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Keokuk Falls

Keokuk Falls, named for Chief Moses Keokuk, was platted at the time of the opening of the Sac and Fox Reservation on September 22, 1891. The location was ideal for supplying goods and services to the Creek Nation, whose western boundary was about one mile east of the town, and the Seminole Nation, about a mile to the south just across the North Canadian River. For several years a ferryboat operated at the river crossing. Later, a floating bridge capable of supporting heavy loads was extended across the river and anchored at both ends. A fee of two cents was charged for the use of the bridge, but there was a fine of two dollars for crossing animals faster than at a walk.

The location and accessibility, however, resulted in Keokuk Falls becoming the most famous of the "liquor towns" that developed near the boundary of Oklahoma Territory and the Indian nations. The Indian nations were "dry" areas, for it was illegal to buy or sell liquor or even have it in one's possession there. Oklahoma Territory was legally "wet" and "wide open." Primarily on the basis of this liquor trade, Keokuk Falls developed into one of the toughest of frontier towns. From 1895 to 1905, in addition to various kinds of stores, cotton gins, and sawmills, the town had three hotels, two distilleries, ten doctors, seven saloons, and one coffin factory. There was one justice of the peace, but never a marshal or lawman; four to six preachers, but never a church. The first saloon built was named the Black Dog, and the second the Red Front, and it was between these two that most trouble developed over control of the liquor trade in the Indian nations. In 1904 the bitter rivalry between the saloon keepers resulted in several killings and the closing of four of the saloons. In 1907, at the time of statehood, the remaining saloons and distilleries were closed.

Stories about the shootings and killings in Keokuk Falls are numerous. The town became known as the home of the "seven deadly saloons." It is reported that one stagecoach driver, who made a daily run through Keokuk Falls, told his passengers, "Stop twenty minutes and see a man killed." One distillery located at the south edge of town dumped its waste mash in a gully at the back of the building. Hogs, after eating the mash, caused much amusement as they squealed, staggered, and became affectionate while parading along the main street. An auctioneer who sometimes visited the town rode a saddled ostrich. It is said that "He would race against any horse and rider for a hundred yards. He never lost a race." The biggest party of all, however, was held on the night of November 15, 1907, when most male and many female citizens joined in consuming as much liquid refreshment as possible before dry statehood at noon on the next day.

Lehigh

Lehigh, named for the noted coal mining center in Pennsylvania, was established in 1880 as a coal camp. The tents, huddle of company-owned shacks, and commissary making up the camp were moved twice before being located in 1884 where the town developed. This final movement was to the vicinity of a shaft known as "Old No. 4." Development in the area continued as shaft No. 5 was excavated. Lehigh, however, became an active town in 1887 following a mine disaster at Savanna. The company closed that mine and moved its equipment and 135 houses to Lehigh.

From 1890 to 1910 the population of Lehigh increased to approximately two thousand. Coal mines, both shaft and strip, were in full operation. The town became known for the quantity and quality of coal mined, about twelve hundred tons per day. Agricultural lands in the vicinity were also productive. In 1900 some five thousand bales of cotton and over fifty thousand bushels of wheat were marketed in Lehigh. Three railroads extended their tracks to the town, making it an important shipping point. During these two decades the town incorporated, developed police and fire departments, started a water system, and organized an active commercial club. The Constitutional Convention in 1907 designated Lehigh as county seat of Coal County. (The county seat was later moved to Coalgate by popular vote.)

The mine payroll, which exceeded $100,000 per month, plus income from other activities caused the development of all types of commercial institutions. In addition to the numerous stores, restaurants, barber shops, and pool halls or billiard parlors, the town had two banks, three large hotels, an ice plant, an elevator and a fifty-barrel flour mill, two cotton gins, a bottling works, and the famous Bijou Opera House. Four or five lawyers, one or two dentists, and five or six doctors resided in Lehigh. Five schools and four churches served the community.

Lehigh had a polyglot population. Many of the miners were Italian, but there were also miners from France, Germany, Belgium, and several east European areas. Mixed with the English-speaking Americans, plus the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians and a few Chinese who had drifted into the town, all these nationalities must have created a somewhat cosmopolitan atmosphere. The cultural contrast was great. West Lehigh, where many with the larger incomes lived, was known as Quality Hill. The area along the Katy tracks, especially on the two days each month when the miners were paid, was called Wildcat Row. In 1896 the Masonic groups built the Bijou Opera House, reserving the third and top floor for their hall. Because of the quality of most programs given in the Bijou, many coming from New York, Chicago, and other eastern centers, it became known as the "cultural center of Indian Territory." Numerous programs and dances were formal. Several programs, however, were not booked for the people of Quality Hill, and there were times when those from all parts of Lehigh joined together for special purposes.

One of Oklahoma's most distinguished citizens, Patrick J. Hurley, was born in Lehigh in 1883. At the age of eleven he began working nine and one-half hours each day as a trapper in Mine No. 6 at a daily wage of seventy-five cents. After two years he was promoted to mule skinner, a job in which he drove the mules hauling coal from the mine. At the age of fifteen he left the mines to get an education, finally completing a degree in law from National University of Law, Washington, D.C. He served in both World Wars I and II, retiring with the rank of general. During the Hoover administration he was Secretary of War, and during the F. D. Roosevelt administration he served as ambassador to China.

From 1915 to 1930 there was little change in the total population of Lehigh, but there was considerable movement into and out of the town. The importance of coal as a fuel decreased, and mines were shut down as oil production increased. Stores closed, offices moved to other cities, and buildings stood vacant. Fire destroyed some buildings, including the Bijou. During and since the 1930s hundreds of people have moved from Lehigh. Some homes were moved to other communities, but many simply rotted and fell down. Schools were closed, and the few remaining students transferred to either Coalgate or Atoka. All railroad lines were abandoned by 1956, and the tracks have since been removed.

Quay

Quay, first known as Lawson, developed as a small railroad town when the Eastern Oklahoma Railway Company laid its lines from Newkirk to Pauls Valley between 1900 and 1904. It was a farming and livestock trade center in both Pawnee and Payne counties, the north side of Main Street being in Pawnee, the south side in Payne. At the time of statehood approximately one hundred persons lived in Quay. Two general stores, a grocery store, and a drugstore were the principal commercial activities. A bank, two small hotels, a restaurant, a blacksmith shop, a livery stable, and a weekly newspaper also served the community. An elevator and a cotton gin were used by the local farmers. By 1913 a telephone exchange had been added, and the population had increased to about 150.

In 1914 oil was discovered in the town of Quay as well as in the surrounding area. Derricks competed with shacks, tents, shotgun houses, oil-field supply yards, and business buildings for space. Most business buildings were frame, and a few were two-story structures. Main Street became almost three-fourths of a mile in length. Boarding houses, rooming houses, hotels, and restaurants were numerous. So many migrants came to Quay seeking work that the town could not supply homes for the regular workers. Company-owned oil-field camps, one having about one hundred houses, were built near gasoline plants, supply yards, and similar places. Like other oil boom towns of the 1915-25 period, many gamblers, crooks of all types, and prostitutes came to Quay. Robbery was not uncommon, and several murders were committed. For a while law enforcement was a problem because of the county division of the town. Eventually the officers of both counties worked together. Population estimates when the boom was greatest state that at least five thousand persons lived in the town, with another five thousand in the surrounding oil producing area.

Shamrock

Shamrock in 1913 was a country hamlet with two general stores, a restaurant, and a population of thirty-five people. Two years later, as the Cushing Oil Field was developing, the townsite was shifted to the southern edge of the field and became a full-fledged boom town with a population in excess of ten thousand persons. Not only did the town grow, but several oil-field camps, with such names as Dropright, Gasright, Alright, Downright, Damright, and Justright, also were located in the vicinity.

Shamrock took on an Irish tone when the new location was surveyed and platted. The main street was named Tipperary Road, and other streets were given such names as Cork, Dublin, Ireland, St. Patrick, and Killarney. Many buildings were painted green. An important acquisition by the town was a Blarney stone. The first newspaper was the Shamrock Brogue. In the first issue of the Brogue it was stated that Shamrock was "the only town in the United States where green stamps only can be sold by postmaster." A later rival of the Brogue was called the Blarney.

Like all such oil boom towns, Shamrock had its saloons, gambling halls, and tough individuals. The story is told that the Big Six gambling hall had a one-legged fiddle player who was known to take off his wooden leg and use it as a club to restore order when the occasion demanded. In one pool hall Ruby Darby, a noted oil-field entertainer, performed. She would get "on top of a pool table so everyone could see her dance." Some pool halls closed at midnight so that men could sleep on and under the tables. A former mayor of Shamrock recalled that he had seen Tom Slick and Harry Sinclair, both outstanding early-day oil-field developers, race a little buckskin team up and down Tipperary Road. "They'd have a few drinks and then see who could go the fastest." Probably the last "big excitement" in Shamrock was in 1932, when Charles A. "Pretty Boy" Floyd robbed the bank.

Shamrock began declining in the mid-1920s. Oil-field workers moved on to new boom towns where more work was assured and pay was higher. As in all other such places, stores, pool halls, "hotels," and various shops began to close. Nearby oil-field camps were sometimes deserted, and often the houses were moved to new locations. Business buildings, left unkept, soon began to decay and were vandalized. By 1930 the population of Shamrock had decreased to about seven hundred persons.

With the construction of State Highway 16 near the western edge of the town, the remaining three or four businesses moved from the old store area. About ten stone buildings, all in the process of falling down, plus wide sidewalks extending both east-west and north-south, show the magnitude of the former business section. Fewer than two hundred people now live in Shamrock. As one old-timer, a woman, recently commented, "Instead of loud screeching music and pistol fire, you can hear the soft rustle of the cottonwood trees and the childish laughter of the few youngsters here as they play where mud-caked boots use to tromp." Her husband put it this way: "Shamrock may have been Big Bad Bill in its day, but it's certainly Sweet William now."

Wildman

Wildman was just what its name indicates - "a wild west, hard shooting, tough mining town made up of grizzled miners and unscrupulous gamblers with a liberal seasoning of bandits." Some of the names of the more famous citizens of the "wild little village" were Scandalous John, Judge Fox (a former probate judge), H. Foster Bain (a government claim jumper), Carl Zerkle, "Nine Fingers," and Sam Bibe. It has been said that one of the first "diggings developed in Wildman was the graveyard." Only a few deaths from shootings were ever reported, but the Boothill Cemetery was a well-populated area.

Wildman was started in the fall of 1900 when the federal government opened the Wichita Mountain region to mineral exploration. Saloons and gambling houses dominated the business district, although the town also had two grocery stores, two hotels, a general store, a hardware store, a restaurant, a drugstore, and an assayer's office. The community always had at least one doctor. A two-room schoolhouse was built, but no church building ever existed. The school was used for the few religious meetings conducted by "sky pilots" who visited the town. The most unique building was the first post office. It was a boxcarlike structure on wheels, somewhat like a cook shack used for threshing crews, which could be moved when necessary. Visiting cowboys and gamblers frequently became involved in "shooting up" the town. When the old post office was abandoned, it was reported that there were no fewer than a dozen bullet holes in the structure.

Traces of gold, silver, and other minerals were found in the extremely hard granite. Numerous shafts and tunnels were dug, especially in the vicinity of Nest Egg Mountain. Large amounts of money were spent by both prospectors and financiers in the sinking of shafts and the building of smelters. Eventually, however, it became clear that it was almost impossible to smelt the hard granite. A railroad that wanted to build through Wildman was prevented from doing so because certain miners "planned to build their own railroad when they hit pay dirt."

Wirt

Wirt, first known as Ragtown, was named in honor of Wirt Franklin, one of the discoverers of the Carter County oil pool. The town was founded in 1913 shortly after the discovery well near Healdton came in. One of the largest oil producers in the field was near Wirt. It came in with an initial production of five thousand barrels per day.

Wirt had stores along both sides of Main Street, including a bank and a movie theatre. The second stories of some buildings were noted brothels. The town was destroyed by fire four or five times (no one seems to know the exact number) but was always rebuilt. The buildings along Main Street were set far back from the curb with the idea that the flames could not reach across the street. Most homes were two- or three-room shotgun houses in which the residents simply existed. The houses have been described as a collection of shacks. Many inhabitants were squatters who lived in any vacant house, if such could be found, or pitched a tent in some little-used place.

Extreme lawlessness and moral turpitude flourished, and the town became known for its disregard for law and order. The killing or wounding of police officers was not uncommon. It was a town where "hard and quick fists, tough and thick skulls, and the ready use of revolvers was the rule and not the exception." Women as well as men were stabbed, shot, or found with their skulls crushed. The most prosperous of the commercial institutions was the undertaking parlor. Most of the time there was at least one corpse being prepared for burial, and there were times when several awaited the undertaker's care.

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Oklahoma Place Names Nearly 3,600 counties, cities, mountains, and lakes are listed alphabetically, with such information as origin of name, date of founding and abandonment of towns, post office, changes of name, and other pertinent details.

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