USA > Oklahoma > Woods County > History of Woods County Oklahoma > Part 4
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HISTORY OF WOODS COUNTY
mid-day sun caused many to suffer from thirst. Some stopped to drink from muddy streams, others tore on without thought of physical discomfort.
The "Land of Promise" Reached
Gradually the advancing line thinned out. As each home-seeker reached an unclaimed section of land he stopped and drove a stake with a bit of rag attached. The rag fluttering in the breeze proclaimed to all on- comers that the location had been taken. On the town sites the new owners pitched their tents upon their re-
Alva, the day after the Opening
spective lots, and within a few hours many tented cities had sprung into existence. It is a strange and fascina- ting tale-this story of the race. In the morning a solitude and wilderness as it had been throughout all the ages; at noon a surging tide of eager, earnest, excit- ed humanity; in the evening the land of many tented homes with thousands of camp fires sending up the in- cense of peace. Though they came in disorder like the rout of a defeated army their conquest was more com- plete and their mastery more lasting than that of the legions of Alexander, Caesar, or Napoleon.
More than a hundred thousand people poured
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across the border into the Cherokee Outlet that day. It was a majestic spectacle of human migration and human enterprise. The country was populated and cities established in a few hours' time. Through that first long night the weary but satisfied claim-seekers waited alone upon the prairies to which they had come to make their homes. Perhaps they heard in the far distance the weird howl of a coyote. Perhaps they saw spectral figures of painted Indian warriors riding -gliding over the rolling plains. But with the coming of the morning those spectres from the past vanished forever. The white men had come to possess the land, to transform a wilderness into a new citadel of civiliza- tion.
Indians and Buffalo - Occupants of Woods Co., 50 years ago
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CHAPTER XIV HOW WOODS COUNTY GOT ITS NAME AND BOUNDARIES
"M" County at First
When the "Strip" was opened the country had already been surveyed and divided into counties, but no names had been selected for these counties. To identify them they were just lettered and our county was given the letter "M," so we were known as "M" County until a permanent name could be officially chosen. Our officials accepted the plan that was generally followed, to let the people themselves choose the name. So it was agreed that in the fall election of 1894 each political party was to suggest a name for the people to vote upon. The Republicans said that if they were successful the county would be named "Flynn" after Oklahoma's Territorial Representative in Congress who had done so much to secure the opening of the Cherokee Strip for settlement. The Democrats said that if they were elected the county would be named "Banner," and the Populists said that if they were successful the county should be named "Wood" after a noted Kansas pioneer, Colonel Sam. N. Wood, who was greatly admired and had many friends in the county. As the Populists carried the election, the name they suggested was chosen. By a clerical error, the name was recorded as "Woods" instead of "Wood."
First Boundaries of Woods County
But the county did not then have its present boundaries. (See Map 4.) It then included all of the present counties of Major and Alfalfa. It was 48 miles wide and 58 miles long, extending entirely across the
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HISTORY OF WOODS COUNTY
COL. SAM N. WOOD.
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old "Strip," and contained 2,784 square miles. Its southwest corner was cut by the North Canadian river; in the southeast part of the county were Fairview and Ames, and in the northeast were Cherokee and Amorita. It was so large that the people of the Terri- tory generally referred to our county as "The Empire of Woods." But it did not contain the northwestern portion of our present county in which is located Look- out and Freedom. This was added and Major and Alfalfa counties taken away when the State Constitu- tion was written and Oklahoma was made a State in 1907. The full story will be told in Chapter 19.
KAN
S
AS
7.
Since
5
·
River
1907
Important Towns.
i. Alva
2 Capron
1.4
3º
14
3. Dacoma
4. Waynoka
5. Freedom
6. Avard
7. Lookout
8. Galena
9. Cherokee
10. Amorita
11. Inger soll
12. Carmen
13. Aline
14. Jet
Woods
1893 16
. 17
15. Helena
16 Fairview
17
Ames
Woods County
"Salt Fork
2.
10.
Salt Fort
Cimart
.
ty
County 1907-
and.
Cimarion
W,
Coux
12
River
Map 4. "M" County and Woods County
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HISTORY OF WOODS COUNTY
CHAPTER XV THE OKLAHOMA PIONEERS Character of Pioneers
From every state in the Union came the Oklahoma pioneers, but in largest numbers from Missouri, Kansas and Texas. They were attracted to the Indian Territory by the advantages it offered: plenty of room, cheap land, fertile soil, mild climate. Some were adventurers, pure and simple. They thought of the new country as a place abounding in excitement, a land where they might live without working or where they might work dishonestly without being discovered. But the great majority of the early settlers were actuated by a sincere desire to establish homes for themselves and their families. Oklahoma represented to them a golden opportunity for the fulfillment of their dreams.
At each of the land openings, thousands of new home-seekers thronged into the state. They came some- times alone, and sometimes with their entire families and all their possessions crowded into a buggy or prairie schooner. Those who were trained for a profession or who had enough money to establish a business concern settled in the small towns which had seemed to spring up almost over night, suddenly appearing like small dots across all the face of the solitary prairie. The others, a much larger number, sought out claims where they could make their living from the soil. Most of these men-and they were the real Oklahoma pioneers possessed no more than the bare necessities of life. Life meant work or starve.
Hardships of Pioneers
The early months of the new claims were times of
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genuine hardship. The first task was the making of homes, with scant materials, no money and little help. Then came the digging of wells, the building of a barn for the livestock, the "breaking" of the prairie for plant- ing, and the sowing of the seed. There were no labor saving devices of any kind, nothing to depend upon ex- cept hard physical work. Many lived long distances from any railroad and were virtually cut off from all communication with the outside world. This isolation required them to meet all emergencies and to develop a very unusual quality of self reliance.
In times of illness or accident it was often impos- sible to procure the aid of a physician. When sudden floods or fire ravaged their homes these sturdy men could only stand by while the fruit of their hard labor was reduced to nothing before their eyes. But disap- pointment never meant "Give up;" rather it meant, Begin again!"
The Oklahoma pioneers did not stop with the building of their homes. As soon as they had provided shelter for themselves and planted their first crops they turned their energy and enthusiasm toward community organization. With dauntless spirit they set about to provide recreation and instruction for their children.
In Woods county there were few families during the first decade following the "Opening," who were not readers of "The Alva Pioneer," or "The Alva Courier," county newspapers which circulated widely, and rapidly bound the inhabitants into closer kinship.
Schools and Churches
Most important was the attention they devoted to the establishment of those two institutions, which form the basis of modern civilization and progress the
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HISTORY OF WOODS COUNTY
school and the church. Immediately after the opening of the great Cherokee Strip little schools were con- structed at regular intervals all over its great expanse, on land which had been set aside by the national government for that purpose. Within a few years these first, rude buildings gave way everywhere to larger ones with good equipment. And it is with in- creasing admiration for the makers of Oklahoma that we learn of the rapid building of churches throughout the state. Reliable authorities say that after the "Opening of the Strip" some kind of church had been erected in each community in that large territory, in order that on Thanksgiving Day the people might gather and give praise to the Great Father of Mankind who is the giver of all good and perfect gifts. Like the Pilgrims of old, the early settlers in the Cherokee Out- let must have given thanks, on their first Thanksgiving in the new country, for Oklahoma, "fairest daughter of the west."
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HISTORY OF WOODS COUNTY
CHAPTER XVI EARLY WOODS COUNTY HOMES Nothing but Land
Travelers who visit Oklahoma are almost in- variably impressed with the beautiful homes which they see in our wonderful state. But Oklahoma has not long been a land,of beautiful homes! Before 1889 the tepees of the Indians were the only habitations to be found. So rapidly have we progressed that our modern communities bear no traces of those early days.
When the various sections of Oklahoma were thrown open for settlement the eager homeseekers pour- ed into an absolutely undeveloped country. Nothing had been prepared for them in advance. Practically all the settlers were poor and with no belongings except their meagre clothing and household necessities. But they had possessions far more important than mere wealth; they had courage, ambition, determination, per- sistence. By the toil of their hands alone, they were forced to live, and without the slightest hesitation they set about to fulfill their dreams.
Pioneer Home in Woods County
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HISTORY OF WOODS COUNTY
Building the Dug Out
The first task of every settler who took a claim was to build a house. He had to use the material at hand, and often could secure no help except from the members of his family. The types of houses used most extensively must be such as could be made quickly and with small expense. The "dug out" was perhaps the most common type. These were built wherever a hill- side made possible a rude cave dug in the side large enough for one room. Then the front was extended by the use of logs or stones. Poles stretched across the top and covered with willows or grasses and then with a thick layer of sod or dirt, formed the roof. Small win- dows permitted the entrance of light and air. A door at the front end, and a chimney at the other end, com- pleted the structure.
Different Types of Houses
Some dugouts had rude log shanties in front, making a habitation of two rooms. Some families used a tent in summer, and a cave-like dwelling in winter, for their home. Another common type of house was made of sod. Poles composed the frame and the spaces were filled in with large sod blocks. The walls, usually six or seven feet high, had small windows and narrow doors framed with any available lumber. Like the dug- out, the sod house usually had a roof of willows, grass, or sod and an earthen floor. Such homes were some- times surprisingly comfortable. In places where timber abounded the farmers erected small log cabins similar to those used by the first Americans in Plymouth. In other sections building stones could be secured, and that material made possible a better home.
The plans of all the first Oklahoma homes were
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essentially the same. Each was small and as simple as possible.
Household Furniture
The furnishings of pioneer homes were as crude as the buildings themselves. Few had money with which to buy, or space in which to keep, anything un- necessary. A stove, a table, a few stiff chairs, and a couple of bedsteads frequently constituted all the fur- niture. Every home also boasted a wash-stand-often found just outside the door- with a large pail of water, a tin dipper or gourd from which to drink, and a tin wash basin. At best, these early houses were dark, crowded, and poorly ventilated. However, many
A Modern Home in Alva
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HISTORY OF WOODS COUNTY
families lived in them for several years quite happy and without complaint, meanwhile never losing sight of the home for which they hoped.
The Towns
The towns which sprang into existence with such unbelievable rapidity were at first nothing more than tented settlements, with some of the new citizens living in covered wagons or caves. But the Oklahoma pio neer did not rest until he had taken every possible stride toward his goal. Within a few years after the opening comfortable homes and adequate business places began to appear, and in a short time Oklahoma caught up with the much older neighbor states which surrounded her.
Woods County
Woods county settlers were no exception to the general rule. Several of these enterprising pioneers had previously arranged that on the very day of the opening their teams should begin hauling lumber from Kiowa, Kans., to Alva. Probably the first two story frame building used for business purposes in Woods county was erected for the "Alva Pioneer" and stood where the Bell Hotel now stands in Alva. On the whole, improvements came slowly because the first five years were unusually dry, causing many of those who came on the 16th of September, 1893, to return temporarily to their former homes. Each succeeding spring found them in their frontier home, accompanied by their team, wagon, plow and harrow. By 1900 many good frame residences could be found all over the county. The enterprising, resourceful and courageous pioneer had at last won his victory.
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CHAPTER XVII SALOON DAYS IN THE TERRITORY
The saloon is an institution wholly unknown to all Oklahoma youth born since 1907, because one of the conditions imposed upon Oklahoma at the time of her admission to statehood was that she should abolish the saloon forever. Just before the closing, December, 1907, there were eight saloons in Alva, and at one time there were as many as thirteen.
Licenses
Each saloon in Alva paid an annual license of $200 to the county and $500 to the city. It seems in- credible during the pioneer days when times were frequently so hard that most of the people had to skimp to the utmost in order to tide themselves over from one crop period to another, that during these same years a half dozen saloons could do such a business in Alva as would enable each to pay licenses amounting to $700 per year. In each of the other towns of the county, Waynoka, Avard, Dacoma, Capron and Freedom there were additional saloons.
Location and Petitions
Just across the street north from the post office in Alva, stamped in the concrete sidewalk may still be found the number "444." Here for many years was located one of the largest and most prosperous saloons. It was called "Bill 444." On the corner just to the west was located "Red Top" another thriving saloon. The "Little Gem" was located just north of the Monfort building on the west side of the square. No saloon could be licensed unless the prospective saloon keeper could secure the signatures of 30 taxpayers living in the ward where the saloon was to be located. Always the
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HISTORY OF WOODS COUNTY
other residents got up a "remonstrance" and there was a "hearing" (sort of law suit) before the county com- missioners. Each side was represented by an attorney. The saloon petitions, "remonstrance" and "hearing" often kept the town in a state of agitation for weeks.
Saloons Described
The Oklahoma saloons were never so attractive as those in many of the states, for here the territorial laws required that the interior of the saloon be as open to the view of the passer-by as any other business estab- lishment. The drinkers and the "drunks" could there- fore be observed by everyone. Often in connection with the Oklahoma saloons there were found lunch counters and pool tables.
Sometimes'a barber shop would be located in a saloon. But there was the bartender with his large white apron, his highly colored shirt and tie, his ex. travagant jewelry, and his sleeves generally rolled to the elbows. The strong odor, ever floating out to the street, of wine, beer, rum, whiskey, alcohol and tobacco was always present. To those who had a strong appe- tite for liquor all this was as irresistible as are the fields of clover and Spanish needles to bees and butterflies. Behind the huge oak or walnut-stained bar, often two feet wide on top, and strewn with goblets and mugs, were kegs, barrels, jugs, and beautiful glass containers all supposed to be full of such drinks as would satisfy the most fastidious tastes. Often the walls and door- ways were ornamented with large mirrors and highly suggestive pictures. Then, too, the horns of deer, elk and buffalo were exceedingly popular wall decorations to be located over the bar itself. While all this sound's attractive enough it was quite tame when compared
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HISTORY OF WOODS COUNTY
with the grand saloons of such cities as St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago.
The Crime Record
The police records of Alva for the years 1905-6, and the years 1927-8 show the following interesting comparisons:
During the months of June, July, November and December of each of the former years, there averaged 54 "drunks," 18 fights and several indecencies not proper to mention. For these same months during the years 1927-28 there averaged 14 "drunks," four fights, and no arrests for the other offenses listed in former years. Apparently four-fifths of our crime was caused by the saloon.
The saloon was always abundantly supplied with chairs and benches for "lounging" so that it was always the most popular "loafing place" in town. For this reason it became the headquarters for small politicians and political caucuses. Many of the schemes for nomi- nating and electing county and city officers were hatch- ed in the rear of one of the six or eight saloons of Alva.
A policeman in Alva during the last three years of the "saloon period," says that almost every morning the sidewalks around the square required washing to cleanse them of the vomit of the "drunks." Nearly all of the old time citizens state that the language of the street was far more offensive during the saloon days than now. Though we still have some residents of Woods county who are unable to control their apper tites for liquor, let us hope that the saloon may never return to disgrace our county.
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HISTORY OF WOODS COUNTY
CHAPTER XVIII NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE TEACHERS' COLLEGE
The Northwestern State Teachers' College is a true child of one of the most highly selected groups of people to be found anywhere within our na- tion. The pioneer is always an in- dividual of parts, but the pioneers of northwestern Oklahoma were the most courageous and resourceful of James E. Ament all. Such a people must needs build First President of an educational institution distinctive N. S. T. C. in character.
Alva was but a village when, in 1897, the second State Normal School of Oklahoma was located here. In August of that year the Board of Regents selected James E. Ament for the first President. On September 20th, school was begun in the Congregational church with the President and two assistants as a faculty. During the first year 166 students attended. But while the school had been officially located, the Legislature had made no appropriation for a building.
Without waiting for an appropriation by the state, the Board of Regents being encouraged and effi- ciently led by President Ament and ably supported by the citizens of Alva, undertook the construction of a building to cost $110,000. In architectural grace and quality of workmanship, it was far in advance of any other school building in the southwest.
President Ament was the right man for the build-
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HISTORY OF WOODS COUNTY
ing of a pioneer college. He planned a big educational program and the people met his expectations. In 1909 the Science Hall and heating plant were erected; in 1918 the President's home; in 1919 the Wyatt
Administration Building Northwestern State Teachers' College Gymnasium and in 1923 Herod Hall which included the Auditorium.
The present faculty of forty compares favorably with those of the best institutions of the nation and the college student body of over eight hundred is not in- ferior to any other to be found in the state. Woods county is proud to have Northwestern located within its boundaries.
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HISTORY OF WOODS COUNTY
Third Period, 1907 - 1929
CHAPTER XIX OKLAHOMA JOINS THE UNION The Two Territories
. Three years before the opening of the "Strip," all of the country now known as Oklahoma was organized by Congress into two Territories, the eastern half of which was to be called the Indian Territory, and the western half, the Territory of Oklahoma. An irreg- ular line dividing the two territories followed the Arkansas river 'south from Kansas to Tulsa, then south to the Canadian, up the Canadian to a point thirty miles west of Norman, thence south to Texas. Most of the Indians were in the eastern half of Indian Terri- tory. Here were the Osages, the Cherokees, the Creeks, the Choctaws and the Chickasaws. Only the Seminoles and the small scattered tribes of the plains Indians were included in the western half or the Territory of Okla- homa.
Thus for seventeen years, 1890-1907, Oklahoma was divided into two Territories. During this period, there was a great deal of discussion about whether each half should become a separate state or whether they should ask to be joined and make one state. The western half wanted single statehood, but the eastern half opposed the plan. The Indians who formed the larger population in the eastern half did not care for statehood at all, because that would mean that their tribal government must be given up; they would have to take individual allotments of land, would have to be- come citizens, and be governed by the laws of the state and nation. Rather than accept all these conditions
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HISTORY OF WOODS COUNTY
they preferred to remain as an Indian Territory.
The Sequoyah Proposal
During the next three years after the opening of the "Strip," the United States passed several laws that took away the tribal governments from the Indians and made them subject to the laws of the Nation. After this, they saw that it was useless to fight statehood, so the Indian Territory held a great convention in Musko- gee, in 1905, and petitioned Congress to admit them as a state separate from Oklahoma Territory. They wanted their state called Sequoyah in honor of the Cherokee Indian who invented the Cherokee alphabet.
Congress Favors Single Statehood
Wholly disregarding the request of the Indian Territory, the very same year of the Muskogee con- vention, Congress passed a bill uniting all of Oklahoma and providing for its admission as one state. In the same bill, however, was a provision that Arizona and New Mexico should be united and admitted into the Union as a single state. Because Congress quarreled over this last provision, the statehood bill did not be- come a law, so Oklahoma failed to get statehood at that time. The next year, 1906, Congress passed another bill providing for single statehood and authorizing the people of both Territories to form a Constitution, sub- mit it to the people and permit them to say whether they did or did not want to come into the Union as one state.
The Constitutional Convention
The two Territories were now thrilled with ex- citement. Every one knew that far reaching changes must be made at once, and all prophesied a glorious future for the new state. Indian Territory and Okla-
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homa Territory were each to have 55 dele- gates in the Constitu- tional Convention which was to meet in Guthrie, the newly selected capital. Be- cause of the great size and population of Woods County, it had four delegates. Since it had already been rumored that Woods County might be divid- ed, this became the main issue in the elec- tion of delegates.
To help write DR. G. N. BILBY the Constitution of our new state was not only a distinguished honor but offered an opportunity for a great service. The delegates selected from Woods County were Rev. George Wood of Cherokee; J. C. Major of Fairview; D. G. Harned of Aline and Dr. George N. Bilby of Alva. All were in- structed to oppose a division of the county.
How This County Was Divided
It soon appeared, however, that Wood and Major had changed their minds and were favoring a resolution to cut off what is now Alfalfa and Major counties. Although the resolution to divide the county was pass- ed by the convention Dr. Bilby steadfastly fought for a united county. He served on some of the most im- portant committees of the convention and proved him-
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self one of its most efficient members. Alfalfa county was named for William H. (Alfalfa) Murray, the President of the Constitu- tional Convention and Major county was named Woods County Court House for J. C. Major. The new county of Woods was formed with its present boun- daries, leaving Alva as the county seat. Forty five per cent of the assessed valuation of the old county now went to Alfalfa county; twenty six per cent went to Major and twenty nine per cent to Woods county.
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