Boom Towns - Oklahoma

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Tribes and Nations of Oklahoma & Indian Territories Map - pre-statehood(clickable)

Oklahoma City

During the 1800s, the US government was forcibly relocating Indian tribes from all over the country into the area known as Oklahoma Territory. There was one parcel of land that was never given over to any Indian tribe - the Unassigned Lands. In the 1880s, many frontier Americans wanted to move into this land. Soon, landless pioneers began slipping over into this area without authorization. These were the "Boomers," who were trying to force the government into opening the territory up to homesteaders. On March 2, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison signed legislation that opened up the Unassigned Lands. So, on April 22, 1889, about 50,000 homesteaders gathered at the boundaries. Some people snuck over at night to stake out prime land early, hiding from the army patrols. These were known as "Sooners."

At noon, the cannon roared, and the hordes of people streamed over the line on wagons and buckboards, horseback, on foot and even on bicycles. Soon, nearly 10,000 people had staked out claims near the Oklahoma Station - what today is Oklahoma City. Claim jumping was common, as were boundary quarrels that led to fights and considerable bloodshed. Tents were thrown up in haphazard fashion, and mass confusion reigned supreme. Congress had made no provision for city government, so leaders had to be chosen to restore order. A provisional government was selected, and elections were held on May 1 to select permanent officials. A month after the Land Run, the Commercial Club was formed, which was later renamed the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber began attracting railroads to Oklahoma City, and the new town was well on its way to economic prosperity. By 1900, the population had doubled.

Land run on 22 April 1889

On December 4, 1928, oil was discovered on the corner of SE 59th and Bryant. In the 27 days before the great gusher could be capped, it spewed 110,496 barrels of oil. The Oklahoma City Field had been discovered, creating the city's most important financial source and making Oklahoma City the world's newest boom town. Oil continues to be one the most important players in this city's economy.

In and around Oklahoma City, urban drilling has been a fixture of life since the Oklahoma City oil field's discovery. Images of derricks dotting the landscape are permanently etched into the minds of people. Today, they are a disappearing breed. Urban drilling fights dominated The Oklahoman's headlines from the late 1920s throughout the next decade as big oil companies, wildcatters and even state officials rushed to get all the oil out of the ground they could.

Local leaders limited drilling to just one well per city block and excluded large parts of the city from exploration. Yet, many oil operators ignored the restrictions, and the state worked with the city to control violations. In 1935, city voters approved a measure that allowed drilling throughout much of Oklahoma City's east side — an area of about 1,000 acres containing more than 3,000 homes and buildings and a population of about 25,000 people.

While opponents advertised against the vote in the paper, the state's largest oil companies, pushed for approval, saying it would mean $17.7 million in new investment and 8,000 new jobs. Not everywhere was opened to drilling, though, and that concerned Gov. E.W. Marland, himself an oil company founder. Marland worried that companies on private land were drilling under state-owned property to get its oil.

Just across the street north of the Governor's mansion, a well drilled by Barnsdall Oil Co. was producing more than 22,000 barrels of oil and 31 million cubic feet of gas a day. "Oklahoma City authorities have abused the power granted them by the state. They have opened up thickly residential sections to oil development adjacent to state lands ... I do not propose to sit idly by," Marland said then.

So in April 1936, Marland declared martial law, initially pledging to drill five wells on the Capitol's grounds, and staked the location of the first well on state land near NE 23 and Kelley Avenue for movie cameras, with members of the Oklahoma National Guard patrolling the location.

Tulsa

The Lochapoka Creek clan, led by Chief Achee Yahola, arrive in the area of the current Tulsa in 1836. The tribe started the trek with 565 men, women and children and upon arrival numbered only 274. The townsite was established between current Seventeenth Street and Eighteenth Streets, form Cheyenne to Denver Avenue, near a huge oak tree which later became known as the "Council Oak Tree".

On August 21, 1882, the first passenger train arrived. On that same day, a baby was born to the Noble family. It was the first white baby to be born in Tulsa. Law enforcement was fairly non-existent. The tribal laws pertained only to the Indians. Only the most notorious criminals were arrested. An army of federal marshals toured the Indian Territory for two to three months at a time gathering fifty to a hundred criminals and hauled them back to Forth Smith, Arkansas for trial. In 1883, Noah Partridge, Daniel Drew and J.B. Burgess were employed as Indian Police by the Indian agent in Muskogee to try to control lawlessness by both whites and Indians, as well as confiscate and destroy illegal liquor smuggled into the territory. One of the routes whiskey smugglers used was the Arkansas River. They hauled the whiskey on the river from Keystone, near Fort Arbuckle, to Tulsa.

Many external forces had brought the development of Tulsa to its current status in 1900. The rebuilding of the Lochapoka square after the Civil War, the extension of the Frisco Railroad from Vinta to Tulsa, the cattle drives northward from Texas, and abolishment of tribal government and concession of Indian land for sale all played vital roles in the development of Tulsa. In nearly twenty years, the population had increased from two hundred to nearly fourteen hundred. However the most dramatic development was about to occur. Dr. Fred S. Clinton and Dr. J.C. Bland, in conjunction with oil promoters from Pennsylvania, struck oil on Mrs. Bland's land at the depth of five hundred and thrity-seven feet. The strike on June 25, 1901, became known as the Sue Bland Number One. This single event touched off an expansion in growth which was unbelievable. News spread rapidly and droves of people converged on the Tulsa area. Many other oil wells soon dotted the landscape. Tulsa quickly transitioned from a cow town to an oil "boom" town. The city's population exploded — what was once a quiet town of 7,000 people grew to hold more than 70,000 in less than 15 years.

Cherokee Outlet opened by land run on September 16, 1893

Bartlesville - Dewey

Located on the eastern edge of the Osage Hills, they were originally a part of the Cooweescoowee District, Cherokee Nation West, Indian Territory. Rich in the history of our country, it saw it's share of Indian settlements, Oil Booms, Law Men and Outlaws.

Bartlesville, Washington county seat, began with a gristmill on the Caney River built by Nelson F. Carr, one of the first white settlers in Indian Territory. Named after Jacob Bartles who bought the gristmill in 1875. When a general store was opened on the opposite side of the Caney River in 1884, by William Johnstone and George Keeler, the settlement that is now Bartlesville began to grow quickly. The population at the time of incorporation (1897) was about 500 people. It was the first oil-boom town in Indian Territory. George B. Keeler, a local fur trader, knew of the existence of oil in this area as early as 1875, but lacked the financial support and tribal permission necessary to exploit his discovery. It was not until April 15, 1897 that the No. 1 Nellie Johnston, first commercial oil well in Oklahoma, was brought in by the Cudahy Oil Company. W.W. "Bill" Keeler, grandson of George. By 1907, just ten years after incorporation, the population had increased to 4,215.

Dewey, 5 miles NE of Bartlesville, was the first town in Oklahoma to have electric lights, waterworks and a telephone line. Tom Mix was one-time deputy sheriff and night marshal in Dewey.

Cromwell

Cromwell boomed into existence in October, 1923, when oil was discovered in paying quantities on a farm about fifteen miles northeast of Wewoka. "Oil rigs sprung up like sunflowers." Within a few months the rural district became a city of from eight to ten thousand people. Hundreds of tents, shacks, and temporary houses were hastily built to care for the thousands of workers that came to the new oil field. Restaurants, hotels, mercantile stores, dance halls, and many other businesses developed overnight as merchants of every kind flocked in to get in on the payload. "A Baptist church was organized during the boom, but it was poorly attended since most of the people were too busy to think of religion."

Cromwell soon became noted for the great amount of petroleum produced, and at the same time it became notorious as the "wickedest city in the world." It has been said that there were no places in the United States worse than Cromwell during its boom days. In addition to the hundreds that came seeking work, there were also large numbers of gamblers, prostitutes, hop peddlers, and swindlers. "On one occasion the sheriff of Seminole County came to Cromwell to rid the wicked little city of all its women of easy virtue. He raided their establishments, seized them, lined them up in the street, handcuffed and chained them together, and marched them to the county jail in Wewoka, fifteen miles away" (Loos, Oil on Stream [Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 1940]).

Numerous liquor joints operated openly even though prohibition was the law. Since there had been no town at all, the only officer that could police the place was the county sheriff. The result was that the town was wide open. Robbery and hijacking were nightly offenses. It was reported: "It was not safe to be out at night without some money. Several times when men were held up that did not have money on them, they were knocked in the head and told to carry a few dollars next time." One officer stated that there were ten unsolved murders during the first year and that the murderers were free because no bodies were ever found. (Later some bodies were found when the large oil tanks were torn down and moved away.)

Reliable merchants and law-abiding citizens decided law and order must be brought to the town. The sheriff, however, refused to appoint a deputy approved by the citizens. As a result they appealed to the Governor of Oklahoma, Martin E. Trapp, for assistance. At the same time, the citizens wrote former U.S. Marshal Bill Tilghman asking him to become chief of police in the newly organized town. The letter to Tilghman said: "I'm afraid the sheriff and county attorney will not back us up. The gamblers pay $2,500 each; each lodging house that has women, $40 a month - we have 31 of them. We also have a few hijackers here and we want to change their place of residence." A call from Governor Trapp to Tilghman was made shortly after he received the letter. Even though the famous lawman had retired (he was past seventy years of age), he accepted the challenge.

The day after his arrival in Cromwell, Tilghman became acquainted with Wiley Lynn. Lynn was the federal prohibition enforcement officer for the area and had been in Cromwell for some time. Tilghman soon became aware of Lynn's activities and believed he was "on the take." On one occasion the marshal and his assistants thought they had Lynn trapped along with a planeload of dope, but at the last minute the smugglers somehow were given warning. As progress was being made in bringing order to the town, Lynn left no doubt about his hatred for Tilghman. On the night of October 30, 1926, Lynn became drunk and started shooting up the town. Tilghman met Lynn on the street and grabbed and held him until his gun was taken away. Lynn, however, had a second gun. When released by Tilghman, Lynn drew the second gun and shot the marshal three times. Tilghman died within a few minutes. Tilghman's death did much to clean up Cromwell. Lynn fled that night, followed by most of the gamblers and prostitutes out of fear of what might happen as a result of Tilghman's death. (Lynn was soon captured and tried for murder in Wewoka. In spite of the evidence presented, he was acquitted. A few days after the acquittal Lynn was killed during a brawl in southern Oklahoma.)

In the third year of its existence the Cromwell pool began declining in production, and people started moving away. About that time there was also a devastating fire that practically burned out the town. Houses, business buildings, and tents were dry and oil-soaked. After the fire started there was no stopping it until it had burned out. Fire trucks from neighboring large communities came to help, but could do little. Many business establishments, including the bank, did not rebuild. As other oil pools, including the Greater Seminole Area, were being opened, people left Cromwell almost as rapidly as they had come. Population figures for the 1920s show vividly the rise and decline of Cromwell: 1920-0; 1925-8,000 to 10,000; 1930-249.

Refineries and gasoline plants have now been removed from the area. A few wells remain on the pump. Several school districts have consolidated and use the excellent school plant built in Cromwell but known as the Butner School. A few residents live in the old boom town, a few new homes have been built, and there are two stores. The present Cromwell, however, has little relationship to the brawling, booming, lusty town of the 1920s.

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