicans were taking steps to build up a machine that would guarantee the control of the Legislature and prob ably of the government of a majority of the counties. Generally speaking crops were poor this year, so extremely poor, in fact, in some sections that homesteaders became desti tute. They appealed to the President for assistance and the President sent Captain Burbank of the War Department here to make an investigation. He reported that conditions had been exaggerated but that he found a few cases of actual destitution. For these he recommended financial aid and also that the Government assist in the construction of roads and bridges and furnish seed. Appeals for aid went also to the railroads and these agreed to furnish seed to farmers at cost. lOrt THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITYr In Oklahoma County cotton had been found to be a more dependable crop than the small grains and the yield this year was sufficient to warrant the erection of two cotton gins in Oklahoma City. Negroes in such considerable number acquired homesteads in Logan and Oklahoma counties as to become a menace to society, in the opinion of whites whose sentiments were thus bent on the race question, and these whites organized a sort of anti-African ku klux klan. Whether their numbers were exaggerated is not known, although they probably were, lead ers announced that in April the organization had 2,000 mem bers in forty local organizations in the Territory. Negroes of the eastern part of Oklahoma County, where they lived in largest numbers, were thrown into consternation by a warning that they must desert their homesteads by April 22d or suffer the consequences. The)7 gathered in Choctaw City for defen sive organization, but forcible ejection never materialized, clue probably to the departure of a few negroes and the suffi ciency of the Government in protection measures. Captain Stiles' soldiers performed many a duty. The memoirs of any one of them would make a chapter of frontier history more interesting than the fiction of Zane Grey. A new duty devolved/upon them one April day of this year: they were calle/Lupon to prevent the robbery of the Citizens Bank. The Dalton band of outlaws had been operating for some time in the Territories. It consisted of fearless desperadoes who were reputed to have frightened off their trails all Govern ment and Indian tribe officials save a few who drove them often into seclusion. From an unidentified source came a rumor that the Daltons or some other band had planned to rob the bank at noon on April 7th. It was dispatched to the military headquarters and a detail of soldiers was assigned to guard the bank. The news traveled quickly over the city and the countryside. The excited populace never questioned the authenticity of the rumor. That was seldom done in these days when anything was likely to happen. Some of them went into seclusion, others behind makeshift breastworks and others into the open bearing arms. Promptly at noon a stranger of suspicious appearance1 riding a horse and leading- two others dismounted near the bank. He made a hastv visual THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 105 survey of the surroundings, then remounted and rode away. Who the stranger was, where he came from and whither he went nobody seemed bent on ascertaining. Governor Steele on June 7th appointed temporary officers in each of the counties. Those for "Second" (Oklahoma) County were inducted into office on June 17th. A. B. Ham mer, the probate judge, having been given the oath of office by the Territorial secretary, administered the oath to the other county officials. The other officials were: John M. Martin, clerk ; H. H. Howard, "attorney ; C. H. DeFor.d, sheriff ; Levi Bixler, treasurer ; M. D. Rust, surveyor ; and W. T. Higgins (who was elected chairman), Franklin Springer and J. A. Hartzell, commissioners. During the first session of the Commissioners' Court bids for furnishing a building for a temporary county courthouse were submitted by W. J. Pettee and Henry Overholser, the former offering a building at Main and Broadway and the latter a building at Grand and Robinson. The contract was awarded to Mr. Overholser. J. H. Woods and others on July 1st filed with the commis sioners an application for an order incorporating the village of Oklahoma City. Owing to contests on some of the tracts having been filed in the land office, the commissioners declined to take action. At a meeting on July 12th they reconsidered that action but deferred further consideration of the matter. Meantime, D. C. Lewis and others filed a petition asking that a tract of land described as the southwest quarter of section 33, township 12 north, range 3 west, be stricken from the list of tracts mentioned in the Woods' petition. At a subsequent meeting the board took judicial notice of George E. Thorn ton's having secured from the District Court an order re straining the commissioners from including in any corpora tion the northeast quarter of section 4, township 11 north, range 3 west. This order a few days later was dissolved and on July 15th the board promulgated its incorporation order, providing that the village of Oklahoma City should embrace the south half of the northeast quarter of section 33, the south west quarter of section 33 and the northeast quarter of sec tion 4. In the same order the commissioners appointed a board of trustees for the town government, consisting of D. W. 106 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Gibbs, T. J. Watson, J^ Button, Samuel Frost and Henry Overholser. Gibbs was elected president of the board and in that capacity exercised the duties of mayor. JJtt. Martin,' county clerk, administered the oath of office. Tazwell M. Up shaw was chosen clerk. The first meeting was held on July 22d. The first communication read was from County Attor ney H. H. Howard who asked permission to meet with the board to give advice as to procedure. The first resolution placed of record called for an election to be held in August to submit the matter of converting the village into a city of the second class and dividing it into four, -wards and electing officers. One of the first contracts entered into by the officials/ authorized the law firms of Blue & Douglas and Haumier, & Woods to represent the town government in contests pending in the United States land office involving the entries of Louis O. Dick, James Murray and G. W. Patrick. In the August election -TJ,. J. Gault -was elected mayor; T * M. Upshaw, clerk ;^>-W- Witten, police' judge ; M. S. Miller?^ treasurer; and Dr.TL A. Peyton, J. R. Barrows, J. W. Boles, J. A. Ryan, John Rowick, F. V. Brandon, John Brogan and N. N. Miller, aldermen. Doctor "Peytona was elected president of the council. Charles F. Coleord was appointed marshal and T. C. Smith, street commissioner. Necessary ordinances were enacted with rapidity. One of them made the state of intoxication a misdemeanor, another prohibited disturbance of the peace and another regulated the sale of intoxicating liquors. Another fixed the salary of the mayor at $250 a year and the salary of the marshal at $50 a month. On November 26th the council granted a franchise to the Oklahoma Oity Light & Power Company and this company installed the first electric lighting system. A franchise was granted to the Choctaw Coal & Railway Company which authorized the com pany to use First Street as a right of way. It granted a water franchise to W. A. Calhoun and J. H. Wheeler. David A. Harvey was born at Stewiacke, Nova Scotia, March 20, 1845. His parents emigrated from Canada when he was six weeks old, settling in Ohio. At the age of sixteen, he enlisted in the Fourth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry and was discharged from the military service at the end of the war, after having served continuously for three and one-half years. THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 107 After attending the sessions of Miami University for a time, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1869. Moving- westward, he settled at Topeka, Kansas, where he engaged in the practice of law, served as city attorney and as probate judge. He became interested in the Oklahoma movement and was active in the agitation for the opening of the Oklahoma country to settlement. He was among the pioneers who came into the country on the day of the opening, locating at Okla homa City, April 22, 1889. He was nominated for delegate to Congress by the Territorial republican convention, at Guthrie, October 18, 1890, and, on November 4th, he was elected to serve both the long and short terms, taking his seat when the Fifty-first Congress reconvened, in December, 1890, and serving until the final adjournment of the Fifty-second Congress, March 3, 1893. Mr. Harvey subsequently located at Wyandotte, where he died, May 23, 1916. — Thoburn. Latest developments in the contests touching three tracts occupied as a town are shown in this abstract of land office proceedings: Sections 3 and 4 of township 11 north, range 3 west, and the southeast quarter of section 33 and the south west quarter of section 34, township 12 north, range 3 west, are bottom land, but the north half of sections 33 and 34 are rolling uplands, with a gradual slope to the south. The be ginning of this elevation is about one thousand feet south of the south line of the north half of those sections. There is a small ravine on the line dividing sections 33 and 34, each sec tion having a gradual slope thereto. Prior to noon, April 22, 1889, there had been constructed and was in operation a railroad, known as the Atchison, To peka and Santa Fe, running in a southwesterly direction down the ravine, and on the line dividing the sections mentioned. At a point about 800 feet north of the point where the sections corner was located the station, freight and passenger depot, side tracks and water tank. Near the depot was the post office. At noon on that day about thirty people were at the sta tion and from one hundred to one hundred and fifty in that vicinity. At noon, Charles Chamberlain, a civil engineer and a resident of Great Bend, Kan., was at the station with a plat which he had previously made, of a proposed town to be known as Oklahoma City, to embrace the north half of the northeast 108 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY quarter of section 4, the southeast quarter of section 33 and the south half of the northeast quarter of section 33. He was at the station to survey the ground into lots, blocks, streets and alleys at the instance of a private citizen, whose name he refused to disclose in this case. At two minutes past noon he, with six assistants, began the survey about 1,728 feet north of the south line of section 33, and ran the south line of Main Street west and at right angles with the railroad a distance of two blocks. He then returned and ran the east line of Broadway south from Main one block and a half. Then he ran the east line to the north line of the south half of the north east quarter of section 33, this line being run at 1 o'clock, and small stakes one inch square were driven on the lines of the survey. Returning to Main Street he extended the south line to the west line of the east half of section 33. Broadway was located at right angles with Main Street about four hundred feet west of the east line of section 33. At once, after the survey was begun, the people present began to stake lots on Main and Broadway, and on the com mons on the southeast quarter of section 33. About one hun dred and fifty people settled upon this southeast quarter be fore 2 o'clock and 10 minutes P. M. of that day. Several hundred of the thousands of people who had con gregated at Purcell before the opening dajT had decided to locate at Oklahoma station, and to establish a town to be known as Oklahoma City on the east half of section 33. The train on the Santa Fe left Purcell at noon, and before it ar rived at Oklahoma station it was arranged that one of their number, Peter G. Burnes, a civil engineer, should survey the townsite. The train arrived at 2 :10 P. M., and 2,000 of the people thereon left the train and went in various directions to locate lots, but the greater number went west and north of the depot and settled upon the southeast quarter of section 33. After the arrival of the train Peter G. Burnes made prepara tions to survey the townsite and devoted the remainder of the day to finding the township line, from which he intended to start. He first surveyed Reno Avenue, located on the town ship line, then California Avenue, then Grand Avenue. He was about three weeks doing this work. About the middle of May he began to survev the north half of the northeast PRESENT SITE OF CULBERTSON BUILDING, BROADWAY AND GRAND AVENUE THE STORYr OF OKLAHOMA CITY 111 quarter and was prevented from doing so by force. The dif ferences between the Chamberlain and Burnes surveys were subsequently adjusted, which surveys locate Oklahoma City on the east half of section 33, but the north half of the north east quarter was never surveyed. The application for the townsite, filed by Louis 0. Dick as trustee, on the opening day, named the south half of the north east quarter and southeast quarter of section 33, and the north half of the northeast quarter of section 4. At the time this case was tried in the land office, in the lat ter half of 1890, the population located on the east half of section 33 numbered about two thousand three hundred and seventy-eight persons; most of the business district and the greater part of the population in the southeast quarter. The contest which originated this suit in the land office was over the northeast quarter of section 33, which was in cluded in the original townsite and was also sought as a home stead. The following description found in the findings is a part of history : Samuel Crocker, as a member of the Payne colony, was in Oklahoma in the year 1885, and at several times subsequent to that date, during which time he resided in Kansas. He came to Oklahoma station March 2, 1889, and established a residence at that place. Immediately after 12 o'clock noon, April 22, he settled upon the north half of the northeast quarter of section 33 and established a residence where he lived up to the date of this suit. Soon after he went upon the land he dug a hole in the ground, had some plowing done, and erected a tent in which to live. By the 26th of April he had three or four acres broken, and subsequently had thirty- three acres broken. He erected a frame house 12 by 16 feet in size, with one addition 16 by 24 feet in size, and another 8 by 16 feet. He erected a stable and dug a cistern and well and built a chicken house. He fenced six or seven acres near the house and put up 350 rods of wire fence. He set out an orchard of two acres, seventy-five shade trees, planted two acres of watermelons and cantaloupes, one acre of buckwheat and two acres of turnips. On the 24th of April he made home stead entry No. 33 of the north half of the northeast quarter. All this happened, according to the findings of the land 112 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY office, on land now covered by business and residence houses near the heart of Oklahoma City. But at noon on April 22, Frank M. Gault, who had lived twelve miles east of the east line of Oklahoma Territory, started from that line and arrived at and settled upon the northeast quarter of section 33 at 1 o'clock and 10 minutes past noon. On the following- day he had the land surveyed, and put up a tent, and later did some plowing and made im provements of various kinds. When, on May 17, he made application to enter the tract for a homestead his application was rejected as being in conflict with the entry of Crocker on the north half of the quarter and with the townsite applica tion of Dick. Three men named Fuller had each made application for entry of this quarter for homestead purposes. Besides the claimants who contested for this particular quarter section as a homestead, a man named George E. Thornton, who had been a government freighter previous to the opening and resided in a house on the northeast quarter of section 4, laid claim to this quarter section for homestead purposes. In the findings is other evidence regarding the settlement of Edward DeTar, Meshack Couch and Thomas Wright, who had been in government service in the country prior to the opening and had located on lands immediately after noon of the opening- clay. Besides the matters of history involved in these findings, the register and receiver of the land office, in summing up the evidence, gave their decision on the rights of the homestead er as against the townsite claimant, and that decision is an important review of this subject. "At one o'clock and ten minutes p. m. of day Frank M. Gault, a qualified homesteader, settled upon the northeast quarter of said section as a homestead, and has since resided thereon and maintained his settlement rights, and that at the time of his said settlement no settlement had been made thereon for the purpose of trade and business. "It is insisted by the townsite claimants that Oklahoma station was a prospective townsite; that persons at Purcell and elsewhere had decided to locate a town on the said half section as soon after noon of said da)* as it could be reached; THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 113 that persons settled upon the southeast quarter at once after said hour ; that the survey of the town was begun at that time ; that by law such townsite settlers were entitled to enter 320 acres of land; that a settlement upon any portion of it segre gated the whole 320 acres ; that the settlement upon the south east quarter segregated the northeast quarter also, and that homestead claimants were bound to take notice of these facts. "It is settled by an unbroken line of decisions that settlers for homestead and townsite purposes are governed by the same rules of law, acquire their rights in the same way — by actual selection and settlement — and that such rights date from the first initial act. Speaking on this subject, in the case of Kingfisher vs. Wood, et al., the honorable assistant commis sioner says, 'A body of people coming together with a common purpose of locating a town upon public land, have no greater rights under the law than a homestead settler, they are upon the same footing, and, as in this case, their rights must be de termined according to the priority of their initial acts.' " Gault 's first initial act as a homestead claimant was his actual settlement upon the northeast quarter at one o'clock and ten minutes p. m. of said day and the real question is: Was the land at that time subject to homestead entry? All lands in Oklahoma were subject to homestead entry unless they had been selected or settled upon and occupied for pur poses of trade and business. At that time, had this quarter section been selected? "It is true that the proposed settlers at Purcell had de cided to locate the town on this half section, but they were not settlers nor occupants of the land or any portion of the same and were prohibited from making such settlement prior to noon. The land department has always distinguished be tween a settlement and an intention to settle. The declara tions of the settlers while at Purcell show an intention to settle, but such an intention did not segregate the land from homestead entry. In Keith vs. Townsite of Grand Junction, 3 L. D., 431, Secretary Teller uses this language: 'I had no intention to, nor did I, rule that a townsite could not be selected by a few persons ; but I found as a fact that the per sons who made this selection were not settlers on the land, and that they did not go upon it for the purpose of then be- 114 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY coming settlers; and I ruled, as a matter of law, that such persons were not competent to make a legal selection.' In Kingfisher vs. Wood, et al., the honorable assistant commis sioner says: 'Undoubtedly the first act in locating a town under the public land laws, is the selection of its site, and without defining just what acts constitute a selection it is sufficient to say that there can be no legal selection for such purpose without a personal inspection and examination of the land by some of the people locating thereon or their agent. The theory that the people assembled at Buffalo Springs, I. T., April 22, 1889, legally selected the north half of the section in question as the townsite of Kingfisher, cannot for a mo ment be entertained. At that time, these people had never seen the land, and by the act of Congress and the President's proclamation, above referred to, they were prohibited from examining the same, either in person or through agent. ' "The evidence shows that at noon there were about one hundred and fifty persons in the vicinity of Oklahoma station, and that between that hour and one o 'clock they settled upon said southeast quarter, but the preponderance of evidence is against such settlement having been made. The evidence does not show that any of such persons selected any particular half section for the townsite. Besides, they were in the terri tory at noon and made selection of lots immediately after that hour. Having at once made selections and being in the territory at a time when they could not have come from the line after noon, the fair presumption is that they were there illegally for the purpose of taking lands. It is true that Charles Chamberlain, the civil engineer, had a plat of the town which covered half of said quarter section, and was there f < >r the purpose of laying the same off into lots, blocks, streets and alleys, but he had done but little surveying before Gault 's settlement, and that which he did do was upon the southeast quarter, except the running of one line of a street to the center of said northeast quarter. While we found that such line had been run at that time, the evidence is very con flicting upon that question. Such line did not of itself show for what purpose it was run or that it was the line of a street. Chamberlain himself was non-resident, had come into the territory illegallv, and could not make the selection for him- THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 115 self or any one else, had he attempted to do so. It does not appear that the person who procured his services was at that time or ever since has been a settler upon the land or a person competent to make a selection or settlement. It does not ap pear that Chamberlain represented or was acting for the settlers present, nor does it affirmatively appear that there was a single settler upon said half section who had come from the line after noon of said clay. The burden of proof is upon the townsite claimants to show a legal and valid selection and settlement of the land to segregate it from homestead entry. "It is true that a reasonable number of persons may settle upon the public domain for the purpose of trade or business and that they may embrace in the townsite entry three hun dred and twenty acres, even though their actual settlement is all upon one quarter, but to hold the other quarter section as against a homestead claimant such settlers must make a selec tion of such quarter before the initiation of the homestead right. 'To select is to choose, to set apart, to designate.' C. P. L. L., page 1297. No townsite settler had at the time of Gault 's settlement, selected, set apart or designated the north east quarter as a part of the townsite. It may be true that Gault was bound to know that the town was entitled to enter three hundred and twenty acres, but he was not bound to know that such settlers were going to claim this tract of land. How was he to know but that the quarter section east, west or south might be selected? He was bound only to initiate his home stead right to prevent the lands from being taken as a town- site and townsite claimants were bound to initiate their claim to segregate the lands from homestead entry. The fact that Gault settled near a proposed townsite cannot be accepted as evidence of bad faith. The following language, used by the commissioner in Plumer vs. Jackson (10 C. L. O. 71), is quoted with approval by Secretary Teller : 'The statutes can not be construed to mean that persons going to the frontiers or along the lines of projected railways, and anticipating- cen ters of population, shall not enjoy the benefits of their enter prise and foresight, though they believe their claims would be of great value on account of their proximity to cities or villages, or that villages or cities would even be built upon 116 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY such claims, and thereby enable them ultimately to realize large prices for such land. ' 3 L. D. page 434. "The evidence shows that just after the arrival of the first train a large number of persons settled upon the northeast quarter of said section four for purposes of trade and busi ness and have continuously so occupied the same until the pres ent time, and that at this time there are twelve hundred people occupying said tract and have improvements of the value of $94,413. It also appears that George E. Thornton was a deputy United States marshal and government freighter, and had been stationed and living on said land since and prior to the passage of the act of Congress of March 2, 1889, had made improvements on said land and claimed the same as a home stead immediately after noon, April 22, 1889, and is now making such claim. "Section thirteen of the act of March 2, 1889, provides: 'Until said lands are open for settlement, by the proclama tion of the president, no person shall be peniiitted to enter upon and occupy the same, and no person violating this provision shall be permitted to enter any of said lands or ac quire any right thereto. ' It is insisted by counsel for Thorn ton that he is not disqualified from taking a homestead by said act, because he was in the territory lawfully and lived here prior to and at the time of its passage. "In the general land office decision in the case of Blanch- ard vs. White and Cook the honorable assistant commissioner, in discussing this statute, says: 'The clause of the statute under consideration has reference to only one class of per sons, viz. "All persons who, from and after the approval of the act aforesaid and prior to 12 o'clock noon of April 22, 1889, should enter upon and occupy any portion of the terri tory with the intent to make selection, settle upon or enter any of the lands therein. All others are not within the pro hibitory clause." ' "George E. Thornton was lawfully within the territory and began his residence upon the quarter section claimed by him prior to the purchase of said lands by the government from the Indians, and prior to the passage of the act of March 2, 1889. It is admitted by the counsel for the townsite claim ants that he claimed the tract in controversv as a homestead, D. W. GIBBS THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 119 for the first time, after 12 o'clock noon of April 22, 1889, and that in pursuance of said claim he followed up the initial acts of his claim by establishing a residence, cultivating, etc., and has so continued to do to the present time, and that said claim was made prior to the time that any portion of the same was claimed by any person or persons as a townsite by any settlement or entry thereon. In the case of the City of Kingfisher vs. John H. Wood and William D. Fossett it appeared from the evidence that Wood was within the terri tory included in the president's proclamation, dated March 23, 1889, prior to 12 o'clock noon of April 22, 1889; that he was at the time of the passage of the act within the limits of said territory by proper authority. It was held by the local office that in accordance with the views expressed by the honorable ex-commissioner, Mr. Stockslager, in a letter to Senator Ingalls, under date of April 12, 1889, that Mr. Wood was on April 22, 1889, a legally qualified entiyman. In con sidering this case the honorable assistant commissioner says : 'I agree with your first conclusion that the fact that John H. Wood has for a number of years prior to April 22, 1889, been a resident within the Oklahoma country did not operate to preclude him from making a homestead entry in Oklahoma on said date.' The same construction of the law is again made by the honorable assistant commissioner in considering the appeal of John C. Chapin from the rejection by the King fisher office of his application to make a homestead entry. "Thornton was as lawfully and as properly within the territory at the time of the passage of the act of March 2, 1889, as either Wood or Chapin, and in view of the foregoing decisions Thornton has lawfully acquired a prior right to all other claimants to the quarter section claimed by him. "We therefore conclude that Frank M. Gault initiated a homestead right to the northeast quarter of said section thirty- three (33) and that George E. Thornton initiated a home stead right to the northeast quarter of said section four before the same had been settled upon or occupied for the pur poses of business and trade. That Edward DeTar, Samuel Crocker and Meshack Couch are disqualified from making homestead entry; that the southeast quarter of said section 120 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY thirty-three is occupied by people for the purposes of trade and business and there are no valid adverse claims thereto. "We recommend that each of said homestead entries be canceled ; that the occupants of the southeast quarter of said section thirty-three be allowed to enter the same as a townsite under the act of May 14, 1890, and that a hearing be ordered to determine the rights of the several homestead claimants to said other several tracts of land. "John I. Dille, Register, "CM. Barnes, Receiver." "Register Dille: "I concur in the above conclusions as to the qualifications of George E. Thornton to make homestead entry because it seems to have been so decided by the honorable assistant com missioner of the general land office. It is by no means cer tain, however, that the above language used by him should govern us in this case." 1891— THE SECOND OPENING Main Street ran through a quiet six months, after which assurances that another big land opening was approaching revived business and also was an incentive to building. Speak ing comparatively, only a little land was put in cultivation during the previous 3^ear in the territory tributary to the city and business depended to a great degree upon expendi tures of outside money, some of which visitors, who were always coming in a stead)7 stream, spent for the necessities and for pleasure. Establishment of a land office here con tributed considerably to the uptrend of business. The reservations of the Sac and Fox and Pottawotamie Indians, which adjoined the Territoiy on the East, were thrown open to settlement, under proclamation of President Harrison, in September. These comprised over eight hun dred and sixty-five thousand acres and much of the land was fertile and lay within what was known as the rain belt. The opening attracted tens of thousands of persons from all parts of the United States, and many thousands of them detrained or headquartered in Oklahoma City, the land office here hav ing been authorized to receive applications for entry for a part of the new territoiy. During a period of two or three days before the opening day officials found it difficult to main tain order. Soldiers, county officials and policemen joined in the task. The real test of their ability came the last day be fore the opening and until noon of the opening day. Appli cants were required to take turns at entering the land office and impatience and petty quarrels led to much disorder in the line. Gun plays were frequent and fist fights common. As a last resort the enforcement authorities went along the line, removing arms from those that bore them. By noon of the opening day the town was nearly deserted, for local men as well as visitors hankered for the excitement and the profit of another great race for homesteads and town lots. The 121 122 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY largest assemblage of land seekers on the western side of the reservations was at Choctaw City which was near the western line. It was at Choctaw City that the pistol was fired at noon as a signal that the last barrier against the entry was removed. This opening was one of the early potent influences to growth of the city. It not only brought here thousands of substantial men looking for investment in else than home steads and who foresaw the eventual creation of homesteads out of all the Indian reservations of the Southwest, but men of an industrial turn whose thought was of railroads and fac tories and the establishment of a metropolis. On the other hand it brought thousands of sj>eculators and gamblers. Among the former were men who made a business of dealing in what was known as "soldiers' declaratories. " The act authorizing the opening- of the Indian reservations provided that soldiers who had fought for the Union might employ agents to file with the land office their declarations of inten tion to file on homesteads and these declarations had a right of way. Agents holding soldiers' declarations, some of them with pockets full, caused more indignation among other ap plicants for entry than any other character of men, and it was due largely to their activities that serious trouble was near at hand in Oklahoma City many times before the hour of the opening. The city on August 25 entertained a Territorial meeting of the Farmers Alliance, which was then an influential or ganization and which had an important part in political ac tivities. A resolution was adopted calling upon the President to order removal of cattlemen from the Cherokee Strip, which at that time was being raided by boomers. The resolutions favored construction of a highway with Government funds from Duluth, Minn., to Galveston across Oklahoma. A. D. Hickok of Moore was elected president and A. J. Ellington of Kingfisher, secretary. George E. Thornton, the deputy United States marshal with whom Captain Stiles had had a controversy in 1889, was killed on October 30 of this year in the Creek Indian nation while searching for Captain Willie and Alieholee, full-blood Creek outlaws. The latter is said to have fired the fatal shot. Thornton, with an officer's commission, had been chas- s feif "*&'.'»* Hll II u * mill m «!!,':;;;;: 11 ii II mujiiii ^T-~'* i AMERICAN NATIONAL BANK BUILDING HOME OF THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 125 ing the outlaws over the roadless woodlands of the Creek country for some days and rode suddenly upon them in a rendezvous. Thornton had made a commendable record as an officer in Indian Territory, Texas and New Mexico. The capital fight of the previous year, in which Oklahoma City, Guthrie and Kingfisher were entered and which pro duced a series of sensational happenings, was in some measure responsible for the resignation this year of Governor Steele. His successor was Judge A. J. Seay of Kingfisher. A memorial to Congress demanding an act creating a State of Oklahoma and Indian Territoiy was contained in a reso lution passed by a Statehood convention held here on De cember 15. Temporary officers of the convention were Ledru Guthrie, chairman, and T. M. Upshaw, secretary. Permanent officers were the Rev. J. H. Lane of Kingfisher, chairman, and A. F. Ferguson of El Reno, secretaiy. A message from Washington this j^ear announced the in tention of the Government of permitting the sale of the mili tary reservation for townsite purposes. This reservation, still occupied by soldiers, lay east of the Santa Fe Railroad and after the sale of lots in a subsequent year became known as Maywood Addition. "In the spring of 1891 the work of constructing the line from Fort Reno to Oklahoma City was begun," says Joseph B. Thoburn in his History of Oklahoma, relative to the Choc taw Railroad enterprise. "The right of way and leases of the road were mortgaged for approximately $10,000 per mile. When the track had been laid from Reno to Yukon, the bond holders refused to furnish more funds. Messrs. Edwin D. Chaddick and E. C. Sears, the active promoters of the Choc taw Coal & Railway Company, asked for appointment of re ceivers. The court appointed Francis I. Gowan and Edwin D. Chaddick as receivers, the former representing the bond holders and the latter representing the promoters. "Finding that the section of the road extending from Fort Reno to Yukon could be operated only at a loss, the receivers applied to the court to compel the line from Oklahoma City to Yukon to pay for the cost of such construction in receiver's certificates. This course was taken in order to preserve the property and was classed by the court and the receivers under 126 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY the guise of necessary repairs, thus giving the certificates so issued priority over the Philadelphia syndicate 's mortgage. "The line as originally surveyed in 1888 intersected that of the Atchison, TojDeka & Santa Fe Railway at the site upon which Oklahoma City was afterwards built. The right of way and reservation for depot and side tracks was 200 feet wide and upon April 22, 1889, the limits thereto were plainly marked by tin signs which were conspicuously posted. The settlers, however, paid no attention to these signs or the right of way thus claimed. When the road was built in 1891 a com promise between the conflicting claims of the railway com pany and those who had settled on the townsite was effected, whereby the alley in the row of blocks between First and Sec ond streets was vacated, with forty feet off the lots on either side, at a cost of $16,000, which sum was paid in city scrip, to be payable when validated by an act of Congress. After ward, the city raised the rate charged for saloon license and authorized the city treasurer to receive scrip in payment of the same, the ultimate redemption costing the city 75 cents on the dollar. "In 1894 Francis I. Gowan, receiver, was made chairman of the reorganization committee. One of the first steps of this reorganization committee was to secure the passage of an act of Congress authorizing the reorganization of the com pany. Under the terms of this act, the incorporators were required to file a certificate with the secretary of the interior, specifying name, capitalization, date of organization and di rectors. It was given independent corporate powers in per petuity in addition to those heretofore held by the Choctaw Coal & Railway Company. After the passage and the ap proval of this act the property of the Choctaw Coal & Rail way Company was sold at foreclosure sale under final decrees rendered by the United States Court at South MeAlester and the District Court of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, and was purchased by the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railway." The second election of city officials was held on April 8. W. J. Gault was reelected mayor and T. M. Upshaw, clerk. B. H. Miller was elected police judge, Robert J. Ray, attorney; Harvey Blair, assessor, and J. P. Boyle, treasurer. Alder men elected were Charles W. Meacham, Nelson Button, John THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 127 H. Roller, J. W. Gibbs, N. D. Taylor, John Brogan and N. N. Miller, who was chosen president of the council. H. S. Butler and C. D. Millinger were elected justices of the peace, and D. W. Phillips and Samuel Bartel, constables. Among franchises granted during the year were one to J. F. Thompson and L. W. Fouts to install a gas system and one to H. Wilkerson to install a telephone system. The appointed county officials served only until the first election held under the new Territorial law. At that election the following officials were chosen : W. R. Taylor, county at torney; D. A. Stewart, probate judge; Charles F. Coleord, sheriff; W. J. Donovan, treasurer; Will L. Bradford, clerk; J. A. J. Baugus, superintendent of public instruction, and Harry Bacon (elected chairman), L. N. Deweese and John L. Robertson, commissioners. Will H. Clark was the first clerk of the Federal District Court appointed in this district. Dr. W. R. Thompson was the first county physician under the popular government. Dennis T. Flynn was born at Phoenixville, Pa., in 1861. He was educated at Buffalo, N. Y., where he studied law. After his admission to the bar, he settled at Riverside, Iowa, where he resided for a short time. In 1882, he again mi grated, locating at Kiowa, Kan., where, in addition to prac ticing law, he established and successfully conducted the Kiowa Herald and also acted as postmaster. When Oklahoma was opened to settlement, in 1889, he settled at Guthrie, where he served as the first postmaster. In 1890, he received a strong vote in the Republican Territorial Convention for the nomination for delegate to Congress. In 1892 he was nomi nated and elected as territorial delegate to Congress. In 1894 he was renominated and reelected. In 1896 he was renomi nated but was defeated as the result of the union of the opposition forces. Although his own party was hopelessly in the minority, he ran far ahead of his own ticket, largely on the free homes issue. In 1898 and again in 1900, he was renominated and reelected as delegate to Congress. During the last mentioned year, he secured the passage of the free homestead bill. In 1902 Mr. Flynn declined to be a candidate for reelection as delegate to Congress. Since 1903 he has 128 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY been engaged in the practice of law in Oklahoma City. — Tho- burn. When W. D. Gault became mayor by regular election C. F. Coleord continued in service as chief of police until the autumn of 1891, when he was elected the first sheriff of the newly organized Oklahoma County, an office of which he con tinued the fearless and efficient incumbent for the ensuing two years. Concerning local conditions and his administra tion the following interesting statements have been made: "The two years during which Mr. Coleord served as sheriff of Oklahoma county are notable in the records of the county and the territoiy, for at that time the forces of law and order found themselves confronted with the most formidable of ob stacles in their endeavors to restrain and drive off the cohorts of vice that beset the new Territoiy and constituted a con stant menace to the law-abiding citizens who had come to the new country in such large numbers. It is certain that never since has there been in Oklahoma a condition of affairs de manding such vigorous and courageous work on the part of official entrusted with the maintenance of law and order, and it is altogether probable that at no previous period had so great a task been imposed. In bringing to an end the reign of outlawry in Oklahoma, one of the criminal officers who de serves unqualified credit and honor for thorough efficiency and straightforward service, untainted by corruption or deviation from the strictest ideals of duty, is Charles F. Col eord, whose record as a public official may perhaps be for gotten in the light of his latter-day activities, which have been of great magnitude and importance. After his retirement from the position of sheriff Mr. Coleord held for five years the United States prison contract at Guthrie, the territorial capital. ' ' At the opening of the Cherokee Strip, in 1893, Mr. Coleord secured large land holdings in the district and entered busi ness at Perry. In 1898 he returned to Oklahoma City, which has since continued to be his place of residence. The first grand jury that sat in the United States side of the Territorial Court in January, 1891, brought in seventy- five indictments for perjury. The foreman of the grand jury was a "sooner," but belonged to the class that believed that THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 129 he was violating no law as long as he did not go upon the tract of land he sought, before the hour of opening, and spurned the thought of committing the crime of perjury. His name was John A. Blackburn. These indictments were followed rapidly by other indict ments and the most vigorous prosecutions ever known in a western court. After being indicted, the accused persons defied prosecution, and boldly told the officers that they could never get convictions, no matter what the Government proved. Threats of assassination were frequent and ofttimes above board, but those charged with the duty of breaking up the hotbed of perjury relentlessly pursued the prosecutions. John G. Clark, formerly of Lancaster, Wis., was the pre siding judge, with Will H. Clark as clerk of court, while Hon. Horace Speed, of Guthrie, United States attorney for Okla homa, and W. F. Harn, special agent, of Oklahoma City, acted for the United States Government. Assistant United States Attorney John F. Stone and Special Agent John W. Scothorn rendered material assistance, although the work of the two latter was confined mostly to prosecutions in the vicinity of Guthrie, where similar "sooner" and perjury com binations, but on a much smaller scale, had been formed and maintained. The first few trials consumed as much as four weeks each, day and night, and were fought desperately by the several defendants and their attorneys. A conspiracy was unearthed, in which it was planned to dynamite the courthouse for the purpose of killing Judge Clark, United States Attorney Speed and Special Agent Harn, but the plans of the assassins were thwarted by the early discovery of the details through a con fession of one of the accused, who subsequently served time in prison for murder. A bomb was thrown under the house of Special Agent Harn, but the fuse was put out by the bomb striking some bushes. At another time Deputy United States Marshal Frank Cochran stayed the hand of a de fendant perjurer's son-in-law. as the latter was about to plunge a dirk into the back of Special Agent Harn, as the latter was leaving the court room. Other instances of this kind, never publicly made known, were numerous and fre quent. Vol. 1—9 130 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY These acts of intimidation, however, failed to stop the monotonous and incessant grind of the court. Conviction fol lowed conviction as rapidly as the cases were submitted to the juries. Many defendants left the country as soon as they heard that their cases were under investigation by a grand jury, which they could pretty well figure out by the names of the witnesses before that body, while many of those in dicted jumped their bonds, and never again appeared in the territoiy. The officers were deluged with offers from defend ants to turn state's evidence, and many detailed confessions were had that were never used. Although the guilt of the de fendants was established by untainted testimony, in all cases, yet usually the prosecution was able and did use the evidence of several accomplices for the main purpose of showing the secret methods of the organizations. After the backbone of perjury had been broken, it was no unusual sight for defendants to appear in court and enter pleas of guilty with a request for immediate sentence. On one morning, in single file, no less than eleven defendants appeared before Judge Clark and asked that they be per mitted to change their former pleas of not guilty to pleas of guilty as charged in the indictments. There was little else than perjury tried at Oklahoma City in the year 1891, yet the docket was far from cleared of cases charging that crime as the end of the last term of court drew near. The Bohemians were notified that in a few days their indictments at Guthrie would be tried. But a trial was not what they were looking for, and some sixteen or more hurried to Wichita, where they were under bond and asked the United States marshal to lock them up, in order that their bondsmen might be exonerated. This was done, and when it was dis covered that their voluntary return to prison was merely a ruse to get the defendants out of the jurisdiction, of the Guthrie court, the Kansas officers volunteered to return the accused to Guthrie for trial. Inasmuch as the defendants and their attorneys seemed to prefer the Kansas jurisdiction, all of the cases were set down for immediate trial in that court before United States Judge Williams. A desperate effort was made bv the defendants' attorneys to avoid trial. Messrs. Speed and Harn were charged with THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 131 having Oklahoma terrorized by their prosecutions, and it was claimed that the defendants could not get a fair trial, because of the fear of their witnesses to testify. After being forced into trial, however, the same old gang of witnesses was on hand for the defense with the same old brazen stories. The prosecution examined nearly one hundred witnesses on be half of the Government, hammering to pieces every material statement made by a perjury witness. A jury returned ver dicts of guilty against fifteen defendants in three days. Since the convicting jury came from every part of the State of Kansas and had little or no acquaintance with conditions in Oklahoma, the verdicts were a complete vindication of the Oklahoma officers. When prominent defendants went upon the stand and made a full confession of perjuiy and suborna tion, the hitherto almost impregnable defense wasted away like a mist before the rising sun. One defendant escaped. His indictment was dismissed on the motion of the United States attorney for a defect in the copying. Joseph W. Ady, United States attorney of Kansas ; Hon. Pliny Soper, assistant United States attorney, and W. F. Harn prosecuted, while Stanley, of Wichita, later governor of the state, defended. Judge Williams was so greatly im pressed with the completeness of the Government's prosecu tion to the minutest detail, that he voluntarily remarked that it was the most remarkable series of prosecutions that ever came to his attention on account of the preparedness of the prosecution to meet every point in law or evidence that might possibly have been raised by the defense. These fifteen defendants were sentenced to the peniten tiary for terms of from a year and a day to four years at Leavenworth. There were other trials of perjury cases, but the crime had been stamped out, and the later prosecutions were of a desultory character. Numerous cases, also, were tried that involved perjuiy on matters other than the "sooner" ques tion, but they were few when compared to the whole number tried. 1892— BOOMERS ACTIVE AGAIN The city again this year was a mecca for boomers. The Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indian reservations were opened to settlement on April 19x and because of the fact that the Department of the Interior had designated the Oklahoma City land office as one of the offices of entry, thousands of homeseekers and speculators assembled here prior to the open ing. They began coming early in the year and their numbers increased with the passing of the weeks. Disorders were so frequent and law violations so flagrant along the eastern bor der of the reservation that Governor Seay was compelled to call for military assistance in preserving order. In Okla homa City disorders were no less frequent. These were caused in many instances by the traffic in soldiers' declaratories. Such traffic had its inception the previous year and had been developed profitably by scores of men. Some small riots took place here. In none of them was serious personal injury done, and the town-builders had their first organized experience in denying exaggerated reports. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Carter allayed feeling against the traffickers to an extent and virtually put an end to their activities by issuing an order prohibiting an agent from representing more than two soldiers. The order was issued after the Commissioner had received resolutions of protest from organizations at Ok lahoma City and Kingfisher. The opening of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe reservations further increased the population of the city and was the last official act necessary to guaran tee construction of the Choctaw Railroad across the Territoiy from East to West. A branch of the Choctaw had been com pleted from Oklahoma City to El Reno, and over this were transported thousands who came into the city over the Santa Fe. A newspaper account of the preopening activities said that special trains bore 300 filled coaches into the city in one day. 133 134 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY The early part of the year was notable for the activities of the boomers. Not only had they overrun the Cheyenne and Arapahoe reservations but they continued more or less law less activities in what was known as the Cherokee Strip, the demand for the opening of which was even stronger than that for the opening of the other reservation. The boomer move ments had their origin principally, in adjoining states and in other parts of the Territory but Oklahoma City was the head quarters of a few. Indirectly the boomer movement in its bulk contributed to the growth of business here. On January 25 of this year Delegate David A. Harvey in troduced a bill in Congress providing for the creation of a State out of the two Territories. The Committee on Terri tories on February 11 began a series of hearings on the bill and the chief advocates of it were Sidney Clarke of Oklahoma City and W. P. Hackney and Horace Speed of Guthrie, all ¦ representing the single statehood executive committee. Other members of the committee were : Samuel H. Harris of Cleve land County, William J. Grant of Canadian County, J. P. Cummins of Kingfisher County, Frank J. Wikoff of Paine County, George F. Payne of Beaver County, William A. Allison of "A" County, J. H. Woods of "B" County, and H. C. Potterf of Chickasaw County. Dennis T. Flynn, who ha'd been postmaster at Guthrie, this year defeated Mr. Harvey for the republican nomination for Delegate to Congress and in the November election defeated O. H. Travers of Oklahoma City, the democratic nominee. Canadian River floods in the early summer of this year inflicted much damage to property in what had been South Oklahoma. This was the first experience the settlers had had with high waters of the river and thej^ initiated plans for straightening the channel. These plans developed more or less half-heartedly and more or less loosely during the next few years and culminated in the digging of a canal for a river cut-off. The canal project ended in failure but to this day sections of a red-clay scar are visible on undeveloped parcels of town lots. A census of the Territory taken under direction of the Interior Department this year showed it to have a population of 133,000. Oklahoma County's population was 21,000 and W. ¦>¦ GAULT THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 137 the town boosters claimed that 8,000 of these lived in Okla homa City. A traveling correspondent of a Texas newspaper called it 8,000 and complimented the city of having "a brick jail, a grist mill, an ice factory and several churches." County officials elected this year were S. A. Stewart, judge; Will L. Bradford, clerk; J. H. Woods, attorney; J. O. Williams, register of deeds ; J. M. Brogan, assessor ; J. M. Fightmaster, sheriff; R. B. Potts, surveyor, and H. A. Bo- linger, superintendent of public instruction. O. A. Mitscher defeated L. F. Kramer for mayor in the spring election. J. T. Martin was reelected clerk and J. B. Boyle, treasurer. R. G. Hays defeated R. J. Edwards for attorney and G. W. McClelland defeated Bent Miller for po lice judge. C. A. Compton was elected assessor and J. H. Wheeler, treasurer of the board of education. Members of the city council elected were Dr. C. E. Dunn, L. Mendlick, C. G. Jones and George Ross. New justices of the peace were J. W. Davis and G. W. Stephenson. The council granted a gas franchise to T. A. Baile}^ and received an application for a street railway franchise from Augustus N. Spencer. It accepted a water system installed by D. H. Scott & Company. It adopted a resolution that asked President Cleveland to proclaim the military reser vation subject to sale for townsite purposes. A bill containing such a provision had failed of passage in Congress and the council was advised by lawyers that the President had au thority to act without an act of Congress. The resolution recited that the city was becoming congested, that it was in need of more territoiy, and that limitation on tracts forbade spreading in all other directions. William H. Ebey, who had been the first secretary of the Oklahoma City Commercial Club and a few years later of the Chamber of Commerce, this year was appointed bv President Cleveland clerk of the United States Court of the Third Judicial District of Oklahoma Territoiy, with head quarters at Oklahoma City. Prior to coming to Oklahoma Mr. Ebey had been for a time engaged in the newspaper busi ness, and he was one of the early representatives of the Asso ciated Press in Oklahoma, being succeeded in this position by Frank McMaster, a pioneer newspaper man of Oklahoma 138 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY City. After maintaining his residence in Oklahoma City for a period of seven years Mr. Ebey passed a few years at Ter rell, Texas. He then returned to Oklahoma and established his residence at Lawton, the present judicial center of Co manche County, being virtually one of the founders of the town, shortly after the opening to settlement of the Kiowa and Comanche Indian country. He afterward spent a year in California and upon his return to Oklahoma he established his permanent home at Ada. He was once owner of the Oklahoman, which is now the leading daily newspaper of that state. It was not a paying proposition and the business was not to his liking, and he finally traded the plant and business to R. Q. Blakeney for a town lot and other consideration. His interest in political affairs made Mr. Ebe)^ one of the democratic leaders during the entire period of his residence in Oklahoma City. He was a delegate to many county and state conventions and fre quently was chairman or secretary of the. same. He was a member of the notable state convention, at Enid, that nomi nated William Cross for Congress. In this convention Thomas P. Gore, of Lawton, now United States senator, was a .conspicuous figure, and his name was once placed before the convention as that of a candidate for Congress. Later it was withdrawn and Mr. Ebey changed the vote of the Co manche County delegation from Gore to Cross. This change marked the beginning of a new wave of sentiment in the convention and resulted in the nomination of Cross. 0. A. MITSCHER 1893— DREAM OF A COMMONWEALTH Oklahoma City never settled into the unpretentious rou tine of a Main Street town, but that level of a million of her peers might have been approximated this year had not her far-seeing captains of industry found politics, immigration and Statehood topics to engage them. But for these Main Street would have been prosaic indeed, for it was the year of the panic. Trade was slack and there were some business failures. There were long dull days of summer when ham mers were hushed and Gulf winds spread clouds of dust over the scenery and along the beaten and bare thoroughfares, and clust was an unbidden and unwelcome visitor in the home of every woman. There were tempestuous gray days of spring, days of heavy precipitation, soil soakers, and capitalists and laborers alike sank their boots into the gummy slush of Main Street and transported innumerable portions of it to their divers destinations. In spite of this, homesteaders pursued the business of house building and crop making, which re quired much teaming of materials and provisions, and their thoughts touching highways were of bridges and the slanting of precipitous banks of creeks and ravines. The art of sci entific road building had not been introduced ; the motor age was a decade away. The flowered prairies were gorgeous and growing crops were convincing of the fertility of the soil, and homeseekers came, saw and were conquered in spite of the panic. The inhabitants boasted to them of the completion of a water system, the city's very first and undoubtedly its most truly appreciated. It was the year of the World 's Fair in Chicago and Okla homa City put its bundle of products into baskets and shipped them away to the Oklahoma building at the exposition. The Territory is said to have made a creditable display. Among those who took a conspicuous part in the city's showing of exhibits were Dr. A. C. Scott and Mrs. Gilbert. 141 142 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Democrats came into control of the Territorial Govern ment this year by virtue of the election of Grover Cleveland as President, and Oklahoma City, which had a majority of votes inclined to the democratic party, found itself more fav ored by the new administration than towns of a republican bent. Leslie P. Ross, one of the first officials and most influ ential residents of South Oklahoma City, was credited with having more influence in Washington than any other man in the Territoiy. The "sawbuck leader" he was called by the republicans of Guthrie. A coworker in the party with Ross was Edward L. Dunn, then secretary of the Democratic cen tral committee of the Territory, and these two party stal warts exercised a great influence in the distribution of party patronage. William C. Renfrow was appointed governor and C. A. Galbraith, a young lawyer of Oklahoma City, attorney general, and later in the year Ross was appointed receiver of the land office at Oklahoma City. It is said that he could have been governor had he expressed a desire for it. B. M. Dilley was named register of the land office, and E. G. Spilman, who later became a resident of the city, was named register of the land office at Kingfisher. Frank Dale of Guthrie was ap pointed chief justice of the Territorial Supreme Court and Henry W. Scott, a young Oklahoma City barrister, whom some politicians called the "kid of the Canadian," was ap pointed associate justice. Ross succeeded Capt. J. C. Delaney, who was accounted a useful citizen of the early years, and who returned immediately to his former home in Pennsyl vania. United States Marshal Nix of Kingfisher named as his deputies in Oklahoma City, J. W. Jones, John Quinby, Charles F. Coleord, Samuel Bartel and John Hubatka. The Department of Justice delayed for several months the ap pointment of a United States attorney and in that time J. W. Johnson of Oklahoma City and Matthew J. Kane of King fisher, who many years later was a justice of the State Su preme Court and a resident of the city, applicants for the place, waged a battle of wits in Washington. Rivalry between Oklahoma City and Guthrie, which had been largely commercial, took a decided political turn this year, and Frank II. Greer, editor of the State Capital at Guthrie, delighted in administering various shades and THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 143 degrees of serious and facetious political chastisement. Demo cratic leadership, of course, was divided. Captains of democ racy lived in Guthrie and El Reno and Kingfisher, and in Perry and Enid after the opening of the Cherokee Strip, which took place in September of this year. Well founded rumors were narrated to the effect that the land office might be moved from Oklahoma City to El Reno. It was the most disquieting piece of political news of the year. Guthrie demo crats were accused of being in league with El Reno democrats to bring about the removal, a punishment in part, the tale bearers said, of Oklahoma City's reputed efforts in earlier years to rob Guthrie of land office honors by having the office established at some place farther removed from Oklahoma City. The scheme was visionary; indeed, it may never have been whipped into concrete form; but it furnished ammu nition for caucus and stump rifle practice wherever a vestige of it protruded into daylight. With the democrats in control of the long-range Wash ington Government, the demand for Statehood, which had been increasing for a couple of years, was not lessened. A Statehood convention was held in El Reno- on August 8, attended by about one hundred delegates, and Sidney Clarke was elected permanent chairman of the executive committee. He appointed a committee consisting of Frank McMaster of Oklahoma City (who that year founded the Oklahoma Mag azine), Frank H. Greer of Guthrie, L. N. Hornbeck of Minco, J. W. Admire of Kingfisher and R. W. McAdams of Ardmore to collect statistics relating to population, industries, etc., of Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territoiy and prepare a me morial to Congress asking for the creation of a single State. The executive committee was called to meet in Oklahoma City on August 26 to receive a report of the special committee. On the latter date a call was issued for another convention, to be held in Purcell on September 30, and to consist of dele gates from both Territories. The Oklahoma County delegates to this convention were Frank McMaster, J. H. Woods, C. G. Jones, W. J. Donovan, John H. Beatty, O. H. Violet, D. C. Lewis, Charles Reddick, J. S. Lindsay, B. F. Williams, Sam uel Crocker, J. M. Fightmaster, J. W. Johnson, Leslie P. 144 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Ross, J. W. McCartney, Dr. A. G. Gunn, Maj. D. D. Leach and J. J. Burke. Frank McMaster was named chairman of the resolutions committee of the Purcell convention and Samuel Crocker chairman of the organization committee. It had a gratifying- attendance of enthusiastic men and the resolutions adopted apprised members of Congress of the serious intentions of these pioneers and their brethren of the lands of the Five Tribes. James E. Humphreys of Purcell was president of the convention, W. A. Ledbetter of Arclmore was vice presi dent, M. L. Bixler of Oklahoma City, secretary, and L. N. Hornbeck of Minco, assistant secretary. The resolutions fav ored what was known as the Carey bill thtu pending in Con gress, providing for the creation of one State, and they approved of the efforts of Delegate Dennis Flynn to secure the making of treaties with Indian tribes of Oklahoma Terri tory as a preliminary step toward the opening to settlement of other reservations. Before adjournment the executive committee, which was determined to hammer the iron while it was hot, fixed a meeting elate. for October 10, in Okla homa City, and called upon the Five Civilized Tribes of In dian Territory to send representatives to sit in this meeting. The October 10 meeting was held in the Grand Avenue Hotel and it was presided over hy Sidney Clarke. Mr. Hum phreys represented the Five Tribes as a secretary and Henry Asp, a Guthrie lawyer, Oklahoma Territoiy. Plans for creat ing a larger organization and for securing additional repre sentation in Washington were discussed principally. The committee upon adjournment announced that its next meeting- would be held here on November 3. On this date the commit tee was gratified to report that the Purcell convention had accomplished the result of impressing Delegate Flynn with the growing earnestness of the people, and that he had intro duced a bill embodying the ideas expressed in that convention. That Mr. Flynn should have all support the organization could muster was a unanimous sentiment, and to that end the committee put out a call for still another convention, the date of which was November 28, and the place Kingfisher. This convention was more largely attended than that at Pur cell and manifested a more heightened degree of enthusiasm. LESLIE P. ROSS Vol. I— 10 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 147 It elected Mr. Clarke to the station of committeeman at large and A. J. Seay of Kingfisher, secretary. Frank McMaster was elected as Oklahoma County's representative on the com mittee. On November 15 of this year a court-martial was convened at Fort Reno to try Capt. D. F. Stiles, then retired, on the charge of having committed a fraud in the sale of buildings on the Government reservation at Oklahoma City to a fair association, the charge specifjung that there were eight build ings sold and only five reported sold by Captain Stiles. Capt. E. H. Crowder, acting judge advocate of the United States Army, was judge advocate at the trial, and Captain Stiles was represented by Lieut. Charles J. T. Clark of the Tenth In fantry. The charge proved unfounded and Captain Stiles returned to Oklahoma City and remained, a useful citizen, until his death in 1900. Part of the court-martial proceedings were witnessed b}^ Gen. Nelson A. Miles who, at the conclu sion of a western hunting expedition with Col. William F. Cody, had come to Fort Reno for an inspection of the post, Colonel Cody accompanying him. In his first annual report to Secretary of the Interior Hoke Smith, Governor Renfrow included some detailed statistics relative to Oklahoma County. These showed that in 1890 the population of the county was 12,794 ; in 1892, 21,000 ; and in 1893, 25,363. Taxable property in 1892 had a valuation of $2,661,000 and in 1893 of $3,084,000. The scholastic popula tion in 1891 was 4,263 and in 1893, 5,367. William M. Stone, who had twice been governor of Iowa and, under the administration of President Harrison, commis sioner of the general land office, died at his home near Okla homa City on July 18. Governor Stone had bought a tract of land near the city and erected upon it what was then known as a very fine home and had entered upon the prac tice of law. Among charters granted by the Secretary of the Territory during the year was one to the Press-Gazette Printing Com pany, that had a capital stock of $10,000 and of which W. J. Donovan, T. M. Upshaw, L. G. Pitman, C. A. Galbraith and J. L. Harralson were incorporators. New members of the city council elected this year were 148 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY F. M. Riley, C. E. Dunn, J. R. Mcllvane, who defeated C. G. Jones, and H. F. Butler. Oscar G. Lee, who in the previous 3^ear had been appointed city marshal, resigned on April 12 and E. F. Cochran was appointed as his successor. An ordi nance was passed providing that members of the police force should wear a uniform. The council this year applied to the District Court for permission to fund a city indebtedness of about $30,000. Another of its acts was a resolution addressed to the Secretary of the Interior asking that the Kickapoo Indian reservation be opened to settlement. Bonds were voted this year for installation of the original system of sanitary sewers. FRANK McMASTER 1894— THE ACTIVE TEN THOUSAND While the annals of this year contain numerous echoes of outlawry, which existed before the opening, and was en livened and intensified with the increase in population and the careless and indifferent character of a large percentage of the population, they portray some of the important begin nings of permanency. An active interest in agriculture and minerals was manifest. Social life achieved first-page space in newspapers. An industrious commercial club, boasting that the city had 10,000 population, entered vigorously into pro gressive enterprises. A right of way from Oklahoma City to a terminus of the Choctaw Railroad to the East was being secured and the city was on the eve of getting its second trunk line, the Santa Fe having been laid through the Territory several years before the opening. This gave zest to the town's ambitions to be come a commercial center and metropolis. Being at the border of the big western prairie, the matter of fuel demanded attention if ambitions were to be realized. Some geological work had been done in the new country, both by private and probably adventurous "rock hounds" and, in a limited way, by the United States Geological Sur vey. A collection of reports came into possession of the Com mercial Club and these brought about the first organized move ment to explore for gas. The club called an outdoors mass meeting to discuss the suggestion that a well be drilled. It was attended by several hundred men and women and so enthusiastic did they become, after speeches, that several hun dred dollars was subscribed to a drilling fund. A committee to solicit funds and make other preparations for furthering the project was appointed by Henry Will, president of the club. It consisted of F. M. Riley, W. M. Pyles, C. G. Jones, Henry Overholser, Henry Will, T. M. Richardson and B. F. Burwell. 151 152 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY More geologists were attracted to the Territory by virtue of the publicity given this enterprise and the community soon was infected by a genuine case of oil fever, the first it had had and the first in the Territory of Oklahoma. New surveys were made and at a later meeting of the Commercial Club the leaders were urged to arrange for a well to be drilled in every township of Oklahoma County. Interest was intensified by geological reports from other sections of the Territory and adventurers began to investigate the possibilities of asphalt to the south and rumors about gold and copper in the Wichita Mountains. Eventually the oil and gas committee created the Okla homa City Oil, Coal & Gas Company, of which Henry Over holser was elected president. It had a capital stock of $50,000 and the board of directors consisted of Mr. Overholser, Henry Will, F. M. Riley, Edward H. Cooke, O. A. Mitscher, W. M. Pyles and T. H. Group. The company erected what was then a modern derrick on Military Hill, a tract of land situated north of the Choctaw right of way and east of the Santa Fe. The most sensational event of the year was the sentencing to jail of Frank McMaster by District Judge Henry W. Scott. McMaster was a lawyer, scholar, orator and editor. Probably he had no superiors at that time in Oklahoma in intellect and brilliance. It is certain that none surpassed him in sarcasm and invective. Physically unattractive, of slightly stooped shoulders, and wearing a rectangular and irregularly trimmed suit of whiskers, he belied first impressions. He was a pro found student and a masterful speaker, and he was accus tomed to speaking his thoughts irrespective of the occasion of the expectations of his auditors. This was more than once the cause of his mental and personal discomfiture. McMaster was angered by some statement or ruling of the district judge and proceeded to put into his characteristic English his opinion of that dignitary. Judge Scott had him brought into court and, in the absence of a retraction or apol ogies, fined him $500 and sentenced him to serve six months in the county jail. McMaster accepted the sentence stoically and was placed in jail. Some days later he repented and wrote a note of apology to Judge Scott, thereby procuring his release. It has been said that poison was found in his cell NELSON BUTTON THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 155 and that he contemplated ending his life. That he had such intention was denied by some of his friends. During his incarceration he was permitted once to leave the jail, under guard, that he might cast a vote in the city election. The incarceration of McMaster produced a sensation in other towns of the Territoiy. He was one of the founders of the democratic party organization after the opening and he wielded an influence as great as any other man in Terri torial politics. Sentiment in his favor was therefore colored considerably by politics. Resolutions condemning the action of Judge Scott were passed by political and other organiza tions in all the principal towns and some of these were sent to President Cleveland who is said to have considered seri ously calling for the resignation of the judge. McMaster re mained in Oklahoma City until the opening of the Kiowa and Comanche Indian country in 1901 when he established a law office in Lawton. There he died a few years later. Statehood this year was receiving serious attention by Congress, and the new Territoiy, already ambitious for self- government, maintained delegations in Washington to lobby for the passage of a bill. Leaders of political thought were not a unit in the matter, however, some demanding that a single state be created of the two Territories and others hold ing fast to the two-state idea. Among those representing Ok lahoma City in Washington that year were Sidney Clarke and Col. J. W. Johnson, but during the year the city sent a special delegation out on a statehood expedition. It consisted of C. G. Jones, 0. A. Mitscher and Seymour Price. They were commis sioned to represent the city at the Trans Mississippi Congress in St. Louis but the purpose principally was to acquaint men from other states with the desires of the Oklahomans. A spe cial commissioner of the city to Washington this year was Ed ward L. Dunn. Sidney Clarke, who was chairman of the Statehood Exec utive Committee, reported near the end of the year that con ditions in Indian Territory were an injury to the cause of single Statehood and that this was the big problem the Okla homans had to deal with. Washington, he said, heard almost daily reports of banditry and paralyzed business conditions 156 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY in Indian Territoiy and of scenes that were a disgrace to civilization and to the Government of the United States. Sam W. Small, the well known brilliant platform speaker and evangelist of the South, early in the year became editor of The Daily Oklahoman. His editorials on current events created an original sort of snappy literature that was in per fect accord with the ideals of the day, and his human-interest contributions touching on such subjects as battles with out laws, murders and street brawls, sensational divorce cases and political conventions of the enemy were masterful in the same degree as his sermons on the feast of Belshazzar and the down fall of the devil. He was succeeded after a few months by Charles Barrett, who popularized the newspaper with long lists of personals and page-one resumes of events in other towns of the Terri tory, and who labored zealously to promote all legitimate in terests of the city. Barrett was succeeded by R. Q. Blakeney, who already had earned his spurs as a cavalier for the demo cratic party and who carried on valorously in defeat and out. Blakeney dignified social items by giving them a place on the first column of the first page. He filled his editorial columns with intelligently built and weighty paragraphs, maintained a correspondent in Washington, and gave the paper a dress suggestive of cosmopolitanism. Under his direction The Daily Oklahoman became a constructive and constructing en terprise, and this year was in reality the beginning of its long period of usefulness as probably the most determinative factor in the erection of the metropolis of today. In the municipal election this spring Nelson Button suc ceeded O. A. Mitscher as mayor, and the ticket that Button captioned defeated one nominated by a citizens' committee and headed by D. C. Lewis. The republicans were victorious in the autumn elections, both in Oklahoma County and the Territoiy, and Dennis Flynn, afterward a lawyer in Oklahoma City and Washing ton, but formerly postmaster at Guthrie, was elected Delegate to Congress. Henry Overholser was elected County Commis sioner and made chairman of the board. Other county officers elected were W. P. Harper, judge ; G. A. Beidler, register of deeds ; S. H. Miller, clerk ; C. II. DeFord, sheriff ; J. L. Brown, iJjjj 'M'' tf$*C i % J ¦ . J 1 pPp|p ii ^KPJf' . ' :T' ' . * If . $ W* ' .' ' ¦¦ «'i Br wF'+U " ¦ ' •¦' ¦¦ -. rf/j : -j;- i«iM a;:£^ [jt.*,lLdL , _ •¦».• . ";* ?P MAIN STREET, OKLAHOMA CITY' 1889 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 159 attorney ; John Carson, treasurer, and F. H. Umholtz, super intendent of public instruction. During that year Samuel Murphy resigned as Territorial Treasurer and Governor Renfrow filled the vacancy by ap pointing M. L. Turner, then an official of the Capital National Bank of Guthrie, and who later moved to Oklahoma City and founded the Western National Bank and was for twenty years one of the city's leading citizens. He died in 1921. Among enterprises set going that year by the Commercial Club was an effort to secure title for the city to the southwest quarter of section 34-12n-3w. Part of the tract was claimed by Ben Miller who was classed as a Sooner, and that cognomen was given him by the club in a memorial sent to Congress asking for legislation making transfer of the tract. The me morial was signed by Henry Will, president, and Walter Jehnison, secretary. In 1894 George Sohlberg came down from Kansas and organized the Acme Milling Company which erected in Okla homa City the first large manufactory of flour, an enterprise that was frequently lauded by the newspapers and received encouragement of the commercial club. That year John A. Flattery was appointed postmaster and Dr. Delos Walker was elected president of the Territorial Medical Association. 1895— CHOCTAW RAILROAD ENTERS Perhaps the most important event of the year 1895 was the completion of the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad into Oklahoma City. Later this road was extended westward to Amarillo, Texas. Its eastern terminus was Memphis, Tenn. Later it became known officially as a trunk line of the Rock Island System. It put the new city in direct communication with the principal coal district of Indian Territory and with the wheat and grazing districts of Western Oklahoma and the Panhandle of Texas. Selection of the route of this road into Oklahoma City from the East was attended by not a few ordinary difficulties and some of major importance. A fight developed among towns in the former Pottawotamie and Kickapoo reservations, with Tecumseh as a point around which rotated many heated controversies. Tecumseh went so far as to employ an attor ney, Horace Speed of Guthrie, who afterwards was United States District Attorney. His employment was one of the incidents of those early years that tended to develop a flame of modest hatred out of a small fire of commercial and social rivalry between Oklahoma City and Guthrie. Speed was credited with being a strong Guthrie partisan and Okla homa City citizens interpreted his employment by Tecumseh as an effort on the part of the capital to divert the Choctaw road from the original survey to a diagonal route to Guthrie. The route controversy terminated temporarily in the United States Court which granted an injunction against the road being laid across the Kickapoo Indian reservation. The dismissal of this injunction after a few months was the last determining factor in the choice of routes and soon rails were being laid to Oklahoma City, and from Shawnee rather than from Tecumseh. Oklahoma City then proceeded in an effort to have this city made general headquarters of the railroad company and shops established here. In this it was unsuc- 161 Vol. 1—11 162 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY cessful, but the decision to locate the shops at Shawnee left no bitterness and the city builders of the metropolis, now assured of rail facilities that would attract manufacturers and wholesalers, turned their attention to other industrial en terprises. But the spirit of railroad building, present in all ambi tious communities of the Territory was kept alive. It was evident that the Frisco had in mind an extension from Sa- pulpa into the new country. That Oklahoma City should be its southwestern objective was the ambition of all citizens. The first step toward securing the extension was taken when the Oklahoma Central Railway Company was formed here. Of this company C. G. Jones was elected president, O. A. Mitscher, vice president ; S. A. Steward, secretary, and Henry Overholser, treasurer. "We'll have this road completed into Oklahoma City within eighteen months," President Jones told citizens in a mass meeting. Railroad promoters came from every direction. Their projects contemplated lines from Kansas, Missouri and Texas, and Oklahoma City and all other growing centers of the Ter ritory were entertained with speeches of enterprising indus trial adventurers. In after years only a small few of these enterprises materialized. Oklahoma City men themselves were not averse to such promotions. When the route of the Choctaw road had been determined and Tecumseh had lost its fight against Shawnee, there was formed in Oklahoma City the Tecumseh & Shawnee Railway Company. It had a capital stock of $150,000, it purposed to lay a line between those two towns, and its incorporators were J. T. Martin, F. M. Riley, J. S. Jenkins, C. A. McNabb, D. C. Pry or and R. G. Hays. Before the completion of the Choctaw road passengers were carried by stage between Oklahoma City and Shawnee, the latter having become the chief commercial place of the Pottawotamie and Kickapoo countries. For a long time this stage was operated by J. P. Atkisson, who kept his time table in the newspapers conspicuously before the public. Time tables in those days were far more essential than hotel or restaurant menus, for the nearly unlimited possibilities of the new country were attracting attention throughout the entire CAPTAIN E. H. DeFORD THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 165 country. At the end of a blustery clay in April, Atkisson drove a battered and top-shredded coach into the Oklahoma City terminal. "The wind upset her three times between here and Choctaw City, ' ' he announced to an inquisitive crowd that awaited his arrival. Nobody was injured, he said, and the crowd added laughter and jest to the reception babble. Three mass meetings were held during the year to ad vance the cause of Statehood. In the first of these a resolution was passed memorializing Delegate Dennis Flynn to sup port the Sidney Clarke bill. This resolution was framed by D. D. Leach, Ledru Guthrie and B. Treadwell. The second was of the nature of a convention that was called to order by C. G. Jones and of which F. E. Gillette of El Reno was elected chairman, and L. N. Hornbeck, editor of the Minco Minstrel at Minco, I. T., secretary. The committee on reso lutions consisted of C. H. Carswell of El Reno, J. W. Hooker of Purcell, Frank McMaster of Oklahoma City, Frank H. Greer of Guthrie, Selwyn Douglas of Oklahoma City, W. E. Asher of Tecumseh and Amos Hays of the Chickasaw Nation. The resolution demanded an early passage of a Statehood bill and petitioned the opening to settlement of the reserva tions of the Kickapoo and the Kiowa and Comanche Indians. At the third meeting, held November 30, delegates were elected to attend a Statehood convention of the Territoiy to be held at Shawnee December 4. Resolutions adopted de manded a single State of the two Territories. The delegates were Samuel Crocker, J. T. Griffith, C. G. Jones, C. H. De- Ford, R. Q. Blakeney and D. C. Lewis. At the Shawnee con vention Sidney Clarke was reelected chairman of the State hood Executive Committee. Blakeney was secretary of the convention. Before the convention adjourned it provided for the holding of another one in Oklahoma City on January 8. It was during this convention that the slogan "Let the People Rule" was first used, and singularly enough it was employed by individuals and editors of newspapers irrespec tive of political party affiliation. The slogan was revived as part of a political creed some years later when Statehood had been achieved and the Democrats, long deprived of office, en tered the first campaign for the election of state officials. What became popularly known as the Scott-McMaster 166 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY feud, which began the previous year when McMaster was placed in jail for contempt of court, was revived, and a con siderable portion of the population became partisan. Mc Master succeeded in getting the subject again before Presi dent Cleveland, this time by a more direct route and with substantial political backing, but the President found no cause for dismissal of Judge Scott. That virtually terminated the bitterness and it gradually waned into insignificance. But the people were to hear more, much more, of McMaster. An event of this year that, at the time, had no relationship with affairs of this city but which later became an issue in the affairs of State, was the killing of Edward Jennings by Tem ple Houston at Woodward. This resulted from an open street battle, October 9, with Jack Love and Temple Houston on one side and Edward and John Jennings on the other. John Jennings received a flesh wound in the arm. Temple Houston was a descendant of Gen. Sam Houston, hero of the Battle of San Jacinto. Jack Love, at statehood, was elected a member of the Corporation Commission and was its chairman until his death in Oklahoma City a few years later. John Jennings was an early resident of Oklahoma City and a political leader for some years. A brother, Al, who asserted in a record of his deeds twenty years later that he was driven to outlawry by the Woodward tragedy, lived here after his release from prison and was the democratic nominee for County Attor ney in one biennial campaign and two years later made an unsuccessful campaign for the nomination for governor. Mayor Nelson Button's administration met with favor, in spite of the gradually widening breach of partisanship, and in the spring election the democrats elected all their candi dates for aldermen but one. The one was Capt. F. S. Good rich, a republican. F. S. Rhodes was elected from the first ward, Frank Menton from the second ward, Captain Good rich from the third ward, and J. S. Lindsey from the fourth ward. Edward Cooke was elected treasurer of the school board. The city received from the Department of the Interior a grant to lots 40 and 41 of block 23, known as the Hill corner. How it gained possession of the property through strategy is to be related hereafter. The anniversary of the establishment of the citv was cele- THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 167 brated modestly this year, Col. J. W. Johnson delivering an oration and Mrs. A. C. Scott directing a program of music. The ladies of the Presbyterian Church served meals. A tragedy of the year was the death of Mrs. Harry C. St. John, who was killed by her husband, a prominent and learned young attorney, and a son of Gov. John P. St. John of Kansas. Public indignation almost superseded reason as details of the tragedy were unfolded and told and told again. Death on October 11, 1896, ran counter to the course of legal pro ceedings and it quieted the ravings of a conscience-stricken brain that hastened the end. There were churches and preachers and growing congre gations, in contradistinction to saloons, tragedies and sensa tional divorce proceedings. One could easily imagine the preachers were poorly paid, probably were engaged in a man ner of missionary work with funds coming out of other treas uries. Law enforcement, however, had now become a public policy and churches were fixed integrally. That the Rev. E. Huffaker, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. needed a new suit of clothes and some expense money before going to Conference may be easily imagined by one who read his urgent call of the stewards and trustees into special session the evening of November 20. The board consisted of Dr. J. R. Mcllvain, Dr. C. B. Bradford, R. G. Blakeney, F. Car- ruth ers, R. Woodbridge, W. S. Williams, R. J. Ray, G. F. Walker, M. O. Craigmoyle and W. A. Huddleston. Nor were theatrical attractions lacking, though the best of them, which were but little better generally speaking, than the worst of them, came at very long intervals. Among the best of them was "The Black Crook." The press agent announced in choicest English that it was fresh from a successful run of twelve months in New York City. The costumes he described as being magnificent and made of the costliest of silks, satins and velvets, and they were tailored especially for this tour of the West. Their brilliant effects, he said, were simply dazzling and spread brilliance over the throng of dancers in various ballets, a brilliance enhanced "by countless colored electric lights." It was a spectacle such as is seldom seen outside of a metropolis. Two battalions of the Oklahoma National Guard were 168 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY organized at Guthrie during the year and among the ambitious young lieutenants who expected promotions soon was Edward Overholser, son of one of the city's first citizens and who after ward was elected mayor. Two large school buildings were completed and the en rollment totalled 800. Plans were made for a building in the Maywood Addition and one on Military Hill. Seymour Price was elected president of the Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company. Gen. Henry G. Thomas was elected president of the Oklahoma Waterworks Company. Henry Will was elected president of the State National Bank. Capt. J. C. Delaney, who had been receiver of the United States Land Office, was, through the influence of his old-time friend, Senator Matt Quay, appointed superintendent of public prop erty in the capital of Pennsylvania. Roy Hoffman of the Guthrie Leader was elected president of the Oklahoma Press Association. O. A. Mitscher was at the annual election of offi cers of the Board of Trade again chosen president and other officers were re-elected. Fifty members attended the annual meeting and by-laws were adopted. John Milligan was hanged for murder on March 13th, Sheriff DeFord and deputies officiating. DeFord afterward brought suit against the county for $165, the amount expended in preparation for the execution. Milligan brutally murdered Gabe and Hannah Clark and it was the second ghastly tragedy of the year. His execution was one of the first to take place in the Territoiy. Slow progress was made during the year in drilling a test well for oil or gas, by the Oklahoma City Oil, Coal & Gas Company. The hole reached a depth of 750 feet and red clay was still in evidence. This was discouraging, for the company had had a report that a well drilled to 1,500 feet at Gainesville, Texas, still was in a red-clay formation. 1896— FUSION AND FREE SILVER Previous political campaigns, which had resulted in repub lican victory in the Territory in spite of the fact that a demo crat occupied the White House, were like preliminary contests compared to that of 1896. When William J. Bryan was nominated by the democrats in Chicago and later by the populists, and when the populists of Oklahoma fused with the democrats, it fired republicans with a fervor they had not previously demonstrated. A series of debates on the prin cipal issue of the campaign, gold standard versus free silver, enlivened the Territory throughout, and the campaign ended with great rallies in Oklahoma City. The first of these was staged by the democrats and populists in honor of J. Y. Calla han, their nominee for Congress, and the second by republi cans in honor of Dennis Flynn, their nominee. The campaign opened with unprecedented enthusiasm immediately after the Chicago convention. Samuel Murphy, a gold-standard republican, fired a challenge to Col. J. W. Johnson, a free-silver democrat, to engage in a series of de bates. These hardly had begun when the growing fight spirit inspired other speakers to spring into the argumentative fray. Selwyn Douglas, a local republican leader of education, train ing and influence, sent a challenge to Amos Green. A. C. Scott, from the beginning a local leader in education, politics and civics, challenged Thomas G. Chambers, a lawyer of un common ability. Colonel Johnson, already burdened with a load of disputative responsibility, was challenged by H. H. Howard. Each challenge was almost immediately accepted, and these men enlivened a summer with wisdom and wit and oratory. A statehood convention held in the city early in the year was virtually a fiasco. It split over the question of whether one state or two should be created out of the Territories. The proceedings consisted mainly of speeches, and among the 169 170 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY speakers was Gen. Powell Clayton of Arkansas, a dis tinguished soldier and politician. T. F. Hensley, an editor of El Reno, presided. A free-homes organization was perfected early in the year at El Reno and M. L. Turner was elected treasurer. The con vention was attended by 100 delegates who in a resolution asserted that it was an injustice for homeseekers to pay $15,- 000,000 to the Government for 13,000,000 acres of land then subject or soon to be subject to homestead entry. The city having been awarded a patent by the Government to what was known as the Hill corner at Broadway and Grand Avenue, District Judge John H. Burford rendered a decision against Hill Brothers, saloon keepers who occupied the corner, in a suit in which they sought $77,000 damages from the city. One last step, that of possession, remained to be taken by the city. The Hills refused to vacate. Whereupon Mayor But ton ordered that a charge of selling liquor on Sunday be pre ferred against them. They were arrested and thereby ejected from the property and the chief of police for the city estab lished the nine points of law. Whit M. Grant was this year appointed United States commissioner to succeed Col. H.' Wilkinson, who resigned, the appointment being made by District Judge Scott. Mr. Grant was installed in office April 4th. He was at that time vice president of the State National Bank, and had been, under the first term of President Cleveland, United States district attorney in Alaska. The spring municipal campaign in a measure foreshadowed the more acrimonious one that succeeded it. Although there had been no serious faults or obvious omissions during the democratic administration, a majority of electors believed that C. G. Jones was entitled to a reward for his earnest efforts in city building and they elected him mayor over Richard Avey, the democratic nominee. Republicans, under the influence of that quadrennially recurring spell of party infatuation, voted their ticket almost solidly, and the victory was assured by diverted democratic votes. The First ward cast 290 votes, the Second 250 votes, the Third 324 votes, and the Fourth 308 votes. Probablv for the first time in the brief career of the Terri- CHARLES G. JONES THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 173 tory votes of women were cast in this election. Seven of these votes were counted, all in the Fourth ward. Three were cast by white women and four by negro women. A contest was threatened because of this, and a bill of particulars drawn by democrats recited that other irregularities had been discov ered. The contest propaganda was not popular, however, and Mr. Jones and the new aldermen were in due time installed in office with acclaim of well wishes from virtually the whole electorate. The new aldermen were Capt. F. S. Goodrich, F. S. Rhodes, Dr. A. L. Dunn, J. S. Lindsey, E. J. Streeter, W. M. Warren, Frank Menton and J. H. Loughmiller. The inaugural speech of Mayor Jones was well received, and it was prophetic of important accomplishments in the near future. One of his early official acts was the appointment of Abe Couch as chief of police. Mr. Couch had been the city's first police department head and had made an excellent record. It was said of this election that little drinking was in evi dence and that only a few drunken men were seen on the streets. The fact was narrated as the beginning of a new era when intoxicants no longer would exercise a baneful influence over the ballot ; for election day in the West had been a day of free and unlimited distribution of whisky and beer, and its ap proach had signaled an occasion for the inebriation of poor and purchasable and the carousal of the influencing rabble. Prior to this election saloon keepers, at the instance of the mayor, had removed all screens from the front windows of their shops. J. R. McLain, who was reelected superintendent of schools, announced that the estimate of the cost of education for that year was $20,000. He declared prospects were bright for a year of unusual educational progress and prophesied that Oklahoma City soon would be the educational center of the Territory. Valuations of taxable property in the city that year totalled $1,047,513, while county valuations outside of the city totalled $871,273. The assessor's report showed that he found in the city 504 horses, 46 mules, 138 cattle, 3 sheep, 7 hogs, no dogs, 223 carriages, 292 gold watches, 35 silver watches, 114 pianos and household furniture valued at $30,000. He found $13,500 in coins in banks and among taxpayers. 174 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahoma City was beginning to cut a figure in the base ball world. A regular team was maintained during the season and some sensational contests were had with Guthrie, El Reno and other places. Horace Wilson, who probably should be credited with being the father of organized baseball in the city, resigned during the season as manager of the city club and was succeeded by Usher Carson. On June 19th the Department of the Interior issued a patent to the tract of land known as May wood and arrange ments were made for the sale of lots. This ended litigation over the tract that lasted for four years. Hardly were the city officials warm in their seats in the city hall that had been taken strategically from the Hills than Frank McMaster, eager for another fight, served written no tice on the ma}ror and council that he was owner of 50 by 140 feet overlapping the Hill corner and that he had in his pos session a deed thereto. He asserted that the property had been taken by the city without his consent or permission. He asked that a board of appraisers be appointed in order that the property might be legally condemned and sold. The Mc Master instrument appears to have been relegated to the mu nicipal archives. It was the topic of much official and unoffi cial discussion, and McMaster was countered against with charges that he was not a legal resident of the city. These set forth, with purported proof, that he was a homesteader in the Pottowatomie Indian country, and they concluded that in ad dition to his being a nonresident, he had sat on the council without legal right. In September a charter was granted to the Bank of Com merce and it was opened for business in October, at the corner of Robinson and Grand avenues. The directors were T. W. Williamson, Richard Avey, J. B. Wheeler, D. W. Hogan and J. W. Wheeler. J. B. Wheeler was elected president and Mr. Hogan cashier. Mr. Hogan came here from Yukon where he had been cashier of the Bank of Yukon. Judge Henry W. Scott, who was a district judge and was also an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Terri tory, resigned, and on September 24th President Cleveland appointed James R. Keaton, then of Guthrie, to fill the vacancy. Judge Keaton had taken an active part in Terri- THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 175 torial politics since the Territoiy wTas organized. He had been a delegate to the Chicago convention and after the nomination of Bryan espoused the cause of free silver and spoke in behalf of that issue and the party nominee throughout the Territory. He took the oath of office, which was administered by Chief Justice Frank Dale, on September 28th, and came at once to Oklahoma City to begin his service. His reception by Mayor Jones and a committee of representative citizens was an un usual event of that busy autumn of political speaking and political bushwhacking. Hundreds of citizens attended an evening meeting, which was an impressive sign of the city's welcome. Participated in joyously by republicans, the un qualified nonpartisan warmth of it seemed to presage har mony, a virtue born out of two years of ill-tempered dissension. More railroads became the slogan of the Board of Trade, which that year reelected O. A. Mitcher president. Construc tion of the Frisco extension from Sapulpa, under direction of the Oklahoma Central Railway Company, was a virtual cer tainty. At a rousing mass meeting fathered by the Board of Trade citizens pledged a bonus of $50,000. Catholics of Oklahoma City and other representative citi zens attended an observance at Guthrie, November 21st, of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the ordination of Bishop Meer- scheart. The Most Reverend Archbishop Janssens of New Orleans and Bishop Dunn of Dallas took part in the ceremo nies. Twenty-five years later, in Oklahoma City, observance of the fiftieth anniversary of the ordination of Bishop Meerscheart constituted the chief religious event of the year. Among county officers elected this year were John R. Barrows, sheriff ; William L. Alexander, treasurer ; Asa Jones, judge ; Robert Caffrey, clerk ; James McKee Owen, register of deeds ; W. R. Taylor, attorney, and Alice V. Beitman, super intendent of public instruction. Of Judge Keaton a writer of this period says: "Judge Keaton was born December 10, 1861, in Carter County, Ken tucky. His father, who passed his active years in agricul tural pursuits in Kentucky, served in the Union army during the Civil war, and as a member of General Sherman's com mand was captured at the siege of Vicksburg and for six 176 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY months held prisoner. With the organization of the Grand Army of the Republic, he became active in its movements, and for some years was commander of his post. "Judge James R. Keaton was given his preparatory edu cation at the National Normal University, Lebanon, Ohio, where he was graduated in 1884 with the degree of Bachelor of Science, following which he went to Texas and from 1884 until 1887 was principal of the Hico (Texas) High School. During this period he became proprietor and editor of the Hico Courier, which he published from 1886 until 1888, and also, in connection with his editorial duties took up the study of law. In 1888 he entered Georgetown University, Wash ington, D. C, and in 1890 was graduated from the law depart ment thereof "with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, shortly thereafter being admitted to the bar and coming to Oklahoma. He at once entered upon the practice of his profession at Guthrie, where he continued until 1896, then coming to Okla homa City and being appointed associate justice of the Su preme Court and ex-officio judge of the Third Judicial Dis trict of Oklahoma Territory, but in 1898 resigned to become the fusion candidate of the democratic and populist parties for delegate to Congress. Being unsuccessful in his cam paign, he again took up his practice, continuing alone until April, 1902, when he became a member of the law firm of Shartel, Keaton & Wells, at Oklahoma City. This firm con tinued until November, 1913, when Mr. Shartel retired and the style of Keaton, Wells & Johnston was adopted and thus continues. "Judge Keaton is a member of the American Bar Asso ciation and was, for several j^ears, a member of the general council thereof, which is the directing body, and has also been a member, since it was created, in 1911, of the committee to oppose the judicial recall of the association, this body con sisting of one member from each state, Judge Keaton being- selected to represent the State of Oklahoma. He also holds membership in the Oklahoma State Bar Association. Al though his professional and official duties have been arduous and exacting, they have not absorbed his energies to the exclusion of the general interests of the community. He has interested himself in the development of Oklahoma commer- THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 177 cially, industrially and educationally, and has varied and ex tensive interests in the oil fields and other industries. "Judge Keaton was married July 17, 1890, to Mrs. Lucille Johnston, daughter of William R. Davenport, who was a native of North Carolina and consul to Mexico for the Con federate government during the Civil war. One son has been born to Judge and Mrs. Keaton : Clarence, who is a resident of Long Beach, California. The Keaton home is situated at No. 118 West Sixth Street, Oklahoma City." 1897— THE SEEKERS OF PIE The inauguration of William McKinley as President, March 4th of this }Tear, which ended four years of democratic administration, was followed by a lively and long-continued scramble for appointive offices in the Territoiy, and Okla homa City and Guthrie were convenient assembly points for place seekers and their busy political supporters. The United States marshalship seemed to be most desired and Oklahoma City led other places in the number of candidates for that office. Capt. C. H. DeFord, former sheriff of Oklahoma County, and W. F. Harn began early a bombardment of the national capital. DeFord had the support of former Delegate Dennis Flynn, who had been favored by stanch politicians for ap pointment as governor and who had been defeated by Cassius M. Barnes, former mayor of Guthrie. Indeed the over shadowing contest of the early part of the year was waged by friends of these men, and the Flynn-Barnes political feud was long remembered by veteran party workers. Charges against DeFord were filed with President Mc Kinley by Frank Cochran and Frank Gault of Oklahoma City. They related to the collection and distribution of re wards accruing from the capture of what was known as the Bly gang of law-breakers. These charges, however, were less responsible for the defeat of DeForcl than the fact that he was a resident of Oklahoma City ; for Governor Barnes, who undoubtedly had major influence in Washington, was credited with being a stalwart Guthrie partisan. Already the matter of a permanent capital was a potent and ever-present issue between the rival young cities. When it was apparent that neither DeFord nor Harn was without Washington official favor, the name of A. C. Scott was presented to the President for consideration. About the same time out of Guthrie came the announcement that James 179 180 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Cottingham, a lawyer of that place and a member of the firm of Asp, Shartel & Cottingham, had entered actively into the race for the marshalship. In later years Mr. Cottingham became a resident of Oklahoma City and was among its lead ing lawj^ers and capitalists. The other members of the firm, Henry Asp and John Shartel, also in due time came here, the latter to become and remain vice president and general man ager of the Oklahoma Railway Company. The marshalship fight was ended October 25th when President McKinley announced the appointment of Harry Thompson of Enid. Among the earliest appointments made by Thompson was that of W. B. Fossett of Kingfisher as first assistant. Fossett was for many years one of the most in trepid law enforcers of the entire Southwest and his experi ences would fill a volume as interesting as ever has been written about men of the frontier. Twenty-four years later when officials of the city were wrestling with a veritable rampage of violations of the Volstead Act this veteran was again called into service, as a member of the city's police force. Thompson's first field deputies were Ned E. Sisson, Wil liam Tighlman and Heck Thomas. In after years Mr. Sisson was clerk of the United States Court in the district presided over by Judge F. E. Gillette and at the advent of statehood he became associated with the New State Ice Company in Oklahoma City and continued there until his death. Tighl man and Thomas already had acquired a reputation through out both Territories as kings of the foes of outlawry. No braver officials ever traveled the treacherous trails of the Southwest, and the records they made are worthy of per petuation in a more detailed work than this. Thomas mi grated to the Kiowa and Comanche Indian country after it was opened to settlement in 1901 and was the first city marshal of Lawton. Tighlman later settled in Chandler. After state hood he was elected to the State Senate from his district, resigning his seat after a session of the Legislature to become chief of police in Oklahoma City. Here thereafter he made his permanent home. Governor Barnes was inaugurated May 26th. Among applicants for appointment to Territorial offices that flowed into the executive office during the succeeding few weeks were J. P. ALLEN THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 183 those of A. C. Scott and the Rev. A. V. Francis of Oklahoma City for superintendent of public instruction, Henry Over holser for treasurer, and Dr. L. H. Buxton, then of Guthrie but later of Oklahoma City, Dr. G. D. Munger and Dr. F. S. Denny, both of Oklahoma City, for superintendent of public health. Col. James H. Wheeler, being a democrat, sent in his resignation as inspector general of the Oklahoma National Guard, but Governor Barnes is said to have been so touched by the man's frankness and sincerity and by the soldierly record that he had made that he requested Colonel Wheeler to continue in office if to do so would not be burdensome. The free-silver wing of the democratic party, which was composed of a large percentage of the membership of the party, coalesced with the populist party in the city campaign this year, as it had done advantageously the previous year, and elected Maj. J. P. Allen mayor over Henry Overholser, the republican nominee. Before the beginning of the cam paign, N. H. Sampler resigned as chairman of the democratic party that he might become a candidate for office and he was succeeded by Dr. C. B. Bradford. The committee that ef fected an agreement with the populists was composed of Frank Harrah, William A. Moore, L. G. Hinds, L. M. Lee and E. S. Dyer. With local and Territorial political filibusters fairly well disposed of toward the end of the year, factional differences were relegated in the organization of a renewed fight for statehood. The next statehood convention was to be held at Kingfisher on January 13, 1898. Calls for election of dele gates were made by Sidney Clarke, chairman of the Statehood Executive Committee; Dan W. Peery, representing J. J. O 'Rourke, chairman of the Democratic Central Committee of the Territoiy ; L. V. Laverty, chairman of the Populist Cen tral Committee of the Territoiy; Virgil Hobbs, chairman of the Free Silver Central Committee of the Territoiy, and William Grimes, chairman of the Republican Central Com mittee of the Territory. The Chamber of Commerce, which during the previous 3^ear had thrived and then virtually disintegrated, was suc ceeded early in 1897 by an organization first known as the Merchants Club and later as the City Club. Its president was 184 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY W. W. Storm, a substantial and far-seeing pioneer business man. F. J. McGlinchey was elected vice president; Fred Smith, secretary, and E. H. Cooke, treasurer. It had a charter membership of thirty and the roll was increased to fifty-two within a few months. Its charter provided that no gambling or drinking in the club would be tolerated. The club did some constructive work during the year. Besides assisting in se curing a land bonus required to guarantee construction of the projected railroad from Sapulpa, it contracted for the erection of a large cotton compress. It lent assistance to A. S. Connellee of Eastland, Texas, who announced his intention of establishing a 150-barrel flour mill and a grain elevator of 100,000 bushels capacity. Connellee 's project resulted in the organization of the Plansifter Milling Company, which in stalled the plant and remained one of the leading flour-making institutions of the city. Early in the year Gen. Henry G. Thomas, one of the city's leading real estate owners, died. His funeral was attended by a large number of persons, for he was generally beloved. It was under auspices of the First Regiment of the Oklahoma National Guard headed by Governor Renfrow and his staff from Guthrie. The body was sent to Portland, Maine, the birthplace of General Thomas. His quality of charitableness was notable. His distribution of useful gifts to the poor at Christmas was a regularly recurring illustration of that quality. Anton H. Classen, whose name afterward was a household word in Oklahoma City because of his industrial and civic accomplishments, was this year appointed receiver of the United States land office. Another notable appointment of the year was that of Maj. H. D. McKnight of Perry as register of the land office at Mangum. Major McKnight had been a comrade and mess-mate of President McKinley in the Union army. McKnight, for many years one of the Territory's most progressive citizens, was transferred to the land office at Law- ton in 1901 and served through the great land rush that was the equal if not the superior of agencies of that period that contributed to the growth of Oklahoma City into the class of leading cities of the Southwest. The Gloyd Lumber Company of Kansas, controlled bv THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 185 S. M. Gloyd, in 1897 purchased the business here of the Ar kansas Lumber Company. Mr. Gloyd became one of the city 's best-known business men. In 1921 he purchased an interest in a department store and the eight-story building it occupied and the concern after reorganization became known as the Gloyd-Halliburton Company. Lee Van Winkle, who had been manager for the Arkansas Lumber Company, was retained as manager for the Gloyd company. Mr. Van Winkle developed into business leadership and once later was mayor of the city. A committee of lot owners on the reservation petitioned the City Council to order a reappraisement of unsold lots of that tract, so that prices would be reduced, and a sale of the lots. It asked also that the Choctaw Railway Company be ordered to open streets crossed in the reservation. The com mittee was composed of W. W. Storm, Sidney Clarke, Boston Wilson, J. S. Jenkins and R. Q. Blakeney. It was on October 1st of this year that the Jennings broth ers and their associates held up and robbed a Rock Island pas senger train between Minco and Chickasha. Newspapers re ported a few days later that Al Jennings passed nonchalantly through Oklahoma City and said in an interview that he was in Kansas City on the date of the robbery. The newspapers reported also that, during the man hunt, in which Oklahoma City officers participated, Jack Love, an avowed enemy of the Jennings brothers, barely missed being assassinated by a bul let fired into a train on which he was riding to Oklahoma City. The search for the outlaws rivaled political affairs in furnish ing extraordinary entertainment and food for gossip during the last few months of the year. Some political appointments were yet to be made. Chief among them of local concern was the selection of a successor to Judge J. R. Keaton, who was expected to retire because of a change in the national administration. Contestants for his seat were B. T. Hainer and B. F. Burwell, both of whom later received judgeship appointments. F. S. Goodrich, who had been a local republican leader and a member of the City Council, was appointed by the new secretary of the interior to the post of special agent for the general land office. Assurance of construction of the St. Louis & Southwestern Railroad from Sapulpa to Oklahoma City had not been 186 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY vouchsafed at the end of the year and the subject inevitably had become entangled in the contest for supremacy between Oklahoma City and Guthrie. Governor Barnes again in curred the wrath of Oklahoma City business interests who charged him with being connected with what was known as the Red Fork scheme to divert the projected line to Guthrie. An industrial project of that year, which proved to be a forerunner of a rush for gold that was supposed to have been discovered in the Wichita Mountains, was the Navajo Mining & Townsite Company, a local concern that proposed to develop mineral properties in Greer County. The directors were Edward L. Dunn, then clerk of the United States District Court and in later years a townsite promoter of note in East ern Oklahoma oil fields, W. J. Gault, J. A. Flattery, J. S. Lindsey, Frank McMasters, C. A. Compton, J. H. Beaty, J. M. Brogon and J. R. Blair. In recent preceding years the milling and grain business had developed into an important industry in the city. ' ' Great news!" screamed a newspaper one clay. "Another elevator to locate here." Wire service with Chicago had been estab lished and keen competition in buying had developed. What was more natural, therefore, than that Oklahoma City should emulate Chicago in market activities. Speculators in Chi cago went upon a bull spree and local speculators followed suit. Wheat reached the unprecedented price for the decade of 52 cents and before checking influences could operate a top of 57 cents was attained in the course of a day. In market ing quarters of the city some historically wild scenes were enacted, and these increased like a panic trend next day when the product mounted to 75 cents. Many losers dropped out at that stage and they and others more composedly watched the figures mount to 82 cents and then to the highest level of the flurry, 86 cents. The first National Bank was voluntarily liquidated this year, the principal reason being that J. P. Boyle, the cashier, found it necessary to take his family to a different climate. He and other stockholders bought stock in the State National Bank and among them was Pat Roden who took a position with the State National and there remained for many years. Those given to imbibing, who in recent years may have THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITYr 187 suffered more or less of thirst because of the Volstead drouth and who find comfort and pleasure in returning again and again to the "good old clays," may appreciate being reminded that in 1897 good home-made blackberry, strawberry and grape wine could be had at 16 South Broadway. "It's good for that tired feeling," the distillers announced. A peregrinating parson this year, inspired by an abun dance of the fruits of freedom, went about baptizing- converts and performing marriage ceremonies and accepting fees therefor. His mission was ended and the source of his income abolished when two preachers of Oklahoma City made star tling announcement through the newspapers that the parson was without authority to perforin either of such rights. Whether any considerable moral damage was done records of the period do not divulge. 1898— ON TRAIL OF THE VOLUNTEERS In the rather sanguinary breakfast-spell affair with Spain this year Oklahoma City was not conspicuously represented, but the fault was not with the city. Rather it was with the ninety millions whose military leaders distributed honors only among those who graded up to the strict plrysical requirements of army standards. Company C of the Oklahoma National Guard was quar tered here, Capt. A. W. Dunham in command. On his staff were Lieut. D. A. Johnston and First Sergeant Guy Black- welder. On April 26th, after the declaration of war against Spain, Governor Barnes ordered Captain Dunham to send eight of his fittest men for examination preparatory to active military service. The men selected were Luke Chenoweth, Edward Loughmiller, Theodore Folk, Earl Hammer, W. A. Maupin, Robert Peyton, David McClure and Alexander H. Denham. Governor Barnes looked them over, declared they were too young for service and ordered them back home. Whereupon the young men, in the bitterness of their disap pointment, for the moment forgot official and military etiquette and at least one of their number, speaking the senti ment of them all, boldly told the executive he didn't know what he was about. Adjt.-Gen. Bert C. Orner seemed to have more liberal views with reference to age and experience, for on May 3d he requested Captain Dunham to dispatch another detachment of ten or twenty men for examination, admonishing the cap tain that they must be physically sound. This second detach ment also was rejected. Meantime, however, eight members of Company C applied for enlistment in a cavalry troop and four were accepted. These were Folk, McClure, Loughmiller and Sidney Johnson. Later Denham enlisted and he and McClure, Folk and Loughmiller were transferred to the regi ment of Rough Riders organized by Theodore Roosevelt. 189 190 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Early in the enlistment period the secretary of war desig nated Oklahoma City as a troop rendezvous point. When there had been some reverses to American troops at the front and it appeared probable that a second call for volunteers would have to be made by President McKinley, Governor Barnes requested the War Department to permit Oklahoma to raise a regiment of its own in case there was a second call. Meantime battalion officer appointments in further prepara tion for service were made by the governor. Roy Hoffman was commissioned as captain and MacGregor Douglas of Oklahoma City as second lieutenant. Dr. John Fee was made a member of the medical examining board. Douglas declined the appointment, saving that the governor had not permitted the recruiting of a force of twenty-five men by these officers, as he had promised. On July 7th, John O. Casler, an unofficial recruiting officer, advertised for 100 picked men. D. A. Johnston and E. F. Cochran joined in this call. Nine days later Johnston and Cochran announced the organization of a cavalry troop, with Cochran as temporary captain and Johnston as temporary first lieutenant. Formal announcement of the organization of the troop was made to the governor and he advised that he he would make an effort to get the troop into service. He failed, however, and a short time later the governor of South Carolina wired Captain Cochran that he believed he could fill his state quota with the Oklahoman s. Captain Cochran re plied that the assignment would be satisfactory provided the troop would not lose its entity in the Carolina process of ab sorption. This exchange of telegrams seems to have been the termination of efforts of the Oklahomans to get a chance to fight the soldiers of Spain. Oklahoma volunteers — there was a considerable number gathered from over the Territory — were ordered assembled at Fort Whipple, Arizona, and the battalion was in command of Maj. John F. Stone. Among Oklahoma City men found ac ceptable before enlistments closed were Fred Banks, Fred Norris and William Condon. Loughmiller, McClure, Denham and Folk took part in Rough Rider engagements and McClure was wounded in the leg in the Battle of Santiago. His return home on August RICHARD CAFFREY THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 193 10th was an occasion of patriotic rejoicing, and for some weeks, as runs the American fighting blood, he was the hero of every group that gathered to hear him relate over and over again his wonderful experiences as a fighting man. Denham and Folk returned on September 18th and Loughmiller, who had been a faithful war correspondent for his relatives and friends, arrived two days later. Patriotic receptions were given them. Industrial enterprises continued to rap on the city gates and early in this year the City Club again made resolutions concerning greater accomplishments. The new board of di rectors consisted of J. M. Owen, J. H. Wheeler, A. L. Frick, B. M. Dilley, Henry Overholser and F. W. Smith. Mr. Dilley was elected president ; Mr. Wheeler, first vice president ; Mr. Overholser, second vice president, and F. W. Smith, secre tary-treasurer. An executive board was chosen, consisting of E. H. Cooke, W. W. Storm, F. J. McGlinchey, E. J. Streeter and W. E. Harper. The club had occasion for rejoicing — and its expressive feeling spread radiantly among the masses — when President C. G. Jones of the St. Louis & Southwestern Railway Com pany telegraphed from St. Louis that a contract had been signed for construction of the road from Sapulpa to Oklahoma City. This happened on January 25th and the contract pro vided that grading should be started by February 15th and that it should be completed by August 1st. President Dilley and a committee provided for Mr. Jones a demonstrative re ception. Announcement was made at about this time that the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway Company had agreed to operate and eventually assume ownership of the road. The coming of the Frisco, the third railroad to enter the city, was among the portentous events of the first ten years of the city's existence. As had been the case when the Choctaw road was assured, railroad promotions became popular. Hardly had public rejoicing ceased when the City Club had notice that another railroad was in promise. A corporation had been organized, known as the New Orleans & Oklahoma City Railway Com pany, that announced its purpose of constructing a line through the city with such objectives to the south as Tisho- Vol. 1—13 194 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY mingo and Sherman, Texas, and to the north as Kingfisher and Enid. It had a capital stock of $4,000,000 and the board of directors consisted of C. G. Jones, D. C. Lewis, Henry Over holser, S. A. Steward and former Governor C. W. Renfrow. Suit against the city for $10,000 damages was filed this year by Frank McMaster who previously had demanded pos session of a tract of land extending thirty-six feet south into Grand Avenue at Broadway. Nonconformity of two townsite surveys gave rise to the controversy. McMaster had been re fused a deed by the townsite board and he sought relief through the District Court by mandamus proceeding. The court ordered the deed executed by J. H. McCartney, presi dent of the board, and he refused to obey the mandate of the court. The city had sought to end the controversy by giving McMaster title to some lots on Robinson Avenue, opposite the courthouse, but was unable to deliver the lots because of their having been sold by the townsite board. It undoubtedly was the rapid growth of Oklahoma City that inspired Guthrie to have a bill introduced in Congress providing that that city should be designated as the perma nent capital of the Territoiy. On February 6th a mass meet ing held in Oklahoma City, presided over by G. W. R. Chinn, adopted resolutions that were sent to Congress protesting against passage of the bill. The resolutions were drawn by a committee consisting of Sidney Clarke, Henry Overholser and Senator Johnson. Support of this opposition was asked of other ambitious towns of the Territory and fighting propa ganda was furnished them by a committee consisting of Mayor Allen, E. J. Streeter and R. Q. Blakeney. Judge John H. Burford, who in after years was a resi dent of Oklahoma City, was this year appointed chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, succeeding Justice Frank Dale, and Judge Bayard T. Hainer was appointed associate justice to succeed Justice J. R. Keaton. W. F. Harn was selected as clerk of the court of Justice Hainer. The United States attorney general called for the resignations of Thomas McMechan as district attorney and Roy Hoffman, his assist ant, announcing that it was his intention of appointing to those places B. S. McGuire of Pawnee and J. ^Y. Scothorn of Guthrie. THE STORYr OF OKLAHOMA CITY 195 The democratic county convention in June, presided over by Jasper Sipes, passed a resolution favoring the nomination of Judge Keaton for delegate to Congress. Judge Keaton had been popular on the bench and was an excellent cam paigner and these were attributes in his favor when the Ter ritorial convention was held July 15th. This was a joint con vention of democrats and populists, presided over by Judge Robert Neff, and it was characterized by a long deadlock dur ing the balloting. The leading candidates were Keaton and Delegate J. Y. Callahan. On the final ballot Keaton received 242 votes and Callahan 78. A heated campaign ensued be tween Keaton and Dennis Flynn, the republican nominee, and the Oklahoma City Keaton Club took a conspicuous part. Dr. Delos Walker was president of this club, V. H. Hardcastle was vice president, John H. Wright was secretary, and R. G. Hays was treasurer. Flynn was nominated in a convention held at El Reno. Oklahoma City delegates supported C. G. Jones for the nomi nation, but the revival of the old animosity between Flynn and Governor Barnes and the bitter fight between the factions supporting them, presaged at the outset of the convention, probably was responsible for Oklahoma City support going to Flynn. Flynn had gone into the convention pledged not to be a candidate and he offered vigorous protest when delegates framed the first organization in his behalf. His final word was that he would not consent to his name being presented unless his friends made satisfactory negotiations with can didates of the anti-Barnes group, and this appears to have been accomplished, in a measure at least. Defeat of the Barnes group caused the governor to make overtures for a reconciliation. Flynn was agreeable and the two are said to have buried the hatchet. Flynn was elected by a substantial majority. Democrats and republicans divided honors in Oklahoma County. Sidney Clarke, democrat, was sent to the Territorial "Council and C. G. Jones, republican, won a seat in the House of Representa tives. C. W. Olmstead, also a republican, was the other representative elected. County officers elected were of the democratic-populist fusion brand. They were W. R. Taylor, county attorney ; Richard Caffrey, county clerk ; C. J. Brown, 196 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY register of deeds ; Asa Jones, probate judge ; W. L. Alexander, county treasurer, and Alice Beitman, county superintendent of schools. Henry Overholser, republican, was elected a mem ber of the board of county commissioners. Clerk Caffrey had been in office but a short time when he was sent to jail in contempt of court for refusing to obey the order of the court to make certain increases in taxes. Judge John H. Burford, who sentenced him, granted his petition for an appeal to the United States Supreme Court but de clined to admit him to bail pending a decision by the higher tribunal. Judge Keaton, his attorney, perfected the appeal in Washington but the Supreme Court also refused to admit Caffrey to bail. Early in the next year, while he was yet in jail, the Territorial Supreme Court issued a commitment for him in a second contempt case based on his refusal to extend the 1897 board of equalization valuation and assessment figures upon the county books. Caffrey is said to have been amused by this action and to have sent word to the court that he was just as far in jail at that time as it was possible for him to be. Politics had a hand in the affair, as was evidenced in January of 1899 when what was known as a taxpayers' organization called at the jail and presented the clerk with an ebony gold-headed cane. The presentation speech was made by D. C. Lewis. Some interesting events of the year were an excursion to St. Louis participated in by several hundred Oklahoma City men and their entertainment by the Mayor of St. Louis and other distinguished citizens; the application of John Shartel for a street railway franchise, succeeded by announcement of the city council that he would have to guarantee that no horse- drawn cars would be operated; the settlement of the city's controversy with Hill over the city hall site by an agreement to pay Hill $6,000; the organization of a Territorial associa tion of liquor dealers with a charter membership of seventy ; the appointment by Governor Barnes of B. F. Nyhart, super intendent of city schools, as a member of the Territorial Board of Education; the organization of the Federation of Women's Clubs of Oklahoma and Indian Territories and the election of Mrs. Sclwyn Douglas as president; the resignation of D. F. Stiles as colonel of the First Regiment of the Oklahoma Na- WHEELER PARK THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 199 tional Guard, the result of an incident in Guthrie in which Colonel Stiles and some other officers were reputed to have been "egged"; the organization of a lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of which T. A. Connor was elected exalted ruler; and the purchase by L. F. Kramer of twenty acres of land, at a cost of $200 per acre, situated north of the Choctaw railroad on the Higgins homestead, to be used for racing and park purposes. 1899— COUNCIL VERSUS CONGRESS Scenes quite like those of the opening year growing out of boundary disputes were enacted this year when the City Coun cil, the Santa Fe Railway Company and the Choctaw, Okla homa & Gulf Railway Company became involved in a con troversy over a narrow strip of land paralleling the Santa Fe right of way between Main Street and Grand Avenue. Trouble threatened to lead to tragedy but was checked by counsel and court short of that termination. In order that it might be properly equipped with switch ing and transfer facilities, the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf secured the passage of a bill by Congress permitting it to lay a side track on a strip of ground ten feet wide near the Santa Fe tracks between the two principal business thoroughfares. Meantime the Santa Fe, desiring to utilize the same area for a siding, received permission from the City Council, through emergency ordinance, to install a track. Men and material being held in readiness, the company proceeded, on the same night the ordinance was passed, to lay the ties and steel. By virtue of higher authority, since the area was yet sub ject to some measure of control by the Government, the Choc taw — the name by which the companj^ was designated from its inception — laid a siding over at least a part of the disputed area. This being in violation of the city ordinance, Street Commissioner Warren marshaled a squad of employes and ordered that the Choctaw track be removed. His men set to work and had part of the track in disorder when an officer of the court of Judge Burwell arrived bearing an injunction of the court forbidding execution of the order of city officials. During the remainder of the night and the next day and the next night armed guards were stationed at the scene of controversy, representing the city and the railroad com panies. A later opinion by Judge Burwell held that the strip 201 202 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY was the property of the Santa Fe and the city was ordered to abstain from in any way exercising control over it. The controversy over the Higgins homestead, which had become a west-side addition to the city, was renewed January 7th when J. C. Adams, who had completed a term in the Fed eral penitentiary at Leavenworth for the shooting of Captain Couch, instituted suit for title to the land. Formerly the land office had approved the entry of R. W. Higgins and rejected that of Adams. Adams claimed that at this time the land was worth $40,000. Defendants in the suit were R. W. Higgins, W. C. Renfrow, Lulu Carey, L. F. Kramer, J. L. Brown, Estella Newell, O. S. Russell, Cynthia E. Couch and Anna Venner. Arrangements were made this year for the issuance of bonds with which to purchase a county courthouse. The county commissioners entered into a contract, which they ap peared to have valued as more or less tentative, to sell an issue of $22,000 of bonds to R. J. Edwards, provided Edwards could secure the enactment of a law by the Legislature legalizing the issue. Subsequently M. L. Turner presented to the commis sioners a contract to buy tbe county's bonds and make them payable in New York without the necessity of legislative ac tion. The commissioners rescinded the contract with Edwards and accepted that of Turner, which provided for his buying bonds in the total sum of $77,600. Lee Van Winkle, the democratic nominee for Mayor in the April election, defeated Henry Overholser, the republican nominee, by seventy-two votes. The campaign involving the election of a chief of police was no less exciting than the race for mayor, for Capt. C. H. DeFord, who had held that position, again sought the office, as the republican nominee. He was defeated by W. B. Hendrey by 238 majority. John H. Wright was elected city attorney and W. D. Gault city treasurer. W. J. Pettee, who the previous year resigned as a member of the City Council because of having moved out of the ward from which he was elected, was reelected to mem bership, defeating Dr. E. Witten, democratic nominee, by a vote of 73 to 24. W. M. Jones was the only other republican elected. Other democrats elected to the council were J. H. LEE VANWINKLE THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 205 McCartney, Edward L. Dunn, W. A. Hudelson, W. T. Parker and J. S. Morrow. Selection of a site for the public library was made this year, after a lively tilt between advocates of the several loca tions offered. Mrs. Selwyn Douglas, a club leader of local prominence and president of the Territorial Federation of Women's Clubs, appeared at the meeting called to select the site in behalf of those who chose a corner at the intersection of Main Street and Walker Avenue. Others present urged sites at California and Robinson and at Third and Robinson. The latter was selected. Mrs. Douglas had made such an able presentation of her claims that after the selection was made Capt. D. F. Stiles publicly commended her and called upon those present to give three cheers in her honor. The commit tee of the council having the library matter in charge was com posed of J. H. Hudelson, W. J. Pettee and Mayor Van Winkle. The first reunion of Roosevelt's Rough Riders was held this year in Las Vegas, N. M., and Oklahoma City in that convention was chosen as the place for holding the reunion of 1900. Accordingly in the autumn preliminary prepara tions for entertainment were started. A Rough Riders' Re union Association was organized, of which Anton H. Classen was elected president ; E. W. Johnson, vice president ; Clifton George, secretary, and Seymour C. Heyman, treasurer. Di rectors were chosen at large from over the Territoiy and among them were Capt. Roy Hoffman of Chandler and Ed ward L. Dunn and Elmer E. Brown of Oklahoma City. A rather extraordinary event of the year was the adoption of an ordinance by the City Council annulling the franchise the city had granted to D. H. Scott and the Oklahoma City Waterworks Company. This followed a report of a commit tee of the council which charged the company with noncom pliance with its contract. It was found that pressure in the mains was too low to assure protection against fire, that the company's equipment was insufficient, and that the company had ignored the public's interests to such an extent that pub lic health was hazarded and property subjected to danger of destruction by fire. Three street railway franchises were applied for during 206 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY the year. The first proposition was submitted by J. A. Clark of New York, the second by Henry Overholser of Oklahoma City, who also promised an electric-light service, and the third by Anton H. Classen and associates. The Classen proposition in substance was that the franchise should run for twenty-one years, that a minimum of four miles of track would be laid the first year, two miles of which would be completed within six months, that construction should be started within ninety days, that the fare should be 5 cents, and that the city should receive certain percentages of earnings of the company based on receipts ranging from $20,000 to $50,000. Two new railroad projects appeared this year. C. B. Ames, an astute young lawyer of Mississippi, who recently had come west and been made president of the Southwestern Cotton Seed Oil Company, was one of the chief promoters of one of them. He and his associates organized and incor porated the Oklahoma Railroad Company. Ames was elected president; S. T. Alton, vice president; J. M. Owen, secretary, and J. L. Wilkin, treasurer. The other developed into an organization known as the Wichita Falls & Oklahoma City Railway Company, and among the influential men behind it was A. M. Huff of Wichita Falls, Tex., who afterwards be came noted throughout the Southwest because of the indus trial enterprises, including railroads, that he had a part in concluding in Northwestern Texas and Western Oklahoma. It was apparent that before many years the Kiowa and Co manche Indian reservation would be opened to settlement, and no cities of the Southwest were more vitally concerned over that matter than Oklahoma City and Wichita Falls, for the great reservation lay between them. The reservation was opened to settlement two years later but the railroad did not materialize. That it failed may have been due to the already announced desire of the Frisco to penetrate that territory. Other incorporators with Mr. Huff were C. G. Jones, D. C, Lewis and F. M. Riley. On April 15th W. J. Gault died. He was among the or ganizers of the city government in 1889 and was the first legally elected mayor. He also had served as president of the school board and was a member of the House of Representa tives of the Fourth Legislature. His death was profoundly CLIFTON GEORGE THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 209 regretted throughout the community. Mayor Van Winkle called the council into extraordinary session and it adopted appropriate resolutions. Outstanding more or less minor events of the year included the election of a new board of directors of the City Club con sisting of A. H. Classen, W. W. Storm, M. C. Milner, E. H. Cooke, Fred W. Smith, Dr. Wilson Stuve and J. M. Owen ; the selection of Capt. C. H. DeFord as sergeant at arms of the lower house of the Legislature; the resignation of E. F. Cochran as chief of police and the appointment of G. W. R. Chinn as his successor ; the departure of Edward Loughmiller, a Rough Rider veteran, for New York as a member of the Wild West show troupe of William Cody who chose ten men from among the Oklahoma veterans to appear in perform ances in various cities of the East ; the arrival of Charles F. Coleord, former sheriff of Noble County, from Perry, and his announcement that he expected to erect a row of two-story brick business houses on Grand Avenue ; the election of Clif ton George as corresponding secretary of the City Club; a proposal by Oscar Lee to erect a four-story hotel at Main and Broadway at a cost of $40,000, provided residents of the city would subscribe $5,000 of that amount; and the resignation of F. W. Smith as recording secretary of the City Club and the election of J. McKee Owen as his successor. 1900— FRANCHISES AND BOND SALES Final plans for constructing a street railway system nearly materialized this year. Altogether four applications for franchises had been made, and of these the committee of the Council to whom they were referred recommended acceptance of that submitted by H. Overholser. The recommendation was not acted upon at that time because of rumors of a com bination of interests the perfection of which was calculated to prevent contests for favors. Eugene Everest, lawj^er, re ported to the council at a subsequent meeting that a street railway company with a capital stock of $200,000 was in pro cess of formation and that he was authorized by the pro- motors to apply for a franchise. Judge Lindsay of Gaines ville, Texas, and George C. Kelly of Birmingham, Ala., were among the promoters. Mr. Everest told the council he had been informed by Mr. Overholser that the latter was willing to withdraw his application if other persons seeking a fran chise were really prepared to at once begin construction of lines. On August 3d a franchise was awarded to the Oklahoma City Land & Electric Railway Company which pledged itself to begin operations by the first of the next February. Perhaps the greatest event since the opening of the coun try was the second annual reunion here this year of the Rough Riders Association. Certainly it was the largest attended convention that had been held in the Territory, 40,000 persons being present, and it was considered to have had inestimable advertising value. Col. Theodore Roosevelt, then governor of New York, was the most distinguished of the guests, and his former comrades from all parts of the nation gathered here to greet him. Colonel Roosevelt arrived on July 2d and was greeted formally by a committee consisting of Mayor Lee Van- Winkle, Col. A. O. Brodie, Capt. Frank Frantz, Serg. C. E. Hunter, E. W. Johnson, Anton H. Classen, Judge B. F. Bur- 211 212 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY well, Sidney Clarke, Dennis Flynn and Dr. David R. Boyd, president of the University of Oklahoma. This committee represented the Rough Riders Reunion Association, and it was joined by Governor Barnes and his military staff. The program consisted of a parade of record-breaking propor tions for Oklahoma, a speech by Colonel Roosevelt, a roping contest, and spectacular fireworks at night that typified the Battle of San Juan Hill. An incident of this reunion is said to have had a bearing on important events in the near future. Governor Barnes had ordered that fourteen horses and saddles for use in the parade of himself and staff be sent over from Fort Reno. These mounts were in readiness in a stable early in the day but when a staff officer called for them all but three of them were missing. Their absence was soon accounted for: they had been taken by Rough Riders who had not been provided with mounts. When news of this reached Governor Barnes he grew angry and ordered Adjutant General Orner of his personal staff to recover the mounts. Orner sought to comply with the order but he soon learned that he and his chief and all their comrades of political tinge were virtually inconse quential in comparison with these Roosevelt men who had actually fought for their country and who were unhorsing precedents and checkmating conventions in this time of hilarious celebration of their military accomplishments. No opportunity for combat here, Orner thought, and he so in formed the governor. Only three members of the governor's staff had mounts for the parade. Colonel Roosevelt is said to have been incensed when told of the governor's action and be fore he departed Captain Finnerty of the governor's staff brought to the colonel apologies of the staff. Subsequently, when Roosevelt was President of the United States and giving thought to the appointment of a governor of Oklahoma, he was reminded of this reunion incident by Benjamin Colbert, an Indian Territoiy Rough Rider, who had served as his aide. "I have not forgotten it," said the President. During the Rough Rider festivities, Clifton George, secre tary of the City Club, fell from his horse and suffered a fracture of the skull and a broken collar bone. For several days his recovery was doubtful but he recovered. THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 213 Before the departure of Colonel Brodie he was presented with a souvenir spoon as a token of Oklahoma City's appre ciation of his services in helping to make the reunion a memorable success. The spoon was carved from a piece of cy press by E. W. Discher and painted and decorated by Mrs. T. S. Chamberlain and Mrs. Brackett. Inside the bowl was a portrait of Colonel Roosevelt, mounted, representing him as Rough Rider leader in service. The souvenir was pre sented to Colonel Brodie with a speech by Sidney Clarke as the personal representative of the mayor. The Territorial Democratic Convention was held in Ok lahoma City this year and Robert Neff of Kay County was nominated for delegate to Congress. The republicans in a Guthrie convention renominated Dennis Flynn. The popu list nominee was John S. Allan of Norman. Flynn was elected by a plurality of 3,180 votes. The nomination of Neff was accomplished after a highly exciting tug. Opposing can didates were William Cross, a traveling salesman of Okla homa City, and Roy Hoffman of Chandler. Although the populists later nominated a candidate, Neff was considered a fusion nominee. In that convention the populists presented the name of Dr. Delos Walker for delegate nominee. James R. Jacobs of Shawnee was chosen National Committeeman over Jasper Sipes of Oklahoma City, and the choice ended a contest between the men which started early in the year and which the National Committee declined to settle. C. G. Jones was reelected a member of the House of Rep resentatives and other members elected to represent Oklahoma County were John Hogan and J. W. Hadley. John S. Alex ander was elected county treasurer, William R. Taylor county attorney; Richard Caffrey, county clerk; Maj. J. P Allen, probate judge ; Charles J. Bowman, register of deeds Mrs. Mary D. Couch, county superintendent of schools Charles R. Goucher, tax assessor ; Michael A. O 'Brien, sheriff J. P. Barnard, surveyor; Dr. J. G. Street, coroner, and Ed ward S. Malone, county commissioner for the district em bracing the city. Undoubtedly this was the most growing year that the city had experienced. Its geographical position and its increas ing railroad facilities attracted hundreds of persons interested 214 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY in the establishment of industries and distribution plants. The City Club had its busiest year. At the annual meeting in January, C. B. Ames and MacGregor Douglas were elected to the directorate and directors of the preceding year were re elected. Anton H. Classen was chosen president, M. C. Mil ner, first vice president ; Seymour Heyman, second vice presi dent; J. M. Owen, secretary-treasurer, and Clifton George, corresponding secretary. The club this year entertained del egations of trade-trippers from Memphis, Tenn., and Little Rock, Ark., business interests of these cities having been at tracted to this territory by completion of the Choctaw Rail road to Oklahoma City. Two thousand names were placed on the club's visitor reg ister during the year. It had passed resolutions that were forwarded to Congress asking passage of a bill to open the Kiowa and Comanche Indian reservations to settlement. It had inspired the organization of the first Humane Society, officers of which were Mrs. Selwyn Douglas, president; E. J. Streeter, vice president; I. M. Holcomb, secretary-treas urer, and Sidney Clarke, Dr. Delos Walker, Miss Mary Fox, Mrs. E. J. Streeter and MacGregor Douglas, directors. Capt. D. F. Stiles died during the year and his death left a vacancy in the city park board. To fill that vacancy the club recom mended Joseph B. Thoburn. Important among the club's subjects of discussion was a proposal suggested by C. B. Ames that the statehood convention, to be held in McAlester in December, should provide for the assembling of a consti tutional convention as a preparatory step as well as a spur to Congress toward the accomplishment of statehood. The corner stone of the public library, which meantime Andrew Carnegie had contracted to support, was laid August 16 with appropriate exercises held under auspices of the library association, which consisted of Mrs. Selwyn Douglas, president; Mrs. Wilson Stuve, vice president; Mrs. J. H. Wheeler, secretary; Mrs. W. J. Pettee, treasurer; Mrs. Wil liam Brady and Mrs. J. N. McClung. The city council, on August 20, adopted plans for the construction of a city hall that had been prepared by David Douglas. The cost was estimated at $26,000. On Septem ber 15, the council sold to the highest bidders the buildings FIRST NATIONAL BANK BUILDING THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 217 on the city-hall site. W. M. Jones paid $53 for a brick struc ture. Mrs. Rachel Key bought a frame building for $151, N. B. Clark bought another one for $110, and J. W. Johnson paid $20 for the board sidewalk. Public demands for paving increased during the year and on November 19 the council passed an ordinance providing for the paving of Main Street, Grand Avenue and First Street, between Santa Fe Street and Harvey Avenue and of Broadway and Robinson Avenue between California Street and the right of way of the Choctaw Railroad. This action was urged by a citizens' committee consisting of Charles F. Coleord, O. D. Halsell and Edward Overholser. During the remainder of the year no public issue was nearly so much discussed as that involving whether the pavement should be of asphalt or brick construction, and the matter finally was settled in court. Bonds in the sum of $20,000 for installing a sewage system and $100,000 for purchasing the plant of the Ok lahoma City Waterworks Company were voted by a large ma jority and on September 14 they were sold, at a premium of $7,500, to M. L. Turner. On November 5 the council passed an ordinance providing for purchase of the water system. Rival telephone companies sought franchises and during several weeks political and business influences were vigorously contended for through conferences, personal solicitation and stirring articles in the daily newspapers. The outcome was the granting by the council of a franchise to the Citizens In dependent Telephone Company. Doubtless there is of record in the public archives of the city some documentary evidence of the official condemnation of a cottonwood tree. An innocent old landmark of the for mer prairies, the last of its family to escape the ruthless axe of unfeeling man, standing fearlessly and somewhat majes tically at 32 Grand Avenue, was, by the council, declared to be a nuisance, and that declaration bore the seal of execution. An axe fell upon it and it crashed to the earth, unpitied and unsung. Pioneers recalled that this tree and its former asso ciates stood in what the settlers called a lagoon that lay in Broadway between Grand and California avenues. It was within the area of this lagoon that J. P. Culbertson of Paris, 218 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Texas, in this same year chose to erect a large business struc ture. That structure, by virtue of nonconformative surveys, spread over nearly half of Broadway and stands today a mute reminder of the line battle of '89. Culbertson paid $7,000 for the site. The United States Supreme Court on April 1 dismissed the appeal of Richard Caffrey, the county clerk who had re fused to spread upon the records of the county the returns of the Territorial board of Equalization. Caffrey, however, had been admitted to bail after serving several months in the county jail. On June 30 the Territorial Supreme Court again ordered Caffrey to perform this act. He declined and was again placed in jail. He appealed in vain to Governor Barnes for relief. Caffrey contended at that time he was unable to obey the order of the court because County Treasurer W. L. Alexander refused to surrender the books necessary to the transcript unless ordered by a court to do so. Other events of public interest this year included the or ganization in Oklahoma City of an Anti-Saloon League ; the acceptance by the city council of an offer of Henry Over holser to loan the city $30,000 with which to erect a city hall ; the efforts of the City Club and other public-spirited citizens to secure the location and erection of a Methodist College ; the organization of a military company of forty members, of which A. Sidney Johnson was elected captain, L. E. Blakes- ley, first lieutenant, and Dr. A. M. Dietrick, second lieutenant ; the resignation of B. F. Nyhart as superintendent of city schools to accept the chair of Latin in the Territorial Normal at Edmond and the election of Isaac M. Holcomb, then prin cipal of Washington School, to fill the vacancy ; the reelection at Kingfisher of Mrs. Selwyn Douglas as president of the Territorial Federation of Women's Clubs; the purchase by the Oklahoma Printing Company of The Daily Oklahoman, editor, and of which company W- T. Parker was elected vice of which Roy E. Stafford, president of the company, became president and treasurer, and V. V. Hardcastle, secretary ; the organization of the Texas Association, of which M. Fulton was elected president, J. S. Jenkins, first vice president ; W. R. Reagan, second vice president ; E. J. Giddings, secretary, and J. P. Johnson, marshal, with T. M. Upshaw, Dr. A. K. THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 219 West and J. P. Johns selected as a committee to obtain quar ters; the suspension of W. B. Hendrey as chief of police on a charge of neglect of duty, the appointment by the council of G. W. R. Chinn to the position, and the reinstatement of Hendrey after Judge Burwell had ruled that the council was without authority to eject him from office; the veto by Mayor VanWinkle of an ordinance granting a franchise to the Oklahoma City Gas & Power Company and the renewed application of that company after amending terms of the original application to overcome the objections of the mayor; the formal opening of the Lee Hotel on July 30 ; the organi zation of the Oklahoma City Heat, Power, Fuel & Gas Com pany, of which M. W. Gifford of Chicago, R. D. Farmer of Benton Harbor, Mich., and R. G. Ha3rs, J. McMeachan and A. C. Root of Oklahoma City were elected directors ; and the organization of the Frontier Publishing Company by J. B. Thoburn, W. H. Roach and C. J. Creller to publish, simul taneously in Oklahoma City, Chickasha and Fort Sill, a weekly periodical to be known as The Last Frontier. 1901— OIL AND ANOTHER OPENING The opening to settlement of the Kiowa and Comanche Indian reservation, in the southwestern part of the territory, on August 6 this year, undoubtedly was the superlative event down to that date in Oklahoma City's commercial history. It was far more important from the commercial standpoint than the opening of the Cherokee Strip, for, so far as the distribution of products was concerned, this reservation be longed to the city almost exclusively. The city had been forced to divide commercial honors with other towns, the profits accruing from increased population. It may be said truly that the commercial supremacy of the city was secure from the date of this opening, for the record of wholesale and factory development during the ten years ensuing is one of the most marvelous in the annals of the Middle West. Oklahoma City men had had a hand in securing the pas sage of the bill providing for the opening of the Kiowa and Comanche country and it was prepared to handle and profit from the business. It made an unsuccessful effort to get the bill amended so that this city would be made a registration point along with El Reno and Lawton. The registration and the drawing that followed in a few months attracted to the territoiy over 200,000 persons and a larger number than that became residents during the next few years. The towns of Lawton, Hobart and Anadarko were established under direc tion of the Department of the Interior. Some representative citizens of Oklahoma City became residents of these. Among them were Leslie P. Ross, who was first mayor of South Okla homa City and who was the first elected mayor of Lawton; J. Elmer Thomas, a young Indiana lawyer, who for over ten years after statehood represented his district in the state Senate; Frank McMaster, the political leader, lawyer and editor; V. V. Hardcastle, the publisher, who was the first elected city attorney of Anadarko. 221 222 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Before the passage of the opening act, C. G. Jones, chief of Oklahoma railroad builders, had organized the Oklahoma City & Western Railway Company with a view of extending through the new territory and into Texas the line that he had brought to Oklahoma City from Sapulpa. On October 17 he announced that he had awarded a contract for construc tion of the southwestern line. Jones was a consistent worker. His vision of the indus trial possibilities of the state was clear-lined and distinct. He was a dreamer in a million who made dreams come true. He conceived that the community's interests were his inter ests. Guthrie had complacently awaited fulfillment of a prophecy that the Frisco would build along a Cimarron val ley survey into that city. Shawnee had secured the Choctaw and showed indications of being a business rival of Okla homa City. Jones deprived each of a large portion of coun try-trade territory by thrusting the Frisco over a virgin route between them, thereby enhancing the strength of his own city in a striking and fascinating supremacy contest. With the southwestern line out of hand for the present, Jones turned his attention to the Southeast. He foresaw the construction of a state out of the two territories within a few years and a rapid development of a large section of the Indian Terri tory tributary to Oklahoma City. He therefore organized what was called the Oklahoma & Southeastern Railway Com pany, objectives of which were to be Coalgate, Atoka, Deni- son, Texas, and Shreveport, La. The impression should not be left that Jones single-handed and alone accomplished the many enterprises with which he was connected during the full years of his usefulness. A few of those who theretofore had been in considerable degree responsible for industrial successes and who thereafter played an important part in the city's development were members of the board of directors of the new Oklahoma & Southeastern. These men were: Charles F. Coleord, ^Y. W. Storm, vice president, C. E. Bennett, C. M. Meade, Edward L. Dunn, secretary, and Edward II. Cooke. The new company was destined to a career of rivalry that will make interesting paragraphs in this record of events. Oklahoma's first excitement over the actual discovery of THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 223 oil in paying quantities developed this year. The discovery was made at Red Fork, in the Creek Indian Nation. Within a few weeks probably a score of oil concerns had been or ganized in the territory, several of them by Oklahoma City enthusiasts in the game of speculation. Stock sales were promoted personally and through newspaper advertising and the purchasing fever seemed to have been carried on the winds. It was durin'g this period that the big gushers had been dis covered at Beaumont and Oklahoma was enveloped in the cloud of get-rich-quick speculation that covered the South west. Among the most active companies was the Red Fork Oil & Gas Company of Purcell, of which Dorset Carter, a young lawyer of that place, was president. Clarence Bennett of Oklahoma City was vice president, and Edward L. Dunn of Oklahoma City was secretary. Fred S. Barde, the Guthrie journalist, afterwards known as the dean of Oklahoma news paper men, was made corresponding secretary, and E. M. Meade was treasurer. The company reported that it had acquired twelve town lots at Red Fork, that each of these was as large as the average city block, and that one of them was within 300 feet of the discovery well, which was reported to be a gusher. In the following June another well was com pleted in that district that was reported to have made an average of 2,800 barrels daily. Robert Galbreath was cred ited with discovery of the Red Fork pool. He and other men of the city were reputed to have made small fortunes there. Further plans were made also to test so-called "struc tures" in the vicinity of Oklahoma City. It may be remarked, parenthetically, that all such enterprises, though of a highly speculative nature, are really of more than ordinary impor tance in these annals in view of the fact that just such enter prises were instrumental in holding the subject of oil before the public until eventually discoveries were made in spots where over fifty pools were developed, and Oklahoma became one of the leading oil-producing states of the world. On April 25 the Oklahoma City Oil, Gas & Mineral Com pany was organized with a view of drilling at Council Grove. Of this W. D. Cole was elected president and Robert Gal- 224 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY breath, secretary. Directors were J. E. Evarts, C. F. Col eord, F. R. Holt, F. B. Zeigler, A. L. Welch, W. L. Alexander, S. B. Finley, Harry Throckmorton and Robert Galbreath. Officials reported the company had 15,000 acres of leases, and later it acquired 1,200 acres additional in Pottawotamie County. At a subsequent meeting of the directors, J. E. Evarts was elected president, W. L. Alexander, secretary; F. R. Holt, treasurer, and F. B. Zeigler, manager. At about the same time the Oklahoma Oil Company was organized with C. B. Ames as president, J. P. Smith, vice president, and W. B. Armstrong, secretary and treasurer. Oil concerns popped out here and there all over the territory. Roy E. Stafford, who nearly twenty years later became a representative oil operator, was made a member of the board of directors of the Cimarron Valley Oil, Gas & Coal Company. The annual election of the City Club resulted in A. H. Clas sen being reelected president. H. C. Milner was elected vice president, S. C. Heyman, second vice president ; J. M. Owen, treasurer, and Clifton George, secretary. W. W. Storm, C. B. Ames and MacGregor Douglas were elected directors. The club this year entertained a large delegation representing the merchants and manufacturers association of St. Louis, and representatives of the Dallas and Kansas City commercial or ganizations. It sent a delegation of business men to Memphis, to return the Memphis call of the previous year, to advertise the city's resources and to discuss its desires that the two territories be admitted to statehood. These matters were pre sented in speeches in the Tennessee city by Maj^or Van Winkle, C. B. Ames, Nels Darling and others. During the year Mr. Storm resigned from the board of directors and was suc ceeded by O. D. Halsell. Secretary George, on account of ill health, also submitted his resignation, and the board of di rectors unanimously rejected it. Entertainment Avas afforded to representatives of the Commercial Club of El Reno who made known the desire of the city that it should be by the Legislature declared the seat of the penitentiary. The first permanent organization of the Eighty-niners As sociation was perfected on April 8. Sidney Clarke was elected president and W. L. Alexander, secretary, and plans were made for a banquet to be held in observance of the opening. SECTIONAL VIEW OF ST. ANTHONY'S HOSPITAL STATE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL Vol. I— 1 5 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 227 Charter members of the association were Sidney Clarke, W. L. Alexander, J. M. Owen, F. V. Brandon, Harry Gerson, James Gerson, Dr. F. S. Dewey, Samuel Bartell, J. B. Gar rison, E. W. Gaston, J. M. Gaston, Robert Galbreath, J. M. Haley, W. H. Wilson, T. F. McMechan, Samuel Croker, R. Q. Blakeney, Samuel Murphy, A. L. Welch, A. E. Lund- berg, Oscar Reagan, Taz Upshaw and C. F. Coleord. A deed to the city to a tract of land in the Maywood Ad dition to be used for park purposes was presented to the city council February 25. It was from Capt. D. F. Stiles and his sons, George and Charles, and Mr. and Mrs. James Geary. Later Stiles Park, the name given the tract, was formally dedicated. Two thousand persons attended the exercises and speeches were made by the mayor and Governor Jenkins. Skirmishes for a street car franchise enlivened official life during the year. An ordinance was passed early in December granting a franchise to Harold R. Berry, Edmond Harrison and A. S. Craney of New York. It was vetoed by the mayor principally because of certain street exemptions. The ordi nance was again passed, on December 24, with objectionable features eliminated. Previously the Oklahoma City Street Railway Company, organized by C. F. Coleord, A. H. Classen, H. Brauer, T. K. Hackman and E. W. Johnson, had applied for a franchise. An application had been made also by J. M. Davis of Springfield, Mo. In April the Oklahoma City Street Railway, Light, Power & Improvement Company had given notice of an application. Of this company C. F. Coleord was president, C. E. Bennett, vice president, and C. F. Gilpin, secretary. C. G. Jones was chosen mayor in the spring election, de feating Mayor Lee VanWinkle, the democratic nominee, by 193 votes. J. H. Wright was reelected city attorney by a majority of one vote. Ralph Cochran was elected chief of police. Happenings of historic interest during the year included these: The American National Bank was organized with a capital stock of $100,000 and with W. S. Search, president; Col. S. E. Moss of Cleburne, Texas, vice president, and J. S. Corley, cashier ; Roy Hoffman of Chandler and M. L. Turner and Dr. John Threadgill of Oklahoma City incorporated the 228 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahoma City Trust & Surety Company ; E. S. Bronson, for many future years secretary of the Oklahoma Press Associa tion, came down from Trenton, Mo., and located; J. F. War ren, who afterward became one of the city's leading bankers and served for several years as president of the Oklahoma State Fair Association, located here, coming clown from Wa bash, Inch, and engaged in the loan business; the Real Estate Association was formed with C. F. Coleord as president, J. H. McCartney, vice president ; J. J. Novak, secretary, and John Holzapfel, treasurer; C. B. Ames, representing Capt. Frank Frantz, presented the City Club with a loving cup as a mark of gratitude for the entertainment afforded under the auspices of that body to the Rough Riders Association in the previous year ; the county assessor reported the population of the city to be 14,009 ; E. A. Neal, formerly of the Wichita Eagle, and Hathaway Harper, formerly city editor of the Oklahoma City Times-Journal, bought the McMaster printing plant and launched the Evening Herald ; J. H. Vosburgh, president ; L. G. Tillotson, vice president ; R. K. Sleeper, secretary, and S. Laird, treasurer, and others organized the first golf club in the city ; Frank J. Wikoff resigned as territorial bank exam iner, to become president of the National Bank of Commerce of Stillwater ; the Carnegie Library was dedicated on August 29; Edward S. Vaught was elected principal of the high school and A. R. Hickam, teacher of Latin in the high school ; on September 10 the corner stone of the city hall was laid under auspices of the Masonic Lodge and C. Porter Johnson delivered the oration; the Illinois Society was formed with a membership of about forty and C. Porter Johnson was elected president, John Miller, first vice president; M. L. Blackwelder, second vice president; Louise Warden, record ing secretary; R. E. Huron, corresponding secretary, and 0. E. Mitchell, treasurer; and the first paving contract was awarded. 1902— MORE BUSINESS, LESS SOCIETY The chief events of this year were the concluding of ar rangements for installing a system of trolley cars, the reor ganization of the City Club as a Chamber of Commerce with social features eliminated, the selection of a site for Epworth University, and a renewal of efforts to secure the passage of a statehood bill. On January 30 the city council passed an ordinance grant ing a street railway franchise to the Metropolitan Street Railway Company and shortly thereafter it was announced that Anton H. Classen had purchased the franchise granted to H. B. Berry and associates. On March 5 a deal was com pleted whereby the interests of Classen were merged with the Metropolitan companj^. In due time the City Council cleared its records of franchises granted and applied for, which gave the Metropolitan company an unobstructed field, and its of ficials announced that the laying of track would start in a short time. Four miles of the line were to be in operation within one year. The Metropolitan Street Railway Company, of which the present Oklahoma Railway Company is the successor, was organized with a capital stock of $500,000, with W. W. Storm as president and John Shartel as secretary and treasurer, and these men and S. T. Alton, Dr. John Threadgill and E. H. Cooke constituted the board of directors. A site for Epworth University was selected on May 6. It was situated one and three-quarter miles northwest of the business center of the city. The executive committee, which also constituted the building committee, was composed of the Rev. J. B. Riley, the Rev. E. B.' Rankin, the Rev. D. G. Thompson, the Rev. C. F. Roberts, George G. Green, C. B. Ames and Joseph B. Thoburn. Mr. Thoburn was elected sec retary. A committee of citizens representing the committee and the business interests, consisting of Dr. John Threadgill, 229 230 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY J. M. Owen, G. B. Stone, J. H. Hess and W. G. Guthrie, was appointed to solicit contributions to a fund of $100,000 to be used in construction of buildings and for endowment pur poses. This fund was agreed upon by the Methodist com mittee in accepting a proposition submitted by the University Development Company, represented at the meeting by John Shartel. This proposition involved a donation of fifty acres of land for a campus and building site. This project had endorsement of the conferences of the North and South branches of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In fact, the plan of erecting a university here was conceived at a joint meeting of representatives of the churches many months before. Interest was slow in manifesting itself, al though several enthusiastic meetings of church men were held during the previous year. The project was welcomed by the City Club and business interests outside the club, and it was heralded as the beginning of a movement toward giving the city recognition over the Southwest as an important seat of higher learning. Consummation of plans for the institution came almost concurrently with the street railway conclusions and officials of the Metropolitan company entered heartily into the uni versity enterprise. These facts are significant stepping stones in the history of the city, which was ascending toward met ropolitan proportions, and men of means who built temporary frame residences near the business district began looking for ward to permanent homes farther out. The university project and the assurance of street railway service drew attention toward the Northwest. In a short time residential lots were put on the market on Thirteenth street and beyond, and this was the first step toward establishment of residential districts that within fifteen years contained homes with values aggre gating millions of dollars. Upon the resignation of Clifton George as secretary of the City Club, Joseph B. Thoburn was chosen to fill the office temporarily, his term depending upon a call to Guthrie to assume the position of secretary of the Territorial Board of Agriculture, which had been offered him by the governor. Thoburn 's investigations of the club's purposes, his knowl edge of its activities, and his conception of its duties sug- THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 231 gested need for reorganization. In substance his idea was that the club should be a strictly business enterprise with all the machinery required to make it a success. That it had been of great value to the city was not gainsaid, but that its fifty per cent of social purpose was a bar to a larger and more enthusiastic membership was undoubted. The new sec retary was given permission to make inquiry as to the ma chinery of successful commercial organizations. He appro priated from the constitutions of Kansas City, St. Louis and other cities the best provisions that could be made applicable here and wrote a new constitution for the club. At the last meeting of the year the constitution was adopted. This created what afterwards was known as the Chamber of Commerce, and it is virtually the same constitution under which that body operates today. The necessity of this organization was made apparent to Secretary Thoburn by the rapid growth of the city. It was a period of unprecedented and rapidly increasing business. Many of the city's leading men were enthusiastic boosters but they were too much engrossed in their own business to give much serious thought to the future, while proper direc tion of events of the future required intelligent and more concentrated organization than many events of the present. Assisting Secretary Thoburn in the preliminary steps of reorganization was a committee appointed b3^ President Clas sen consisting of Seymour Heyman, George E. Gardner, J. M. Owen, C. B. Ames and J. W. Wykoff. Under the new plan Seymour Heyman was elected president, Thomas F. Mc- Mechan, vice president ; Weston Atwood, treasurer, and J. B. Thoburn, secretary. The board of directors consisted of C. E. Bennett, Joseph Hess, T. F. McMechan, O. D. Halsell, Weston Atwood, W. P. Dilworth, Seymour Heyman, George G. Sohlberg, A. T. Alton, C. V. Topping, C. F. Coleord, L. F. Lee, George L. Cooke, Dr. A. K. West and G. E. Gardner. Indications were favorable early in the year for the pas sage of a statehood bill, but this was rendered less certain when a disagreement arose in Congress, as well as among a few representative Oklahomans, as to whether one state or two should be created out of the territories. The democrats controlled the House of Representatives and the party was 232 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY pledged to statehood for Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona. A bill introduced by Representative John H. Stephens of Texas provided that one state should be created out of Okla homa and Indian Territory. Representative Moon < >f Tennes see, reflecting the sentiment of a considerable number of democrats who favored two states in order that democratic representation in both the House and the Senate might be in creased, introduced a bill creating the state of Jefferson out of Indian Territoiy and designating McAlester as the capital. The Committee on Territories made a f av< irable report on the Moon bill. It was opposed b}^ Wall Street which objected to an increase in the number of senators, and it failed of pas sage. In its stead the House passed what was known as the Omnibus bill, granting statehood to Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona. On the floor of the House, Representative Mc- Rae of Arkansas, who twenty years later was governor of his state, made a vain effort to have the bill amended so as to include Indian Territory in the State of Oklahoma. Delegate Flynn of Oklahoma, who believed that his constituents were in favor of virtually any sort of statehood and had supported the democratic majority, opposed the McRae amendment un less another amendment should provide an appropriation to counterbalance the lack of public lands in the Indian Terri tory. That ended statehood agitation in Oklahoma for several months. C. G. Jones, the Oklahoma City representative in Washington, said upon his return home that the Senate prob ably would hold an inquest over the Omnibus bill and consign it to oblivion. Late in the Autumn the Senate began an investigation of the desires of the territories. A committee headed by Senator Albert Beveridge of Indiana came out in November and toured the territories, spending a few hours in Oklahoma City on November 24. It was given a cordial reception by represent ative business men and the representatives of half a score of towns who were permitted to make arguments before it in a parlor of the Lee Hotel. A week later a convention was held in Olaremore to prepare to fight the Omnibus bill in the Senate. Resolutions passed b}^ this convention, written THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 233 by C. B. Ames, again asserted that the people of the territories desired single statehood. William Cross of Oklahoma City was nominated for Dele gate to Congress by the democrats in territorial convention at Enid on April 23, after a long siege of balloting. On one of the ballots votes were cast for C. B. Ames, whose name had not been presented as a candidate and who was chairman of the resolutions committee. Bird S. McGuire was the re publican nominee, and was elected. Cross filed a contest, claiming the perpetration of fraud but the count of the ter ritorial election board was sustained. County officials elected this year were M. A. O 'Brien, sher iff ; J. S. Alexander, treasurer; J. L. Mitch, register of deeds; Ralph Ramer, county attorney ; J. H. Harpen, probate judge ; Mrs. Mary D. Couch, superintendent of scnools; D. W. Wright, assessor ; Dr. J. F. Messenbaugh, coroner ; J. P. Bar nard, surveyor, and J. S. Morrow, county commissioner. Reports of the discovery of minerals in the Wichita Moun tains created a sensation almost equal to the discovery of oil in the preceding year. Scores of men joined in a perfunc tory rush into the prospective territory, only to have their hopes crushed later by a report of Charles N. Gould of the Oklahoma Geological Survey that mineral did not exist in paying quantities. Publication of the Gould report aroused the ire of Frank McMaster, at that time a resident of Lawton, who hurried into print in support of the prospectors. "Come out, Professor," said an open communication from a com mittee of prospectors to Mr. Gould, "and let the boys show you an old extinct crater near Craterville, take a bath in Lost Lake, pan free gold on Deep Red Run, examine the porphyry that makes a checkerboard of the Otter Creek, make yourself a jungle bell of a phonolite, select you a charm out of our amethyst quartz, examine the rose quartz, the hornblende and the feldspar; come for a while to the shad ows of Mount Sheridan, scale its summit and get a birdseye view of the miners' camps, examine the native copper on Sandy, look back to the ninety-foot shaft of Campbell Broth ers and the 103-foot shaft of Quanah Parker's, and be con vinced that the progressive American miner is proving rich resources in these old hills." 234 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY The mineral excitement blew over in a few weeks, so far as Oklahoma City was concerned, but it continued with vigor for some months in Lawton, Hobart and Anadarko. On the first of this year the headquarters of the Oklahoma Historical Society was transferred from the University at Norman to Oklahoma City and its effects installed in the Carnegie Library. E. H. Cooke and G. W. Wheeler, principal owners of the Oklahoma Gas & Electric Power Company, sold the business to New York capitalists for approximately $140,000. C. F. Coleord sold an interest in a quarter-section of land adjoining the city on the Southwest to G. W. Baumhoff and associates of St. Louis for $12,000. The purchasers announced their intention of spending $25,000 in converting part of the tract into a park and of asking for a street railway franchise. A consequence of this sale was the establishment of Delmar Garden, which succeeded Coleord Park, and which for sev eral years was the leading public amusement place of the city. Isaac M. Holcomb on March 1 resigned as superintendent of schools to accept an appointment as deputy to the clerk of the District Court. He was succeeded by Edward S. Vauglit, who was promoted from the high school principalship. A. R. Hickam, high school teacher of Latin, succeeded to the prin cipalship. C. H. Thompson resigned as United States marshal and was succeeded by W. D. Fossett. A. H. Branch of Denver was elected president and general manager of the Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company. Charles Gillette of New York was elected vice president and C. B. Ames, secretary and treasurer. Some board members elected were E. H. Cooke, G. W. Wheeler and G. B. Stone. A country club was organized that purposed improving a sylvan spot near Spencer. The directors were Clarence Ben nett, J. H. Wheeler, Dick Ragon, Weston Atwood, W. M. Grant, Harry Gerson, C. B. Pope, W. S. Guthrie and Dr. John Threadgill. The Oklahoma Medical College, with a capital stock of $15,000, was organzied this year and a complete faculty se lected. Dr. John Threadgill was elected president, Dr. W. T. Salmon, secretary and treasurer; Dr. G. A. Wall, dean; Dr. ,1lH: 1 J 1 li t 1 Jk /yt If 111 THE BAUM BUILDING P Eft THE CONTINENTAL BUILDING THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 237 R. T. Edwards, vice president, and Dr. W. E. Dicken, a mem ber of the board of directors. The establishment of a modern park at Delmar Garden and the probability of a line of the street car system being- laid to that place revived interest in baseball during the year and a baseball association was formed that purposed promo tion of a permanent league. Seymour Heyman was elected president of the association, Harry Robare, secretary, and Byron D. Shear, treasurer. These men and Hugh McCredie, C. F. Coleord, C. J. Bowman, E. I. Leach and F. E. Patterson constituted the board of directors. On May 12, J. B. Wheeler, a pioneer resident and one of the city's leading citizens, proposed to the mayor and city council to donate to the city forty-four acres of his land sit uated along the north side of the Canadian River immediately south of the city, to be used for park purposes. The con tract he presented provided that the city should expend $2,000 a year during the succeeding five years in improving and beautifying the tract, that no intoxicating liquors should ever be sold thereon, and that it should be known as Wheeler Park. The council indicated that the contract was acceptable and the mayor took steps to have a park commission created. Efforts were renewed during the year to get an appropria tion by Congress for a Federal building. J. W. Hunt was selected to represent the city before Congress and the brief that was prepared for his use showed that during the }rear ending June 30, 1901, the post office receipts had amounted t< > $36,041, and that this was $2,644 more than the receipts for that year of the post offices at Guthrie and El Reno combined. An organization designed to assist in the promotion and location of factories and other industrial enterprises was formed with a capital stock of $50,000. A dozen or more prominent men took stock. Dr. John Threadgill was elected president, George Gardner, vice president; J. M. Owen, sec retary, and J. L. Wilkin treasurer. A. H. Classen and G. G. Sohlberg were members of the board of directors. Of a visit to Oklahoma of the Senate Committee on Ter ritories this year, Mr. Thoburn has written : ' ' The Committee on Territories traveling on a special train on the Panhandle 238 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Division of the Santa Fe Railway, entered Oklahoma unan nounced, on the afternoon of Saturday, November 22, 1902. Brief stops were made at Woodward and Alva, whence tele grams were sent to Guthrie, Oklahoma City and possibly other points. The telegram addressed to the Oklahoma City Com mercial Club was very brief, merely announcing that the Senate Committee on Territories would arrive in Oklahoma City at 4 P. M. the next day (Sunday). This intelligence was immediately transmitted from Oklahoma City to the friends and leaders of the single statehood movement in many towns in both Oklahoma and Indian territories, with invitation to send delegations to meet the members of the committee. But, in this, Oklahoma City almost reckoned without its host be cause of a change in the program which the members of the committee were induced to make after arriving in Guthrie. "The committee's special train arrived at Guthrie about midnight and expected to remain there until time to start to Oklahoma City the next afternoon. The members of the com mittee were met and persuaded that it would be best to hold but one hearing for both territories and that at Guthrie. In order to let them see something of the country in the two territories, it was also proposed that their train should pro ceed to Oklahoma City early the following morning, make a brief stop there and thence go east on the Rock Island to Shawnee and McAlester ; thence north on the Missouri, Kan sas & Texas to Muskogee and Wagoner ; thence over the Iron Mountain to Claremore ; thence back to Oklahoma City on the St. Louis & San Francisco and return to Guthrie Monday morning. When the Senatorial Committee arrived in Okla homa City at an earty hour Sunday morning, practically un heralded, save for the brief announcement in the morning papers, there was dismay among the advocates of single state hood. They had not been outgeneraled — they had just been 'scooped,' with no chance to present their side of the case, and they were dumbfounded when Senator Beveridge assured them that it had all been arranged and agreed that there should be but one general hearing for the people of both terri tories and that it should be held at Guthrie. The heavy clouds whence fell intermittent showers during the day, conld scarcely add to the gloom which prevailed in Oklahoma City as the THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 239 Senate Committee's special train departed for Shawnee. But, even as every cloud is said to have a silver lining, so there were a few sparks of optimism unextinguished in the group which gathered for consultation at the Lee Hotel shortly afterward. The one question uppermost in every mind was that of finding some plan by means of which the Senatorial Committee could be induced to change its plan and hold part of its hearings in Oklahoma City on the following day. Various expedients were suggested and rejected. Finally, one man present said he believed he could write a telegram that would keep the senators in Oklahoma City part of the day. 'Let us see it,' was the instant response from several quarters. When the telegram was written, it read thus : " 'Oklahoma City, Nov. 23, 1902. " 'Hon. A. J. Beveridge, Chairman, Senate Committee on Territories, South McAlester, Ind. Ter., " 'Sir: — South McAlester, Muskogee, Vinita, Claremore, Tulsa, Sapulpa, Chandler, Wewoka, Holdenville, Shawnee, Tecumseh, Norman, Lexington, Purcell, Pauls Valley, Wynnewood, Davis, Arclmore, Chickasha, Lawton, Mangum, Hobart, Anadarko and Oklahoma City delegations respect fully but insistently urge that they be accorded a hearing in Oklahoma City tomorrow. '"(Signed) '" ' ' It should be stated that there were not actually that many delegations in sight at the time but it was hoped that there might be within a few hours. Late that night a telegram came from Senator Beveridge saying: 'Will endeavor to hold brief hearing in Oklahoma City, tomorrow, though nothing is cer tain.' Early the next morning a second message came from him saying: 'Arrive in Oklahoma City at 9 A. M., leave for Guthrie at 11 A. M.' And so there was a hearing held in Oklahoma City. The members of the committee agreed to take the testimony of the mayor and president of the commer cial organization and two wholesale merchants of Oklahoma City and of one spokesman from each of the visiting delega tions. (Fortunately for the committee, there were fewer del egations present than might have been expected from the statement contained in the foregoing telegram.) It was nearly 240 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY noon when the hearing was completed and it was half an hour after noon before their special train got under way for Guthrie. The stay of the committee at Guthrie was even more brief than the one at Oklahoma City, as the special train departed from the territorial capital at 3:30 o'clock." 1903— IN EARNEST ABOUT STATEHOOD A statehood convention held in Oklahoma Oity on January 6 this year was the most largely attended and the most en thusiastic of all meetings to that elate held in the people 's pursuit of self government. It voiced the keynote of future activities of that pursuit during the year. It was a year of enlightenment for Congress and for the Nation. The sub ject of statehood was among the paramount subjects in Wash ington, and of New York even, for men of the Empire State were coming to Oklahoma in considerable numbers and in vesting millions. This convention drew together more men of prominence than any of its predecessors. Five thousand persons were assembled. Ex-Governor W. M. Jenkins was conspicuous among the leaders. Henry M. Furman, afterward a member of the Criminal Court of Appeals of the new state, repre sented Ada. W. H. P. Trudgeon, a republican wheelhorse of Purcell, represented a section of the Chickasaw Nation. W. L. Alexander, a pioneer of the city who had drawn a home stead in Kiowa County, was a delegate from his section of the new country. Woods County was represented by Jesse J. Dunn of Alva, a democratic leader, a lawyer of distinction, and after statehood a member of the first Supreme Court. Thomas J. Leahy, a young lawyer and business man of action, who afterwards was accounted one of the state's most useful citizens, brought greetings from the rich lands of the Osages. William Tighlman, the marshal and the celebrated foe of out laws, was in the delegation from Chandler. In the Noble County group were Judge Thomas Doyle, a political leader of prominence who after statehood was for many years a member of the Criminal Court of Appeals, and W. M. Bowles, afterward a district judge and a democratic candidate for governor of the state. W. D. Cardwell, an early-day political leader, came over from Weatherford. And there were dozens 241 Vol. 1—16 242 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY of other men from over the two territories who were trail- blazers in their communities and whose names subsequently were linked with the fortunes of the new Commonwealth. Bands came from Duncan, Muskogee and Chickasha. In the caucus of the Indian Territory delegation Gideon Morgan of Ardmore was elected chairman and H. B. Johnson of Chickasha, secretary. In the caucus of Oklahoma Terri tory.. C. B. Ames was elected chairman and_R. E. Stafford, sec retary. John Palmer, an educated and influential member of the Osage Indian tribe, was elected president of the conven tion and Jesse Dunn of Alva, secretary. The resolutions adopted declared the delegates favored a statehood bill in troduced by Senator Nelson. The convention elected a new campaign committee consisting of C. B. Ames, .Roy Hoffman of Chandler, Thomas Boyle of Perry, W. H. P. Trudgeoh of Purcell, W. A. Ledbettefr of Ardmore and W. H. Hutchins. The committee went almost immediately to Washington and it returned January 20 with the discouraging message that the passage of the statehood bill that winter was very un likely. On April 29, which was the one hundredth anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, and in commemoration of that event, a local organization of statehood workers consisting of C. B. Ames, A. H. Classen, M. L. Turner, H. H. Howard, Lee Van- Winkle, J. W. Johnson, R. E. Stafford and others, sent to C. E. Castle of Wagoner-,- chairman of the Single Statehood Executive Committee, a formal request that he issue a call for a meeting of the committee to consider the advisability of calling a Constitutional Convention. Chairman Castle re sponded almost immediately and sent a call to members of the committee to meet in Oklahoma City on May 25. The committee met on that date but refrained from issuing a call for a Constitutional Convention, choosing rather to sub mit the matter to the people. Whereupon the chairman issued a call for a delegate statehood convention to meet in Shawnee on June 24. The call asked for 400 delegates from each of the territories. Oklahoma City in due time selected a dele gation of sixty-three, of which Seymour Heyman was elected chairman and R. E. Stafford, secretary. The Shawnee con vention was well attended. It was enthusiastic but unusually THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 243 deliberative. The proposition of calling a Constitutional Con vention was voted down and the delegates concluded to make another effort to secure action by Congress. An exhaustive resolution setting forth the claims of the people was adopted and a committee, consisting of C. B. Ames, H. G. Beard of Shawnee, C. B. Douglas, of Muskogee and W. A. Ledbetter of Ardmore, was appointed to present the resolution to Con gress. In the preliminary organization of the Shawnee con vention RobertW1Dick_of Ardmore, who in later years was an oil op^patorand prominent property owner in Oklahoma City,^as chosen chairman of the Indian Territory caucus. Later in the year the new Statehood Executive Committee met in Oklahoma City and C. G. Jones was elected chairman, Seymour Heyman, vice chairman; C. E. Castle, secretary, ancL-A^E. Classen, treasurer. The committee invested itself with authority to write a statehood bill to be introduced in /Congress in the autumn. Under its new constitution the Chamber of Commerce early in the year set about the business of city building with enthusiasm and vigor. President Heyman appointed chair men of the several committees as follows : Agriculture, parks and roads, W. S. Guthrie; entertainment, Henry M. Scales; advisory, A. H. Classen ; arbitration, Sol Barth ; auditing, G. B. Stone; education, Jasper Sipes; house, C. M. Strong; mer cantile and library, N. E. Butcher; membership, R. E. Cha pin ; manufactories, D. F. Harness ; municipal legislation, M. C. Milner ; railroads, W. F. Harn ; state and national legisla tion, John Shartel; trade extension, Lee Van Winkle; trans portation, Buran House. John R. Rose, who was employed temporarily as secretary, two months later was elected per manently to the position on a salary of $165 a month, out of which he was to pay a stenographer. Mr. Rose had talent for the work and he put into it much enthusiasm and energy. These attributes were especially manifest when he assumed leadership in the conduct of what to that time was the most extensive trade trip the business men had made. As a repre sentative of the city he accompanied a delegation of Okla- mans to the World's Fair in St. Louis in charge of a car of agricultural products that had been assembled by Ewers White, chairman. 244 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA/ CITY At the last formal meeting of the Chamber' of Commerce in December directors for the following year were elected as follows : Seymour Heyman, T. F^M^Mechan, G. G. Sohlberg, Weston Atwood, Lee VanWinkle, J. B. Murphy, H. N. Leon ard, Dr. A. K. West, V- V. Toppingf F. S. Sparrow, A. H. Crews, Jasper Sipes, George G^raner, and I. M. Putnam. The directors chose Mr. Sohlberg president, Mr. McMechan, vice president; Mr. Rose, secretary, and Weston Atwood, treasurer. With Fort Sill less than 100 miles away, the Chamber of Commerce found available for entertainment purposes of ficers and men stationed there, and when a program was being arranged for the annual meeting of the Oklahoma Live stock Association, Lieut. Col. Charles Morton permitted the Twenty-ninth Battery of Artillery and Troops A and D of the Eighth Cavalry to be secheduled for the parade. They came with full marching equipment, the Battery in command of Capt. E. E. Goyle, Troop A in command of Capt. C. W. Farber, and Troop D in command of Captain Donaldson. Colonel Morton himself also took part in the parade and other festivities. The convention brought 20,000 visitors here. They were welcomed by Mayor Jones and officials of the Chamber, and so well were they entertained that the association mem bers voted to hold the next annual meeting here. Some subsidiary organizations of the Chamber of Com merce were organized this year. Among them was the Asso ciation for the Promotion of Home Industries, of which Sey mour Heyman was elected president, A. S. Connellee, vice president, S. C. Bowers, secretary, and Weston Atwood, treasurer. It was representative of the Trades Association and the Manufacturers Association as well as of the Chamber of Commerce. Another was the Oklahoma City Real Estate Association, of which J. C. Gillogly was elected president, Joseph Hess, vice president; I. M. Putnam, secretary, and A. J. Vance, treasurer. Two other associations became affil iated with the Chamber. They were the Oklahoma City Man ufacturers Association, which at its annual meeting elected A. S. Connellee president, I. N. Phelps, vice president; T. D. Boydson, secretary, and N. S. Sherman, Jr., treasurer, and the Oklahoma City Jobbers Association, which at its annual WBfflJf wF* FARMERS NATIONAL BANK THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 247 meeting elected Lee Van Winkle president, J. P. Brough, vice president, J. J. Hartnett, secretary, and Eugene Miller, treas urer. The latter body made complaint against the railroads charging them with maintaining unfair and discriminatory freight rates, which resulted in the Chamber later holding a mass meeting to voice a protest of all shipping interests. The county commissioners in January of this }rear pur chased from Allen M. Noyes and Clarence O. Russell twelve lots as a site for a county courthouse and jail, paying therefor $4,000. The lots were described as being situated between Main Street and Grand Avenue and Walker and Coleord Avenues. The commissioners proposed the erection of a court house to cost $150,000. Mayor Jones, then president of the company that built the southwestern extension of the Frisco Railroad, took mem bers of the city council and W. T. Hale as his guests to St. Louis, traveling in his private car, Wanderer. They were en tertained by Mayor Wells and B. F. Yoakum, president of the Frisco, and newspaper account of the visit related that the party visited and inspected a brewery. The growing influence and power of Mr. Jones in both politics and business and the extension of his activities into newer and wider fields made him a victim of enmity, and perhaps of jealousy, among some business interests, but more particularly among leaders of his political party. The influ ence of his opponents was made manifest in the spring city campaign, and, although he actively sought the renomination for mayor, he was defeated. The nominee was the Rev. Thomas H. Harper, pastor of the Pilgrim Congregational Church, who made an active personal and speaking campaign in which he advocated measures of reform that had been in the minds of forward-looking pioneers for a number of years. The nomination of a preacher was another of many unusual things characterizing the practices of these peculiar people, who had abandoned the climes of the major points of the compass and abolished sectional antagonism, and who had a happy, original and refreshing way of doing things by their own exclusive patterns. Everybody watched the popular preacher-politician. In the secret camp of the enemies of reform no special fault was found with him, save the pos- 248 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY sibility of his being a harbinger if not an actual forerunner of day of depression for the saloon keeper. Doubtless he had a premonition of irksome responsibility when he chose for his sermon text for the following Sunday morning, ' ' Thy soul shall be lequired of thee." But this was a democratic year and Lee Van Winkle, a former mayor, was elected by a com fortable majority. The retirement of Mayor Jones was an occasion of coffee, sandwiches and cigars, speeches effulgent of good will and the official farewell of the executive who said he bore no ill thoughts against his opponents and bespoke a term of progress for the new administration. Organization of the Farmers State Bank, forerunner of the Farmers National Bank of today, was perfected this year, and it was the ninth banking institution for the city. The capital stock was $25,000 and the incorporators were H. N. Atkinson, J. N. Ritchie, J. F. Warren and C. L. Henley. Dur ing the year also the Oklahoma City Savings Bank was con solidated with the American National Bank. E. F. Sparrow, who had recently moved down from Pawhuska and become an official of the Oklahoma Packing Company, was elected presi dent. Frank P. Johnson, who had been president of the savings bank, was elected cashier of the American National. Johnson was an astute and alert young financier who five years before had come up from Mississippi and promoted the organization of the Union Trust Company which was suc ceeded by the savings bank. George G. Sohlberg, the miller, was elected vice president. Another change in financial in stitutions was perfected when the Oklahoma Trust & Bank ing Company was converted into the Commercial National Bank, and of this Dr. John Threadgill was elected president, C. F. Coleord, vice president; John C. Hughes, cashier, and Elmer C. Trueblood, assistant cashier. During the year the State National Bank increased its capital stock from $50,000 to $200,000. A contract was awarded early in the year for construction of a railroad to Ooalgate. This enterprise had support of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company and the road was built to Atoka, where it tapped the main line of that company between St. Louis and Texas. Preliminary arrange- THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 249 ments were being made in Kansas City to construct the Kan sas City, Mexico & Orient Railway Company's line through Oklahoma, and overtures were made by the promoters to the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. Concessions and a bonus were offered, but unfruitfiilly, for the line crossed the western part of the territoiy. In March the First Christian Church was dedicated. The building and lot had cost $25,000 and the structure probably was among the most modern in the territoiy. The dedicatory sermon was delivered by Dr. F. M. Raines of Cincinnati, Ohio. The Rev. S. D. Dutcher was pastor and J. H. Everest was chairman of the board of directors. On September 20 the corner stone of St. Paul's Episcopal Church was laid with Masonic ceremony, Bishop F. K. Brooke being in charge of the dedicatory program. On October 30 the contract was awarded for construction of the First Methodist Church, the cost of which was to be $40,000. In April the corner stone of the administration building of Epworth University was laid with impressive ceremony, Governor Thompson G. Fergu son delivering the principal address. On February 7 The Oklahoma Publishing Company an nounced that Edward K. Gaylord had purchased an interest in the company and been elected business manager of The Daily Oklahoman. In a few years the paper under direction chiefly of R^JE. Stafford has become without question the most influential factor in the development of the city and the territory. It was now metropolitan of dress, its type was set on machines and its modern presses the boosting inhab itants liked to compare with the latest that Kansas City af forded. Mr. Gaylord entered vigorously into the business of the publishing company, bringing fresher ideas from metro politan centers, and earnestly into the fascinating passion for building a metropolis of the future state. For many years the teamwork of Stafford and Gaylord — stars on the pin nacles of prosperity — was accounted an influence incompar able and without which, or an equally potent contemporary, the future of the city would have been insecure. It was of small concern to these men whether minor policies were popu lar ; their hearts were set emulatively on those progressive vie- 250 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY tories of great American municipalities that have given Amer ica leadership of the entire world. Baseball took on a professional aspect this year. Man ager Frank Quigg of the Statehoods — which was the name originally given the city team — carried his passion for a stemwinding team with a stemwinding reputation into other communities, with the result that the Southwestern League was organized. In it were clubs at Oklahoma City, Arkansas City, Shawnee and Enid. Subsequent!}5- plans were laid to bring Guthrie, Wichita, Emporia and Salina into the organi zation. A visitor of distinction this year was Ethan Allen Hitch cock, Secretary of the Interior, who remained over for a day on his way to visit the new towns of the Kiowa and Comanche Indian country. He was entertained otherwise but impor tantly as a guest of the mayor who gratuitously and gra ciously chartered a street car and put on a trolley party. The visit of Secretary Hitchcock was significant, for residents of the new country were almost on the verge of doing violence to local representatives of the Department of the Interior be cause of apparently unseemly delays of the department in returning town-lot money in the form of public improve ments as had been promised. He returned to Washington with a proper conception of the requirements of the new- country residents and positive that Oklahoma was entitled to become a state. Hitchcock exercised unusual influence in the national administration and when he announced in Wash ington that he favored immediate statehood for the territory his words were construed by senators as having much sig nificance. But the words got no results. When June rains threatened to bring floods down the Canadian River, as they had done before in many springs and summers, residents of the lowlands demanded relief. Where upon the Oklahoma County River Improvement Association was formed with A. J. Henthorn as president and J. A. J. Baugus as secretary. A committee was appointed to solicit memberships and funds and a resolution was passed memo rializing Congress to make an appropriation for river im provement. On December 16 the Secretary of War designated Okla- THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 251 homa City as headquarters for officials of the Southwestern military district, which included Oklahoma, Texas, New Mex ico and some other states. The choice appears to have been made upon recommendation of Lieutenant Colonel Smith, who had been sent out from Washington for that purpose. He chose a suite of eleven rooms in the Baltimore Building, and on January 15 of the next year Maj. Gen. S. S. Sumner was placed in charge. General Sumner soon was enamored of the life he found in the newest section of the Southwest, shortly grew fond of the worthwhile people, and took an active part in the civic, social and commercial life of the city. Earlier in the year the Oklahoma Military Institute had been estab lished, under permission of the Secretary of War, with Capt. James S. Bruett in charge. Other events of the j^ear were the voting of $100,000 in bonds to erect a county courthouse ; the appointment of Mark H. Kesler of Guthrie as chief of the fire department ; serious discussion of a bond issue of $350,000 for water extensions ; a baby show at Delmar Garden, in charge of Seymour Heyman and at which E. E. Brown, John Dibble (said to have been extremely bashful) and W. R. Taylor, bachelors all, acted as judges; announcement of O. A. Mitscher, a former resi dent of the city who had been appointed Indian Agent at Pawhuska, that he was going to Washington to make an effort to get Osage lands allotted. A writer of this period said of Mayor VanWinkle: "As mayor of Oklahoma City Mr. VanWinkle won for himself the thanks and good will of all the honest people for his able and determined fight for clean, wholesome administration of civic affairs. It will be recalled that at one time he brought about the indictment of six out of ten members of his city council for unbecoming conduct, known by a more familiar name as grafting. His administrations can be accepted as the point of origin for practically all the better public improvements such as paving, before the close of his second term had given Oklahoma City more miles of paved streets than almost any city in the Southwest, and also the establishment of a mu nicipally owned waterworks system. "Aside from his record of public service, Mr. VanWinkle has for a number of years been prominent in manufacturing 252 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY and lumber circles in Oklahoma, and is also one of the leading- Masons in the state. "R. E. Lee VanWinkle was born at VanWinkle 's Mills in Benton County, Arkansas, July 17, 1863. He acquired his early education in the home schools and in the University of Arkansas, and grew up in the rugged surroundings of the timber covered district of Northwest Arkansas. The home school which he attended was built and maintained by his father for a number of years. Four of the sons had been taught by private tutors in the home prior to the establish ment of this school which was also attended by other children in the community. "From early boyhood Mr. VanWinkle has been acquainted with the technical side of lumbering, gained by experience in his father's mill. For twelve years after leaving school he was in the retail lumber business, and then turned his atten tion to wholesale lumbering and manufacturing. In 1896 Mr. VanWinkle organized the Oklahoma Sash & Door Company, and served as its president and manager until 1904. In that year he disposed of his interests, and has since made the whole sale business the object of his attention, and is at the head of the VanWinkle Lumber Company, with offices in the Lee Building at Oklahoma City. He still holds some extensive interests in manufacturing and wholesale concerns in the tim ber belts of Arkansas." 1904— IN BIB AND TUCKER AT ST. LOUIS So admirably did the city distinguish herself at the Louis iana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis this year that one Mr. Bunker, a member of the City Council, returning home with unsuppressable enthusiasm, conceived the notion that within twelve years Oklahoma City could teach the world a lesson or so in exhibitions and he asked the council to take preliminary action to that end. The city, indeed, had made a creditable showing at St. Louis; more creditable perhaps than many other cities of several times its proportions within the boun daries of the Louisiana purchase. The inhabitants had be come so accustomed to "selling" the city wherever and when ever occasion chanced along, or was deliberately made, that they looked upon the St. Louis enterprise as a sort of fore ordained event. It was accorded one of the first honors bestowed by the exposition company when a portrait of Miss Mildred Morrow was imprinted on the first season tickets the company issued. The company neglected to print her name and place of resi dence and the history of her home town upon the admittance slip, and Oklahoma City overcame the unintentional if not almost unpardonable slight by supplying the round world with the missing information. Miss Morrow was a daughter of J. S. Morrow, a pioneer grocer and at that time a retired capitalist of Oklahoma City. September 5th was Oklahoma City Day at the Exposition, had been so ordered and advertised by the exposition com pany. It was observed with one of those characteristic getting- on-the-map programs, formal at the beginning, hilarious at the ending. John W. Noblei_a1_forme^secretary of the inte rior, who had accepted an invitationextended by O. D. Halsell, chairman of the World's Fair Club of the Chamber of Com merce, delivered the principal address, semi-officially and with the enthusiasm and adjectives of an adopted son. Represen- 253 254 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY tatives of the Apollo Club, an organization of forty young business and professional men, under leadership of J. E. Crawford, furnished the choicest music of the occasion. The address of welcome was delivered by Mayor Rolla Wells of St. Louis and responses were made on behalf of the Territory by Governor T. B. Ferguson, and of Oklahoma City by Mayor Lee VanWinkle and Miss Miriam Richardson. A poem writ ten and dedicated to the city by Frank L. Stanton was read. It was entitled Atlanta's Greeting to Oklahoma City, and it follows : A welcome that rings from Atlanta, From the green hills that sigh for the sea; To the city that looms As from wilderness glooms — A star on the flag of the free. She came to us crowned with her sixteen bright years, And we gave her a Godsend and sixteen glad cheers. A welcome, the heart thrills to say it ; Wave flags over tower and wall. Make music, blithe drums ; Like a robed queen she comes To the echoing hearts of us all. On the bright path of progress she blazes her way And makes of wild winter a dream of a day. A welcome ; her heavens are lighted With stars of the liberty gleam. For her the bells are ringing, For her the stars are singing, And the world is the light of the dream. She comes crowned with hopes — like a queen she appears, And we give her all glory and sixteen glad cheers. Credit for the success of the Oklahoma City exposition en terprise probably should be given more to E. S. Rockwell than to any other single individual. He was secretary of the Okla homa City exposition organization and devoted virtually all of his time to the duties of it for many months. His labors FIRST METHODIST CHURCH OKLAHOMA CITY GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 257 dovetailed harmoniously into those of Fred L. Wenner, secre tary of the Oklahoma World's Fair Commission. C. A. McNabb, one of the earty-day agricultural enthusiasts of the Territory and by the same token one of its most useful citizens, was superintendent of the Oklahoma exhibit. In the selection and exhibition of agricultural products he was as sisted by Joseph B. Thoburn, then secretary of the Territorial Board of Agriculture. George E. Gardner, manager of the Lion Store, offered a prize for the best agricultural display in the exhibit. This offer influenced the sending of many products from both of the Territories. The year opened with prospects bright for the passage of a statehood bill and enthusiasm over the dissemination of propaganda and the maintaining of a lobby in "Washington was warm in January and showed high temperature in De cember. The first local organization of stateuood advocates, formed in January, arranged to send as a delegation to Wash ington, C. B. Ames, C. G. Jones, A. H. Olassen, Selwyn Doug las, Samuel Murphy, Judge John Mc'Atee, D. C. Lewis, Dr. John Threadgill, C. F. ColcordJ J/X. Wilkin, E. E. Brown, R. E. Stafford and Judge J. R. JLeaton. Members of the committee shortly were off for Washing ton. They found upon arrival that Delegate Bird S. McGuire was classed with the advocates of double statehood. If this was the mental attitude of the delegate from Oklahoma at that time, later reports concerning him would indicate that he experienced a change of heart. Dennis T. Flynn, former delegate, appeared before the Senate Committee on Terri tories, and sought to have eliminated the provision that the capital should remain at Guthrie, advising the committee that, given the opportunity under statehood, the people of the state would shortly remove it to Oklahoma City. His ap peal was unavailing. On December 2d the executive committee of the Inter- Territorial Single Statehood Committee met in Oklahoma City and adopted new resolutions demanding early action on the statehood bill and made provision for members of the com mittee to go to Washington, December 10th, and present the resolutions to the Committee on Territories. The Oklahoma City Freight Bureau was organized early Vol. I— 1 7 258 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY in the year with the election of Thomas Jarboe as president, A. Carroll as vice president, G. E. Lindsay as vice president, T. D. Boydston as secretary and Eugene Miller as treasurer. At this meeting J. H. Johnston, who recently had come here from Galveston and who was destined to take conspicuous part in the city's industrial affairs during the next fifteen years, was chosen traffic manager. So much was promised by this organization and so highly was it valued in commercial life that an agreement was reached between its officers and those of the Chamber of Commerce and the Manufacturers' Asso ciation whereby Mr. Johnston was to act as secretary of them all jointly, and his salary was fixed at $5,000 a year. Future events proved that this was one of the several peak steps taken by commercial organizations during the formative years of greatest consequence. Shortly thereafter the traffic organ ization was again reorganized into the Traffic Bureau of the Chamber of Commerce and T. M. Jarboe, J. F. Robinson, O. D. Halsell, J. A. Anderson, A. A. Crews, W. A. Wherry, N. S. Sherman, A. S. Connellee, I. N. Phillips and G. F. Lindsay were chosen as a board of directors. At the annual meeting of the Retail Merchants Association, which made creditable progress and considerably increased its membership during the }^ear, Seymour Heyman was elected president, S. H. Gaines, j secretary, and these men and J. M. Bass, G. E. Gardner, JcLeph Myers, A. E. Warfield, G. W. PiersoL Eli Brown, W. J.1 Pettee and C. E. Mitchell, directors. Directors of the Chamber of Commerce elected at a/ De cember meeting, for the succeeding year, were J. H. Ingwer- son, Archie Dunn, L. F. Lie, G. E. Gardner, W. L. Alexander, T. D. Turner, Weston Atwood, G. G. Sohlberg, I. M. Putnam, Dr. A* K West, W.,P. Dilworth, O. D. Halsefl, A. H. Classen, J. H. Hess and G. B. Stone. The directors elected Mr. Turner president; Mr. Stone, first vice president; Mr. Atwood, second vice ] (resident; J. H. Johnston, secretary, and J. L. Wilkin, treasurer. The first permanent organization of a Young Men's Chris tian Association was perfected this year and J. F. Denham of Findlay, O., was employed as secretary. The board of directors consisted of C. B. Ames, C. E. Bennett, I. M. Hol- conib, T. J. Henclrickson, George Larrimore, J. N. MeCar- THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 259 nack, G. G. Sohlberg, A. N. Wycoff, J. M. Bass, J. H. Everest, F. W. Hawley, W. A. Knott, J. A. Matthews, J. R. Rose and Dr. C. W. Williams. New spring and summer floods coming down the Canadian River and fresh inundations of lowlands in consequence brought about a revival of the subject of shortening the chan nel of the stream, reclaiming many acres of lowlands, and pre venting future damage by overflows. Discussion of the subject led to the organization of the Oklahoma River and Improve ment Canal & Irrigation Company, capitalized at $10,000, and of which M. L. Blackwelder, R. E. Chapin, D. C. Pryor, John Howard and W. B. Armour were directors. The resignation of George J. Shields from the office of city treasurer provoked a lively issue in which three banks took a leading part. A supposedly strategical move by a member of the City Council, who cast his vote in behalf of the gayety of nations, resulted, unexpectedly to him, in the council elect ing Elmer C. Trueblood, who was the candidate of the Com merce National Bank. The candidate of the American Na tional was Frank Butts and that of the State National was J. M. Owen. Deaths of two prominent citizens occurred during the year. That in particular of James Geary, who died /October 21st, was widely regretted. Mr. Geary was an' Eighty-niner and had established a bank at the corner of Main Street and Broack way twelve days after the opening. This he sold in 1893 and purchased of Capt. D. F. Stiles an interest in what ^7as after ward known as May wood Addition. Geary Avenue in that section of the city was named in his honor. Geary was an adopted plainsman, having gone West from St. Louis at the age of fifteen and associated himself with Col. William Cody. Subsequently he was with General Sheridan and General Hancock ill movements against the troublesome Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. In 1868 he secured a contract with the Government to build houses for the Ponca Indians, but this contract was short-lived because of the redskins refusing to accept Governmental support in that way. Later he was a rancher at Salina, Kan., and a merchant at Newton, Kan. Sidney Clarke, a compatriot of the early years in Oklahoma, delivered an oration at his grave. The other death was that / 260 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY of James E. Brett of the Twenty-fifth United States Infantry who was in coimnand of cadets at the Military Institute. He died of pneumonia and his body was sent to San Francisco for burial. Major Brett was fifty years old, had been an officer in the army for twenty years, had served during and after the Spanish- American war in Cuba and the Philippines, and had taken part in campaigns against Indians on the frontier. As a consequence of bickerings among some members of the City Council and clue in some degiee undoubtedly to politi cal enmity, friends of Henry Overholser, on April 23d, over a year after the city election, were instrumental in having placed before Mayor VanWinkle and the council figures showing that Mr. Overholser had been elected mayor and a demand for the ejection of VanWinkle and the seating of Overholser. Mayor VanWinkle cast the vote that saved him his seat, and immediately had his attorney apply for an in junction to prevent the installation of Overholser. The injunction was granted by Judge Irwin and later sustained and made permanent by Judge J. L. Pancoast. Capt. John J. Pershing, then assigned by the War De partment to the Southwestern Division, was among the guests of honor at a banquet given at the Threadgill Hotel on May 17th in honor of Maj.-Gen. S. S. Sumner, who was in charge of the division. The spread was one of the most pretentious in the city's history and given in a hostelry that had been proclaimed by the newspapers as one of the very finest in the Southwest. Judge B. M. Dilley was toastmaster. Unfor tunately the remarks of Captain Pershing were not recorded. Frank Matthews of Mangum, a member of the Territorial Council, was the nominee of the democrats for Congress. The convention was held in Oklahoma City, July 27th, and was an enthusiastic affair. Matthews was declared the nominee on the nineteenth ballot. Other names presented to the conven tion were those of M./ J. Kane of Kingfisher, L. P. Ross of Lawton, Edgar Jones/ William Bowles, W. R. Taylor of Okla homa City, and J. H. Maxey of Shawnee, the latter being nominated by S. Parceling, afterwards an attorney general of the state. Jesse J. Dunn of Alva was chosen chairman of the Territorial Democratic Committee. A summer of vio-or- / THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 261 ous campaigning ensued, and it ended with the reelection of Bird S. McGuire, the republican nominee. Dr. John Thread- giftyT^publican, of Oklahoma City, was elected a member of the Territorial Council. Democrats and republicans divided honors in the county election and among the men of note in the city's history elected were George W. Garrison, sheriff; John U^Mitch, register of deeds, and Edward Overholser, couutyycommissioner. ippenings of more or less interest during the year in cluded these : The Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company's busi ness was sold to a syndicate represented by T. B. Burbriclge, J. J. Henry and C. II. McBeth of Colorado ; a second cattle men s convention was held, including a fat-stock show and sale at Coleord Park that was attended by festivities and 10,000 persons; Capitol Hill, a separate town south of the river, was incorporated by a vote of 72 to 61 ; Assessor W. P. Havddns announced that he had found the population of the city t< » be 33,000, which wTas an increase of 23,000 in four years ; the First Methodist Church was dedicated on June 6th by Dr. T. C. Iliff ; Judge Clinton Galbreath returned June 22d from Hawaii, where he had been a member of the Supreme Court, and announced that he would practice law in Oklahoma City ; on July 6th the county commissioners awarded to the Gross Construction Company the contract for erection of a court house to cost $99,999 ; on June 30th the City Council concluded to call an election to submit the proposition of issuing $185,- 000 in bonds for water and sewer improvements ; Edward S. Vaughtwas Teelected superintendent of schools, and he an nounced that the school population was 6,800, that seven buildings were occupied and that two more were needed ; the City Council on October 3d ordered an election on the bond proposition, submitting figures of $175,000 for water works and $200,000 for sewers ; Mayor VanWinkle called the election but later rescinded the call ; Ralph J. Ramer resigned as county attorney and G. A. Paul was elected to the position. 1905— SIDESTEPPING AN ISSUE Advocates of open saloons entertained little hope that the sale of intoxicants would be permitted man}T years longer in Oklahoma, for the prohibition forces, under leadership of the Anti-Saloon League, had been active for several years and had accomplished results that could not be interpreted otherwise than as prophecies of prohibition. It was impossible to sepa rate the issue from the statehood question. No one expected Congress to summarily end half a century of anti-liquor restrictions over the nations of the Five Civilized Tribes, which were to become part of the state, nor to relieve lands of the Indians of Oklahoma Territoiy of similar restrictions. Over fifty Indian tribes were represented in the two Terri tories. Indians would live in every county of the new state. The Government was the guardian of the Indians. It was pledged to protect them as far as possible against evil influ ences and to educate them and make Christians of them. So it was virtually certain that the statehood bill that became law would either provide blanket prohibition for the state or renew, extend and strengthen the network of paraphernalia and machinery used to protect the Indians against the liquor evil. The nonsectarian and nonpartisan Chamber of Commerce found it advisable, probably for the first time in its history, to sidestep a stand on an issue of vital import to the city. The statehood bill was passed, with amendments, by the Senate, February 7th, and it carried an amendment, written by Sen ator Gallinger, prohibiting the manufacture or sale of intoxi cating liquors within the state. It created a State of Okla homa and Indian Territory and eliminated New Mexico and Arizona. Its passage was made possible by Senator Forakei1 of Ohio leading a force of republicans into the united camp of the democrats. When news of the passage reached Okla- 263 264 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY homa City it was welcomed with sincere rejoicing on one hand and dubious and superficial acclaim on the other. This news was followed shortly by a message to the Chamber of Commerce from Washington asking that body for an expres sion of opinion on the prohibition amendment. The Chamber was convened in short order and the matter placed before it. Sueh bodies always are constituted of men of divergent shades of opinion, and this was not an exception to the rule. Devout church men and the representatives of brewers and liquor dealers had sat side by side for many years nearly always in accord on issues affecting the commercial welfare of the city. They had never faced the prohibition question except as it came perhaps timidly and obliquely from local reform sources. Now it was a paramount issue demanding of every man that he come out squarely on one side or the other. The telegram was referred by the president of the Chamber to a committee. The committee gave it brief consideration and reported that, as it viewed the matter, expression of an opinion was beyond the jurisdiction of a body thus con stituted. Thus was the subject disposed of. Meantime the advocates of prohibition continued rejoicing and their enthusiasm spread like a contagion over the city, just as it was spreading over the Territory. A largely at tended mass meeting was held at the Christian Church not only in celebration of adoption of the prohibition amendment but to send a message of approval to Washington. D. A. Duncan was chairman of the meeting and S. A. Horton was secretary. Speeches were made by the Rev. F. E. Day, pastor of the First Methodist Church ; Dr. L. Haynes Buxton, the Rev. Thomas H. Harper, and others. A special message ex pressing the gratitude of those assembled was forwarded to Senator Gallinger. Since the bill passed by the Senate differed from that which passed the House, and in several respects differed so radically, the outlook for this measure becoming a law this year was not encouraging, although O. G. Jones, the Chamber of Commerce representative in Washington, wired that he felt sure of statehood within the year. The situation certainly warranted no slackening of activities here. Oklahoma's cam paign of education and its democratic demand for self-gov- DR. J. F. MESSENBAUGH THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 267 eminent had accomplished good results to date and it didn't purpose giving Washington any opportunity to forget. The Statehood Executive Committee met here April 14th and issued a call for a convention for July 12th. The subject of holding a constitutional convention again was discussed and such a convention this time was advocated by Thomas H. Doyle of Perry. C. B. Ames, father of the proposition as originally presented and which had been voted clown in the Shawnee convention, opposed it. A thousand delegates attended the July convention, repre senting a million and a half people, and they adopted a me morial to Congress ringing with heartfelt sincerity and abounding in illuminating facts and figures. The convention was electrified by a statement from Delegate B. S. McGuire that he favored a single state. President I. M. Holcomb of the Chamber of Commerce welcomed the delegates. A new executive committee was chosen, C. G. Jones representing Oklahoma County. A special committee, of which Mr. Jones was a member, was selected to take the memorial to Washing ton. When Congress convened the next winter two more state hood bills were introduced in the House of Representatives, one by Mr. Hamilton of Michigan and one by Delegate Mc Guire of Oklahoma. Each provided for a single state of the two Territories and the Hamilton bill provided also that New Mexico and Arizona should be admitted as one state. Stage settings were installed for Oklahomans to hold/a continuous performance in Washington during the winter and the big- show opened early in December with the arrival there of an Oklahoma delegation that filled five PuHrnans. Helen R§n-- strom, whom Col. N. H. Liiigenfelte^sctbriqueted The Swedish Nightingale and whose musical talent he discovered while she sang in the choir of a mediocre little church^gt^companied the delegation. Her singing was heard by thousands in hotel lobbies, churches and public meeting placea^of the capital and her unusual voice v7as a subject of f affable comment by art critics of eastern cities. Helen Renstrom and the ubiquitous hobnobbers of "the land of the fair god" that winter inter nationalized the charming story of Oklahoma, and they drew out of the uncertain future a boon the 'realization of which perhaps was years distant. 268 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITYr It happens that a Secretary of the Interior is vested with more authority in the administration of government in a Ter ritory than any other Washington official, and that official therefore is subjected to the greatest number of criticisms from those who come in contact with the rules and regula tions of his department. While the records do not reveal that Oklahoma City had any important part in it, the Territories this year made the official life of Secretary Hitchcock a veri-^" /-table bed of thorns. His administration touched even small municipal affairs and at every touch the municipality howled and turned its rancorous weapons of abuse upon him. Many times he was abused without just cause. Many times abuse was premeditated and born of no cause whatever. Every charge was an expression of the voice of a people that had found — even if they imagined it largely — that long-distance government from Washington was intolerable. And the sum of these charges before long drove Washington opponents of statehood into disorganization and inevitable rout. This Oklahoma situation — these peculiar Oklahoma peo ple — the source and the substance of all this noise — undoubt edly influenced two other Cabinet members to come here. Secretary Wilson of the Department of Agriculture looked /the domain over, was entertained as cosmopolitans entertain, and returned a believer in the justness of the Oklahoma cause. Secretary Shaw of the Treasury Department was a guest of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and went back con verted to the cause. It was a record-breaking year in the matter of distinguished visitors. Senator Chester I. Long of Kansas came down as a guest of Dennis T. Flynn and was entertained by the Chamber of Commerce. Senator LaFol-,^ lette of Wisconsin and William J. Bryan of Nebraska came on chautauqua expeditions and went out preaching about the matchless spirit of these hospitable and long-suffering people. Gen. A. R. Chaffee, chief of staff of the United States Army, who conducted a rifle competition at Fort Reno, also was a guest of the business interests during the year. And the redoubtable Teddy, the double-fisted American, the champion ^ ^of the West, then President of the^United States, chose a ^hunting spot in Oklahoma, and when he had fetched in coyotes^ and loboes to his satisfaction down in the Big Pasture, a THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 269 thousand representative Oklahomans set him rejoicing before his special train pulled out of the station at Frederick. No external influence bearing on statehood had more wide spread or marked influence this year than that of members of the National Editorial Association whom Oklahoma City entertained after their annual convention had been held in Guthrie. Dozens of these editors on returning home "took their pen in hand" and wrote unstintingly virtuous praises of this new land and almost with one accord urged Congress to admit the Territories to statehood. The spring city election resulted in a republican victory in the mayoralty fight, Dr. J. F. Messenbaugh defeating F. S. Rhodes, the democratic nominee, by about 800 votes. The socialists this year nominated a full ticket and made an active campaign. Their candidate for mayor was Edgar A. David son. An independent ticket also was nominated, headed by the Rev. Thomas H. Harper for majTor, and the nominees con ducted a warm battle on issues elevated somewhat above those of ordinary political fights. George Hess was elected clerk ; G. A. Paul, attorney ; John Hubatka, police chief ; John Hay- son, police judge; Dan Wright, assessor; Will S. Guthrie, treasurer of the school board, and Elmer Trueblood, city treasurer. At this election $60,000 of bonds was voted for building ward schoolhouses. Resolutions demanding statehood for the Territories were adopted by the Federation of Commercial Clubs of the Terri tories which held its annual meeting here July 11. Lee Cruce of Arclmore was elected president; J. H. Johnston of Okla homa City, secretary, and H. L. Fogg of El Reno, treasurer. Before Maj^or Messenbaugh one day came a modest little black-haired woman with talkative brown eyes who made ap plication for appointment as city stenographer. She was a democrat and the democrats maintained the balance of power in the council. She had been active in politics, had an influ ence with laboring men, and seemed to possess some qualities essential to democratic militancy. The appointment was made and she entered diligently and enthusiastically upon the duties of the job. She appears to have been so engrossed there the public learned little about her, except that now and 270 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY then it heard of a mysterious feminine influence bearing ap parently meager fruits in some nonpublic strata of society. , She was an extravagantly busy little woman and she soon displayed executive propensities. She worked consistently and b)^ rule and by hours, and she breathed into the city offices an atmosphere of clerical independence theretofore unwit nessed. In that atmosphere her timidity departed and she became sagery self-assertive. This was too radical a step for City Attorney Paul and he gave her notice one dav-that her employment was at an end. She had declined tg^work over- ! time and on Sunday. She appealed to the City Council, stat- , ing her case rather exhaustively, and ine record of the council meeting shows that the " cefamiunication was re ceived. ' ' The little woman was Kate Oklahoma City as no other modification of the terms-of the measure had done, for it was always evident and perf ectly clear that one of the important reasons why the city labored so ardently for statehood was that eventually it expectecLtO be the capital. On February 16th President Holcomb ofthe Chamber of Commerce convoked a mass assembly ancLix forth- , with named Sidney Clarke, John H. Wright and ,R. E. Staf ford a/committee to draw a resolution protesting against the capital amendment. It was a dignified resolution vith some temperature, profound withal and eloquent of English, de claring no precedent existed for such an act, asserting that out of part of the proceeds of lands valued at $5,000,000 the state would be able to erect a capital/ 'and praying that the million and a half people be permitted to determine the capital question for themselves. C. G. Jones and Mr. Holcomb were selected to take the resolution yto the Senate and Delegate McGuire. Pursuant to a provision ly the act, Governor Frantz called^ an election for November 6tK to choose delegates to a constitu tional convention. Democrats of the Territories united their organizations for the campaign, but republican organizations remained separate. J. L. Hamon of Lawton was named cam paign manager for the Oklahoma republicans. Oklahoma County contained two constitutional convention districts, the twenty-eighth and the twenty-ninth. In the twenty-eighth a heated controversy arose between J. L. Brown and D. C. Lewis, republican candidates for delegate. Brown advocating constitutional prohibition and Lewis opposing any sort of prohibition. Lewis received the nomination. Hugh McCredie was the nominee in the other. The democratic nominees in tlje/iistricts respectively were W. O. Hughes and John L. Mitcly The Rev. E. O. AVhitwell applied to the court of Judge Burwell for a writ of mandamus to compel the elec tion board to place his name on the ballot as the candidate of the Independent League in the Twenty-eighth district, but it was denied. Republicans and democrats alike sought advice and party enthusiasm from stations of high authority outside the state, THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 279 democrats more than republicans perhaps, for the republicans were far from being a unit. Among representative repub licans who came this way before the election was Vice Presi dent Charles W. Fairbanks, who spoke in Oklahoma City on October 22d. He was introduced by Chairman Hamon and was entertained by Chief Justice John H. Burford, Governor Frank Frantz, C. G. Jones and other republican leaders. Mr. Fairbanks toured Indian Territory after leaving Oklahoma City. The democrats elected a large majority of delegates to the convention, including both nominees from Oklahoma County. Mr. Hughes was prominently mentioned for president of the convention, but found on his arrival at Guthrie that William H. Murray of Tishomingo was far in the lead of favorites. The convention assembled November 20th. Mr. Murray was elected president and John M. Young of Lawton, secretary. William A. Durant, who for mam- years thereafter was a leader in politics and active in public life, was elected sergeant at arms. With a view of studying conditions in the Territories relative principally to Indian affairs, a committee of five members of the Senate toured the Territories in November and on November 22d was entertained in Oklahoma City. The committee consisted of D. C. ClarJ^of Wyoming, Chester I. Long of Kausas^ W. A. Clark of Montana, Henry M. Teller of Colorado .aud F. P. Brandegee of Connecticut. They v7ere entertained by a committee of citizens consisting of C. G. Jones, A. H. Classen, Sidney Clarke and others. Early in the session of the constitutional convention Dele gate Mitch of Oklahoma City submitted a proposition to the convention providing that the people of the state should have the opportunity of voting on the location of a permanent state capital and making provision for the erection of a capitol to cost not over one million dollars and to be completed by January 1, 1914. Delegate G. M. Tucker of Comanche sub mitted a proposition providing that the capital should be located as near as feasible to the geographical center of the state and that the name of the capital city should be India- homa, the name symbolizing the conjunction of the Terri- s 280 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY S / / tories. Delegate .Hughes/was the first to approach the subject of prohibition, .propqsjng a local option measure. Miss Kate/Barnard, now matron of the Provident Associa tion of Oklahoma City and a member of the Central Trades and Labor/ Council, being ambitious to advance some cherished reforms/and also having political aspirations, came impor tantly before the public during the convention by advocating measures relating to compulsory education, factory inspection, an eight-hour work day and child labor. In preparation for this work she had made an extensive study of conditions in Chicago and St. Louis. Charles N. Haskell of Muskogee, who with other Indian Territory leaders had sought to write a constitution for and establish the State of Sequoyah, and who subsequently, as the first governor of the state, ordered the great seal of state moved from Guthrie toOklahoma City, made his first political appearance in Oklahoma City at a Jackson Day banquet held January 8, 1906/^Four hundred representative democrats of the Territories attended. It was without doubt the most im portant gathering of notables of the democratic party, held solely for political purposes, that had assembled in the Terri tories. S. M. Rutherford of Muskogee presided. A. M. Jack son of Winfield, Kan., formerly a representative in Congress, was the guest speaker. Mr. Haskell spoke on "How to Organize." The theme of Judge J. L. Carpenter of^Mangum was "Party Loyalty," that of Freeman Miller Olf Stillwater, ' ' The Power of the Press, ' ' and that of Judge Henry M. Fur- man of Ada, "The Sovereignty of the Citizen." Talks were made by Leslie P. Ross of Lawton, Robert W. Dick of Ard more, Col. William Zevely of Muskogee, Leslie Niblack of GuthrierThomas Doyle of Perry, U. S. Russell of McAlester, , T. P. J3ure of Lawton, J. B. A. Robertson of Chandler, Dan'^ Peery of Carnegie, Col. J. J. McAlester of McAlester, Jesse J. Dunn of Alva and Charles West of Enid, all of whom after ward occupied prominent places in public or political life. On December 10th of this year J. B. Wheeled one of the city's representative citizens died, at the age of eighty-one. He had donated Wheeler Park to the city in a former year and since that time had been a member of the park board. In that position he had taken an active part in improving THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 2S1 and beautifying the park that was to be a memorial to him. He was a native of New York, had been a banker in Michigan and as an Eighty-Niner had established one of the first banks in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Railway Company was chartered on De cember 4th with a capital stock of $5,000,000, with the purpose expressed in the charter of constructing 170 miles of inter- urban lines out of Oklahoma City, reaching Norman, Shaw nee, Guthrie, El Reno and Purcell. The incorporators were Frank Wells, O. R. Rittenhouse, G. G. Barnes, J. J. Johnson, Carlos Combs, Fred S. Combs and E. L. Lawson. One of the most eloquent and substantial compliments paid the city and its Chamber of Commerce during these extremely busy years was expressed by Lee Cruce of Arclmore while a guest of the Chamber on an occasion during this year. "Oklahoma City is one of the most wonderful cities on the face of the earth, ' ' he said. ' ' I have found here tonight that the Chamber of Commerce is one of the best organizations of the kind west of the Mississippi River. No town can grow without a live organization like this. Your people should be proud of this Chamber of Commerce; it has accomplished wonders. ' ' Other happenings of the year of more or less historical value are these: Trustees of St. Luke's Methodist Church, South, bought from Edward H. Cooke a site for a church at Eighth and Robinson for $17,500 and announced that plans for a large edifice were being drawn ; the Lee Hotel was sold to Joseph Huckins, Joseph Huckins, Jr., L. W. Huckins and Paul Huckins ; A. W. McKeand was elected secretaiy of the Chamber of Commerce to succeed J. H. Johnston, and W. E. Campbell, secretaiy of the Traffic Association, ©f which Mr. Johnston remained manager; the Eighty-Niners Association held its annual banquet, presided over by Samuel Crocker, and elected Dr. Delos Walker president ; O. A. Mitscher, vice president; W. L. Alexander, secretary, and Oscar Reagan, treasurer ; J. B. Taylor was elected superintendent of schools to succeed Edward S. Vauglit, and F. C. Jacoby succeeded Mr. Taylor as principal of the high school ; City Assessor Dan P. Wright reported that the total valuation of city property was approximately $26,500,000; the Federated Commercial 282 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Clubs of the Territories held an annual meeting here and Lee Cruce was elected president ; A. W. McKeand secretaiy, and I. M. Holcomb, treasurer; the Oklahoma Natural Gas Com pany, among the directors of which were C. B. Ames and D. T. Flynn, asked for a franchise, promising to pipe gas here within a short time and sell it for domestic consumption at 35 cents per 1,000 cubic feet ; the City Council passed a resolu tion asking Congress to donate to the city section 16 of town ship 12 north, range 3 west; Delegate McGuire introduced a bill in Congress making an appropriation of $450,000 to pur chase a site for, and construct a Federal building in the city. 1907^OIlITICS, PREJUDICES AND VICTORY President Roosevelt issued his proclamation on November 16thandrstatehoocl was an accomplished fact. The constitu- ,-ioii went into effect and under it the first state officials took" the oath of office. Charles N. Haskell, vTho had beetr-aTmem- ber of the constitutional convention from a Muskogee district, in the election of September 17th defeated Frank Ffantz, re publican nominee for governor, by an overwhelming major ity, and was the first to take the official oath. Fifteen officials constituted the executive department of government and four of these were residents of Oklahoma City, namely: William Cross, secretary of state; T. J. Mc- Comb, insurance commissioner ; Miss Kate Barnard, commis sioner of charities and corrections, and Charles A. Daugherty, labor commissioner. Other officials who afterwards became residents of the city were Charles West, attorney general; M. E. Trapp, auditor, and A. P. Watson, corporation commis sioner. Samuel W. Hayes, a member of the first Supreme Court and during his term a chief justice, after retirement from the bench, became a resident of the city. Down nearly to the very week of the issuance of the Presi dent's proclamation there was doubt of executive approval of the constitution. The instrument had been declared by W. J. Bryan/to be one of the greatest of documents of human / liberty and self-government, and it had been declared by Wil liam H. Taft, then secretary of war, to be honej^combed with prejudices and radical doctrines and consequently unfit for adoption. The democrats were virtually solidly united in its support and the republicans were divided. A large element of the latter party took the view expressed by 0. G. Jones after its adoption, that Statehood was desired above all else and that if the constitution was found to contain objectionable features he trusted to the good sense of the people to later amend it. Republican speakers condemned it on the stump 283 2S4 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY and passionately advocated its rejection. But the instrument was subjected to its severest trials in the courts. The democrats of the convention drifted far into the legislative field and incorporated in the constitution not a few tenets of the party that were subjects of debate between the parties. Among these were provisions for separate coaches and separate waiting rooms for white and colored persons and the initiative* and referendum. These and other provi sions were held by republican leaders in the campaign to con stitute violations of the Constitution of the United States. Others of less moment were declared to be in contravention of the Enabling Act. Among the latter were the election pro visions and those that subdivided counties, established county seats and named temporary county commissioners. Summing up all partisan objections, Charles H. Filson, territorial secre tary, declined to receive from President Murray the copy of the instrument offered for official registration. Judge Pan- coast held in a case arising in Woods County involving the appointment of county commissioners that the constitution makers made the appointments without authority. This was appealed to the Territorial Supreme Court and the Pancoast decision reversed. While this case was pending and while President Murray was carrying the constitution around in his pocket and threat ening to call an election to submit the constitution, a meeting of statehood advocates, consisting principally of democrats, was held in Oklahoma City and a delegation of lawyers, W. A. Ledbetter, Samuel W. Hayes and Charles Moore, all members of the constitutional convention, was selected to confer with President Roosevelt. In due time the convention reassembled in Guthrie and made some amendments that overcame the re publican objections and others that were found necessary after the delegates had been home and listened to expressions of their constituents. The convention recommended Septem ber 17th as a date for submitting the instrument to the people and the election of state officials and adjourned finally on July 15th. Meantime powerful influences, inside the Territories and out, both of political and commercial shades, were brought to bear, with the result that all legal controversies were ter- HENRY M. SCALES THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 287 minated and Governor Frantz and Secretaiy Filson issued a call for an election to be held on September 17th. Caucuses, primaries and conventions were held that re sulted in the selection of democratic and republican tickets, the former headed by Mr. Haskell and the latter by Governor Frantz. Haskell defeated Lee Cruce of Ardmore for the nomination after a historically acrimonious campaign. T. P. Gore of Lawton defeated M. L. Turner of Oklahoma City and Roy Hoffman of Chandler for the nomination for United States senator for the western division of the state, and Rob ert L. Owen defeated Judge Henry M. Furman for the nomi nation in the eastern division. Elmer L. Fulton of Oklahoma City was the democratic nominee for Congress in the Second District. All democratic nominees for state and congressional offices were elected, except that Bird S. McGuire of Pawnee, republican, was elected to Congress from the First District. Provisions of the Enabling Act relating- to elections were so variously interpreted by students of law that it became a serious question early in the year whether city elections should be held prior to adoption of the constitution. Attorney Ed ward S. Vaught of Oklahoma City filed in the District Court application for an order restraining George Hess, city clerk, from registering voters and preventing the holding of an elec tion on April 2d, the date fixed by the statutes of the Terri tory Mayor Messenbaugh already had issued a call for the election. Vaught contended that the call and the registration of voters were in violation of the Enabling Act which pro vided that persons holding public office should continue to serve until their successors were elected and qualified under laws to be adopted by the new state. The case went to Chief Justice Burford and he ruled that city elections should be held. For mayor the democrats nominated Henry M. Scales and the republicans J. H. Johnston. The charge of corporation influence against the republican candidate, a charge that had accomplished satisfactory results for the democrats in the con vention campaign and during sessions of ..the convention, was effective in the city campaign and Mr. Scales was elected by a substantial majority. Organization of the Oklahoma State Fair Association was ^88 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY perfected this year and it contracted for the use of state school land adjoining the city on the east as an exposition site. A temporary organization was perfected January 16th by the election of C. G. Jones as president and A. W. McKeand as secretary. Two days later a meeting more largely attended was held and a committee consisting of Seymour Heyman, A. H. Classen, Dr. F. M. Jordan, Frank H. Shelley, K Bracht, Weston Atwood, George Gardner and C. G. Jones was ap pointed to appty for a charter. On February 21, the charter having been granted, officers and directors were elected as follows: C. G. Jones, president; L. L. Land, vice president: Frank H. Shelley, secretary, and Seymour Heyman, treas urer, and E. E. Alkire, V. L. Bath, Dr. J. M. Jordan, Oscar Lee, C. H. Keller, C. B. Sites, W. F. Young, J. L. Wilkin. < \ F. Coleord, Samuel Finley and I. M. Putnam. Chamber of Commerce activities during the year were largely of a business nature, except for entertainment re quired by virtue of the political campaigns. It was a year of almost unprecedented growth. The business districts, wholesale and retail, were spreading so rapidly and inquiries from the world coining in such great numbers that the Cham ber found it necessary to devote itself to taking care of what it had and what was in sight instead of reaching out for more. It was disappointed that the Federal census report showed the city to have a population of only 32.452, whereas figures above forty thousand had been expected. Reports of real estate transfers and building permits every month were an index to a development of magnitude beyond most sanguine expectations. Real estate transfers during some months went beyond the million and a half mark. Paving was being ex tended rapidly and at the beginning of the year it was pre dicted that over three million dollars would be expended dur ing the year on paving. No incentive to all this Was more influential than the guarantee of statehood. The Chamber again induced real estate dealers to form an organization. Sixty dealers out of a total of 107 attended the organization meeting that was presided over by A. II. Classen and of which A. W. McKeand acted as secretaiy. A committee consisting of Joseph Hess, Guy Blackwelder, J. II. Johnston, 0. P. Workman and R. V. Moran was appointed THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 289 to draft a constitution and b}'-laws. Chamber officials were sponsor also for the organization of the Hundred and Fifty Thousand Club, the chief object of which was to increase the population of the city to that number by 1914. It was com posed of one or more members from each of the several indus trial and professional organizations. Mr. Classen was its first president and C. J. Pratt, G. E. Gardner, Robert Scott, J. W. Van Elm and J. H. Johnston constituted the executive committee. At the annual meeting of the Eighty-Niners Association in April a committee composed of C. G. Jones, J. L. Brown and Sidney Clarke was appointed by President Walker to solicit funds with which to erect a monument to the memory of Captain Couch. Another committee composed of 0. A. Mitscher, Sidney Clarke and Asa Jones was appointed to assist a committee of a Territorial association that purposed erecting a monument to the memory of Captain Payne. Former Governor T. B. Ferguson attended the annual ban quet and delivered the principal address. Dr. Delos Walker was reelected president. Sidney Clarke was elected vice president and J. A. J. Baugus, secretaiy. A distinguished visitor of the year was James Bryce of Great Britain, formerly ambassador to the United States, who stopped here on his way to the Kiowa and Comanche Indian country where he was to visit Quanah Parker, noted Comanche chief, and Geronimo, the Apache warrior whom General Miles had captured and who was then a prisoner of war on the Fort Sill military reservation. He was accom panied by former Governor D. R. Francis of Missouri and some other men of lesser note. He delivered a brief address in the Overholser Opera House, being introduced by Doctor Bradford of Epworth University. Selection of a site for the Federal Building was made in June, after a lively contest between property owners and real estate dealers interested in several sites proposed. Five lots were acquired at the corner of Robinson Avenue and Third Street. They were owned by John Burt, A. Ketcham and Mrs. E. Epstein, then of Lawton, and were appraised at $30,- 000. Burt, who owned the corner lot, was reported to have named a price of $5,000. but after the site selection was made 290 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY he made a price of $25,000. When Burt definitely declined to negotiate, an appraisal committee was appointed consisting of Whit M. Grant, Newton Avey and F. J. Merrill, and there the matter rested for the time being. A bond issue totaling $250,000 was voted in the September election for water and sewer extension purposes and to liqui date some old city debts. Mayor Scales originally asked authority of the council to call for an issue of $325,000. The Oklahoma City Street Railway Company, which this year increased its capital stock from $1,000,000 to $3,000,000, announced that it was soon to expend $200,000 in erecting a power house, and $180,000 in improving its park at Belle Isle, a small resort that had rapidly grown in popularity, and that it hoped before long to construct an interurban to Brit- ton and Edmond. Ten thousand persons attended the first State Fair, which opened its gates October 5. Luther Jones, the eleven-year-old son of C. G. Jones, president of the fair association, pressed the button that flooded the exposition with lights and by that act the exposition was officially opened. The first ticket, the number of which was 1001, was purchased by E. L. Gore, an Oklahoma City traveling salesman, and President Jones kept it as a souvenir of the occasion. Some formal ceremonies were indulged in. Graves Leeper presided over the little gathering of men and women at the gate and speeches were made by President Jones and C. N. Haskell, the governor- elect. This was an era of experiments in government and what was popularly known as the commission-form of city gov ernment was gaining favor over the country. The progressive Chamber of Commerce therefore decided that the aldermanic- form had outlived its usefulness here and proposed to con struct a city charter that would provide the commission-form. President H. Y. Thompson appointed a committee headed by O. D. Halsell to inquire into the feasibility of making a charter. Mr. Halsell appointed a sub-committee consisting of J. II. Johnston, Judge J. R. Keaton, C. G. Jones and S. J. Murphy, and on November 13^ this committee reported that it found much to commend- in the proposed reform. Soon thereafter President Thompson named a committee of fifty ST. LUKE'S M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 293 to inaugurate a campaign for a charter election. When the matter was first discussed by the city council in session, City Attorney T. G. Chambers told the council it was his opinion that a charter could not be adopted unless provision was made for such a government by an act of the Legislature. The Chamber of Commerce Committee of Fifty thereupon was instructed to draft a bill to be presented to the Legislature, but the committee was not convinced by the logic of Attorney Chambers and it proceeded also to the circulation of a pe tition asking the mayor to call an election to choose a board of freeholders to write a charter. There the matter ended as a part of the chain of events of this yeav. Simultaneously with the adoption of the constitution and the election of state officers, the voters of Oklahoma adopted as a separate proposition a prohibition article, and at the advent of statehood saloons were closed. Closing was a make shift, however, on the part of some saloon keepers of Okla homa City. Some keepers who consulted Sheriff George W. Garrison were advised that he meant to enforce the law. A meeting attended by some four thousand persons was held on November 25 in celebration of the prohibition victory, and Governor Haskell, who had been a champion of prohibition in the constitutional convention, made a speech. Some saloon keepers contested the act in the court of District Judge George W. Clark, who was the first man under statehood to fill that office in Oklahoma County. They con tended that the article was not legal because it was not in corporated in the constitution, because the convention was without authority to pass upon the subject, because the ar ticle was not filed with the territorial secretaiy, and because it was in contravention of the Enabling Act. Judge Clark promptly denied them an injunction. Later, Yeatman Smith, a saloon keeper, under arrest charged with selling intoxicat ing liquors, was denied a writ of habeas corpus by District Judge J. E. Lowe of El Reno, who upheld the prohibition act. Capitol Hill, a village adjoining the city on the south that had acquired a population of nearly two thousand and devel oped into a business community of considerable consequence, broke into the limelight during the latter part of the year when the board of trustees passed a resolution declaring H. 294 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY C. Schilling, president of the board, president no longer, and proceeded to fill the vacancy with M. F. Rowlett. Schilling protested and declared the act of the board illegal. Dr. W. R. Clement, town clerk, who was an influential leader in the village, gave it as his opinion that Mr. Schilling had been stripped of authority. Schilling applied to the court for relief, the board ordered his official telephone discontinued, and thereupon the controversy's confusion was lost in the din of ringing bells and tooting whistles that signalled the end of a year. The arrival of the first flow of natural gas into the city was duly celebrated on December 7. Newspapers reported that 5,000 persons joined in a demonstration held at Tenth Street and Central Avenue that began when W. L. Tull, chairman of the advertising committee of the Hundred and Fifty Thousand Club, punctured the gas main. The roar of escaping gas was as welcome as had been the pop of a military gun on that memorable April day in '89, and the acclaiming chorus of the congregated populace simulated the howls and cheers of another day. The main was punctured with a touch of formality. Present were Dennis T. Flynn, president of the Oklahoma Natural Gas Company ; V. Hastings, manager of the company; F. A. Tidman, manager of the Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company, and A. W. McKeand, secretaiy of the Chamber of Commerce. G. B. Stone was elected president of the Chamber of Commerce for the ensuing year and he and W. S. Guthrie, B. C. Housel, M. M. Moberly, F. A. Gross, W. M. Westfall, S. L. Brock, J. H. Johnston, J. D. Thomas, O. P. Workman, Homer Eiler, II. J. Miller, Weston Atwood, H. Y. Thompson, J. M. Owen, A. H. Classen and J. H. Everest constituted the new board of directors. During this year Edward Dyche succeeded L. W. Baxter as territorial auditor; J. B. Thoburn took charge of an ex hibit sent by Oklahoma to the Jamestown Exposition; a law school of Epworth University was established with C. B. Ames as dean and Harry G. Snyder, secretary of the faculty ; on September 2 the corner stone of St. Luke's M. E. Church, South, was laid; on October 5 the Chamber of Commerce announced that 866 buildings had been erected in the citv THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 295 within twelve months; C. G. Jones, who had been elected to a seat in the lower house of the first state Legislature, an nounced that he had prepared a bill providing for the invest ment in good securities of the $5,000,000 Congress had appro priated for the state in the Enabling Act; Mayor Henry Scales at Muskogee was elected president of the Oklahoma Municipal League and George Hess of Oklahoma City was made a member of the committee on resolutions; Edward Overholser resigned as county commissioner and Governor Haskell filled the vacancy with George Carrico ; W. C. Reeves and Mont F. Highley of Oklahoma City and George Henshaw of Madill and E. G. Spillman of Kingfisher, both of whom later were residents of the city, were appointed assistants to Attorney General Charles West; E. L. Fulton, first con gressman from the district, announced he would ask Congress to appropriate $1,000,000 for a Federal site and building ; on December 30 the New State Brewing Association, amidst ex citing and unusual scenes and much hilarity, emptied into the sewers 7,500 gallons of beer said to have been valued at twenty-seven thousand dollars. president Roosevelt's proclamation "By the President of the United States of America — A Proc lamation : "Whereas, the Congress of the United States did by an act approved on the 16th day of June, one thousand nine hundred and six, provide that the inhabitants of the territory of Oklahoma and of the Indian Territoiy might, under and upon the conditions prescribed in said act, adopt a constitu tion and become the state of Oklahoma, and "Whereas, by the said act provision was duly made for the election of a constitutional convention to form a consti tution and state government for the said proposed state ; and "Whereas, it appears from the information laid before me that such convention was duly elected and such constitution and state government were thereby duty formed, and "Whereas, by the said act the said convention was further authorized and empowered to provide by ordinance for sub- 296 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY mitting the said constitution to the people of the said state for ratification or rejection, and likewise for the ratification or rejection of any provisions thereof to be by the said con vention separately submitted, and "Whereas, it has been certified to me, as required by the said act, by the governor of the territory of Oklahoma and by the judge senior in service of the United States court of appeals in the Indian Territory that a majority of the legal votes cast at an election duly provided for by ordnance, as required by said act, have been cast for the adoption of said constitution, and "Whereas, a copy of the said constitution has been cer tified to me, as required by said act, together with the articles, propositions and ordinances pertaining thereto, including a separate proposition for state-wide prohibition which has been certified to me as having been adopted by a majority of the electors at the election aforesaid, and "Whereas, it appears from the information laid before me that the convention aforesaid after its organization and before the formation of the said constitution duly declared on behalf of the people of the said proposed state that they adopted the constitution of the United States, and "Whereas, it appears that the said constitution and gov ernment of the proposed state of Oklahoma are republican in form and that the said constitution makes no distinction in civil or political rights on account of race or color, and is not repugnant to the constitution of the United States or to the principles of the declaration of independence, and that it contains all of the six provisions expressly required by section 3 of the said act to be therein contained ; and "Whereas, it further appears from the information laid before me that the convention above mentioned did by ordi nance irrevocable accept the terms and conditions of the said act, as reouired by section 22 thereof, and that all the provisions of the said act approved on the 16th day of June, one thousand nine hundred and six, have been duly complied with. "Now. therefore, I, Theodore Roosevelt, president of the United States of America, do, in accordance with the pro visions of the said act of Congress of June 16, 1906, declare FEDERAL BUILDING VIEW AT STATE FAIR PARK THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 299 and announce that the result of the said election, wherein the constitution formed as aforesaid was submitted to 'the people of the proposed state of Oklahoma for ratification or rejection, was that the said constitution was ratified together with a provision for state-wide prohibition, separately sub mitted at the said election; and the state of Oklahoma is to be deemed admitted by Congress into the Union under and by virtue of the said act on an equal footing with the original states. "In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this 16th day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and seven, and of the independence of the United States of America the one hundred and thirty-second. "Theodore Roosevelt. "By the president: Elihu Root, secretaiy of state." A feature of the ceremonies incident to the inauguration of the first state officials at Guthrie was the marriage of Mr. Oklahoma to Miss Indian Territory. C. G. Jones of Oklahoma City was selected to impersonate the bridegroom. The proceedings were related in a story in a Guthrie news paper : "The 'bridegroom,' not one whit abashed, took his place in the center of the platform and began his abbreviated wooing with a knowing- nod in the direction of the spectators. " 'I have been asked,' he said, 'to perform the agreeable duty of proposing the marriage of Oklahoma to the Indian Territoiy. Permit me to say that nothing gives me greater pleasure, as the President advises us in his proclamation that the marriage will be strictly legal, without regard to age, condition or previous servitude. The bridegroom is only eighteen years old, but is capable of assuming all the mat rimonial responsibilities of a stalwart youth. Though he was born in trouble, in tribulation, in the city of Washington in 1889, his life of eighteen years on. the plains has been one of tremendous activity, and he has grown to the size of a giant. Like every well-regulated masculine individual he has grown tired of being alone, though he was fairly capable 300 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY of taking care of himself. Strange to say, on account of his youth and inexperience, he is possessed of an unconquerable modesty and he has asked me to propose marriage with the Indian Territoiy. ' ' ' Out of sympathy for the y< >ung bachelor, I now propose to the Indian Territoiy, who I am assured is matrimonially inclined, that the proposal be accepted, and that the union be consummated here and now. It should be understood, how ever, that nothing should be said about the age of the bride. It is a case when youth and age are to be blended together in harmonious union, and that under the constitution and laws a divorce can never be granted. This is not exactly a case of love at first sight. A lady by the name of Sequoyah at one time interfered with the courtship and at first tried to break up the match. But having failed to do so, and tired of the loneliness of single blessedness, she gracefully surrendered to the inevitable and has ever since been in favor of the marriage. ' ' ' By authority vested in me by the high contracting par ties, and in obedience to their request, I now call upon Rev. W. H. Dodson, of the First Baptist Church of Guthrie, to perform the marriage ceremony.' ' ' The response for the blushing bride was made by W. A. Durant, of Durant, Indian Territoiy, a fullblood Indian. His formal acceptance was as follows : " 'To you, Mr. Jones, as the representative of Mr. Okla homa, I present the hand and the fortune of Miss Indian Ter ritory, convinced by his eighteen years of persistent wooing that his love is genuine, his suit sincere and his purposes most honorable. With pride and pleasure I present to him Miss Indian Territory, who was reared as a politician orphan, tu tored by federal office holders and controlled by an indifferent guardian residing a thousand miles from her habitation. " 'Despite the unhappy circumstances of her youth, which have cast a shade of sorrow over a face by nature intended to give back only the warm smiles of God's pure sunshine, this beauteous maiden comes to him as the last descendant of the proudest race that ever trod foot on American soil; a race whose sons have never bowed their necks to the heel of the oppressor; the original occupants of the American continent. THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 301 " 'Although an orphan, Miss Indian Territoiy brings to her spouse a dower that, in fertile fields, productive mines and sterling and upright citizenship, equals the fortune of her wooer. To Oklahoma, into whose identity Indian Territoiy is about to be merged forever, must be entrusted the care of this princely estate. We resign it to you freely in the con fident hope that it will be cared for, developed and conserved to the unending glory of our new state and the untold benefit of her people. " 'Oklahoma, 3rour wooing has been long and persistent. For eighteen weary years you have sought the hand of our fair maiden in wedlock. If the object of your suit has at times seemed indifferent, believe it to have been but evidence of a maiden's proper modesty and not a shrinking from the union. " ' In winning the hand, you take with it the heart. Your bride comes to you without coercion or persuasion, as the loving maiden confidently places her hand in that of her hus band of her choice. The love she bears for you, as the love you feel for her, arises from kindred interests, mutual aspi rations and an unbounded admiration, one for the other. ' "Until she stepped to the front to accept the hand of her fiancee the identity of the bride was known to but few. She was Mrs. Leo Bennett, of Muskogee, a bewilderingly handsome matron, whose Creek lineage is evidenced in a dark complex ion, heightened by the bloom of perfect health. "As she came slowly forward to the front of the platform the crowd gallantly shouted an acknowledgment. With a huge chrysanthemum the young woman shaded her eyes as she looked out over the crowd. She smiled and bowed again and again as the applause continued. "Then the Rev. Mr. Dodson offered a fervent prayer on the union and the formal marriage of the 'twin territories ' was consummated." 1908— NEW JERUSALEM APPROVED As has been intimated heretofore, many people of the state believed that the matter of the location of a permanent state capital was a prerogative of the people rather than a prerogative of Congress, yet there was no disposition on the part of a majority to override that provision of the Enabling Act that fixed the capital at Guthrie for a term of years. But in the interim the matter was always a live subject of discussion. On February 11, I. M. Putnam, representative from Oklahoma County, introduced a resolution in the Leg islature providing that the capital should be moved to Okla homa City. Soon thereafter, Senator Campbell Russell of Warner introduced a resolution asking for appointment of a committee to inquire into the feasibility of locating the cap ital as near as possible to the geographical center of the state. His idea contemplated the establishment of a capital on a virgin spot where other state buildings would be assembled. On February 28 the Chamber of Commerce gave a banquet in honor of the Legislature, which came down from Guthrie in a body, and made it clear to the members that in due time the city would openly demand capital honors. Senator Russell's idea became popular in Guthrie and met the approval of many residents of Oklahoma City, although President Stone of the Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Scales warned the people against it. It met the open and pronounced approval of Governor Haskell who, no doubt, at the time had in mind a project whereby the Russell idea could be complied with and Oklahoma City's desires met by the same act. The New Jerusalem idea was disposed of in the Legislature as a proposition to be voted upon in the autumn election. In that election it received a comfortable majority of the votes cast but there was a doubt of its having received the constitutional majority. Subsequently in major acts touching the subject this vote was kept in mind and in terpreted as the voice of the people and the last word with reference to location. 303 304 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY The desires of the Chamber of Commerce formulated and expressed during the previous year that the city should have a new charter were realized this year to the extent of a char ter being written by a board of freeholders, of which Warren K. Snyder was president. Mayor Scales was outspokenly opposed to the charter and refused to call an election to submit it to the people. Charter advocates took the matter to court and on July 23 the Supreme Court held that there Was no constitutional inhibition to a charter of this nature supplanting the aldermanic form of government, but it did not grant the request of the charter advocates for a manda mus directed at the mayor. The latter, therefore, announced that he would in his own good time issue an election call. The date fixed eventually was August 29 and after the call was made charter advocates and opponents pitched into a lively campaign, the result of which was that the charter was defeated by a little over two hundred votes. Opponents said it would have given the city a monarchical form of govern ment. Public utility owners declared it was a step backward. The leading advocate of the charter on the stump was John H. Wright, one of its authors. John Shartel said it was a freak. Henry Overholser and G. B. Stone were outspoken against it. Ladies of the Grant Relief Corps of the Grand Army of the Republic on June 13 formally presented to the county a new flag containing forty-six stars. This was the first flag bearing an official endorsement or received by public officials that had added the star that represented the new state of Oklahoma. A presentation speech was made by Mrs. Mary J. Woods and an acceptance speech for the county by County Attorney E. E. Reardon. Other features of the program were an invocation by Dr. H. E. Colby, pastor of the Reformed Church, a reading by Mrs. Laura Corder, the singing of the Star Spangled Banner by Mrs. Abbie Hunter and the singing of America by the audience of about two hundred that was assembled on the courthouse plaza. The participants iu chief were attended by a fife and drum corps of veterans of the Civil war. Negotiations were started toward the end of the year for securing the establishment here of two large packing plants. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH FORMER OCCUPANTS OF THE COLCORD BUILDING SITE Vol. 1-2U THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 307 Secretary McKeand of the Chamber of Commerce, having heard that representatives of Schwarzschild & Sulzberger of Chicago contemplated a visit to Fort Worth with a view of establishing a packery, wired them an invitation to stop in Oklahoma City. The invitation was accepted and they ar rived here in the latter part of November. They were enter tained by members of the Chamber and these men proposed that the city would raise as a bonus $200,000 in cash if the company would establish a plant in Oklahoma City. The visitors indicated that the proposition would be acceptable. "We have got to trade Johnny on the spot!" shouted G. B. Stone. No set of business men ever thought faster and more seriously nor acted more quickly than these. It was a momen tous hour in the city's history. A committee was appointed to raise the bonus. It consisted of A. H. Classen, O. D. Hal sell, C. F. Coleord, E. K. Gaylord, William Mee, Samuel Levy, Frank P. Johnson, J. E. O'Neil, R. N. Myers and W. T. Corder. Active McKeand permitted no idle moments to pass. He kept business moving, typewriters clicking and telegraph wires singing, and he announced before the initial apprecia tion of the first coup had been dulled by the labor of raising funds that Nelson Morris & Company, another large Chicago packing firm, was looking with favor upon Oklahoma City. By ordinance of the council, twenty-two additions to the city, having a total population of about 3,000, were included within the city limits. These were McKinley Heights, Put nam Heights, University Heights, Las Vegas Heights, Uni versity View, Aurora Heights, Military Park, part of Wei- nan's Addition, part of University Park Addition, part of Young and Englewood Additions, Jefferson Park, Grand View, Pleasant View, part of the Margaret McKinley Subdi vision, the Culbertson Second Addition, Bath Highland, Bath Orchard, East View, Edgmont, Guernsey Park, Fairlawn Cemetery and McKinley Place. A banquet at the Grand Avenue Hotel, exercises at Wheeler Park, a parade and a program of speeches consti tuted the program of the Eighty-niners Association on April 22. One hundred members of the association were in line of march and 125 attended the banquet. Addresses at the park were made by Mayor Scales and Dr. J. H. O. Smith, pastor 308 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY of the First Christian Church. At the business session 0. A. Mitscher was elected president. In the parade, D. C. Pryor rode a horse that belonged at that time to H. H. Schultz and was reputed to be the first horse that crossed the line in the run of '89. Later the horse was in the service of George Thornton, the city's first marshal. The meeting was attended by Mrs. Preston Sutton, whose maiden name was McKeane, who was said to have been the only woman in a section of the assembled hosts at the border to make the run on horseback and locate and hold a homestead. She became a teacher after the founding of the city and taught in a little building on Reno Avenue. During the festivities of the cele bration C. H. Mead, a member of the association, who had for some time been ill, died, at the age of fifty -five. He was a cigar manufacturer. These were such busy commercial clays that the city's builders forgot in a measure to look after things touching- civic beauty. It was of consequence, therefore, that during the year a civic club was organized by an enthusiastic set of for ward-looking and intelligent men and women. They called it the Oklahoma City Civic Improvement Association and its chief purpose was beautification through the planting of trees, shrubbery, and flowers and creation and extension of public parks. C. A. McNabb, who had been secretary of the Terri torial Board of Agriculture, yTas elected president, Will H. .Clark, who probably was the most accomplished landscape artist in the city at that time, vice president, R. A. Klein- schmidt, a lawyer and member of the city council, secretary, and O. A. Mitscher, treasurer. These men and T. F. Me- Mechan, Mrs. J. B. Taylor, wife of the city superintendent of schools, and A. H. Classen constituted the executive com mittee. Sheriff George W. Garrison, while seeking to arrest Alf Hunter, a negro accused of murder in Oklahoma County, was shot and mortally Avounded by the negro in Blaine County on June 5. The tragedy produced a profound sensation in the city and the state, for Sheriff Garrison was one of the best known law enforcers of the Southwest. Posses of officers from several counties of the western part of the state joined in search for the negro. He eluded them, however, but some THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 309 weeks later was apprehended in the eastern part of the state and duly tried and executed. On June 10th the county com missioners appointed Harvey Garrison, son of the deceased officer, to the office of sheriff. Since only a corporation commissioner and two members of the Supreme Court were to be elected this year, politics was not as animated as in the previous year, although it was a presidential period. W. L. Alexander had the honor of participating as a delegate in the first national convention in which the new state had first and full representation. Mr. Bryan, the democratic nominee for president, carried the state by about 15,000 majority, and Richard Morgan of Wood ward defeated Congressman E. L. Fulton for reelection in the second district. Champ Clark stumped sections of the state for democrats and Uncle Joe Cannon sections for re publicans. United States Senator Beveridge spoke in behalf of Mr. Taft, the republican nominee, in Oklahoma City and the eastern part of the state. Governor Haskell was com pelled to resign as treasurer of the Democratic National Cam paign Committee because of charges made against him b}^ W. R. Hearst and his speech in Oklahoma City after the resigna tion was characteristic of the man when aroused by political and personal animosity. It was an event. In the election of November 3 the city voted bonds in the sum of $325,000, of which $300,000 was to be used in construc tion of a high school. Other events of the year included the resignation of T. G. Chambers as city attorne}^ and the appointment of W. R. Taylor as his successor; the purchase by W. B. Skirvin of a lot at First and Broadway as a site for the Skirvin Hotel, from G. W. Turley, for $40,000, the lot having cost Turley in 1889 onty $12 ; the approval by Congress of a bill appropriating $200,000 for a Federal building; the formal opening in June of the Lakeside Country Club, of which J. M. Bass was presi dent, Joseph Huckins, Jr., vice president, E. T. Hathaway, secretary, and G. K. Williams, treasurer; the retirement of Dr. David R. Boyd as president of the University of Okla homa, the election of Dr. A. Grant Evans of Tulsa as his successor and the appointment of Lee Cruce, W. R. Rowsey, Judge Clifton J. Pratt, Dr. N. L. Linebaugh, Dr. J. Matt 310 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Gordon and J. P. Hickam as a board of regents ; the award ing of paving contracts involving the expenditure of $800,000, which would increase the number of paved miles to fifty-eight ; the destruction by fire of the Lee Hotel on August 15, the loss being $125,000, and the breaking of dirt on December 12 for the present ten-story Huckins Hotel; the announcement of the Oklahoma State Fair Association of an increase of capital stock from $100,000 to $200,000, of its intention to ask the state for an appropriation of $100,000 to be used in building construction, and of the fact that nearly 65,000 paid admis sions to the second fair had been received and that the asso ciation had netted $14,000 out of the exposition; and' reports that bank clearings for the year, totaling nearly $50,000,000, had exceeded those of the previous year by over $20,000,000. and that building permits had totaled $2,700,000 which was more than double the total of the previous year. Of the career of George B. Stone a writer of this period says: "George B. Stone, to refer briefly to the principal event in his own career, was born at Mattoon, 111., February 23, 1865. His parents were both born in Belmont County, Ohio. In 1849 his father went around the Horn to California, and in that state followed the trade of millwright as well as miner, and was one of the few who returned with some considerable addi tion to their material prosperity. Subsequently he was a contractor and builder in Illinois, Iowa and Kansas, also en gaged in the live stock business, and during 1875-76 was at Cheyenne, Wyo., engaged in selling horses and mules to the Government for use in the Black Hills country. On account of ill health he removed to Old Mexico, and in the winter of 1878 established his home in West Texas. "It was at this time that the active career of George B. Stone began. From 1878 until 1882 he rode the range, a veri table cowboy, and was in the employ of one of the large cattle outfits operating over the West Texas country. He was not only fearless and industrious, as most cowboys of the time were, but was also reliable in a business way, and conse quently in 1882 his employers put him in charge1 of their ranch outfit, barns and transportation facilities at Colorado City, Texas. From there he removed in 1884 to Fort Worth, Texas, THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 311 and started to feed cattle for the market. He suffered from a disastrous fire and in 1885 removed to El Paso, and for a- time was a salesman for the firm of L. B. Frudenthal & Com pany, wholesale dry goods and groceries. In 1887 Mr. Stone removed to Wolf City, Texas, and there first became actively identified with the real estate business. He constructed the first brick building in Wolf City, rented the lower floor for a bank, retaining his own office in the same building. In 1889 he removed his business headquarters to New Birming ham, Texas, and there had charge of the real estate depart ment for the New Birmingham Iron & Land Company. In the spring of 1890 Mr. Stone identified himself with Wichita Falls, Texas. He was in that city during its greatest period of development, when it became a railroad and business center, was in the real estate business and made himself in many ways an active factor in the upbuilding of the city. In 1897 Mr. Stone served as delegate from Texas to the Trans-Mis sissippi Congress at Salt Lake City. There he was instru mental in having the congress advocate a new measure in which he saw great prospective benefit and which provided that the state of Texas should so amend its constitution as to permit bonds to be issued against land in arid sections for irrigation purposes. "Before coming to Oklahoma Mr. Stone had actively as sisted in the expansion of its original territory for settlement. In February, 1899, he went to Washington, D. O, to advocate the opening of the Kiowa and Comanche country on the theory that it was a natural stock raising district and that by the use of silos could be made one of the most useful regions for the production of live stock in the United States. It was in 1900 that Mr. Stone removed to Oklahoma City, where he has since been engaged in the real estate and insurance business. "Since its organization in 1907 he has been a director of the Oklahoma State Fair Association and has been vice presi dent since 1913. He is a director of the American National Bank of Oklahoma City; a member of the Oklahoma City Men's Dinner Club, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church. ' ' 1909— COMING OF THE PACKERS A more dramatic hour never was experienced in the city's history than one of a May day in 1909 when representative business men in a mass meeting, perceiving an industrial op portunity the importance of which seldom comes to a com munity and never to but few communities, signed pledges for nearly $500,000 to secure a packing plant costing in the neigh borhood of $3,000,000. Secretaiy McKeand 's 2-cent stamp and a little message of invitation were getting results. A representative of Nelson Morris & Company, a Chicago packing firm, being impressed with the advantageous location of the city and its railroad facilities, told these business men that his company would erect a packery here if it was given a cash bonus of $300,000 and some minor concessions. A handful of boosters listened intently. Almost with one accord they said, "We'll do it." A mass meeting was the initial consequence. When the opportunity was offered for sub scriptions, Anton H. Classen, the town booster from away back, asked to be registered as giving $10,000. Oscar G. Lee, the hotel builder, said he'd take $10,000. So did C. F. Col eord and C. G. Jones. A little man with a modulated voice, as animated and as eager as the rest, said, ' ' Gentlemen, I am not a rich man, but I know what this means to all of us and I want to make my subscription $25,000!" It was Sidney L. Brock, the department store owner and president of the Chamber of Commerce. "Three cheers for Brock!" some one shouted, and he got it, unanimously, whole-heartedly. The tension tightened as animation increased, the tension of grit, of perseverance, ,of heroic determination. A stock exchange with a disturbed market had been transplanted here. A ledge of gold of fabulous possibilities had been touched by a pros pector's pick. An oil gusher drilled into a pool of potential millions had been uncapped and allowed to flow. Like a gambler who stakes his all on the last draw, Anton 313 314 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Classen, brimful and radiant of enthusiasm, shouted: "Raise my subscription to $40,000 ! ' ' Adventurers followed suit and in very little more time than is required to tell the story the chief backers of prosperity subscribed over $400,000. Then it was announced that Mr. Brock and G. B. Stone had secured an option on 575 acres of land for a consideration of $180,000 and that they had put up $25,000 to bind the deal. Where upon a temporary organization of an industrial district com pany was perfected with a view of selling lots out of the proceeds of which to raise the bonus of $300,000 as a reim bursement of their own outlay. The temporary directors were A. H. Classen, Oscar G. Lee, Sidney L. Brock, C. B. Ames, G. B. Stone, Seymour Heyman, J. F. Harbour, C. F. Coleord, C. H. Ruth, O. P. Workman and J. M. Owen. The temper of this gathering spread quickly throughout the city. It radiated in every business house, office and shop. Within twenty-four hours the gas and electric company an nounced that it would double the capacity of its plant by an expenditure of over $600,000. The telephone company an nounced that its capacity would be increased with an outlay of hundreds of thousands of dollars. John Shartel reported that Henry M. Daugherty of Ohio was due to arrive in the city to go over plans with the officials of the street railway company for constructing interurban lines. These were real oracles of prosperity and what the oracles prophesied came true. Mr. Daugherty arrived in due time and in due time inter urban construction began. In view of the fact that eleven years later this Ohio lawyer-financier became attorney gen eral in the cabinet of President W. H. Harding, it is not unpardonable — on the contrary, it is pertinent — to quote a brief expression he made: "Personally, I think this is the greatest town in the United States. I haven't the slightest doubt about its growth and its stability. It is a city of en terprising men who exercise business judgment." When, a few days later, an industrial company was formed, Mr. Brock was elected president, Mr. Stone, vice president, Mr. McKeand, secretaiy, and Mr. Jones, W. T. Hales, Ed ward II. Cooke (who had telegraphed his subscription from Enid on mass meeting clay), Mr. Classen, Mr. Lee, Mr. Ames, ENTRANCE TO THE OKLAHOMA NATIONAL STOCKYARDS PENS AT THE OKLAHOMA NATIONAL STOCKYARDS THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 317 Mr. Coleord and Mr. Heyman, directors. On the 14th of the following June a representative of the Schwarzschild & Sulz berger Packing Company of Chicago came to town, and with him negotiations were started that resulted some time later in his company concluding to match the Morris enterprise in what was soon to become Packingtown. Activities relative to packeries during the next few months touched the platting of lots, securing rights of way for railroad trackage and loops, and the actual construction of the Morris plant. This was a year of unparalleled commercial and industrial progress on the one hand and of official scandal, lax law en forcement, grand jury investigations and petit jury trials and removals from office on the other hand. It was a con glomerate year, but one in which individual and public progress outstripped sordidness, misanthropy and corruption and in which public decency and civic ideals ascended to a measure of triumph. It opened with the boost spirit and atmospheric element. Jobbers said that in twelve months their business had increased from $18,500,000 to $20,000,000. Bank deposits increased over $2,000,000 in less than two months. Prosperity seemed to be growing on the trees, pop ping out of the bushes and forming like dew upon the grass. And while this spirit was prevalent the board of park com missioners, W. F. Vahlberg, William H. Clark and Kay W. Dawson, took advantage of it and proposed a bond issue of $400,000 for park purchases and improvements, and their will prevailed in the April election. Out of the proceeds they se cured the site for, laid out and graded and bridged a twenty- seven mile speedway completely encircling the city, known soon as Grand Boulevard, and purchased and began improve ments on a tract of about seven hundred acres which the resi dents knew for some years as Northeast Lake but which was appropriately and patriotically christened Lincoln Park. It was an enterprise of magnificent possibilities and more scien tific improvement of it was under way in 1921. But always prosperity and a spiritualized civic sense could not continue uninterruptedly and, for the lack of funds, the lack of per ception of a necessity, and because of public and financial vicissitudes of the future, including war, the boulevard in the rough was in large measure neglected. Its possibilities 318 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY remain, and some of this generation may witness realization of the hopes of its promoters, that it be famed as the ideal motor race course of the country. On March 25 the Oklahoma City Civic Improvement Asso ciation held its annual meeting. The attendance of twenty- five members was recorded, which was a record in numbers for those days of engrossing business thought. The associa tion resolved to buy 3,000 packets of seeds to be given to the Federation of Women's Clubs for distribution, and it dis cussed practical ways of park extension and beautification. C. A. McNabb was elected president, Curtis Bronson, J. H. Bell, A. B. Snell, the Rev. Thomas Harper, John H. Myers and J. A. Braniff, vice presidents, and Mrs. J. B. Taylor, sec retary. The getting accustomed to prohibition was entered upon half-heartedly by anti-prohibitionists and local-optionists. The thought was repugnant to radicals among those elements whose influence openly flouted law enforcement. Radicals interpreted the belief of these elements as public sentiment and bootleggers elevated it above the statutes. Bootlegging became open and notorious, so much so that suspicion attached to both county and city officials. It reached such notorious stages that Governor Haskell, after an investigation, con cluded that officials of the Federal Government were conspir ing to defeat the will of the majority in the new state. In a lengthy communication to President Taft he prayed that the Government make a probe. Distrust and dissatisfaction per meated the city administration and an extended and acrimo nious controversy between Mayor Scales and Chief of Police Hubatka eventually terminated in the mayor discharging the chief. Hubatka, however, declined to remove his star and the battle waged again with more vigor than before. The discordant atmosphere of the city hall at length caused Dis trict Judge George W. Clark to summon a grand jury. Suspicion also attached to the county courthouse, where bootleggers were said to have exercised an influence pro ductive of laxity. It should be noted that law and order leagues and other associations of law-abiding residents had been formed during the reign of lawlessness and that their influence was gradually enlightening the law-breakers. These THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 319 organizations quietly went to the governor and their visit in spired the governor to instruct Attorney General Charles West to institute an inquiry. County Attorney E. E. Reardon offered assistance of his office to the attorney general but concluded to withdraw it after Mayor Scales had protested that the state officials should have a free hand. West con vened a grand jury and it returned indictments against the chief of police and some other officials. The attorney general then said he purposed continuing sessions of the inquisitorial body to investigate the cause of the failure of the Columbia Bank & Trust Company of Oklahoma City. This was the first state bank failure after the adoption of the bank-guaranty law. Believing that the law was under fire of its enemies and that the financial situation was somewhat acute, Governor Haskell asked Mr. West to forego an investigation. Enforcement advocates, however, were not satisfied with results and they petitioned the assembling of another grand jury. This was done on approval of state officials and Gov ernor Haskell assigned John M. Hays, counsellor for the state enforcement department, to direct the ' probe. This roused the wrath of Mayor Scales and some rather intemperate com munications were exchanged by the two executives. In the meantime District Judge Stilwell H. Russell of Arclmore, who had been assigned to the local bench for special cases, quashed indictments against Hubatka and other officials. The first grand jury had recommended the suspension of Sheriff Har vey Garrison on the charge of bribery, and Judge Clarke, who issued the suspension order, appointed Samuel Calhoun sheriff for the term of the suspension. Calhoun resigned after a few weeks and was succeeded by U. S. Grant, a hotel keeper. Grant held the office but a short time and was succeeded by M. C. Binion, who served until May 13, 1910, when Judge Russell vacated the suspension order and restored Garrison to the office, the latter having offered convincing proof that his indictment was brought about by perjured testimony. During the year an organization known as the Sons of Washington was formed in the state. While it advocated strict law enforcement, it opposed the principle of prohibition. Its influence became an important factor in political affairs, bringing about an initiated measure providing for repeal of 320 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY the prohibition law and the announcement the next year of a candidate for governor who advocated local option. The meas ure was defeated in the November election of next year by a majority of over twenty thousand and the candidate suffered defeat in the primary of the August preceding. Mayor Scales was reelected in the April election, defeat ing George Dodson, the republican nominee, and John Hu batka was reelected chief of police. James S. Twyford, re publican nominee for city attorney, and Robert Parman, republican nominee for city clerk, were elected, as were J. T. Highley, democratic nominee for police judge, and E. C. True- blood, democratic nominee for city treasurer. In an autumn election bonds aggregating $185,000 for sewer extensions wei e voted and other propositions relating to a city hall site and the construction of a city hall were defeated. Senator Campbell Russell's resolution providing for the appointment of a joint commission of fourteen members of the Senate and House to prepare a bill touching the subject of the capital location was adopted by the Senate January 11. In substance the measure contemplated carrying out the New Jerusalem plan which had been approved in the election of 1908. The Oklahoma City capital organization had been kept intact and it employed Prof. Henry Meier of the State Uni versity to determine what was the exact geographical center of the state. On January 22, Professor Meier reported that he had found the center to be two and a quarter miles east and one and a quarter miles north of the town of Britton, and in the southwest quarter of section 23-12n-3e. In February Senator Russell himself prepared the sort of a bill he would have had prepared by a commission. It provided for the appointment of a commission of five to make selections and secure options on not less than sixteen nor more than thirty-six sections of land not more than fifty miles from the center of the state to be used for capital pur poses. It provided for the issuance of bonds for building purposes that were to be retired out of the proceeds of land sales, and that the commission should make its report by July 1, 1909, and the governor was directed to call an election for a date not later than August 1, 1909. This bill was passed by the Senate on March 2. THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 321 The local capital organization proceeded to the preparation of a bill of its own. H. A. Johnson was chairman of the drafting committee. The measure was completed by May 1 and petitions asking for an election were put in circulation. It contained some of the features of the Russell bill but it provided that the capital lands should be within five miles of an established town and for the securing of options on not to exceed 2,000 acres of land, out of the sale of part of which funds were to be derived to reimburse the state for an initial capitol-building appropriation. It proposed to amend the constitution to remove the inhibition created by the Enabling Act against removal of the capital before 1913, and provided for the creation of a capital commission of three members Petitions were filed with the secretary of state on July 28. A Guthrie capital organization sought to restrain the secretary of state from calling an election under the initiative law, and on August 14, W. A. Ledbetter, representing the local or ganization, applied to the Supreme Court for an order pro hibiting District Judge A. H. Huston of Guthrie from interfering with the secretary of state. Leo Meyer, acting secretary of state, asked that a hearing be held as to the legality and sufficiency of the petition. And while these events were transpiring, I. M. Putnam, an Oklahoma City real estate dealer, who as a member of the first state Legislature, had introduced a capital-removal meas ure, believing that eventually the capital would be located on a virgin spot near an established town, began acquiring lands northwest of Oklahoma City. Putnam's was one of the most dramatic speculations in the history of the Southwest. On September 11, he paid or contracted to pay Henry Schaffer of El Reno and J. W. Maney of Oklahoma City $266,000 for 1,028 acres of land between the Putnam Heights Addition and a site some miles to the west for a suburban town he had tentatively named Oklacadian, on a proposed interurban ex tension. Previously Putnam had bought 800 acres in that vicinity for $251,000. The name of the projected "model city" later was changed to Putnam City. The tracts were platted, streets marked and named, trees planted, buildings erected and other improvements made, and Mr. Putnam had the pleasure on November 6 of welcoming there the first inter- Vol. 1—21 322 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY urban car run by the Oklahoma Railway Company over a line that was building to El Reno. Profiting by the defeat of a proposed city charter in the previous year, representative men, still desirous of municipal reforms, this year initiated another movement toward con struction and adoption of a charter. The movement had its inception in a Good Government League of which, early in the year, Dr. A. K. West was president. Doctor West retired, however, before the campaign started and was succeeded by J. M. Bass and he a few weeks later by R. A. Kleinsclimiclt. President W. T. Corder of the city council, in the absence of Mayor Scales, on November 7, issued a call for an election to be held December 6 for the selection of a board of freeholders to draft a charter. The freeholders elected were George K. Williams, Dr. C. B. Bradford, J. H. Everest, Henry G. Sny der, Thomas H. Harper, John W. Stevens, J. C. Johnson, J. M. McCornack, Loyal J. Miller and Samuel Murphy. The Eighty-niners Association held a celebration on opening day that was a little more ambitious than on former anniversaries, staging a parade and executing a program at Delmar Garden. In the parade appeared Belle Cunningham, the first white child born in Oklahoma, and George Stiles carried the first flag that floated in the nev7 city. Addresses were delivered by Dr. A. C. Scott and E. D. Cameron, state superintendent of education. A committee consisting of J. A. J. Baugus, Sidney Clarke and J. W Johnson was ap pointed to draft a bill to be presented to the Legislature pro viding that April 22 should be a legal holiday throughout the state. O. A. Mitscher was reelected president of the associa tion, A. D. Marble, vice president, J. A. J. Baugus, secretary, and Mrs. Fred Sutton, treasurer. On June 19 of this year occurred the death of Sidney Clarke, a member of the Eighty-niners Association and one of the ablest of Oklahoma pioneers. He had been a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln and Mr. Lincoln had given him a commission in the army. He had served three terms iii Congress from Kansas and was a friend and advisor of Capt. David Payne and Capt. AY". L. Couch, the original boomer leaders. He was a native of Massachusetts, having been born in Southbridge in 1831. For five vears he was editor of the TEMPLE B'NAI ISRAEL PACKING PLANT OF MORRIS & COMPANY THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 325 Southbridge Press, and in 1885 he was commissioned by the Chicago Tribune to accompany General Sheridan to Fort Reno to settle some incipient Indian troubles. Prior to that, however, he had settled in Lawrence, Kan., and from his district was elected to the state Legislature in 1858. He was elected to Congress in 1864 and reelected twice thereafter. He was defeated for reelection in 1870 and in 1878 was a can didate for the United States Senate. He came to Oklahoma at the time of the opening and was one of the founders of the city government. His was a trained and logical mind and he had the temperament and capacity of a safe and useful leader. At his funeral, orations were delivered by Dr. A. C. Scott and the Rev. Thomas H. Harper. Interests represented by L. E. Patterson, which had con structed a section of street railroad and contemplated an interurban line to Shawnee, were granted a franchise in the April election that apparently paved the way for an entrance to the business district. These interests were merged on November 11 with interests represented by Homer S. Hurst of Holdenville and out of the merger grew the Citizens Trac tion Company, which was organized with a capital stock of $300,000, and of which L. E. Patterson, H. S. Hurst, W. F. Harn, J. F. Winans and Alfred Hare, the latter of Shawnee, were elected directors. The merger came about through the Hurst interests blocking the route of the Patterson interests east from McNabb Park and the Patterson interests block ing the way of the Hurst interests to an Oklahoma City ter minal. Other events of the year included the organization of the permanent Oklahoma Municipal League, of which Mayor Scales was elected president and City Attorney W. R. Taylor, chairman of the executive and legislative committee ; the or ganization of the Men's Dinner Club, of which C. B. Ames was elected president, H. G. Snyder, secretary, and Dr. A. C. Scott, Dr. A. K. West, Dr. George Bradford, Judge George W. Clark, D. W. Hogan and J. C. Clark, members of the exec utive committee; a visit of John W. Gates, who purposed building a railroad from Oklahoma City to Wichita Falls, but who announced that he was deterred by a constitutional provision that forbade the sale of a new railroad to an estab- 326 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY lished railroad company operating in the state ; the granting of a new twenty-five-year franchise to the Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company; establishment of the Tradesmen's Bank with a capital of $50,000, of which Frank Wikoff was elected president, J. C. McClelland, vice president, and J. E. Mundell, cashier ; the organization of a Board of Trade, of which Buran House was elected president, R. H. Drennan, vice president, and Major Moberly, secretary; the death, September 4, of Dr. Daniel Munger, the first physician to open an office in the city; the circulation of a petition by an organization headed by Dorset Carter, and of which A. L. Walker of Waurika was secretary, asking for an election to eliminate from the constitution that article objectionable to railroad promoters; completion of the Great White Way on Main Street, which was celebrated with speeches by H. Y. Thompson, W. T. Corder, Seymour Heyman and J. F. Harbour, the latter being credited with being the father of the lighting movement ; and the organization of the Oklahoma Methodist College, of which Dr. A. C. Enochs was elected president, the Rev. Frank Bar rett, vice president, W. W. Robertson, secretaiy, Dr. J. M. Bostelle, treasurer, and Dr. N. L. Linebaugh, superintendent of construction and the sale of lots, whereby funds were to be obtained for building purposes on a site selected two miles north of Britton. Leslie's Weekly published an article written by Sidney L. Brock, entitled "The Truth About Oklahoma," from which the following two paragraphs are taken : "As the result of the follow-up correspondence campaign of the Chamber of Commerce in 1908 and 1909, placing before the great packers information of the production, source of origin and destination of live stock shipments from Okla homa, and the advantages of Oklahoma as a suitable place for the establishment of a packing plant, negotiations were opened with Morris & Company of Chicago. Their representative looked over the field, quietly secured options on a large tract close to the city and then called on the writer with a view to closing the deal with our Chamber of Commerce. In company with one trusted associate, a tentative agreement was made, guaranteeing on the part of the packers the establishment of THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 127 a great live stock market. The citizens of Oklahoma City, on the other hand, were to pay the packers a cash bonus of $300,- 000 and grant other reasonable and necessary specified con ditions in relation to sewer connections, water and gas ex tensions and exemption from taxation for a five year term. "How to get the cash bonus was the question. The writer and his associate, George B. Stone, hit upon this plan: The packers were induced to accept half the bonus when the plant should be ready for operation and the balance a year from that date. Their representative consented to no publicity till we gave the word. Options on 575 acres of land were secured, the best land adjoining and overlooking the packing district from the south, and all within the three mile limit of the center of Oklahoma City, the cost of the land being $184,000. Three tedious days saw the options in our hands ; then the directors of the Chamber were called in and needless to say quickly ratified the tentative agreement. The Oklahoma Industrial Company was planned, with a capitalization of $400,000, to finance the proposition and guarantee the bonus. At a mass meeting on the 19th of May at 10 o'clock the Assembly Hall could not contain the multitude. The announcement of the securing of the Morris proposition was made and the plans were laid before the assemblage for financing it, and the state ment was made, 'it is up to you to make good and secure this great enterprise.' Did they respond? Four hundred and twenty-seven thousand dollars were subscribed in an hour and thirty minutes amid great cheering and enthusiastic ad dresses, all of one tone — that of approval and hearty coopera tion. The packers began to build and the land company to plot and to sell. In the year's time nearly $700,000 worth of lots had been sold and 2,000 out of the original 44,000 lots were still on hand." In reviewing this achievement which meant so much to the future welfare and development of Oklahoma City, the Daily Oklahoman paid Mr. Brock and his associates the fol lowing editorial tribute : "Not everyone knows the tremendous efforts which were put forth by Mr. Brock and Mr. Stone. Not everybody knows that Sidney Brock rifled the bank account of his big dry goods store and took out $25,000 of his own money with which to purchase options which would be necessary to 328 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY insure the location of the big plant in Oklahoma City. He did this without any guarantee that one dollar would be re funded to him in case he lost and the Morris Company decided to locate elsewhere. He did it without hope of one cent of profit to himself other than the indirect benefit of the location of the packing plant here. One city in a thousand can pro duce men of the spirit and caliber of Sidney Brock and George Stone. And any community which is fortunate enough to claim citizens who are ready and willing to stake a large part of their fortune on the hazard of greatly benefiting their town can never go backward." 1910— THE CAPITAL ACHIEVED By an incontestable majority the people of the state on June 11, 1910, approved of the Oklahoma City capital bill. The returns were so patently indicative of the outcome that long before the official count was made Governor Haskell unofficially made declaration of the result and moved his office force and part of his records from Guthrie and estab lished himself in the Huckins Hotel. By night the great seal of the state was secretly brought to the metropolis. The morning after the election, when the Guthrie committee was considering a legal blocking procedure, the governor indicted a letter to Judge J. H. Burford, counsel for the committee, in which he advised that if the committee desired to serve him in the name of the law he could be found in his hotel office in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City postponed plans for its campaign until after it had negotiated a contract for the location of a second $3,000,000 packing plant and successfully waged a campaign for the issuance of $660,000 of bonds for public improvements. The bonds carried by a substantial majority on April 5, and of the amount, $300,000 was for schools, $150,000 for improv ing the fire department, $10,000 for establishing a fire alarm system and $200,000 for purchasing Delmar Garden and im proving the channel of the Canadian River. Governor Haskell on March 27, being convinced that the Oklahoma City capital committee had complied with the law relating to the initiation of bills and of the sufficiency of the petition filed with the secretary of state, issued a call for an election on June 11. The petition contained nearly twenty- eight thousand names and they were of residents of a ma jority of the counties of the state. On April 5, 1,500 persons attended the first capital mass meeting, presided over by Sid ney L. Brock and a campaign committee was appointed with E. K. Gaylord as chairman. Acting on advice of Governor 329 330 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Haskell, who, it should be noted, was from the outset in favor of the Oklahoma City measure and of the location of the capital here, but who adroitly manifested a more or less impartial attitude, the committee on May 20 appointed a sub-committee to prepare legal options on capitol lands and another committee to secure options. The first committee was composed of J. H. Everest, C. B. Ames and W. A. Ledbetter, and the second of C. F. Coleord, Henry Overholser, S. L. Brock, F. P. Johnson and W. L. Alexander. At the same time Chairman Gaylord sent a challenge to Senator Campbell Russell to debate the issue jointly with Judge E. S. Hurt of Madill who had been employed by the coinmittee for that purpose, Russell meanwhile having initiated a New Jerusa lem bill to be submitted in the November election. Senator Russell accepted the challenge and one of the outstanding features of the campaign was this series of joint debates. On the 1st day of June the options committee submitted to Governor Haskell four propositions. The first of them was that 1,380 acres of land northeast of the city could be obtained for $275,000 and 800 acres additional without cost. The second was made by I. M. Putnam, who meantime had invested $200,- 000 in a quarter-section of land in the vicinity of Putnam City, making the total of his investments there nearly $750,000. His proposition was that for and in consideration of $1 he would deliver to the state 2,000 acres of land near Putnam City. The third was that 800 acres of land could be had for $36.50 an acre about 2% miles south of the city. The fourth called for the expenditure of $250 an acre for 1,500 acres east of the city. This report actuated the committees at Guthrie and Shaw nee to move more definitely toward a site and acreage vantage point, and within a few clays each submitted to the governor a proposition. The campaign necessarily was carried into every com munity of the state. While the Oklahoma City committee and other organizations and the ministers in the pulpits coun seled fair play and an honest election, and while there is no doubt that in a general way it was as clean a fight as ever was made by a municipality, strategy and treachery and acri mony were indulged in to an extent by all three of the com- DANIEL V. LACKEY THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 333 mittees of applicant cities. The majority for Oklahoma City was over thirty thousand. The victory was celebrated at the State Fair Park on June 15. Fifteen thousand persons par ticipated and the principal address was made by Governor Haskell. The following day the governor issued his procla mation declaring Oklahoma City the capital. Already the Guthrie committee had secured an injunction in the District Court forbidding other state officials from moving to Okla homa City. The committee appealed also to United States Judge Ralph Campbell but he dismissed the petition, hold ing that he was without jurisdiction. Another appeal went from Guthrie to the President and immediately Attorney General West asked for a conference with United States At torney General Wickersham. Governor Haskell made the next move by applying to the Supreme Court for a writ of prohibition against the interference of District Judge Huston of Logan County. The Supreme Court, four weeks later, in an opinion written by Justice R. L. Williams held that nothing in the constitution forbade the governor maintaining his office at any place in the state but denied the right of other state officials to maintain their offices elsewhere than in the capital, which the court indicated had not been legally removed from Guthrie. The governor, however, proceeded with plans for carrying out the will of the people. He appointed a capital commis sion consisting of Dr. Leo Bennett of Muskogee, J. B. A. Robertson of Chandler and Tate Brady of Tulsa. B. S. Ut- terback was chosen secretaiy of the commission. Robertson resigned a short time later and his place was taken by Boone Williams of Lehigh, who had been a member of the constitu tional convention. On August 23 the commission announced its acceptance of the offer of the Putnam tract. It employed Dr. Charles N. Gould of the State University to make a sur vey relating to water supply and drainage, and arranged with George E. Kessler, a landscape architect, to make preliminary plans for landscaping the capital block. Another case contesting the legality of the June 11 elec tion having reached the Supreme Court, that tribunal on No vember 15 issued an opinion declaring void that provision of the Enabling Act relating to the temporary location of the 334 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY capital and asserting that the people of the state had power and authority to locate the capital for themselves. This opin ion did not uphold the June 11 election, and Governor Haskell issued a call for an extraordinary session of the Legislature to enact a law definitely and permanently locating the seat of government. The Legislature was convened on November 28 and immediately both houses ratified the call of the execu tive. In due time a bill was introduced in the House known as the Durant- Thompson bill providing that Oklahoma City should be declared the permanent state capital. The bill was passed by the House after the name of Dan Peery of Cainegie had been hyphenated into the title. Since Mr. Peery as a member of the first Territorial Legislature had been the first man to suggest Oklahoma City as the capital, as has been told by the late F. S. Barde in another part of this history, that distinguished pioneer was gratified by the honor of hav ing a part in making the last legislative contribution to the subject. In the Senate a bill was introduced by Senator J. B. Thompson of Pauls Valley providing for the sale of certain tracts of state school land north of the city for capital pur poses. This bill was reported to have been sanctioned by the governor. On December 8, Senator Thompson, chairman of the capital committee, addressed a letter to "the people of the state of Oklahoma" in which he asserted that no bill would be reported favorably or passed by the Legislature until that body had been given positive and substantial assurance that the people of the state, by virtue of the act, were to receive a capital without cost to them. The Oklahoma City commit tee again went into action. It was advised that the senator was speaking for others also in high authority and it was convinced that the Putnam site would be abandoned and an other selected nearer to, and in a northeasterly direction from, the city. Whereupon it secured options on tracts to the northeast, and on December 14 the Senate passed a resolution accepting the offer of a site at the intersection of TAventy- third Street and Lincoln Boulevard. When this resolution reached the House, which had craved the honor of initiating capital legislation, that body promptly tabled it. Conferences led to an early amicable settlement of minor disputes and the THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY £37 measure was adopted by the House and duly signed and ap proved by Speaker W. B. Anthony. With the issue thus definitely settled, with Oklahoma City almost beyond peradventure the permanent capital of the state, the capital committee then reorganized its forces to assist state officials and the Capital Commission in prelimi nary steps for construction of a building. The first step was the organization of the Capital Building Company, of which C. G. Jones was elected temporary president and Orin Ashton temporary secretary. Temporary directors were Henry Over holser, C. F. Coleord, C. G. Jones, W. F. Harn, J. J. Cul bertson, K. W. Dawson, Edward S. Vaught, 0. J. Johnson, E. F'. Sparrow, S. L. Brock and O. G. Lee. The historic performance of the previous year respecting the establishment of a packing plant, the boosters were called upon to repeat on February 1 of this year. On that date a definite proposal was received by the Chamber of Commerce from the Schwarzchild & Sulzberger Packing Company. It asked for a cash bonus of $300,000, water, sewer and gas main extensions to the building site, a fire station near the site, and free water to the amount of 350,000 gallons daily for five years. A committee consisting of Weston Atwood, O. G. Lee, Seymour Heyman, John Shartel and William Mee was appointed to consider the proposal. It learned shortly that the Delmar Garden tract was available for subdivision pur poses, the tract at that time being owned by the Parkside Realty Company, composed of C. F. Coleord, J. R. Keaton, John Sinopoulo and John Marre. Part of it was under lease to the baseball association. The tract consisted of 164 acres and was offered to the Packinghouse Development Company, which was formed shortly thereafter, for $250,000. A tract of fifty acres adjoining was offered for $95,000 by J. S. Carle. J. A. J. Baugus, who owned 128 acres near the park on the west, offered the company the proceeds of sales above a net price to him of $1,900 an acre. The Packinghouse Development Company had a capital stock of $400,000 and shares were $100 each. The incorpo rators were Seymour Heyman, Solomon Barth, A. H. Clas sen, C. H. Russell, C. F. Coleord, W. T. Hales, G. B. Stone, A. E. Monroney, J. R. Keaton, O. G. Lee and O. P. Workman. Vol. 1—2 2 338 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY At a mass meeting held on February 4, the cash bonus Avas guaranteed to the packers. Mr. Classen led the subscrip tion makers with an offer of $20,000. Within twenty minutes $100,000 was subscribed. Among those who subscribed $10,000 each were C. F. Coleord, R. J. Edwards, W. T. Hales, E. H. Cooke, S. L. Brock and C. G. Jones. "What will Putnam do?" some one shouted. The premier young real estate pro moter answered, "I'll take all that is left." This the assem blage greeted with uproarious applause. But the hot cakes continued to go so rapidly Putnam feared what was left would be too small for a man's honor to rest securely upon and he changed front and announced a subscription of $20,000. In an interim of comparatiA^e quietude Seymour Heyman, burning with a zeal that revealed the man's conception of mod ern city building, exclaimed, "A booster is one who does all the good he can just as long as he can to all the people he can and leaA^es the rest to God. A knocker is a thing on a door : who the hell wants to be a knocker?" Later the Packinghouse DeATelopment Company No. 2 was organized Avith John Shartel, president, C. F. Coleord, vice president, I. M. Putnam, ATice president, O. P. Workman, general manager, Seymour Heyman, treasurer, and A. W. McKeand, secretaiy. Construction of the second packery was started April 11. On October 3 the Morris plant Avas for mally opened. Sidney L. Brock pushed the electric button that put machinery in motion and speeches Avere made by Governor Haskell, GraATes Leeper and Mr. Brock. It Avas estimated that 25,000 persons went through the plant that day. Two thousand men were given employment and during the day 2,500 hogs, 1,500 cattle and 1,000 sheep were slaugh tered. Another city charter went to defeat by a difference in totals of less than one hundred votes on August 2. The instrument was completed early in the year. Sections of it Avere condemned in the campaign by the Good Government League Avhich found that ward and political lines had not been obliterated in the manner the league had advocated. An amendment by Loyal J. Miller of the freeholders, Avhich provoked the first con troversy, was adopted, with the result that a bitter war arose between organizations for and against the political subdivi- THE STORY" OF OKLAHOMA CITY 339 sion program. W- A. Ledbetter, representing a conciliation committee, appeared before the board and a semblance of harmony resulted. The general campaign for adoption of the charter was conducted by the City Charter Club, organized April 8, of which Dr. C. B. Bradford Avas president, Joseph Huckins, Jr., A7ice president, Samuel Murphy, secretaiy, Guy Blackwelder, assistant secretary, and Guy Turner, treasurer. In the November election Lee Cruce was chosen governor, defeating Joseph McNeal of Guthrie, the republican nominee, by 30,000 votes. McNeal had defeated C. G. Jones of Okla homa City for the nomination. The effort of Mr. Jones to secure the nomination for governor was his last active par ticipation in politics in Oklahoma. At this election the people defeated an initiated measure repealing the prohibition article of the constitution, and they defeated an amendment giving women suffrage and the Russell New Jerusalem amendment. Other state officers elected were J. J. McAlester, lieutenant governor ; B. F. Harrison, secretary of state ; Leo Me}^er, auditor; Charles West, attorney general; Robert Dunkop, treasurer ; R. H. Wilson, superintendent of public instruction ; Charles A. Taylor, examiner and inspector; Ed Boyle, mine inspector; P. A. Ballard, insurance commissioner; Giles W. Farris, state printer ; Charles L. Daugherty, commissioner of labor; Kate Barnard, commissioner of charities and correc tions ; G. T. Bryan, president of the board of agriculture ; W. H. L. Campbell, clerk of the Supreme Court, and as then con stituted the corporation commission consisted of George A. Henshaw, A. P. Watson and Jack Loatc Members of the Supreme Court were John B. Turner, R. L. Williams, M. J. Kane, S. W. Hayes and Jesse J. Dunn. Members of the Criminal Court of Appeals Avere Henry M. Furman, James R. Armstrong and Thomas H. Doyle. Members of the Chamber of Commerce, believing that busi ness men had profited from mistakes of former campaigns and, having become educated to the possible adA^antages of a commission form of government, determined to have another charter prepared, the fourth in the city's history. Accord ingly on October 10 a committee was appointed to lay plans to that end. The committee consisted of O. P. Workman, J. M. Owen and C. F. Coleord. Two days later a campaign com- 340 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY mittee was appointed of which R. E. Stafford Avas chairman and W. E. Campbell, secretary. The Chamber selected and gave public endorsement of candidates of both democratic and republican parties for freeholders. Freeholders elected weie Dr. C. B. Bradford, John W. Nicely, Robert drowning, George Ross, Claude Weaver, W. W. Storm, B. C. Housel, J. C. Gilmore, George Shotwell, J. H. Stewart, Clark C. Hudson, R. A. Caldwell, W. R. Clement, L. Radin, J. F. Warren and Frank Wells. A committee to write the charter Avas selected, consisting of Mr. Hudson, Mr. WeaA^er, Mr. Shotwell, Mr. Storm and Mr. Stewart. New Orleans' Mardi Gras was imitated this year in the character of the natal day celebration. The celebration was promoted by the Eighty-niners Association and a new organi zation known as the Aprillis Fiesta Company, the directors of which were Mrs. Fred Sutton, Mrs. Mary McClure, Mrs. Ma rion F. Rock, Mrs. C. A. McNabb, Mrs. James George, Mrs. W. R. Clement, Mrs. John Wingler, O. A. Mitcher, John Har- rah, John S. Kerfoot, T. F. McMechan, J. M. Owen and A. H. Classen. The most pretentious and altogether the most pic turesque parade that had ever been given in Oklahoma was the outstanding feature of the event. It was a riot of flowers and colors, a magnificent spectacle of decorated floats and motor cars and of dress adapted from styles and customs of the several periods depicted. It was led by GoATernor Haskell and a committee of the promoting organizations. Miss Myrtle Owen was the fiesta queen and was called La Reine Aprilla. Miss Jennie Bradford was her maid of honor. Hart Wand was the king, called Rex Aprillo, and seATen attendants Avere in the galaxy of his troupe. Of especial interest in the period- depicting section was a boomer's covered Avagon drawn by an ox and a mule. The Oklahoma Medical College, which Avas instituted to teach the latter two years of a four-year course, the first two being taught in the State University at Norman, opened its first session September 15. During the ceremonies of the opening addresses Avere made by Dr. A. Grant EArans, presi dent of the State University, and Dr. A. K. West. The first faculty consisted of Dr. West and Drs. A. L. Blesh. Lee A. Reily, A. D. Young, R. M. Howard, M. Smith, L. H. Buxton, a 71 o > c 3 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 343 H. C. Todd, E. S. Ferguson, Horace Reed, J. W. Riley, E. S. Lain, E. R. Day, L. J. Moorman, R. E. Looney, S. R. Cunningham, J. W. Jolly, R. L. Foster, C. Lee, N. G. Busby, Leila Andrews and J. F. Messenbaugh. Some other events of the year were these : the first Okla homa Automobile Dealers' Association Avas organized with John McClelland, president; G. Page, Auce president; Ray Coleord, secretary; R. H. Mulch, Jr., treasurer, and F. R. Thompson, chairman of the board ; on January 25, 1. M. Hol- comb resigned as cashier of the Oklahoma City National Bank to engage in lecture work and was succeeded by Colin S. Campbell of Chicago ; G. W. R. Chinn, Eighty-niner, who had installed the first telephone in the city, died ; E. B. Cockrell, on recommendation of the executive committee of the State Bankers Association, was appointed bank commissioner to succeed A. M. Young, resigned, Mr. Cockrell himself retiring on November 15 to become an officer of the Central State Bank, stock in which he bought from Clay Webster, ATice president, and R. M. Estes, assistant cashier; the law department of Epworth UniVersity was abandoned and the graduating class of the year was Harry E. Brill, W. H. Winn, J. R. Connell, R. A. Weeks, W. A. French, H. B. Hopps and W. F. Mc- Laury ; on July 25, the census bureau reported the population of the city to be 64,205; William Cross, secretary of state and the democratic nominee for state auditor, died on. August 3, the day after his nomination, and after a long illness; on September 6, A. W. McKeand resigned as secretaiy of the Chamber of Commerce, and as a token of the Chamber's esteem, was presented with a gold watch by C. H. Russell, acting for President Brock in the latter 's absence; the corner stone of the First Presbyterian Church was laid on September 25, Dr. Phil C. Baircl, pastor, being assisted by Dr. Carter Helm Jones, the Rev. W. H. B. Urch, the Rev. Thomas H. Harper and the Rev. J. H. 0. Smith, pastors of other leading churches of the city ; Mayor Scales resigned on October 17 and Daniel V. Lackey, president of the council, succeeded to the mayoralty seat; on November 8, the new directors of the Oklahoma State Fair Association elected John Fields, editor of The Oklahoma Farmer, president, and Henry Overholser, general manager. 344 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY William Macklin Cross (popularly called Bill Cross) was born at Purdy, McNeary County, Tenn., July 4, 1847. At the age of fourteen he entered the Confederate military service as a drummer in Company K, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee Regiment, of which his father (who was killed in action at the battle of Shiloh) was colonel. Young Cross Avas Avounded and captured the same clay his father was killed. He Avas subsequently exchanged and returned to the front, serv- ing in the army of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. After the end of the Avar he entered Kentucky University, at Lexington, but only remained one year on account of the financial condi tion of the family. He entered a dry goods store and eA~ent- tially became a traveling salesman, in which capacity he came to Oklahoma. He was nominated for delegate to Congress in 1902, but was defeated. He was nominated as the democratic candidate for secretaiy of state and was elected in Septem ber, 1907, when the constitution was ratified. He died August 4, 1910.— Thoburn. 1911— A CHARTER ADOPTED The fate that other charters met Avas an important guide to the freeholders Avho Avrote that which was adopted on March 9 this year. Also the charter was more modern than those that failed. The American Avho isn't modern is a non entity as Americanism appraises him, and by the same token to affect to be an Oklahoman without being a booster was affectation only. Perhaps the charter was a great improve ment over its deceased predecessors, and probably it was as good and as modern and as ideal as any written for any other city of the Nation. The campaign was balmy, the oppo sition mild. The hardest fight came after its approATal on March 14 by Goa\ Lee Cruce. The governor signed it with a gold pen presented to him by Miss Amelia E. Weaver, daugh ter of Claude Weaver, one of the authors of the new munici pal constitution. Nominations for municipal offices were made in a primary held April 11. The democratic nominee for mayor was Whit M. Grant, who was elected at the regular election on May 9, and the republican nominee was J. F. Warren. J. T. Highley, democrat, defeated C. W. Ford, republican, for commissioner of public safety. Guy E. Blackwelder, republican, defeated John S. Alexander, democrat, for commissioner of public works. W. H. Hampton, democrat, defeated Will H. Clark, republican, for commissioner of public property. Elmer C. Trueblood, democrat, defeated Thomas H. Harper, repub lican, for commissioner of accounting and finance. In the primary election Mr. Grant defeated Henry M. Scales, John L. Mitch, Dan V. Lackey and Ross N. Lillard for the nomi nation. Immediately after the election the city council passed a resolution with a majority of six votes holding that the elec tion was illegal and void. A case was prepared for court and in the petition it Avas contended that the charter was 345 346 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY illegal and void because no provision had been made in the constitution for such an instrument of government, because of improper division of the city into wards, because the charter provided no specified time at which officials elected under it should take office, and for other reasons of less consequence. On May 30 Judge E. D. Oldfield sustained a motion of the new officials for a writ of mandamus against the old. Among the early appointments made by Mayor Grant was that of William Tighlman, formerly of Chandler, formerly a state senator, and who in territorial days had been a noted law en forcement officer, as chief of police. Another was of J. C. Eagen as city treasurer to succeed P. H. Simmons, resigned. Among unusual things undertaken by the commissioners dur ing the year was to attempt to get a water supply from deep wells. It contracted with the Western Wells Company of Kansas to furnish 5,000,000 gallons of well water daily to be paid for at the rate of 2 cents a 1,000 gallons. On May 29 of this year the United States Supreme Court said the last word in the capital controArersy, and it Avas an important word for the doctrine of state rights. The opinion, written by Justice Lorton, held in substance that Congress was without authority to locate a capital for the new state for a term of years, that to undertake to do so was to deny the state its constitutional privilege of entering the Union on an equal footing with the other states. "When equality dis appears," said the opinion, "we may remain a free people, but the union will not be the union of the constitution. ' ' Guthrie's protest against the remoA^al of state offices to Oklahoma City on December 30, 1910, caused the foregather ing of a mob that threatened violence and Governor Haskell ordered troops held in readiness for seiwice should they be needed. An injunction issued out of the District Court at Guthrie was served against State Treasurer James A. Menefee and when Avagons began loading furniture out of his office he was cited for contempt of court. W. A. Ledbetter AATent to Guthrie as an emissary of the governor and helped to restore peace. The injunction did not hold and on the following day twenty-five tons of state furniture and records were moATed to Oklahoma City. The Legislature convened on January 2 and W. A. Durant WHIT M. GRANT THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 349 of Durant was elected speaker of the House and J. Elmer Thomas of Lawton, president pro tempore of the Senate. On January 9 Lee Cruce was inaugurated governor. The Senate on January 28 passed a bill abolishing the Capitol Commission but the bill was not passed by the House. Some doubt ex isted as to the ATalidity of the call issued by Governor Haskell in the previous year for an extraordinary session of the Leg islature and a resolution was passed by this legislature vali dating the call and the actions of the former body. The State Supreme Court on February 9 rendered an opinion, written by Justice R. L. Williams, to Avhich Justices Kane and Dunn dissented, holding that the capital location provision of the Enabling Act was unconstitutional, and it was this opinion that was affirmed by the United States Supreme Court. Ar guments before the latter were made for Oklahoma City by Attorney General Charles West, Judge B. F. Burwell of Okla homa City and former Senator J. W. Bailey of Texas. Guth rie was represented by Judge Frank Dale. Governor Cruce, who favored and practiced the strictest economy in government, on June 20, asked for the resignation of members of the Capitol Commission, and in due time he appointed members of the State Board of Public Affairs to succeed them. The Capitol Building Company, representing the city, had agreed to pay $1,000,000 to the state as a capitol building fund, and the first payment, $25,000, was to be made July 1. Homer S. Hurst, a member of the company, proposed shortly before the payment of this amount was due that the city issue bonds in the sum of $1,250,000 to be delivered to the state. The constutitionality of such procedure was doubted, howeATer, and the company on June 29 concluded to issue fifty $500 notes to raise the amount due on July 1. The company had title to lands donated and bought for capitol purposes but to get the money was at that time a difficult matter, so it proposed, through Ed S. Vaught, its spokesman, to Goa~- ernor Cruce, that 600 acres and an additional fifteen acres reserved for the capitol be delivered to the state in lieu of the $1,000,000. Governor Cruce declined to accept the prop osition, holding that only the Legislature had authority to alter contracts made Avith the state under authority of the 350 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Legislature. Later in the j^ear the company, AAThich had exe cuted a bond of $100,000 as a guarantee of payment of instal ments of the $1,000,000, again proposed to the governor to deliver to the state 6,030 acres of land and pay the forfeiture of the bond, retaining twenty acres to be sold by the company to reimburse it for the bond forfeiture outlay, and there the matter rested at the end of the year. Outside of his own office force, the first appointment an nounced by the governor was that of John R. Williams, who had been his campaign manager, as secretaiy of the Commis sioners of the Land Office, and the appointment was in clue time confirmed by the commissioners. He appointed Judge Frank Matthews of Altus, E. B. Howard of Tulsa and E. E. Morris of Duncan as members of the State Board of Public Affairs. Judge Matthews resigned soon to accept a judicial appointment and Lon M. Frame of Ardmore, who had been named game and fish Avarden, filled the A7acancy. John B. Doo- lin of Alva, who had been assistant manager of the Cruce campaign, Avas appointed to the position A'acated by Frame. The appointment of Morris as the republican member of the board was stoutly disapproved by members of the republican state organization who had recommended O. K. Benedict of Hobart for the place. Among early appointments was that of J. F. Warren of Oklahoma City as a member of the board of regents of the State University and J. F. Sharp of Purcell as chairman of the board of control of the Boys' Training School at Pauls Valley. J. D. Lankford of Atoka was ap pointed state bank commissioner and J. C. McClelland and Fred G. Dennis members of the state banking board. The Cruce state election board consisted of Ben W. Riley of El Reno, former Governor T. B. Ferguson of Watonga and C. C. Perm of Weatherford. Under an act of the Legislature of that year creating a Supreme Court Commission, the governor appointed C. B. Ames, Phil D. BreAver and John B. Harrison members of the commission. His state board of education con sisted of City Superintendent Brandenburg of Oklahoma City, W. E. Roavsc.v of Muskogee, O. F. Hayes of Chandler, Scott Glenn of Shawnee, Robert Dunlop of NeAvkirk, then state treasurer, and Dr. A. C. Scott of Oklahoma City. Dr. Alexander Potter of Ncav York was employed during CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 353 the pieceding year to make a survey and recommendations for a permanent and increased water supply for the city. After his report Avas submitted the mayor called an election to be held February 14, this year, to vote on a proposed issue totalling $1,650,000, part of which was to be used in main ex tensions for water and sewer extensions to PackingtoAvn. Dur ing a campaign rally the night before the election, Avhen Kate Barnard was making a speech opposing the issue, Doctor Pot ter, who interrupted her — insolently, some of her friends said — was ejected forcibly from the hall. The issue was defeated. Some important bank changes took place this year. On January 21 Henry W. Williams, late of Greenville, Texas, Don Lacy of Ardmore and W. M. Bonner of Ardmore, pur chased a controlling interest in the Oklahoma City National Bank. On February 25 this bank absorbed the Central Re serve Bank and new officers were elected as f oIIoavs : H. W. Williams, president; A. M. Young, vice president; C. H. Everest, vice president, and W. M. Bonner, assistant cashier. E. B. Cockrell retired from the organization to become presi dent of the Continental Trust Company which was organized a few weeks later with a capital stock of $500,000. On May 19 the Oklahoma City National Bank was consolidated Avith the State National Bank, with Mr. Williams as president, John M. Hale, C. H. EA^erest and Don Lacy as vice presi dents, George L. Cooke, cashier, W. M. Bonner, Pat Roden, Henry Elliott and F. C. Clarke, assistant cashiers, and Ed ward H. Cooke, chairman of the board. All banks of the city at the beginning of the year had about $16,000,000 on deposit. C. G. Jones, whom many accounted the most useful resi dent of the city, died on March 29, at the age of fifty-five. His funeral on March 31 was the most largely attended of any in the history of the state. Orations were delivered by Dr. G. H. Bradford and the Rev. A. K. Riley and the ceremony of the Masons, of whose lodge he was a member, Avas em ployed. In the yard of his residence a flag that he had raised, a flag at the state house and one at the Morris packing plant were hung at half mast. In honor of his memory Gov ernor Cruce issued a proclamation requesting that all state offices be closed. The business of the United States Circuit 354 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Court, of the District Court and of the County Court was suspended. The State National Bank, of which he was a director, and many business houses closed their doors. The Eighty-niners Association held a special meeting and adopted resolutions and went in a body to the Jones home before the funeral and left generous floral wreaths and shed tears of genuine sorrow. Pallbearers were E. H. Cooke, C. F. Col eord, C. A. Mitscher, W. T. Hales, W. J. Pettee and H. C. Milner. The Oklahoma Railway Company ran its first interurban car into El Reno on November 30. It bore all leading officials of the company and a score of their guests. George W. Knox, III, eight-year-old son of George W. Knox, Jr., general man ager of the company, turned on the power that sent the car whirring into the west. F. M. Banks was the car's conductor and Lawrence Paulson was the motorman. The party was entertained at El Reno with a banquet. It was welcomed in a speech delivered by Mayor P. P. Duffy, to which O. P. Workman, president of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Com merce, responded. Other speeches were made by R. E. Staf ford, John Shartel and Seymour Heyman. A bonus of $75,000 was raised by the Chamber of Com merce to secure a line of the Missouri, Oklahoma & Gulf Rail way Company, but the company's plans failed to materialize. Walter B. Moore of Dayton, Ohio, succeeded J. H. Johnston as secretary-manager of the Chamber on NoA^ember 1. The resignation of Mr. Johnston was submitted several months before. So satisfactorily had he performed the duties of the office that a committee sought to have him withdraw the resig nation. At the annual meeting of the Chamber in December Frank J. Wikoff was elected president; C. F. Coleord, first vice president; Leon Levy, second ATice president, and Colin Campbell, treasurer. Seymour Heyman, a former president, was on December 5 elected president of the board of educa tion, succeeding W. R. Swartout, resigned, and his election restored harmony in the board that had for some months been engaged in a wrangle. The city's second big packing plant was opened formally on October 9. President Workman of the Chamber of Commerce was the master of ceremonies and the principal speech was 1 i 1 \\W^ I ¦L^. . I ii-i IS * ; 1 "% - -¦ ¦ Hi CARNEGIE LIBRARY HUCKINS HOTEL THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 357 made by GoA^ernor Cruce. Jack Love, chairman of the corpo ration commission, killed the first cow. It Avas estimated that 10,000 persons passed through the plant that clay. OAAung to disagreements between the northern and south ern branches of the Methodist Church and to untoward finan cial conditions respecting the institution, it was decided at the close of the school year that Epworth University should be abandoned. The northern branch of the church concluded to transfer its interests to Guthrie and consolidate them Avith a Methodist College. A few weeks later representatives of the southern branch announced that the university would be continued. A new board of trustees was elected, consisting of Dr. W. B. Watkins, president, W. A. Shelton, secretaiy, C. H. McGee, treasurer, the Rev. R. E. L. Morgan, B. F. Moseley, the Rev. M. L. Butler, the Rev. Moss Weaver, the Rev. O. F. Sensabaugh, and the Rev. J. M. Gross. Difficul ties soon confronted the neAv board, however, and the institu tion remained closed. One illustration among many of the increase in real estate values in the city was related this year. J. M. Bowen, who filed on a homestead at the time of the opening — a tract of 160 acres now bounded by the Santa Fe on the east and Walker Avenue on the west and Tenth Street on the south and Thirteenth Street on the north — found' his rights con tested. William J. McClure, who provided the funds to prose cute the contest, and Judge Frank Dale of Guthrie, who pro vided the legal wherewithal, succeeded in winning the contest and for their serAuces were given one-half of the tract. They divided the eighty acres, McClure taking the east half of it and Judge Dale the west half. The Dale share lay between Harwey and Walker Avenues. It is not of record easily ac cessible how much money McClure received out of the lots he sold, but Judge Dale's receipts amounted to $250,000. Four of the city's leading churches, with property values totalling over $500,000, are on Dale lots. The interests of the Pioneer Telephone Company and the Missouri & Kansas Telephone Company were merged May 1, and E. D. Nims, president of the former, retired from that office. Among directors retained were Mr. Nims, John M. Noble, avIio was elected general manager, E. E. Westerfelt, 358 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY avIio was elected secretary-treasurer, DaA'icl McKinstry and Henry Asp. The neAV organization had assets of the value of $40,000,000. Other events of the year included a strike of employes of the Oklahoma Railway Company that Avas settled after a feAV clays of exciting moves, including an order from the goA'ernor for troops to be in readiness for service, the re scinding of the order and an agreement betAveen officials and employes; dedication of the high school on March 3 with ceremonies participated in by GoA^ernor Cruce, President Workman of the Chamber of Commerce, Dr. A. Grant Evans, president of the State University, City Superintendent W. H. Brandenburg, Ed S. Vaught, the ReA\ Thomas H. Harper and B. F. Nihart, a pioneer teacher; announcement of the Oklahoma Railway Company on April 10 that it had floated a bond issue of $12,000,000 preparatory to completing inter- urban lines to El Reno, Guthrie and Norman; celebration of the Opening on April 22 Avith a fiesta parade, simliar to that of the preceding year, in which Russell Pryor Avas Rex Aprillis and Miss Mildred McNabb Aprillis La Reine; the graduation of 105 students from the high school; the resig nation of Paul M. Pope as a member of the city park board; the purchase by J. L. Wilkin of the Night & Day Bank ; the resignation of Dr. A. Grant EATans as president of the State University and the election of Dean J. C. Monett as acting president; the beginning of the radiation of a good roads sentiment over the state inspired by Col. Sidney Suggs, state highway commissioner; and the election of Dr. Charles Evans as president of the Central State Normal School at Edmond. 1912— A FIGHT AGAINST EXPENSES A laughable situation arose once Avhen on the same day it was announced that the Legislature was corning doAvn from Guthrie as guests of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Com merce, the chief of police issued an edict forbidding the operation of bootlegging joints. The public Avas no more chagrined by the officers' revelation of the existence of open Auolation of the prohibition law than was the body of statute builders against whose motives the chief of police had slung a slur. And somehow it is just as amusing, vieAved through the perspective of a decade, to witness the serious faces of a few of the city's commercial stalwarts, who — the packeries and the capital having been obtained and the city's population increased to 50,000 and the taxable wealth proportionately in creased — met with a peck of trouble for a subject and set about constructing schemes to cut expenses! They Avere in dead earnest. The subject seemed to require immediate consid eration. No less a personage than the governor had said that if the state, the county and the municipality didn 't cease bur dening themselves with debt, they would bankrupt the state. From that meeting resulted the Citizens Protective League, the primary object of which Avas to curb expenses and teach economy in goA'ernment. Charles F. Coleord was elected president and O. P. Workman, secretary. Other direc tors Avere Joseph Huckins, J. M. Bass, G. G. Sohlberg, Leon Levy, E. H. Cooke, J. M. Owen and S. M. Gloyd. It found a great many people of like mind on this subject and its membership greAv almost as rapidly as a list of names on a petition asking for a constitutional amendment, that is to say, with extraordinary rapidity. In a short time the league had 1,000 members in Oklahoma County, 1,000 members in Gar field County and 500 members each in Washington and Creek counties. Agents of the league, all of them representative 359 360 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY business men of the city, became foreign missionaries and traA^eled into all populous regions of the state, preaching the doctrine of seeking first the kingdom of economy. The league was organized in March. Its first statewide meeting was held in Oklahoma City on June 19 and 20, and it was attended b}^ 200 members representing probably a score of counties. It was at this meeting that Governor Cruce propounded the doctrine of economy in state government. The delegates supported almost unanimously a plan projected by the directors to initiate two proposed amendments to the constitution. One was to provide that the tax limit should be 12 mills, of which 1 mill should be for state purposes. The other proposed a commission form of government for coun ties, the governing board to consist of three commissioners and a judge. A committee to draft the bills consisted of Judge B. F. Burwell, Judge J. R. Keaton and Henry G. Snyder. Whether or not the bills were drawn is not a matter of vital concern, for one month later officials of the league announced that, owing to the time before the November elec tion being too short in which to circulate petitions, the league had concluded to forego initiation of the measures, but that its officers would be emp^ed in influencing so far as possi ble the carrying out of its ideas of economy. The last word had not by any means been said on the capital matter, for Guthrie in her discontent was not in the least mollified by the decision of the United States Supreme Court. She came back with the strength of a new organiza tion and asked the governor to call another election that she might haA^e it out with Oklahoma City single-handed and alone. The petition filed with the secretary of state con tained over 50,000 names. Of these nearly 5,000 Avere ob tained in Logan County and a majority of them Avere obtained in Logan, Pottawotamie, Tulsa, Garfield and Payne counties. Oklahoma County itself supplied oA'er two hundred. The pe tition was presented by H. T. SAvearingen, chairman of the Guthrie committee, and Fred L. Wenner, secretary. Governor Cruce in clue time issued a proclamation calling for an elec tion on November 5. The campaign was Avaged as diligently, but less spectacularly, than that of 1910 and the Oklahoma City organization expended about $15,000, or a little less MAYWOOD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 363 than $1 a vote in the majority figures. This majority, small as it appeared, was not discouraging, however, for over 25,000 persons who AToted at the election did not ATote on this question. The Arote was decisive enough and it was the signal of Guth rie 's ultimate surrender. Governor Cruce in January had reached an agreement with the Capitol Building Company Avhereby he would accept for the state 6,050 acres of land selected for the capitol and $100,000 in cash and release the company from obligation. Early in February a mass meeting Avas held and the city com mission was preA^ailecl upon to call an election to submit a bond issue, out of the proceeds of which the Capitol Building- Company and the Packingtown Development Company could be relieA^ecl of capitol and packery bonus obligations. The bonds in due time Avere authorized at an election and sold. Ostensibly they were for park and playground purposes and to proAude a terminal for a proposed railroad that Avas to enter from the northwest, a project that John Shartel took an active interest in and Avhich he hoped to carry out. The Capitol Building Company receiA^ed from the bond proceeds the needed $100,000. The remainder, $150,000, was distrib uted, $20,000 to a committee of bankers, acting as a board of trustees, to be held for use in obtaining terminals for rail roads, $60,000 to pay a mortgage executed by the Packing- town Development Company, and the remainder to complete a bonus promised the ScliAvarzschilcl & Sulzberger Packing Company. On May 24 the Capitol Building Company de livered to the goA^ernor a warrant for $100,000 and deeds and abstracts to all tracts in the capitol gift saATe fifty-five acres the title to which had to be secured in court. The quarter-section of land embracing this fifty-five acres was filed upon as homestead on April 22, 1889, by the BeA\ Henry Howe. During the inteiwening twenty-three years title to it had been clouded by contests and the Government never had issued a patent. In the meantime the original claimant had died. Two sons, E. W. Howe and Dr. C. F. Hoavc of Atchison, Kan., neArer relinquished their claim as heirs of the father's estate. The Capitol Building Company reached an agreement with the heirs and the latest contestant AAdiereby judgment should be taken in faA^or of the heirs, and whereby 364 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY these, the contestant and officials of the company, should haA^e a joint interest in the Howe Development Company, which was organized with a capital stock of $300,000. Title in due time Avas perfected and the fifteen acres on which the per manent capitol is located spreads over a part of the historic homestead of the preacher. In view of the fact that a long and bitter controversy the gOA^ernor had Avith his state board of education over the adop tions of textbooks for the public schools ot the state touched educational affairs of the city and several representative men of the city before its termination next year, some incidents of the controversy will not be out of place here. Governor Cruce was not pleased with a conclusion of the board reached just before a final adoption ATote and he asked that a ATote be deferred. Members of the board interpreted the request as a reflection upon their judgment and integrity and a majority expressed displeasure, with the consequence that the governor asked for the resignations of Robert Dun- lop, W. A. Brandenburg, Scott Glenn and Frank Hayes. When they refused to grant his request, the executive issued an order summarily removing them and then reappointed Mr. Brandenburg and filled the other presumed ATacancies with Ira L. Cain of Muskogee, the ReA^. C. C. Weith of Ardmore and D. I. Johnston and J. F. Warren of Oklahoma City. When members of the original board sought relief in District Judge Clark's court it was denied. On NoA7ember 17 the matter was again presented to Judge Clark and he granted an order enjoining the new board from action, saying that he had not been fully advised when the order Avas prayed for originally. Attorney General West then appeared in behalf of the governor and asked for a writ of supersedeas to defer application of the injunction. This Avas denied and the attorney general announced he Avould appeal to the Supreme Court. Governor Grace's next moA'e Avas to convene the Senate in extraordinary session, on December 3. Ou December 7 it re ported to the executive that it had concluded to reject con firmation of members of both boards, and asked that names of other men be submitted. This the governor took under advisement. Meantime the holidays were approached and THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 365 teachers in state schools were denied their warrants because of there being no recognized authority to issue them. To relieve this situation Governor (Jruce appointed a temporal'}' board. It was composed of C. F. Coleord, James ChenoAveth, E. F. Bisbee and Dr. J. A. Ryan, and they immediately convened and transacted necessary urgent business. Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis was the speaker at the annual banquet of the Chamber of Commerce this year, held March 4. Eight hundred men were in attendance. It was presided over by President Frank J. Wikoff who revealed that the Chamber was working on plans for elevating the tracks of the Rock Island Railroad and the straightening of sections of the channel of the Canadian River. Shortly before this date President H. U. Mudge of the Rock Island, who ATisited the city with a party of minor officials, had stated that the com pany had about completed plans for elevating the tracks. Doctor Hillis said: "I have been lecturing for seventeen years and during that time have delivered over twelve hun dred lectures. During many of them I have devoted about thirty minutes of time to telling of the advantages of the Northwest. But I want to tell you that during the next sev enteen years I shall devote some time in each lecture to tell ing of the adA^antages of the Southwest." This banquet opened the annual campaign for membership that resulted in the acquisition of nearly five hundred members. Among them was Bishop William A. Quayle of the Methodist Church. In the autumn the first home products show was held, under direction of a subdiAusion of the Chamber of Commerce. It was so successful that members of the Home Products and Manufacturers Association resolved to perpetuate the or ganization and to separate it from the Chamber. C. E. Van Cleef Avas elected president, J. R. Harris, vice president, Paul B. Smith, secretary, and Carl Weihener, A. M. Lehr, D. C. Collins, G. G. Sohlberg, C. W. Rathbun, Bunn Booth, J. B. Klein, E. K. Fitzpatrick and Walter I. Crawford, directors. S. M. Gloyd was elected president of the Chamber at the December annual meeting, and he and James Chenoweth, H. C. Upsher, J. E. O'Neil, E. F. Bisbee, Fred T. Miller, John J. Iten, Ed S. Vaught, Joseph Huckins, Leon Levy and F. S. Lamb constituted the board of directors. 366 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Seymour Heyman, a former president of the Chamber, who, in fact, was credited with being its founder, died on June 20. The demise of no other man in the city was more profoundly or more generally regretted. He was a native of New York, had come West as a young man and lived in Law rence and Topeka, Kan., and had come to Oklahoma City in 1897, when he became a member of the clothing firm of Hey man & Goldstandt. He Avas the founder of the retail mer chants association, had been president of the baseball asso ciation, and the board of education and had taken an active part in every laudable public undertaking during his residence of fifteen years. He was an Elk and a Shriner and represen tatives of these lodges took part in the funeral ceremonies. In its resolution condoling his death, the Chamber of Commerce said: "In the capacity of president, director and member of the Chamber of Commerce he served the people Avith a self- sacrificing devotion that took no account of the demands of his own private interests, and in every move looking to the general good he could be and was relied upon for efficient and effective seiwice." A host of friends attended the funeral which was in general charge of a committee of the Chamber of Commerce consisting of O. P. Workman, G. B. Stone and C. F. Coleord. The general election on NoA"ember 5 resulted in Senator R. L. Owen defeating Judge J. T. Dickerson of Oklahoma City for United States senator, the defeat by Dick T. Morgan of Judge John J. Carney for Congress, the defeat by Ben F. Wilson of Dr. John Threadgill for the State Senate, the defeat by D. K. Pope of Al Jennings for county attorney, and the election of John Hayson, county judge, Harold Lee, clerk of the Superior Court, W. W. Storm, county clerk, M. Cor nelius, register of deeds, Mrs. Anna B. LoATe, superintendent of schools, Thomas Kirby, clerk of the District Court, George Baker, treasurer, and M. C. Binion, sheriff. L. E. Patterson and associates during the year sought an entrance for their street cars into the city along Robinson Avenue. An extended colloquy ensued that attracted public attention and when Mayor Grant and the commissioners re fused a permit for use of that thoroughfare, Patterson took the matter to court. When the case reached the Supreme FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH RESIDENCE OF W. R. RAMSEY THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 369 Court on appeal that tribunal held that only an ordinance adopted by the City Commission could grant the use of streets for a railway enterprise and that the election previously held, in Avhich Patterson was granted a franchise, was only ad visory. Mayor Grant contended that the election had not been held according to law and therefore Avas invalid. Three large churches were dedicated during the year. Four thousand persons attended the two services at the First Baptist Church on March 24th when the pastor, Dr. Carter Helm Jones, delivered two sermons of a dedicatoiy nature. On June 30th the First English Lutheran Church Avas dedi cated by the Rev. E. E. Stauffer, president of the Synod of Kansas. It was of Gothic architecture and the site and the building represented an outlay of $50,000. It contained three memorial windows, one of which was presented by A. H. Classen, another by Mrs. N. F. Gates and Mrs. John J. Weitzel in memory of their mother, and the third by four sons of Mrs. Mary Hansen, who had died recently. On October 20th the University Place Christian Church, located at Twenty-eighth Street and McKinley Avenue, was dedicated by ReA^. E. T. Lane, the pastor. Dr. Carter Helm Jones on July 7th submitted his resigna tion to his official board and announced that he had been called to a pastorate in Seattle. He was one of the most learned pastors, one of the greatest preachers and one of the most beloved men that had filled a pulpit in Oklahoma City, and this was attested by resolutions of the Chamber of Com merce, the Ministers Alliance, the Men's Dinner Club and the Virginia and Tennessee Societies asking him to reconsider. His successor was Dr. H. H. Hulton, who came from a pastorate at Charlotte, N. C. Theodore Roosevelt again visited the city this year, this time as the nominee of the progressive party for President. His coming worked a more marked division between the ranks of the Roosevelt and the Taft supporters. Alva McDonald of El Reno was chairman of the progressive party in the state. Nels Darling of Oklahoma City was among the party stump speakers of the campaign. J. A. Harris, who had been elected republican national committeeman, resigned as state chairman 370 THE- STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY during the campaign and was succeeded by Arthur Geissler of Oklahoma City Avho had been vice chairman. Other interesting happenings of the year included these : H. G. Eastman succeeded E. E. Brown as postmaster and the new half-million-dollar Federal Building was formally opened; Carlton M. Greenman, secretary of the Retailers Association, was elected assistant secretary of the Chamber of Commerce ; Robert Galbreath, then of Tulsa, defeated John B. Doolin of Oklahoma City for democratic national commit teeman ; Dr. Stratton D. Brooks of Boston was elected presi dent of the State University and was inaugurated' October 21st ; 109 students graduated from the high school ; the death of Mrs. Whit M. Grant, wife of the mayor, occurred on June 9th ; on July 1st, Fred T. Miller Avas appointed to succeed the late Seymour Heyman as a member of the Board of Educa tion and J. O. Mattison was elected president of the board; W. L. Bradley resigned as secretaiy to Mayor Grant and was succeeded by C. J. Kendle ; John Fields resigned as president of the Oklahoma State Fair Association and was succeeded by J. L. Wilkin ; the Rotary Club held its first annual banquet at the Skirvin Hotel, attended by 200 persons. Mr. Brown, later secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma City, was a resident of this city for more than a quarter of a century, and during this time Avas engaged in a variety of pursuits, in all of which he was connected more or less closely with the growing commercial and civic deATelop- ment. He Avas born in Wyandotte County, Ohio, July 17, 1861. He secured his early education in the public schools of his native locality, this being supplemented by a course at the Normal School at Paola, Kan., and thus prepared entered upon his career as an educator, being engaged in teaching- school for two years. In 1887 he moved to AAdiat was known as No Man's Land, a tract of land which had been ceded to the United States Covernment by Texas, in 1850, but which for a number of years had no government. This is now in cluded in Beaver County, Oklahoma, and there is probably no man in the state who is more familiar with the history of this interesting locality. He is considered an authority and has been frequently called upon to settle disputes regarding its THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 371 history. There he devoted his attention to newspaper work, for which his talents peculiarly fitted him, and it was in this same capacity that he made his appearance in Oklahoma City in July, 1889. Mr. Brown continued to be engaged in journalistic labors with several newspapers here until 1903, and in the meantime identified himself AArith politics, so that in 1895 he was ap pointed chief clerk of the Territorial Senate. His work in that body impressed itself favorably upon the administration, and in 1901 he was appointed territorial oil inspector, a posi tion which he held during that and the following years. He continued his newspaper connections while holding office, but in 1903 again entered public life, Avhen he was appointed postmaster of Oklahoma City, and retained that office until 1912, having at that time completely abandoned newspaper work. During his administration the service was greatly im proved, and he made a record which established him in the confidence of the people and gave him the reputation of being a man who could accomplish things. Always an enthusiastic booster of Oklahoma City's interests, when he left the post master's office in 1912, he Avas chosen as secretaiy of the Cham ber of Commerce. He has no membership in clubs or secret societies, and is unmarried. 1913— A PREACHER'S FAREWELL "I see an Oklahoma City of the future, a city beautiful, prosperous and happy; a city in which the spirit of Christ is like an adATance of summer awakening flowers, sympathy and love ; a center of every influence for good ; its business conducted by men who recognize the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man; its homes presided over by Godly, praying mothers; its citizens taught of the Lord from the least to the greatest." This was the farewell message of Dr. J. H. O. Smith, for six and a half years pastor of the First Christian Church, who resigned in November to accept a similar pastorate at Little Rock, Ark. It was the end of his last sermon delivered to his congregation on November 2d. Three days later he had a formal leave taking of the Chamber of Commerce, of which he was an active and devoted member, and the regret and the well wishes of the membership were expressed by President S. M. Gloyd. Later, in the parlors of the church, his pa rishioners and other city pastors bade him an affectionate goocl-bye. For the simple reason, no doubt, that Doctor Smith proba bly was the most human of popular pastors of the decade he was best loved inside and outside of his congregation. He was a genial and cordial gentleman to whom material diversions and unconventionalities strongly appealed, an excellent mixer, an apt and forceful speaker on any stump, a minister of un common virtues, a preacher of uncommon parts, and withal spiritual and always abounding in good works for the church. Next to his church he loved his city, and his city loved him, and it was with genuine regret that his city gave him up. The departure in May of this year of Dr. Thomas H. Harper, who for many years had been pastor of the Pilgrim Congregational Church, for Spokane, Wash., where a like pastorate awaited him, likewise Avas generally regretted. 373 374 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY Doctor Harper, an Eighty-Niner, during his residence of twenty-four years, and by ATirtue of that long residence, prob ably exercised a greater influence for good in citizenship, civics and government than any other preacher that lived in the city. If his influence ever was restricted, and there is little doubt that it was during the last few years of his resi dence, it was because of his partisanship in political matters. His friends led him into politics, several times nominating him for public office, and made him a target for the arrows of unscrupulous politicians. But those who knew him inti mately never countenanced a charge that he had less interest in political and civil reforms than in the honors that come to men in political and civic authority. It was during this year that politicians relieATed the city builders of the state capital issue. Politics had crept into it but once before. That was when GoA^ernor Haskell, ambi tious to succeed Robert L. Owen in the United States Senate, had on divers occasions tossed the issue this way and that for the approval and acclaim of Oklahoma City and her support ers over the state. Oklahoma City, howeA'er, if it felt under obligations to him, did not entirely fulfill them, for in the election of the preceding autumn it gaA^e Mr. Owen a con siderable majority. The first measure introduced in the Senate of the Legisla ture that convened in January of this year was a resolution by T. F. McMechan of the city providing that the Legislature on behalf of the state accept the land and money that had been offered by the Capitol Building Company. The Senate appointed a committee to investigate titles to the capitol tracts and on February 19th the committee recommended approval. On the following clay, United States District Judge W. H. Pope of New Mexico rendered a decision in the contest case of John Burton against the heirs of the estate of the Rev. Henry Howe in which he held that the heirs had legal title to the Henry Howe homestead. Burton had charged in his contest that the preacher Avas a "sooner." A second resolution touching the capital matter was in troduced by Senator C. F. Barrett of Shawnee, in Avhich he charged the Capitol Building Company with bad faith and breach of contract and authorized the attorney general to FIRST ENGLISH LUTHERAN CHURCH u Mill Hi FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 377 bring suit on the company's bond. The resolution Avas de feated. Senator John H. Burford of Guthrie introduced a measure providing that the state officials should be housed at Guthrie until the capitol Avas completed, and this was de feated. On March 6th the Senate passed the McMechaU resolution, and on March 15th it was passed by the House. Senator McMechan on April 15th introduced a bill creating a capitol commission to be composed of three members and appropriating- $1,000,000 for erection of the capitol. On May 2d a bill was passed by the House appropriating $750,000 for building purposes. A compromise bill finally passed the House on May 9th and the Senate on May 16th and was ap proved by Governor Cruce on May 23d. Under this bill the Senate selected P. J. Goulding of Enid, the House, W. B. Anthony of MarloAY, and the governor, Stephen A. Douglas of Ardmore, as a capitol commission. RepresentatiA'e J. E. Wyand of Muskogee and H. C. Swearing-en of Guthrie filed with the secretary of state a referendum petition praying that the capital bill recently enacted be referred to the people. The bill did not carry an emergency clause and would not become a law until October 3d. On December 9th, Justices R. W. Williams and M. J. Kane announced disqualifications for sitting in the hearing of the case which had been appealed from the secretaiy of state. GoA'ernor Cruce in January complied with the desire of the Senate and appointed an entirely new State Board of Educa tion and all appointments were confirmed on February 1st. The appointees were H. M. Duncan of Pauls Valley, H. C. Potterf of Ardmore, Frank J. Wikoff of Oklahoma City and Dr. F. B. Fife of Muskogee. Attorneys for the original board were granted an injunction by District Judge J. J. Carney forbidding the new board executing nevT textbook contracts. On behalf of the new board, Charles Moore, assistant attorney general, appealed the case to the Supreme Court. An unusual incident of the obseiwance of the state "s birth day this year was the placing of what was called a Century Chest in the foundation of the First English Lutheran Church. It Avas planned by the Ladies' Aid Society of the Lutheran congregation of which Mrs. George G. Sohlberg was presi- 378 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITYr dent, and the conception was that the chest should be opened 100 years from that date. Instructions to that effect were written on the chest's exterior. In it were placed articles of singular significance. Among them were speeches delivered during the evening program by Governor Lee Cruce and Mayor Whit M. Grant, phonograph records of the voices in song of Mrs. C. B. Ames, Mrs. W. B. Moore and M. K. Ben nett, a phonograph record of an address by Dr. A. C. Scott, and a manuscript containing instructions to those Avho open the box on April 22, 2013. This bore a prayer that is to be repeated by those participating in the opening ceremony and it directed that the speech of GoA'ernor Cruce should be read to the assemblage by the then governor of the state and the speech of Mayor Grant read by the then mayor of the city. In his speech Mayor Grant said: "I am conscious that we are making ancestors of ourselves tonight. We are fur nishing a text and a message from which one hundred years from today descendants will take a measure of their ancestors. This is the first time in history, I suppose, that an eATening's program was prepared one hundred years before its perform ance. It was the thought of a genius and that genius is Mrs. Virginia Tucker Sohlberg. An April evening of 2013 will be athrob with the life of a buried clay. Voices and presences will be there from far across the century. We are tonight laying fairy bridgework that Avill span a century of time. We are forging a bond whose binding power will bring in close communication the lusty living and the distant dead. We, pioneers of Oklahoma City, send our greeting across the cen tury to men and Avomen of 2013. We, aaIio shall have long been dust before this message falls upon your ears, salute you ! ' ' The incidents of this night were vividly recalled less than ninety clays later when Mrs. Sohlberg passed to her reward. Resolutions favoring Oklahoma taking a conspicuous part in the forthcoming Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Fran cisco were adopted by the Eighty-Niners Association at its annual meeting. Jack Love, chairman of the Corporation Commission, was elected president of the association. John L. Mitch was elected vice president, Robert Parman, secre tary, and Fred Sutton, treasurer. Representatives of the association a feAv Aveeks later took part in a reproduction of THE STORYr OF OKLAHOMA CITY 379 the "run" of 1889 at Lincoln Park, staged for the camera that the picture might be reproduced in San Francisco. An association had been formed to take charge of prepara tion for Oklahoma's part in the exposition, and Justice Jesse Dunn of the Supreme Court, then sojourning in California, and Miss Gail Johnson Sipes of Oklahoma City Avere author ized by the association to select a site for an Oklahoma build ing. Many thousands of feet in cinema film were made for the "picture shoAv" of the Oklahoma Building, and these ex hibited all manner of life, style, architecture, products, thoroughfares, industries and landscapes. A statewide brick- sale campaign Avas carried on by which to raise funds for transporting and housing the exhibits. On September 13th, Roy Oakes resigned as secretarAr of the Exposition Commis sion and was succeeded by A. R. Turner of Oklahoma City. In the April election Guy Blackwelder was reelected com missioner of public Avorks, defeating Henry M. Scales, a former mayor. J. T. Highley was reelected commissioner of public safety, defeating O. A. Mitscher. The progressive party for the first time nominated candidates for municipal offices. Fred Peckham was its nominee for commissioner of public, works and Orin Ashton for commissioner of public safety. Guy V. Buchanan of Joplin, Mo., was this year elected superintendent of schools to succeed W. A. Brandenburg, who retired to accept the position of president of a state normal college at Pittsburg, Kan. Patience ceased to be a virtue with the Oklahoma City Terminal Raihvay Company while it awaited word from offi cials of the Missouri, Oklahoma & Gulf Railway Company that it was ready to contract for construction of a road from Henryetta to Oklahoma City, and on September 16th the terminal company advised the railway company that unless the contract Avas executed at once the latter Avould forfeit the bonus of $75,000 that had been raised. On November 5th the terminal company announced its readiness to return the money subscribed to the bonus fund, and it was only a feAV months later that the railway company passed into the hands of a receiver. The terminal company had on deposit in banks nearly forty-four thousand dollars of money received from a 380 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY bond issue, which remained to be disposed of. Officials of the terminal company, which was created to receive and make disposition of the railroad bonus, were George G. Sohlberg, president, R. M. Gardner, secretary, W. V. Hardie, assistant secretaiy, and 0. P. Workman, treasurer. At a AAride awake luncheon of the Chamber of Commerce on October 23d the body heard an illuminating address on the subject of the possibilities of irrigation in Oklahoma, de livered by H. M. Cottrell, agricultural commissioner of the Rock Island Railway Company. It rekindled the booster fervor of former inspirational gatherings and the body went on record faAToring an irrigation project for the ATicinity of this city, and President Gloyd appointed a committee to make a survey of the underground water supply. Commissioner Cottrell promised to send his railroad engineers down to assist in the enterprise. The meeting was addressed also by United States Senator Gore. Since a democratic national administration had been installed in March and a ATacancy existed, or was about to exist, in the Interstate Commerce Commission, Frank J. Wikoff at this luncheon nominated George Henshaw, a member of the Corporation Commission, for appointment to a seat in the national body. The nomi nation was seconded by J. H. Johnston. At the regular annual banquet of the Chamber this year, attended by 500 persons, an address was delivered by Willis L. Moore, chief officer of the United States Weather Bureau. On April 15th, W. B. Moore resigned as secretary-manager and was succeeded by W. V. Hardie, secretary of the Okla homa Traffic Association. Three interurban cars were filled with guests of the Okla homa Railway Company on November 14th on the initial run of cars into Norman. They were met by a large crowd of Norman residents and students of the State University and a welcoming meeting was held in the street. The welcoming address was delivered by Judge W. L. Eagleton, president of the Norman Chamber of Commerce, and the response by Frank J. Wikoff of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Com merce. Other speeches Avere made by Dr. Phil 0. Baird of the First Presbyterian Church of Oklahoma City, John Shartel, general manager of the railway company, Dr. SKIRVIN HOTEL THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 383 Stratton D. Brooks, president of the State University, and George HenshaAV, a member of the corporation commission. With an appropriation of $75,000, provided by the Legisla ture, a commission composed of Governor Cruce, Secretaiy of State Harrison and State Treasurer Dunlop paid for and ac cepted a silver seiwice that was to be presented next year to the commanding officer of the Battleship Oklahoma, comple tion of which was to be announced within a feAV months. The seiwice consisted of sixty-seATen pieces Aveighing 223 pounds sterling. On the handle of one piece Avas engraA^ed a likeness of Sequoyah, inventor of the Cherokee alphabet. On the handle of another was a likeness of DaAld L. Payne, the chief of Oklahoma boomers. On the punch bowl Avas an engraved reproduction of a picture of the "run" in 1889, and on another part of it the great seal of state. The front elevation of the capitol soon to be erected was depicted on a large tray that bore the service. Governor Cruce announced that his daughter Lorena would be selected to christen the dreadnaught. The year AA^as notable for the number of resignations of officials. On February 11th, William Tighlman resigned as chief of police and announced himself a candidate for ap pointment as United States marshal. He was succeeded by Jerome D. Jones whom Mayor -Grant appointed. On Febru ary 12th, Leo Meyer resigned at state auditor and GoATernor Cruce appointed J. C. McClelland of Oklahoma City to suc ceed him. On March 18th, Senator J. B. Thompson of Pauls Valley resigned from the Senate preparatory to taking his seat in Congress, to which he had been elected from the state at large. On April 28th, A. L. Welch of Purcell was appointed by Governor Cruce to succeed P. A. Ballard vlio had resigned as state insurance commissioner. Justice Jesse J. Dunn re signed from the Supreme Court on August 12th, announcing that he expected to become a resident of Oakland, Cal., and GoArernor Cruce appointed Judge R. H. LoofbourroAv of Woodward to fill the vacancy. A reorganization of the Real Estate Dealers Association was perfected this }^ear and steps vrere taken to carry on a campaign of publicity for the city and to assist the railroads in stimulating immigration. L. C. McClure was elected presi dent, and the directors were E. L. Aurelius, Dr. G. A. Nichols, 384 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY J. W. Mann, Dr. A. C. Enochs, C. F. Coleord, L. D. Right, Charles B. Cooke, J. W. Pryer, G. H. Brauer and A. R. Nelson. A mild condemnation of the referendum, vouchsafed by the constitution, as a provision of a city charter Avas ex pressed at a meeting of officials of commission-governed cities held here January 15th, in response to a call of Mayor Grant. Objections were found also to the recall provision of charters. This was the first meeting of the kind in the history of the state and it resulted in the election of E. S. Ratliff, mayor of Ada, as president ; Guy Blackwelder, commissioner of public- works of Oklahoma City, secretary ; and P. P. Duffy, mayor of El Reno, vice president. The discussions were timely so far as Mayor Grant was concerned, for twice already efforts had been made to effect his recall. His was a business ad ministration and approved by business men, but it was in dis favor with political charter enemies and organizations that complained of lax enforcement of ordinances against liquor and gambling. The Central Hundred, an organization com posed principally of churchmen and headed by John Embry, formerly United States district attorney, was perfected, and its members were instructed to use their influence for the enforcement of city, county and state laws. Other events of the year included the following: The House of Representatives of the Legislature, of which J. H. Maxey was speaker, passed a resolution f aAToring the appoint ment of Judge R. A. Rogers of Oklahoma City as secretary of the interior ; Elmer E. Houghton, an Eighty-Niner, a veteran of the Spanish- American war and the OAAmer of much county and city property, died on June 12 ; Hubert L. Bolen, a repre sentative in the Legislature from Oklahoma County and who had managed the campaign for Senator Owen the previous year, received notice of his appointment as internal reA'enue collector for Oklahoma; Clarke C. Hudson, one of the new members of the board of education, was elected its president ; on October 21st announcement was made that the North Canadian Valley Railway Company, of which John Shartel Avas general manager, had purchased the railway interests of L. E. Patterson and associates and that the purchase meant in effect a consolidation Avith the Classen railway interests; THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 385 on October 24th, Dr. J. Q. Newell was appointed United States marshal of the Western District to succeed Cash M. Cacle; J. E. Wilkin was elected president of the State Fair Associa tion; G. B. Stone, vice president; J. F. Warren, treasurer, and I. S. Mahan, secretaiy. Vol. 1—2 5 < i- US o 1914— THE CENTRAL HUNDRED Whether law violations were more numerous and more notorious this year than in former years or only appeared to be through revelations made to the public is not ascertainable. It is certain that the public conscience was livelier and public outcry for intenser efforts at law enforcement was vastly more evident and much more insistent than formerly. The Central Hundred, an association of churchmen principally, which was organized in the preceding year, wielded a tre mendous influence in behalf of law and order, public morals and public decency. While its motives sometimes were doubted in high places and criminations Avere indulged by its enemies, there is no doubt that a great majority of its members were righteousty conscientious and moved by commendable desires. On the other hand, its activities no doubt ran counter to the activities of others whose endeavors were equally well grounded in morals but trended an entirely different route to ward results. A detailed review of the year's reform move ments would inevitably force a conclusion in the mind of a nonresident that the city had become unpardonably bad. Doubtless currents of lawlessness in the lower strata of the city's life had been set off from shore by the defeat of the pro posed repeal of the prohibition article of the constitution. Color was lent to this presumption AAdren advocates of local option, undismayed by defeat, resolved to maintain an organ ization, hoping that a time would be found opportune to again submit the matter to the people of the state. A severe criticism of Mayor Grant was contained in the substance of the proceedings of a January meeting of the Central Hundred, and on January 29th, Fred S. Caldwell, counsel for the organization, filed with the city clerk the necessary form of affidaA'it as a basis for initiating a recall petition. The affidavit charged that the mayor had been 389 390 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY derelict iu enforcing laws against the sale of intoxicating liquor and gambling. Mayor Grant replied to the charge in a statement addressed "to the people of Oklahoma City," in which he told of the handicaps of the administration. It was difficult, he said, for officers to locate the scenes of operations of law violators because of lookouts being stationed advan tageously by violators to report the presence of officers. The people had demanded an economical administration, which he was striving earnestly to give them, he said, and he deemed it inadvisable to concentrate his police force against violators of this kind to the exclusion of regular duties that required all of their time. He defended what he termed a commend able record for laAv enforcement, expressed a doubt that offi cials ever would be able to cope successfully with the hip- pocket bootlegger, and recommended that county officials take a lead in enforcing the anti-liquor and anti-gambling laws because of their ability to secure and maintain injunctions against violators and their places of business. Sentiment created by the Central Hundred's propaganda was in a measure responsible for Mayor Grant's demanding the resignation of Police Chief Jones and the appointment of Shirley Dyer as successor. Jones declined to submit his resignation and both he and Dyer reported for duty. This controATersy was terminated ten days later when Dyer resigned and Webb Jones was appointed. The public did not impugn the motives of men who, dur ing this period of the revolt of the churchmen, organized the United Civics Association, but a considerable percentage of the public condoned what they conceived to be the inoppor- tuneness of the association. And this belief was intensified when the association in a call for a meeting asserted that "there never was a time in history aaIicii a display of common sense and courage Avas more needed, Avhen cheap politicians, and fake reformers Avere making themselves so conspicuous, to the injury of Oklahoma's material prosperity and ad- A'ancement." Henry Crosby Avas president of the association, A. M. Goldstant, vice president, and F. B. Johnson, seeretaiw- treasurer. When there were signs of the disappearance of clouds of conflict and of an improvement in public morals, "Queenie" si o THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 393 came to town. Queenie was a dancing girl, imported for entertainment of delegates to a cattlemen's convention. It would appear from the rag-tag of street conversation, which was repeated and spread until it encompassed the city, that Queenie performed unethically for the cattlemen and their Oklahoma City host. This was among the reasons for the creation of the Women 's Council of Oklahoma City on March 16. Other reasons were the interest the women had in gen eral reforms. Its president was Mrs. S. Ditzell, its vice presidents Mrs. John Threadgill and Mrs. C. M. Steffer, its recording secretary, Mrs. Michael Conlan, its corresponding secretar)7, Mrs. W. P. Cochran, its treasurer, Mrs. Tracy Robinson, and its parliamentarian, Mrs. William Kelley. Representatives of several law and order organizations conferred with the governor. They discussed conditions gen erally and in particular protested against race-track gambling- being permitted during a forthcoming race meet. The gov ernor said to them that if necessary he would order out state troops to prevent gambling. Shortly after that the hand of the gOA'ernor was visible in clean-up operations, Attorney General Charles West appearing in the District Court to assist the county attorney in the prosecution of two men charged with gambling. John Embry, president of the Cen tral Hundred, represented that body in the prosecution. In the meantime Sheriff M. C. Binion and his flying squadrons of deputies were diligently pursuing law Auolators, Mayor Grant and his police department were increasing their activ ities, and wholesome results were being obtained. Attorney General West, haAdng secured convictions in the gambling- cases, continued to harass law violators. He instituted suit for $8,000 against the OAvners of one of the city's largest office buildings, charging that rooms were leased for law vio lation purposes. From the city hall came the next move. It was made by Col. J. W. Johnson, municipal counsellor, who applied to District Judge J. J. Carney for an injunction restraining operation of turf exchanges. It was granted, but later dis missed, and Attorney General West, taking a hand, joined Colonel Johnson in an application for another hearing. County Attorney D. K. Pope resented the apparent officiousness of 394 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY the attorney general and said in effect that the latter should continue to relieve him of enforcing the "anti-liquor and anti- gambling laAvs, to Avhich Mr. West replied, "It's your duty; you do it." Whereupon the Central Hundred administered a rebuke to the county attorney. More stringent laAvs relating to bootlegging and gambling Avere approved by the peojMe of the state in the August elec tion and Governor Cruce on September 16 issued a procla mation declaring them in effect. During the remainder of the year there Avas peace and the gradual restoration of good will. By a breath-taking margin the city escaped another cap ital campaign this year. A decision of the Supreme Court saved them. Representative J. E. Wyand of Muskogee and Henry Swearingen of Guthrie, it will be recalled, had filed with the secretary of state a petition asking for a referendum to the people of the last act of the Legislature touching the capital issue. The constitution proAddes that such a petition must be filed within ninety days after the adjournment of the session of the Legislature during which the act was passed. These petitioners, belieAung that the session had been officially terminated on July 5 timed their filing toward the extreme end of an ensuing ninety-day period. Secretaiy of State Ben jamin F. Harrison declined to act upon the petition and the petitioners appealed to the Supreme Court. That tribunal had before it the question of the exact and legal date of the adjournment of the Legislature. The court was shown a rec ord of the House, having on June 30th adopted a concurrent resolution proAuding for adjournment until July 5, and a record of the Senate having on July 1 adopted the resolution. The resolution prcwided that should there not be a quorum present on July 5, the speaker of the House and the president of the Senate should declare the session adjourned Avithout clay. The court held that the Legislature Avas without author ity to delegate the matter of adjournment to a minority and that the session legally ended on July 1, Avherefore the filing of the capital petition fell Avithout the ninety-day period. Charles F. Coleord, president of the Chamber of Com merce, issued a public statement on March 17 advisino- the people that the city was behind over $53,000 in collections VIEW OF SKYSCRAPERS FROM THE AVHOLESALE DISTRICT THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 397 to pay a balance due the state under a rental and expense agreement, and he asked Mayor Grant to proclaim a holiday that solicitors might ha\Te right of way for a final carrvass. The amount was raised in clue time and on June 5, State Treasurer Dunlop gaATe Mr. Coleord the state's official receipt showing the debt paid in full. With appropriate exercises and in the presence of a large crowd the first dirt was turned in construction of the capitol on July 20. Governor Cruce, who made an address, opened the soil with a pick presented to him by J. E. O'Neil, manager of the Richards & Conover Hardware Company, and W. B. Anthony, chairman of the capitol commission, dug deeper into the soil Avith a silver shoArel presented to him by the Simmons Hardware Company of St. Louis. The Chamber of Commerce was represented by Ed S. Vaught, who delivered the second address of the day. Former Justice Jesse J. Dunn of the Oklahoma Supreme Court came from his California home in August with author ity to speak for officials of the Panama-Pacific Exposition Company and he urged Oklahoma to make the best possible showing at San Francisco. On December 8, C. H. Russell, then secretary-treasurer of the Oklahoma exposition com mission and who had been responsible for much of the interest manifested, resigned. He Avas succeeded by Mrs. Fred Sut ton, one of the organizers of the company. In this enterprise, as in many another since the founding of the city, Mrs. Sut ton concentrated her best thought and effort. When in July the Tax Efficienc}7 League discoA>ered, ac cording to its best lights, that the city government's expense budget for the ensuing year seemed entirely too high, it sent its president, Judge B. F. Burwell, to confer with the mayor. J. H. Johnston, an official of the league, had reported that the budget totaled $125,000 more than in the preAuous year. By reason of the league's insistence some reductions were ob tained. One of the objects of the league, which had been formed but recently, was to secure an amendment to the city charter to create the office of city manager. A committee appointed by Judge BurAvell to prepare amendments consisted of E. H. Cooke. R. A. Vose, C. E. Bennett, J. P. Martin and M. D. Scott. The object, said Mayor Grant in a public state- 398 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY ment expressing his disapproval, was to create a position for Mr. Johnston. It was generally believed at this time that efforts to secure sufficient water from wells to supply the city's requirements were doomed to failure, and this belief Avas strengthened on November 8 of this year when F. H. Newell, chief of the United States Reclamation Service, expressed positive dis approval of well projects. Mr. Newell spent the day here as a guest of City Commissioner W. H. Hampton and Water Superintendent J. W. Bennett and continued his journey to Lawton where he irrvestigated for the GoArernment the moun tain source of water supply for that city and Fort Sill. Ar tesian wells are for small towns and not for cities, he said, and he pointed out that Dallas and Deuver had been compelled to seek supplies elseAvhere. The hope of a city, he said, is in the storage of flood water. The opinion of the reclamation service chief was responsible in large measure for the city later securing its permanent Avater supply from a reseiwoir created by the damming and dredging of the North Canadian River. Several district good roads associations were merged this year into the first permanent Oklahoma Good Roads Associa tion, of which W. J. Milburn of Johnston County and later a resident of the city, was elected president, and Alfred Hare of Oklahoma City, secretaiy. The subject of good roads had been an abstract one, in spite of the efforts of I. M. Putnam, Mr. Milburn and others in the Legislature and of Col. Sidney Suggs, state highway commissioner, to educate the public to appreciate advantages of improved highways. More or less sporadic efforts at state organization had been made dur ing the preceding f eAv years ; and it Avas about this time that motor-car concerns, Avhich had been carrying on an unprece dented business, offered encouragement and support to the movement. Delegates from A-arious parts of the state attended this meeting, and they Avere welcomed in speeches by Presi dent Coleord of the Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Grant. Among them was Col. A. N. Leecraft, afterAvards state treas urer. A resolution Avas adopted at the annual meeting of the stockholders of the Oklahoma State Fair Association in No- RESIDENCE OF C. F. COLCORD RESIDENCE OF H. OVERHOLSER THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 401 vember authorizing the directors to increase the capital stock from $100,000 to $250,000. The fair had maintained the re markable growth that characterized its first few years and had become beyond peradventure a permanent and necessary institution. J. F. Warren was reelected president and G. B. Stone, vice president, and I. H. Mahan, secretaiy. J. M. Owen was elected treasurer. Some other important eATents of the year were these : Elmer E. Brown, a pioneer of the city, an early-daj7 publisher, re cently superseded as postmaster, and altogether one of the city's worthiest and most progressive citizens, became secre tary of the Chamber of Commerce ; on March 10, Justice R. L. Williams resigned from the Supreme Court to enter the race for governor and was succeeded by Stilwell H. Russell of Ardmore who was appointed by GoA^ernor Cruce, the new justice serving, however, only until May 16, when he died; on April 14, John Fields was nominated on the republican ticket for go\rernor and Judge John H. Burford for United States senator ; a little later John P. Hickam of Stillwater was nomi nated on the progressive ticket for governor and J. M. Morrow of Oklahoma City for lieutenant gOA7ernor ; in the November election, Judge Williams was chosen governor, E. M. Trapp, lieutenant governor, T. P. Gore, United States senator, W. L. Alexander, state treasurer, E. B. Howard, state auditor, Frank Gault, president of the state board of agriculture, A. L. Welch, state insurance commissioner, William Ashton, state labor commissioner, W. D. Matthews, commissioner of charities and corrections, S. P. Freeling, attorney general, Eel Boyle, chief mine inspector, R. H. Wilson, state super intendent of education, Fred Parkinson, state examiner and inspector, J. L. Lyon, secretary of state, A. P. Watson, cor poration commissioner, W. M. Franklin, clerk of the Supreme Court, Summers Hardy, J. F. Sharp and G. A. Brown, jus tices of the Supreme Court, and James R. Armstrong, justice of the Criminal Court of Appeals. On August 18, occurred the death of J. A. J. Baugus, an Eighty-niner and former county superintendent of schools; and on December 7, oc curred the death of Col. J. W. Johnson, municipal counsellor. at the age of sixty-seA^en, his death marking the passage of a prominent and useful citizen, since the founding of the city. Vol. 1—2 6 1915— PASSING OF PIONEERS Three of the city's pioneers, all of them men of promi nence, who had had a conspicuous part in commercial, civic and religious progress, passed away during the year. In the matter of leadership in paramount enterprises, and particu larly in the quality of executiveship, Henry Overholser doubt less was the chief of these. The others Avere Dr. John Thread gill and Judge H. Y. Thompson. Mr. Overholser 's death occurred on August 24, after a prolonged illness that caused his absolute retirement from business. He was one of less than a dozen men of '89, ac counted business leaders of the early years, who lived through the succeeding quarter century and retained a position among the leaders. He Avas born in Ohio in 1846 and had come West as a young man. As one of the early settlers of the city he built the first hotel and the first theater. To him was credited the ' first suggestion of the organization of a county fair, Avhich was the initial step toward organization of the State Fair Association. He was one of the promoters of the Chamber of Commerce which succeeded the Oklahoma City Club and his was the first name written on the member ship roll. Representative men of the city were genuinely deA^oted to him and to the policies he so long adATocated, and through them was reflected a city-wide sentiment of regret over his demise. Dr. J. G. Street, acting for the absent mayor, issued a proclamation asking business houses and offices to close and that flags be flown at half mast during the period of the funeral. Exercises were conducted at the First Christian Church by the Hev. E. C. Van Horn, pastor. The pallbearers were A. H. Classen, C. F. Coleord, W. J. Pettee, John Fields, E. H. Cooke, B. F. Burwell, E. E. Brown, R. J. Edwards, J. L. Wilkin and J. F. Warren. Appropriate resolutions adopted by the Chamber of Commerce Avere drafted by a 403 404 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY committee consisting of Ed S. Vaught, S. L. Brock, J. E. O 'Neil, Frank Wikoff and James Chenoweth. Dr. John Threadgill died May 14. He was not a pioneer of Oklahoma City, as pioneers were designated in these days, having come here in 1901, but he had come to the territoiy in 1895, six years after the opening. His influence as a citizen of the territory Avas kindred to that of the metropolis; for the latter had been, and still is, so inseparably a part of the territory that it would be impossible to write a history of one without drawing largely upon the more or less A'enerable sources of the other. A natiA^e of North Carolina, Dr. Thread gill, after sojourning for a feAV years in Brenham and Taylor, Texas, settled in Norman, Okla., in 1895, and established a sanitarium. Although a veteran of the Confederacy, he was a sincere republican and his party twice sent him to the Ter ritorial Council (upper house of the Legislature). In 1905 he was appointed a member of the territorial board of edu cation. Coming to Oklahoma City, he was one of the organ izers and was first president of the Commercial National Bank. Later he was a director of the State National Bank. In 1903 he was president of the city board of education. At Second and Broadway he built a hotel that for many years bore his name. Newspapers of that day spoke of the struc ture as being one of the finest in the Southwest. He was in tensely devoted to the interests of the A^eterans of the Lost Cause and for many years his wTas a familiar figure at their state and national reunions. On July 19th, ATeterans of the state assembled at St. Luke 's Church to do honor to his mem ory. Addresses were delivered by Gov. R. L. Williams. Gen. D. M. Hailey of McAlester and others. Judge Thompson, who in the previous autumn election had been elected county attorney, died on April 16th, at the aee of sixty-two. Although a native of Ohio, the many and varied scenes of his career lay in the Middle and Farther West. He went to Portland, Oregon, as a young man, studied law and seA'en times in succession was elected prosecuting attorney of that county. Later for several years he Avas attornev for the Great Northern Railway Company. He came to Oklahoma City in, 1903 and thereafter was actiAre in public and pro fessional life. In 1907 he Avas president of the Chamber of EDWARD OVERHOLSER THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 407 Commerce. In 1913 he was assistant to County Attorney D. K. Pope and in the campaign of 1914 defeated Herbert Peck, the democratic nominee, for county attorney. The corner stone of the Capitol was laid with Masonic and public ceremony on November 16th, the eighth anniversary of the advent of statehood. A proclamation concerning it Avas issued by GoA^ernor Williams on November 9th and the Cham ber of Commerce and other organizations arranged to take part in the exercises. These consisted of a parade initiated in the business district and extended to the Capitol site, Masonic ceremonies led by E. A. Monroney, most worshipful grand master of the Masonic Lodge, addresses by Governor Williams and Chief Justice M. J. Kane, a prayer by Bishop F. K. Brooke and a song entitled "Oklahoma," by the Apollo Club. The occasion warranted a partial holiday and thou sands of persons witnessed the ceremonies and heard the ad dresses. Former State Senator P. J. Goulding of Enid was, on March 23d, elected chairman of the Capitol Commission. The governor at that time, showing appreciation of the Altai in terest that residents of the city entertained, appointed an advisory committee of citizens whose duty was to assist the commission in the selection of plans, consideration of esti mates and the awarding of contracts. This committee con sisted of E. K. Gaylord, Joseph Huckins and Ed S. Vaught of Oklahoma City and also H. W. Gibson of Muskogee and Thomas Hale of McAlester. A law passed by the Legislature early in the year provided that the commission should meet only on call of the chairman or of the governor. In June, the commission, with consent of the advisory committee, awarded a contract for construction of the building to James Stewart & Company of New York, the contract price being slightly over $1,500,000. John H. Frederickson, a brother of George Frederickson of Oklahoma City, was appointed construction superintendent. The chief political events of the year were the inaugura tion of Judge Williams as governor, in which the city's society participated, and the election and inauguration of Edward Overholser as mayor. The first appointment made by the governor was of A. N. Leecraft of Colbert as his secretary. 408 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY J. L. Lyon of Oklahoma City, who had been elected secretaiy of state largely through the influence of organizations of trav eling salesmen, of Avhich he was a member, took his office with other state officials on January 11th and selected Charles McCafferty, former treasurer of Oklahoma County, as his chief assistant. Governor Williams in his message to his first Legislature, which convened in January, recommended an appropriation of $5,000 for paying expenses of Oklahoma's exhibit at the Panama-Pacific Exposition. William A. Durant introduced a bill appropriating $6,000 for that purpose. It was passed by the House but rejected by the Senate. Mr. Overholser, a son of the distinguished pioneer, Henry Overholser, was elected mayor over W. D. Gault, the demo cratic nominee. Fifteen years earlier, W. J. Gault, father of this candidate, defeated Henry OA7erholser for mayor. Mike Donnally was elected commissioner of accounting and finance, defeating Robert Parman, the republican nominee, and Dr. J. G. Street was elected commissioner of public property, clef eat ing H. G. Eastman, late postmaster, the republican nominee. J. B. Norton was the independent nominee for mayor and W. R. Gallion, the socialist nominee. Byron D. Shear was selected by the mayor as municipal counsellor to succeed Judge W. R. Taylor, who had been ap pointed as the successor of the late Col. J. W. Johnson. Mr. Shear, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, had been clerk of the United States District Court under Judge B. F. Burwell from 1898 to statehood and since that time had practiced his profession. On recommendation of a large num ber of bankers, business men and professional men, John E. Dickson was appointed city treasurer. Loyal J. Miller suc ceeded O. L. Price as municipal judge, and W. B. Nichols was named chief of police. A mardi gras ball Avas the important feature of the enter tainment of the Eighty-niners Association this year, and pre ceding it was the annual banquet. Governor Williams and his staff attended the festivities and the governor croAvned the queen of the ball, Miss Caroline Coleord, who had been se lected for the honor in a popularity contest conducted by the Women of Eighty-nine. The king, her attendant, was Eii- THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 409 gene Whittington. Officers elected by the association were C. F. Coleord, president, W. O. Church, vice president, A. L. Welch, secretary, and Fred Sutton, treasurer. Directors were J. M. Owen, J. J. Weitzel, A. H. Classen and W. J. Pettee. The war in Europe, which began in the previous year, was spreading its tentacles across the seas, and in Oklahoma City, as everywhere else in the Nation, preparedness was a topic of important discussion. President Wilson in December issued a statement favoring some form and measure of prepared ness. The Women of Eighty-nine was the first organization in the state to express an opinion on the subject. It adopted a resolution and forwarded a copy to the President and to each member of the Oklahoma delegation in Congress in which it asserted that "as mothers and wives we abhor and deplore war in all its details; we are loath to give up our husbands and sons for cannon fodder; but if compelled to defend our country and our homes, we demand such a measure of pre paredness as will give them the fighting chance to which they are entitled." Oklahoma women had for ten years been as forward in literary and civic enterprises as had women of the other states, but, with a few exceptional instances, they had sought ' little recognition in public affairs. They had been content prin cipally with fostering civic pride through the planting of trees and the beautifying of parks and Avith the conduct of the public schools and the churches and the building and oper ation of the public library. Several efforts to create a state wide interest in woman suffrage had failed, although a few faithful ones in the cause never let the fires burn low. But the city had now become a playground of joyriders and a center of picture-show enthusiasm and festivities. Jazz had not been defined but its symptoms had been experienced in their incipiency. The women were the first to sense the need of reform in the character of pictures exhibited, and when "Inspiration" was flashed upon the screen and became the subject of street-corner conversation, they organized, under direction of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and marched upon the city's capitol. They asked Mayor Overhol ser to appoint a censor board. The mayor replied that he himself would be censor, and he had an ordinance passed 410 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY granting him that authority and forbidding tne exhibition of pictures calculated to corrupt public or private morals. The mayor fared forth upon a new mission. The first exercise of authority took place on the east side where he barred "In spiration" from a negro picture house. The new board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce in January chose E. K. Gaylord, president; Ed S. Vaught, Alee president ; R. J. Edwards, second vice president, and D. W. Hogan, treasurer. Mr. Gaylord announced that he had in mind a year of get-acquainted activities, and these he ac counted of as great moment as efforts to secure enterprises of the equal of the packing plants and the state capitol. Owing to the call of business that kept him out of the city for sev eral months, Mr. Gaylord resigned on November 1st and the directors elected Mr. Vaught to seiwe out the unexpired term. At the regular December meeting for that purpose a new board of directors for the ensuing year was chosen, consisting of E. H. Slack, William Mee, E. S. Malone, Fred S. Gum, I. S. Mahan, Ed S. Vaught, R. A. Vose, G. A. Nichols, G. G Kerr and J. M. Bass. Since Oklahoma City had been aAATarded the capital and had received a large Arote over the eastern part of the state, Muskogee, then the leading city of the east side, felt that Oklahoma City should not begrudge it the honor of being the seat of a State Fair recognized by law and supported by appropriations of the Legislature. Directors of the State Fair Association had not asked recognition of the Legisla ture nor had the Chamber of Commerce, but both this year found themselves facing a fight to preATent Muskogee getting recognition by the state. The fight was proA^oked by a bill introduced in the House by Representative N. B. Maxey of Muskogee which proposed official recognition of a fair con ducted at Muskogee and making appropriations for buildings and to pay premiums. The bill failed of passage, but that was not by any means the end of Muskogee's efforts ; indeed, she in later years was rewarded with a measure of victory. Claude Weaver, whose term as a member of Congress ex pired March 4th, was appointed postmaster to succeed H. G. Eastman who submitted his resignation on February 17th. Mr. Weaver was installed on April 1st. Some other appoint- EPWORTH METHODIST CHURCH (ORIGINALLY EPAVORTH UNIVERSITY) THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 413 ments of the year were these : J. D. Lankf ord, Avho was state bank commissioner during the administration of Governor Cruce, was reappointed by Governor Williams ; W. R. Samuel of Vinita, who later for a number of }rears was secretary of the Oklahoma Bankers Association in Oklahoma City, was appointed a member of the state banking board ; A. L. Walker, who later Avas a member of the corporation commission, Avas appointed chairman of the state election board ; John Embry, of Central Hundred fame and who had been United States district attorney, was appointed county attorney for the un expired term of the late H. Y. Thompson ; R. J. Edwards, for some years one of the leading bond dealers of the state, Ava^ elected president of the city board of education; Dr. LeRoy Long of McAlester, Avho subsequently was a representative physician of the city, was appointed dean of the medical de partment of the State University, succeeding Dr. C. R. Day of Oklahoma City. Other outstanding eA'ents of the year included these: It was announced in January that bank deposits on the first of the year had totaled $111,000,000, an increase of twenty per cent over the total of that date in the preceding year ; a pro posed bond issue of $240,000 for water extensions was de feated June 15th; on June 27th, it was announced that Dr. R. A. Chase Avas to retire as pastor of the First Methodist Church and that his successor would be Dr. I. F. Roach of Madison, Wis., to whose pulpit Doctor Chase had been as signed; on July 17th, the State National Bank absorbed the City State Bank and W. D. Caldwell of the latter was elected a vice president of the former, and among the new directors of the State National was E. W. Sinclair of Tulsa; Justice G. A. Brown of the Supreme Court, one of the ablest laAv- yers and jurists of the state, died on October 25th and his body was sent to Mangum, his home, for burial, and Governor Williams appointed Charles M. Thacker of Mangum to fill the vacancy. Henry Overholser was born April 20, 1846, on a farm near Dayton, Ohio, Avhere his childhood and youth were spent. In his young manhood he spent several years in Indiana, after Avhich he settled at Ashland, Wis., Avhere he engaged in busi ness. He came to Oklahoma City when the country was first 414 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY opened to settlement, bringing several carloads of building material Avith which a number of small frame business struc tures were erected. From the first he was recognized as a leader in the affairs of the new community, where his keen, shrewd business judgment often helped to tide over times of troubles and perplexity. One day in July, 1893, two of the four banks in Oklahoma City closed their doors and a heavy run soon started on a third bank. Mr. Overholser was one of the bondsmen of the territorial treasurer. He hurried to Guthrie and demanded every dollar in the treasury for deposit in the distressed bank. The treasurer had only $5,000, which was on deposit in the Guthrie banks. It was drawn out in silver and gold coins and placed in sacks. Other coin sacks were filled with iron washers. When Mr. Overholser returned to Oklahoma City he was accompanied by four or five men, each carrying two heavy sacks. The first of the sacks to reach the paying teller's Avindow were opened and the yellow and AAdiite coins rolled out in plain sight, with the result that the line of anxious depositors melted aAvay almost instantly. When he was elected a member of the board of county com missioners of Oklahoma County in 1894, county warrants were being sold at 40 cents on the dollar. As the result of his vigorous insistence and management they were soon selling at par. During his last years Mr. Overholser was president of the State Fair Association, to the affairs of which he de- A7oted much time and personal attention, thus insuring the success of the enterprise. He died at Oklahoma City, August 25, 1915.— Thoburn. 1916— THE FOOD STRIKERS Because of the World war, food production had so slack ened in Europe that it became necessary for the United States to furnish a large part not only of the food that soldiers required but that of women and children and other non- combatants. Enormous exports of food to Europe by virtue of the law of economy produced gradually rising prices of food in this country. So rapidly did the prices mount in some instances that housewives believed merchants were prof iteering. In Oklahoma City they belieA'ed it, and they told the merchants so. The merchants made stout denial but stout denial did not affect the skyrocketing living-expense account. Three hundred women attended a mass meeting at the Congregational Church the eATening of December 3d. It was a meeting of protest and to deAtise ways and means of cutting- expenses and of assisting the poor Avho could not pay high prices for food and clothes. It was presided over by Mrs. R. M. Campbell, president of the City Federation of Clubs, and it was addressed by Sidney L. Brock and Mont R. Powell. Mr. Brock dwelt upon the necessity of practicing economy. Mr. Powell urged the women to enter into a crusade against profiteering. Mrs. Campbell asked the Avomen to assist her in a movement to aid the poor. The Housewives' League met on December 11th with 200 present. At this meeting was initiated probably the first movement in Oklahoma toward the practice of self-denial in food needs and the practice of conseiwing foods most needed for the Allies in France. The members agreed to eat fewer potatoes and fewer eggs. Miss Louise Hopkins, head of the domestic science department of the Central State Normal School, at Edmond, agreed to furnish a list of substitute foods for those denied. Miss Leno Osborne, an expert in the domes tic science art, agreed to furnish menus for simple and whole some meals. Simplicity in foods Avas the watchword. Mrs. 415 416 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY M. E. Reynolds, chairman of the philanthropic committee of the City Federation, discussed the wages of the poor and asked for assistance in distributing food and clothing to the needy. Such meetings as these awakened the people to a fuller realization of conditions facing civilization, and their influence was extended and widened until it became a powerful and patriotic force in the days of sterner realities when Amer ica joined the Allies in the greater fight for civilization. While the women imbued Avith the idea of food economies began their Avork in an organized Avay this year, another body of women completed the foundation of a structure that was to become a succor to the poor and unfortunate and a place of refuge and comfort to the Avorthy bereft, down into other generations. This body was knoAvn as the Community Club, and its members and the Rev. W. H. B. Urch, then pastor of the Pilgrim Congregational Church, erected on the south side Avhat Avas called the Pilgrim Community House. It was dedi cated on December 8th with appropriate exercises during which addresses were made by Mayor Overholser and Col. A. N. Leecraft who represented GoA-ernor Williams. The club was short $5,000 of the amount necessary to pay all debts of the enterprise, and on the day of the dedication a donation of that amount AATas made by B. B. Jones, a wealthy oil man. Mrs. Ed Overholser Avas president of the club, Mrs. B. B. Jones, vice president, and Mrs. Frank P. Johnson, secretary. It Avas a year of big philanthropy. A fund of $300,000 was subscribed Avith Avhich to erect and equip a building for the Young Men's Christian Association. The enterprise ap pealed to virtually all the people and, although some days of hard Avork avcic allotted toAArard the end of the campaign to subscription-taking committees, some of the city's biggest hearted and wealthiest men booked themselves for substantial donations. For instance, a committee1 of nineteen men, the first that was organized for solicitation purposes, at its first meeting made each a subscription of $2,500. These men AATere A. J. MeMahan, I). I. Johnston, G. C. Kerr, R, A. Klein- schmidt, George G. Sohlberg, C. O. Roberts, E. B. McKillip, A. TI. Classen, Walter Caldwell, Ed Overholser, Edward Vaught, J. H. Everest, Leon Levy, C. B. Ames, S. S. Smith, >llen Street, J. E. O'Neil, Henry Hoffman and S. M. GloA^d.' RESIDENCE OF C. P. SITES Vol. 1—2 7 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITYr 419 This committee 's actiATities were directed lyy an executive com mittee selected during a mass meeting held on October 29th. This committee consisted of A. J. McMahan, G. G. Kerr, George G. Sohlberg, C. C. Roberts and R. A. Kleinschmiclt. The original program contemplated the raising of $250,000, but at a banquet of the workers held on November 25th, which was attended by 700 persons, it was agreed that $300,000 should be raised. During this banquet there reappeared some of that singular brand of Oklahoma enthusiasm and while it held the audience with its thrill R. J. Edwards announced that he would make a further donation of $10,000. Then pioneers came to the fore again. An Eighty-Niner of the hickory blend appears never to haA7e met defeat. Charles F. Coleord and Anton H. Classen arose simultaneously and announced addi tions of $5,000 each to their subscriptions. Possibly there were others equally large. The fund was raised in due time and it constructed one of the finest Y. M. C. A. buildings in the Southwest. The chief municipal enterprise of the year was the voting of bonds totalling one and one-half million dollars to be used in creating a water reservoir a few miles northwest of the city and extending the water system. The issue was voted on May 20th. Plans for this great enterprise were drawn by Guy V. McClure, city engineer, and they were approved by competent engineers of St. Louis, Chicago and Houston. They provided in the main for the construction of a dam and the creation of a storage basin capable of holding six billion eight hundred million gallons of water. At that time the amount of water works bonds outstanding was $1,210,000. It was either in evidence or imagined by representative members of the Chamber of Commerce early in the year that the organization's vitality was abnormally low and that its activities were draggy. Quite probably it was experiencing a necessary reaction following the great accomplishments of the two preceding years. The assumption appeared to be con tagious and on June 11th the board of directors announced its intention of resigning in a body "in behalf of an expansion moA7ement." The movement was set going at once after the resignations were in. Pep committees were set to Avork under a new program and on July 11th the membership committee 420 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY reported that it had obtained 1,800 members, and at one of those characteristic onward and upward meetings set its goal at 2,000 members. At a later meeting the new organization elected a board of directors consisting of Ed S. Vaught, J. E. O'Neil, G. G. Kerr, Joseph Huckins, S. L. Brock, C. F. Col eord, Ed Overholser, A. H. Classen, G. G. Sohlberg, William Mee, E. B. McKillip and Dr. Phil C. Baird. The board re elected Mr. Vaught president. A revolution in Mexico that resulted in depredations be ing committed on soil of the United States caused an invasion of Mexico this year by American troops under leadership of Gen. John J. Pershing, and in this invasion soldiers of the Oklahoma National Guard participated. The mobilization order of the War Department was issued June 18th. It called for concentration of Oklahoma troops at Chandler. Col. Roy Hoffman of the Oklahoma regiment proceeded to pre pare the camp at Chandler and Adjt.-Gen. Frank Canton to set the troops in motion. Recruits were called for and an intensive drilling was under way immediately. Before any men were sent to Chandler the War Department changed its order and commanded that the guardsmen be mobilized at Fort Sill. On June 24th the first troop train moved out of Oklahoma City bearing all men and officers of the companies of the guard in the city. DoAvn to that date the demonstration was the greatest eATer held in the city. Twelve thousand per sons assembled and listened to a patriotic speech by President Vaught of the Chamber of Commerce. GoA7ernor Williams on June 28th issued a call for volun teers for the National Guard, indicating that seven hundred to eight hundred able-bodied men Avere needed for training. On July 8th it Avas announced from Fort Sill that Maj. Charles Barrett of the first battalion and Maj. Winfield Scott of the third battalion were found physically unfit for border serv ice. On July 19th the troops entrained at Fort Sill for the Mexican border. The patriotic celebration on July 4th this year, held at Belle Isle, Avas a genuine demonstration of Amer ican patriotism and incidentally it Avas a record-breaking patriotic event of a decade. Among the speakers Avere Mr. Vaught, Col. Harry W. Pentecost, Col. A. N. Leecraft and Capt. II. II. Harrelson. THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 421 An illustration of the truth of the proverb that all great bodies move slowly may be discovered in discussions of this year on the subject of a union railway station for the city. On March 6th, the corporation commission issued an order commanding the Rock Island and Frisco railway companies to erect a union passenger station, and . directing that their engineers submit plans for the station by June 1st and that the station be completed by January 1, 1917. Officials of the companies announced that they had plans in the making for a seven-story station and office building to cost about seven hundred thousand dollars. On October 10th, Commissioner George A. Henshaw reported that the commission had granted the railroads an extension of time to September 1st and that the commission would not tolerate a delay longer than De cember 1st. Meantime engineers' plans had been approved by Mayor Overholser on behalf of the city and the roads had selected the original site of the Frisco passenger station for the union passenger station. The commission finally granted the roads until July 1, 1917, to complete the station. In later years union-station matters again became topics of discussion, but great bodies still were moving sloAvly at the end of 1921 and the city still was without a union station and still suffer ing the inconvenience of grade crossings. In later years George Kessler, noted landscape architect of St. Louis, took a part in railroad station and city-planning discussions. It was in October of this year that Mr. Kessler made his first visit to Oklahoma City. He came on invitation of the park commission to make plans for laying out and beautifying Harn Park in the Harndale Addition, and he advised making plans for a larger parking system and boule vards. At the annual meeting of the Eighty-Niners Association it was announced that during the year twenty-five members had died. The meeting was well attended and special ad dresses were delivered by Claude Weaver and Judge Preston S. Davis of Vinita. New officers and directors elected were A. L. Welch, president ; John E. Carson, vice president ; T. M. Richardson, Jr., secretaiy ; Fred Sutton, treasurer, and E. H. Monwell, J. L. Wyatt, A. M. DeBolt and George Carrico, directors. 422 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY State officers elected this year Avere Campbell Russell, cor poration commissioner, defeating J. L. Brown, the republican nominee; W. D. Humphries, corporation commissioner, who had been appointed by Governor Williams to succeed A. P. Watson on the commission ; Matthew J. Kane, member of the Supreme Court, defeating Horace Speed, the republican nominee ; C. M. Thacker, member of the Supreme Court, and T. H. Doyle, member of the Criminal Court of Appeals. Joseph B. Thompson of Pauls Valley defeated G. H. Dodson of Oklahoma City for Congress from the Fifth District. This year marked the beginning of interstate and con tinental highwa}7 movements in this section of the country, and among the leading projects affecting Oklahoma City directly was that of Col. W. H. Harvey of Monte Ne, Ark., general manager of the Ozark Trails Association. That association held a convention here on November 20th, at the conclusion of a campaign for raising a fund of $10,000 that was required of the city by the association. A local motorists' club had been organized here and its influence Avas in a large measure responsible for the city becoming an objective point on the Ozark Trail. Of this club George G. Sohlberg was president. Judge Selwyn Douglas, a highly esteemed pioneer and an influential resident of earlier years, died on June 28th, at the age of seventy-fiA7e. He was a graduate of the University of Michigan and began practising law in Kansas, moving to Oklahoma City in 1890. He was for five years receiver of the United States Land Office and later Avas referee in bank ruptcy. He was one of the founders of the Public Library Association and was its first president. The death of Judge B. F. Burwell took place this year also, on April 2d. He was born in Pennsjdvania in 1866 and came to Oklahoma City in 1891 as a law partner of Dr. A. C. Scott. In 1898 he was appointed associate justice of the Ter ritorial Supreme Court, a position he held until the adA'ent of statehood, when he became a member of the law firm of Bur well, Crockett & Johnson. No decision of his while he occupied the bench ever was reversed b}7 the United States Supreme Court. Virtually the entire city mourned his death. At his funeral Judge C. B. Stuart delivered the memorial address. THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY 423 Another death of the year was that of Joseph C. McClel land, former state auditor and at this time ATice president of the Tradesman's State Bank, of AAdrich he was one of the founders. He was fifty-nine years old, and a native of Mis souri. He came to Oklahoma in 1893. He engaged in the banking business at Pond Creek and while there was for four years clerk of the United States Court. On proclamation of the governor all state departments were closed during the funeral. The pallbearers were former Governor Lee Cruce, 0. F. Coleord, A. H. Classen, Frank J. Wikoff and Charles West. Organization of the Employers Association of Oklahoma was formed on February 4th. Among members of the first board of directors were Frank Foltz, Dorset Carter, Bunn Booth and C. H. Anderson of Oklahoma City. On February 24th, Elmer E. Brown was reelected secre tary of the Chamber of Commerce. He resigned later in the year and was succeeded by Leroy Gibbs of Sioux Falls, S. D. Judge Samuel Hooker, formerly county judge and later assistant county attorney, was on January 5th appointed by Governor Williams as a member of the Supreme Court Com mission. The Lakeside Country Club was organized June 7th and incorporated by S. H. Ingham, C. S. Burton, and G. Misch. Its membership was to be limited to 500. It planned construc tion of a $10,000 club house near the city lake and laying out an eighteen-hole golf course. John A. Whiteford of St. Joseph, Mo., was on June 26th elected superintendent of schools to succeed Guy V. Buchanan. The Oklahoma Railway Company operated its first inter- urban car to Guthrie on July 14th. Accompanying officials of the company on the initial trip were Jack Love, chairman of the Corporation Commission, representing the state, and City Commissioner J. T. Highley. John Embry resigned as county attorney during the year to return to the private practice and was succeeded by Charles B. Selby. Edgar S. Vaught was born in Wythe County, in South western Virginia, in 1873. His ancestors were from Holland, and found homes among the pioneers of the noted mountain 424 THE STORY OF OKLAHOMA CITY district of Western Virginia and Eastern Kentucky and Ten nessee. He graduated from the Carson-Newman College of Jefferson City with the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1899. In the meantime he had also attended the Emory & Henry College of Virginia. In 1896 he was elected to the office of county superintendent of schools of Jefferson County, Ten nessee, was reelected for the two succeeding terms, and at the same time was carrying on studies in Carson-Newman College and was also equipping himself for law. He was admitted to the bar at Dandridge, Tennessee, in 1898, and had some ex perience as a laAvyer in Dandridge before coming to Okla homa. In 1901 Mr. Vaught came to Oklahoma City to accept the post of principal of the city high schools. In less than a year- he was made superintendent of the Oklahoma City schools. His sei'A'ices attracted the attention of the territorial gxwern- ment of Oklahoma, as coincident with his seiwice as city school superintendent he was from 1902 to 1906 a member of the territorial board of education. In May, 1907, Governor Frantz appointed him a member of the board of regents of the territorial normal schools, three in number, and his mem bership on that board Avas terminated by the entrance of Okla homa into the Union on Ncwember 16, 1907. In 1906, after severing his active relations with the public schools of Oklahoma City, Mr. Vaught formed a law partner ship AAuth John E. DuMars and Samuel A. Calhoun, under the firm name of DuMars, Vaught & Calhoun. In 1907 the firm became DuMars & Vaught, continuing as such until 1912, when it Avas dissolved. At that time Mr. Vauglit became associated with James H. Read}7, making the firm Vaught & Ready. Later the style of the firm was Everest, Vaught & Brewer. 11 1