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Oklahoma

Denoya

Denoya, better known locally as Whizbang, was the "wildest" of the boom towns that developed with the opening of the Burbank Oil Field. The Post Office Department thought the name Whizbang was an undignified identification, so they named the new town Denoya after a prominent Osage Indian family.

Denoya came into existence almost overnight after a six-hundred-barrel well was brought in just north of where the town located. The well was drilled by E. W. Marland, later Governor of Oklahoma and also United States Congressman. The second well was a heavy gas and light oil producer. The oil would burn in an automobile. The third offset well was topped the day before Christmas. On New Year's Day, while the crew was on vacation, the well started flowing one barrel per minute with the tools still in the hole. The only tank available was a thousand-barrel wooden storage tank. A flow line was laid to it, and help was summoned from Tulsa immediately. By dark, trucks had delivered three-inch pipe, and by three o'clock the next morning a pipeline three miles long had been laid to adequate storage facilities. The flow from the well increased to a little over twenty-five hundred barrels per day.

With an oil play of such magnitude, businesses of all kinds, desirable and undesirable, were soon established in the new town. Large oilfield supply houses were started, and a railroad was extended to Denoya. In the early 1920s there were more than three hundred business buildings ranging in size from the very small hamburger shacks to two moderately large hotels. Many people living in Denoya were not connected with oil companies. Shootings were more frequent in Denoya than in other towns in the Burbank area. The bank was robbed twice, and "it wasn't safe for a woman to be on the streets of Whizbang after dark."

Jose Alvarado, probably the most controversial law officer to serve in an Oklahoma oil field area, was a special officer for oil companies during a part of the boom period. His name was actually Bert Bryant, he was a Texan, and he had served in the revolutionary army of Pancho Villa. During World War I he worked with General Alvarado of Mexico, and in the early 1920s he came northward to the Oklahoma oil fields. Stories of his activities describe him as everything from a cold-blooded killer to a Robin Hood. One story says that during a raid on a notorious "boarding house" he seized twenty-five hundred dollars from the woman manager. Later, although he returned the money to the woman in the presence of two bankers and received a receipt for it, he was arrested for stealing it, but was finally tried and acquitted. On another occasion, when a fire started in the post office of Denoya, Alvarado refused to let the oil companies help extinguish the fire until all postal records were burned. After that the oil companies refused to help, and an entire business block was burned. During the fire Alvarado had a shootout with a lawman from a neighboring town, probably over a married woman. The visiting lawman killed the woman and then shot Alvarado in the chest. Alvarado returned fire and shot the other man four times in the body while he was hunting for cover. Alvarado then took cover behind a merchandise laden table that had been moved into the street from a burning store, but since his legs were exposed below the tabletop he was shot in the shins, and both his legs were broken. (The two men were taken to the same hospital; they recovered, forgot the woman, and became good friends.) Such was a day in the life of Whizbang.

Earlsboro

Earlsboro has twice been a boom town of considerable importance and twice a decaying, disintegrating, and dilapidated village. It was formed in 1891 a few days after the Choctaw Coal and Railroad Company extended its tracks westward from the Seminole Nation. The town was platted under the name of Boom-De-Ay. A post office by the name of Tum was moved to the new site, and the name was changed to Earlsboro.

The fact that Earlsboro was situated near the Indian Territory boundary aided its early growth. Liquor was prohibited in Indian Territory, but saloons in Oklahoma Territory were legal. Because of the demand of the people living in Indian Territory for liquor, Earlsboro became known as a "whiskey town." Three of the first four businesses established were saloons; the other was a grocery store. The number of saloons and stores handling liquor continued to increase and to dominate the business activities of the village until 1905. During that year it was estimated that 90 percent of the merchants were dealing profitably in liquor. With approaching statehood, however, many liquor dealers started moving their activities to other states, and the first boom period ended.

Along with the whiskey trade, Earlsboro developed as a small commercial center serving nearby farmers. A blacksmith shop, gristmill, and cotton gin were built. Churches were started and a school district organized. Some streets were graded, and homes were constructed. The railroad located a boxcar next to the track to serve as a depot, and the village became a regular stop for passenger service.

During its first year of existence Earlsboro had a population of about 100 persons. By 1900 the population had increased to 400, and it continued to increase until 1905, when it reached an estimated 500 persons. The special census of 1907 recorded only 387 persons, the decrease being accounted for by the moving of liquor dealers. Population continued to decrease gradually, the 1920 census showing a total of 317 persons.

During the early 1920s the commercial activities of Earlsboro were like those of many other small, farm-centered communities. Poor roads and slow transportation caused farmers in the vicinity to trade in Earlsboro. Subsistence stores supplying the most essential needs dominated the business area. A bank and a newspaper also aided in making it an active rural center.

The situation was completely and abruptly changed on March 1, 1926. On that day the first oil well to be a commercial producer in the Earlsboro Sand, the well that caused the active development of the Earlsboro Field, "blew in." The Earlsboro Sand was penetrated at a depth of 3,557 feet, and oil started flowing at a rate of two hundred barrels per day. Although this well was minor compared to some drilled shortly thereafter, the discovery started a violent oil boom; speculation in royalty rights and leases mounted rapidly, and drilling became frenzied.

Once begun, Earlsboro grew rapidly, so rapidly that in two or three months the town had a population variously estimated at from five thousand to ten thousand people. Main Street was lengthened from one to five blocks, with numerous side and parallel streets added to the business section. The streets were lined with stores of all types in addition to pool halls, picture shows, beauty shops, lumberyards, and cafes. A large four-story brick hotel was soon under construction. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, and geologists sought office space in any type of building. The residential area expanded as rapidly as the business section. Shotgun houses of all varieties were built on land once used for gardens or lawns. Tents frequently occupied unused spaces, and often tent space in a back yard rented for as much as twenty-five dollars per month. No streets in the residential area were paved or graveled. Public utilities were almost unknown to Earlsboro when the boom started. There was no sewage disposal, the water supply was furnished by individual wells, and most of the homes used kerosene lamps for light. The post office was entirely inadequate to handle the increase in mail. Earlsboro was too small to have delivery service, so everybody received his mail at the general delivery window or from a box in the post office. Two general delivery windows were soon opened, but this procedure only slightly relieved the situation. The people waiting to receive their mail often formed lines over a block in length.

One of the biggest problems that faced Earlsboro during the boom period was transportation. There were no paved roads in the community or town. Because of the heavy traffic, every road leading to Earlsboro was either a cloud of dust or a sea of mud. Automobiles, teamsters, and trucks all moved at a snail's pace. Rainfall was exceptionally heavy during the fall of 1926, greatly exceeding the normal. Roads and fields were so boggy that it seemed drilling would have to be temporarily discontinued. Trucks were practically abandoned in favor of horses. Rail transportation was even more inadequate than the roads. Trackage and storage space were missing.

By 1928 the boom was beginning to settle as the limits of the producing fields were determined. New oil developments in nearby fields resulted in many of the single workers seeking steadier employment elsewhere. New city leaders, working with the older ones, began to bring order out of chaos and to improve the facilities of the community. Main Street was paved, a city water system was developed, and electricity was brought to the town.

In 1928 the population within the incorporated limits of the community was estimated at 4,000, but by 1930 it had decreased to 1,950. Also in 1928 the number of business establishments, as listed in the Earlsboro Journal, totaled 286. The 1940 population census (486) and a count of business establishments in the same year (19) showed that the second boom period had definitely ended and that the second stage of decay was well advanced.

Present-day Earlsboro is but a broken hull of the twice-booming community. About forty homes, many unpainted since the 1930s, remain scattered about the incorporated limits. Several residential streets have been closed and a few plowed and planted. Only uncared-for trees and broken foundations occupy previously densely populated blocks. The business area definitely shows that the boom is over and that the town is dying. Once busy streets are now almost unused. One block of brick buildings remains, and only three of them are in use. Grass and weeds grow in cracks along the sidewalks and in places once occupied by buildings. The depot built to replace the first boxcar has long since been removed, and trains no longer stop.

Foraker

Foraker, settled in 1905, was a government townsite platted under the supervision of the Department of the Interior. Located in the northwestern part of the Osage Nation (now Osage County) in an area of rolling plains, the town in 1908 advertised itself: "In the heart of this farmer's and stockman's paradise flourishes Foraker - one of the best `Little Towns' in the state."

Shortly after its settlement, Foraker became an agricultural boom town. In 1909 the population living within the incorporated city limits was estimated at five hundred, and the trade territory had a radius of approximately twenty-five miles. The town was served by the Midland Valley Railroad, and a second line had been surveyed through the area, crossing at Foraker. (The second rail line was never built.) Corn and alfalfa were the principal crops in an area rich in natural pasture; thus, "it was bound to become one of the best hog and cattle producing sections in Oklahoma." Although it was only four years old, Foraker resembled a much older place. Concrete sidewalks had been put down throughout the business district, and much building was in evidence. Already in operation were two banks, two drugstores, three hardware stores, six mercantile stores, two grocery stores, two lumberyards, two livery stables, two grain elevators, and other necessary retail establishments. There were also two "live" newspapers, two churches, and active fraternal organizations. Two blocks had been designated for a public park, thirty thousand dollars in bonds had been voted for a light and water system, and a new twenty-thousand-dollar school building had been completed. Freight and passenger service into and out of Foraker had tripled within the year.

After its rapid beginning Foraker stagnated until about 1920, when oil was discovered in the Burbank area some fifteen miles to the south. Foraker was the shipping point nearest the new oil field; thus, the town had another boom period, when it became the center for the distribution of oil-field equipment and supplies. A branch rail line, the Osage Railway, was extended from Foraker into the oil-producing area for the shipment of tank cars of petroleum products. Population of the town jumped to over two thousand, and several new business buildings and homes were constructed. Since oil was not found in the area immediately adjacent to Foraker, the town did not suffer the rough and lawless times of a true oil-field community.

With the decrease in oil production during the 1930s, Foraker declined rapidly. The development of large ranches, the abandonment of the railroads, the building of highways, and the use of large trucks to move livestock to market have resulted in the demise of the town. No businesses now operate, and only a few people live in the once thriving community. As one long-time resident still living in what remains of the town stated: "Stores gone, post office gone, train gone, school gone, oil gone, boys and girls gone - only thing not gone is graveyard and it git bigger."

Ingersoll

When the Cherokee Outlet was opened for settlement in 1893, many persons of German ancestry migrated to the Ingersoll area. No town was formed until the Choctaw Railroad (Rock Island) reached the site of Ingersoll in the summer of 1901. A townsite was platted and opened for settlement in September of that year. The town was named Ingersoll after the president of the railroad. Ingersoll was born full-grown and within a month it had an estimated 1000 inhabitants. Stores of all kinds were either in operation or being built, and temporary homes were being replaced by permanent ones. Many businesses reflected the importance of agriculture, especially wheat growing.

Ingersoll became noted as a "sinful" town ... It had seven saloons and two pool halls, and also it was believed by many individuals that the town was named for the famous agnostic Robert Ingersoll. All saloons were closed with the coming of statehood. After Statehood ... Ingersoll contested Cherokee for the location of the county seat. At that time Ingersoll had four eleveators, four general stores, two barber shops, two livery stables, two restaurants, and two banks in addition to a hardware store, a lumberyard, a drugstore, a blacksmith shop, a hotel, a telephone exchange, a billiard hall, a meat market, a coal dealer, a shoemaker, an agricultural implement dealer, a weekly newspaper, and a corncob pipe manufacturing company. After losing its bid for the county seat, Ingersoll started to decline; business buildings have been torn down or have burned down, sidewalks of yesteryear are buckled by tree growth, covered by dirt, and encircled by weeds, the elevators are out of business and the schools are closed.

Kaw City

Kaw City was established in 1902 by William M. Jenkins, a former governor of Oklahoma Territory. Located near the Arkansas River and adjacent to the Santa Fe tracks being laid from Newkirk to Pauls Valley via Cushing and Shawnee, the townsite was platted soon after the railroad bridge across the Arkansas was completed. The first two buildings erected in the new town were north of the railroad tracks because the owners believed the business section would develop in that area. Jenkins, however, erected his office at the corner of Main Street and Fifth Avenue. New arrivals also started building along Main Street. Soon thereafter the two original buildings, which housed a harness shop and a peanut stand, were moved. A dance was held to celebrate the completion of the first store building on Main Street. It was attended by fifty men and six women. A fiddle and mouth organ supplied the music.

The town grew rapidly. Soon after its founding a post office was approved and a newspaper started. In addition to stores and restaurants there were a livery stable, a blacksmith shop, and barber shops. From 1902 until statehood Kaw City was a wide-open town, having five saloons. The three merchants in the nearby village of Longwood moved their stores to Kaw City, and the doctor who had his practice in Longwood also moved. Kaw City became an important trading center for the Kaw Indians, whose reservation was to the north, and the Osage Indians living to the south and east. By 1919 Kaw City was recognized as a prosperous city because of its business with the Indians, farmers, and cattlemen of the area. New business activities had developed as needed, and several professional people had settled in the community. A good school system was in operation, and churches had been organized. The streets, however, had not been paved, nor had a water and sanitation system been developed. In 1919 oil was discovered in the Kaw City area. As in all oil boom towns, strangers walked the streets - oil company officials and trucking contractors, millionaires and bums. Unheard-of rentals were offered for any and all kinds of places where one could sleep and eat. "Millionaires occupied shabby little rooms at the two-story brick hotel, with outside sanitation." New buildings were soon going up in all parts of the town, old buildings were torn down and replaced, streets were widened and graded, Main Street was paved, bonds were voted for a sewer and water system, and gas was piped into the town. Probably the most important building constructed, however, was a modern, four-story hotel built by I. M. (Ike) Clubb. Kaw City in a very short time had become a city of the first class.

When the oil boom was over, Kaw City began to decline. As people moved away, businesses closed. With the passing of time, ranches in the area became larger, and farms consolidated. Machinery replaced man in these activities. Many of the Indians, having gained wealth as a result of the oil discoveries, moved to larger cities. As the program for flood control and the development of the Arkansas River Inland Waterway progressed, it was decided that a large dam needed to be built in the Kaw City area. Thus it became necessary for the town to either move or be drowned. Some buildings were moved to new locations, but most were torn down. All of the platted area that was Kaw City is now covered by the waters of Kaw Reservoir.

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Historical Atlas of Oklahoma The atlas presents significant aspects of Oklahoma in 83 up-to-date maps, including some in color. Beginning with the location of Oklahoma within the United States, its landforms, rainfall, climate, and rivers and lakes, the maps cover important historical events, from sixteenth-century Spanish explorations in the region to the formation of the state and subsequent political and economic developments.

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