Ed Cadenhead

Interviewer: Dr. Ed Cadenhead

Interviewee:

Other Persons:

Date of Interview: August 1979

Location: Bristow, Creek County Oklahoma

Transcriber: Abby Thompson

Organization: Bristow Historical Society, Inc.

Original Cassette Tape Location: OHP-0028-01 Side A at 00:00 to 25:47

Abstract: The following programs were composed by Dr. Ed Cadenhead, a History professor at Tulsa University. He discusses many different aspects of Bristow, including the oil boom, Chief Crazy Snake Rebellion, and the founding of Bristow.

Preface: The following oral history testimony is the result of a cassette tape interview and is part of the Bristow Historical Society, Inc.'s collection of oral histories. The interview was transcribed and processed by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc., with financial assistance from the Montfort Jones & Allie Brown Jones Foundation. Rights to the material are held exclusively by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc.

The reader should bear in mind that he or she is reading a verbatim transcript of spoken, rather than written prose. Insofar as possible, this transcript tries to represent the spoken word. Thus, it should be read as a personal memoir and not as either a researched monograph or edited account.

To the extent possible, the spelling of place names, foreign words, and personal names have been verified, either by reference resources or directly by the interviewee. In some cases, a footnote has been added to the transcript in order to provide more information and/or to clarify a statement. Some uncertainties will inevitably remain regarding some words and their spellings. In these scenarios, a (ph) follows a word or name that is spelled phonetically. The notation [indecipherable] is used when the transcriber has not been able to comprehend the word or phrase being spoken. The notation [inaudible] is used where there is more mumbling than words, or when interference on the tape has made transcription impossible.

EC: Okay, spot announcement for the week of August the 5th; This is Ed Cadenhead, history professor at the University of Tulsa, and I am in Bristow this summer under a grant from the Oklahoma Humanities Committee and the National Endowment for the Humanities, collecting information on the history of Bristow. If you have information, photographs, or scrapbooks, please call or come by the chamber of commerce office.

EC: Spot announcement for the week of August the 12th; This is Ed Cadenhead, history professor at the University of Tulsa. On Saturday, August 18th, at 12:45 at the national guard armory, I will be presenting a slide talk on the history of Bristow, prepared under a grant from the Oklahoma Humanities Committee, from the national endowment for the humanities. You are all invited, the talk will be 00:01:00presented at 12 noon by potluck lunch in as part of the Western Heritage Days. Hope to see you there.

EC: Article on radio. One of the editions to Bristows history, that is mentioned by most people, is the radio station KFRU. Unfortunately, there are some different memories of the fact; while some believe it was the first radio station in Oklahoma, a few even remember it as the first radio station in the nation. It was not even the first in Bristow; often forgotten as the fact that Merit Delano (ph) and others had a station on main street in the Joe Matton (ph) building. This station was KFJK, one of the Watts stations run by Delano Radio and Electric company. It may even have had te call letters KCOU at one time. This station, built in 1923, would not last long before the most remembered station was opened in the Roland Hotel. This later station was much stronger and 00:02:00became widely known. Newspapers carried stories about its programs, talent was recruited from Bristow and surrounding high schools, as well as colleges. Well known of groups of entertained were Jimmy Wilson (ph) and his Catfish Band, and Bill McGinnis (ph) Cowboy Strong Band. At some point, equipment from KFRU was sold to a college in Columbia, Missouri. The later station as subsequently sold to interests in Tulsa. The differing memories as to whether the call letters were changed to KVOO before or after the move to Tulsa; in any event, radio played an early and important part in the life of Bristow.

EC: Article on oil boom. Virtually every resident in Bristow is aware of the oil boom that the city once witnessed. Most of the stories are predictable, for anyone who has seen or heard about a boom town. Some details and information, 00:03:00however, are harder to get. Exactly when the boom hit Bristow is hard to say, since the activity in Cushing and Slick affected Bristow. But the years in 1915-1923 would probably cover the main period. The influx of people is the strongest memory, with figured ranging from 13,000 to 25,000 population being given; the most likely population figure without census to measure was 15,000. Finding a place for so many to live was impossible. Every available room was rented, some in shifts, and local residents would have to find workers sleeping on their porches, in their garages, or on their yard swings. Prices of property jumped; Mrs. Lucy West had two lots, with one room shacks that had costed $100 each to build, that were rented for $125 per month. One enterprising business 00:04:00woman paid $2,500 just for the right to lease the upstairs of a building on main street. The movement of pipe and other material was another notable aspect of Bristow's boom. Pipe was unloaded at the depot, and numerous teams of mules from several liberty stables transported it. One owner of a team, Wallis Winshield (ph), had his mules so well-trained that they could raise and lower pipes on voice command to the amusement of bystanders. Alvin [Indecipherable] remembers the large amounts of lumber that the four or five lumber yards in the area sold for the construction of oil rig bases. Brick Cershner (ph) remembers the appearance of those rigs once in place at Slick. The well was in, the wooden rigs were black, otherwise they were clean. Others have vivid memories of some of the problems created by them boom. Some young ladies were not allowed to, or 00:05:00were afraid to be in town after dark. Robberies did occur and killings were not unusual; gambling in some local establishments, as well as under automobile headlights out in the country were not unusual. An increase in the number of places that sold whiskey, or otherwise provided entertainment for the young men without families was predictable. Bristow, at one point, established a curfew for all under a certain age, and had to employ six or seven peace officers to keep up with the expanding business. Interestingly, with all the photographs that have turned up showing the cotton boom days in Bristow, none have yet appeared to show the oil boom. If you have such items, please drop them by the chamber of commerce office so that copies can be made.

EC: Article on Bristow's Schools. One continuing story in Bristow's history is 00:06:00the pride and interest shown in the local schools. The story apparently started in 1898, when Mrs. Lucy West was contacted, and $400 was raised to build a school; yet, the Tulsa World reported the 1898 that school started in Bristow with J. H. A. Dumas (ph), his wife, and Mrs. C. B. Colburn (ph), his teachers. There's hope that some accurate information about the connection between Dumas and West at this early date can be found. Either before or after the building from Mrs. West was erected, classes were held in what was also used as a dining room for the Lahore Motel (ph). The one room frame building on east sixth street, which the first school building was built by Jonathan West, Lucy's husband. The brick building was built in 1903, and Bristow had five teachers by this time. Gordon Castleberry (ph) taught the students above the fourth grade in 00:07:00the brick building. P. A. Spice (ph) and Stella Hanktons (ph) had the third and fourth grades in the Methodist church, and Lucy West and Maude Vann (ph) taught the first and second grades in the Christian church. In 1906, Bristow's first high school graduation took place; Graduates were Alice Rue Williams (ph), Ralph Corey (ph), Aiyana Greenhopper (ph), and Waldo Stickle (ph). In 1904, a second school building was erected and in 1909 a third. It was this last building that burned in 1920, a well-remembered fire for many schools. One of the schools located where Ford Hardware now stands is remembered as only being painted to look like bricks. Growth was rapid, one teacher recalls, having sixty students in a room; another had forty in the morning and a different forty in the afternoon. Certainly by 1920, Bristow already had shown an interest in providing 00:08:00education opportunities for its youth, and more was yet to come. The names associated with the Bristow schools are truly too numerous to list them all; some that have been mentioned are Mrs. Sickler (ph), W. W. Green (ph), Aiyana Green (ph), Gray Powers (ph), Mrs. Ethan Mills (ph), Lloyd P. Loseur (ph), Mrs. Orable Henkins (ph), Mrs. Russel Banks (ph), Mrs. Ashly Ohlerly (ph), Charles Hutton (ph), to name only some of the earlier ones.

EC: Article on county seat fight. Well, one of the earliest and perhaps most important political contests in which Bristow was involved related to the location of the county seat. Beginning before statehood and then issued for many years, Sapulpa and Bristow contended for the advantage of being the county seat. 00:09:00Bristow lost the first fight in 1902, and Sapulpa was made a court town of the western judicial district of Indian territory, and Bristow was able to get only an occasional commissioners court. The second step in the contest favoring Sapulpa came with the passage of the Indian Appropriation Act in 1906 that named Tulsa and Sapulpa as court towns. The enabling act of the same year provided for the creation of districts to allow delegates to a constitutional convention. Sapulap democrats supported T. L. Ingram (ph) as their candidate to delegate, while Bristow supported W. W. Banks (ph). The [Indecipherable] was held in Bristow's opera house, resulting in the Sapulpa democrats bolting and supporting the labor convention candidate, the same T. L. Ingram. Before the bolt occurred, Lawrence Davis (ph), a Bristow attorney, made a speech asking for fair 00:10:00procedures. For his efforts, he was later burned in [Indecipherable] and accused of double crossing Bristow. Others who ventured to support Sapulpa were led to the city limits and told not to reenter Bristow. One local citizen remembers seeing such an individual literally being run out of town on horseback. When the democrats divided, J. H. M. Cobb, the republican candidate from Sapulpa was elected at the polls in November. Even so, Bristow still expected the county seat, and the local newspaper reported this fact in December of 1906. At the convention in Guthrie, however, Cobb supported governor William A. Murrays (ph) rush to get an entire map [Indecipherable], even though it showed Bristow as the county seat. Subsequently, Murray apparently made the change to Sapulpa as a member of the County Boundary Committee. There's still one more vote took place at the constitutional convention, Bristow again lost to Sapulpa. At the same 00:11:00time, the designation of creek county was [Indecipherable] instead of [Indecipherable]. As it originally was called at the Momen Cruet (ph), an Oklahoma City Attorney. After ratification of the constitution, Bristow, by petition, sought an election to determine the county seat. It was called for August the 12th, 1908; arguing vote for the center C. B. Rockwood (ph) and George McMillan (ph) led the Bristow campaign. With J. A. Boyed (ph) and L. B. Jackson (ph) as Sapulpa leading spokesmen. A rather quiet election day showed Sapulpa as the winner, bur Bristow alleged gross irregularities in voting that Sapulpa and Kiefer and filed [Indecipherable] in the supreme court. Allegations of intimidation, women dressing as men to vote, and the bind if votes with liquor were also included. Though Bristow maintained its hope through months of 00:12:00litigation, in June 1912, the courts simply ordered a new election, and again Sapulpa was victorious, and again Bristow filed suit alleging voting irregularities. On August the 1st, 1913, the Sapulpa Light published news of their final victory, not one word about the court's decision was printed in the Bristow records. Efforts to form a new county called Oil County failed as did a petition to be part of Shafer county, which Cushing residents tried to create. Seven years of election and court battles have ended, but the oil well lasted for a short time and became part of the legends involved in Bristow.

EC: Article on Crazy Snake. One of the most often mentioned with little remembered events in early Bristow history is the Crazy Snake Rebellion. As late as 1901, there were still some creek Indians who disliked the events of 00:13:00civilization, and refused to accept the allotments of land by the Daws commission. One group of these [Indecipherable] banded together under the leadership of General Harjo, otherwise known as Chief Crazy Snake. One day in 1901, Thomas Tiger (ph), dressed in war paint, rode into town, posted notices and delivered personal letters to several residents, saying the snakes were on the war path and intended to destroy Bristow unless everyone left. The population received the news with will alarm; women and children were hidden in churches and in cellars while some 200 men armed themselves and guarded the town. The committee of townspeople asked Jesse Allen (ph) to aid them. Allen was a quarter blood Yuchi Indian who had served as deputy U. S. Marshall, and had married into a creek family. Allen, along with a companion, met Crazy Snake 00:14:00outside town, said a few words to him in Creek and Crazy Snake turned back. Allen's children states that their father had never revealed what he had said to Crazy Snake. Whether it was because of this exchange or because of other pressures, or perhaps because no real attack was intended, peace was restored. The Snakes were arbitrarily assigned lands by the government, some of it not too desirable, but ironically later proven to be oil producing. Whatever the true seriousness of the situation, the consternation in Bristow was honest. One resident, Joe Eaves (ph), a blacksmith, made himself a bulletproof vest, which was later used as a weight to close his gate, and as a reminder of the Crazy Snake Rebellion.

EC: General Article on Bristow's History. All too often, students at any level 00:15:00of history think of the subject matter as only a collection of names and dates. That's often true, I've discovered, with people in Bristow, who say they really do not remember much that is important. While it is true that names and dates are a necessary part of history, stories of unimportant incidents provide the flesh for the otherwise bare bones. It is interesting to read, for instance, that in 1898, a traveling cord was set up by U. S. Marshall Leo Bennett (ph) to travel along the railroad in Indian Territory. That cord in Bristow, only a shack and tent town at the time, caused what was called a general exodus of 00:16:00gamblers, bootleggers, and different riffraff reside on the north of shack town, as it approached from the south. Memories of watching boys blowing glass at the glass factory, [Indecipherable] with two shows a day, professional wrestling, or bartering a gallon of whiskey for a new tire, a fourth of July picnic at Coles park, a circus parade, these are all useful. Certainly longtime residents want to keep alive the knowledge of their state championship football team, or a prize winning band, or any other such victory. While some might disapprove, a story about a local resident dispensing his Christmas cheer from a bag under the backseat of his car, or an accountable local boarding house owner parading their new tenants around main street, adds an extra ingredient to history. A surprised witness to a bank robbery asked me if he can take his hands down, and being told 00:17:00that no one told him to put them up in the first place, adds a humorous touch to an otherwise serious event. An accountable red flag being attached to a water tower so the traveling oilmen could find their way home when the roads were nonexistent. Tell something about the oil business only the participants remember. Clearly then, many people hearing this may have something to add to the collection of information about Bristow. Please contact the chamber of commerce office and dig out those old photographs for reproduction and for preservation.

EC: Article on earliest Bristow. You might think the easiest thing about writing a history of Bristow would be finding out when and by who is was founded, this is just not so. One source reports that Bristow started as a trading post in 00:18:001897, with actual buildings begun in 1898. An article in the chronicles of Oklahoman refers to the founding of Bristow in April 25, 1898, while the Daily Oklahoman says Bristow was founded on January 16,1899. According to the Tulsa World, it was officially a town in 1902. There is general agreement that the town was founded by Charles O. Crane (ph), who was the first postmaster and named the town. But the Tulsa World credits J. C. W. Bland (ph) and John Egan (ph) as being the founders. It also seems clear that Charles L. Wood (ph) did survey the town site in 1901. The site was approved by the interior department in December of 1902. Obviously there is still room for debate over who founded 00:19:00Bristow and when; I received excellent cooperation from people that I have contacted and have a committee that is still taking some interviews, but there have not been as many photographs, or scrapbooks, or diaries turn up as I would like. People should realize that we are trying to collect all these materials and place them in the Bristow Library for safe keeping. Also, if the owners want to hold on to such items, we will just copy them. Anyone who has anything of possible interest is urged to contact me at the Bristow Chamber of Commerce office. One thing I have had plenty of are names of people who ought to be interviewed; what I need most are photographs. A few ideas of subjects that are still of interest would be the location and history of a place, such as the Two 00:20:00Bob Saloon, or particularly information about the oil period. Strangely enough, no photographs of the oil industry have turned up in spite of all the vivid memories that people have. There are a lot of other things about Bristow that are going to be forgotten or lost, unless a real community effort is made to collect, preserve, and house the information while people still remember it. The involvement of a lot of people is really needed.

EC: Bristow Church History. Though many residents in Bristow have shown pride in their churches, there is a shortage of accurate information about them. One type of written history the Catholic church has been acquired, along with short written histories of several of the other churches. Apparently, the Methodists 00:21:00were the first to hold services in Bristow, at the home of A. R. Bokle (ph). The subsequently, in 1900, met in a frame building located in seventh in chestnut. In 1905, under the leadership of S. H. Johnson (ph) and his son, construction was begun on a new building on tenth and main; for some reason, work was moved to seventh and chestnut. At this point, there is some confusion; the cornerstone for a new church was laid in 1900, but apparently the frame building was used until 1917 and sold to the Church of Christ and moved to sixth and walnut. The disciples held their first service in 1899, with F. A. Roberts (ph) as minister. They seemed to have completed their building before the Methodist church was completed; their present building was erected in 1920. The Baptists organized a church in January of 1902, meeting for a time in a school building. By 1903, a 00:22:00white framed church building was erected, with parsonage added in 1909. In 1920, plans were made to build at sixth and chestnut, with a cornerstone of the new building laid in November 1921. The [Indecipherable] erected a building in 1905in seventh and elm after meeting for a time in the Methodist church under the rectorship of B. T. Benskid (ph). The Presbyterians organized at the [Indecipherable] in1917, and their first pastor was installed S. L. Grigsby (ph) the following year; they began a building at sixth and elm in 1921. Members of the Church of God began their meeting in Bristow in the home of Reverend Gregory (ph), and later rented a hall in main street; they purchased lots on Walnut between third and fourth in 1915 to begin their church. A Christian Science 00:23:00society was organized here in 1928, meeting in homes and rented rooms until they finally rented the [Indecipherable] church in 1933, the building they bought in 1946. The first Catholic mass in Bristow was probably said in the Canterbury home in 1909, but one source suggests that the first service held was in 1902. Later, Catholics met at various places, including the masonic temple and the [Indecipherable] church before building at sixth and elm around 1919; the building was moved to eighth and elm at about 1924. Until the newspaper files are worked, or until information is compiled by the various churches themselves, a lot of important information about the religious life in Bristow will be lost. 00:24:00It's also surprising that photographs of old church buildings have not surfaced. Each church in Bristow would be glad at some future date if written history was compiled now while there's still members around who can provide information.

EC: Repeat of a spot announcement to be used during the week of August 5th; This is Ed Cadenhead, history professor at the University of Tulsa. I am in Bristow this summer under a grant from the Oklahoma Humanities Committee and the National Endowment for the Humanities, collecting information on the history of Bristow. If you have information, photographs, or scrapbooks, please call or come by the chamber of commerce office. Anything you wish returned will be, otherwise material collected will be preserved in the Bristow Library.

EC: Repeat of a spot announcement for use the week of August 12th; This is Ed 00:25:00Cadenhead, history professor at the University of Tulsa. On Saturday, August 18th, at 12:45 at the national guard armory, I will be presenting a slide talk on the history of Bristow, prepared under a grant from the Oklahoma Humanities Committee and the national endowment for the humanities. You are all invited, the talk will be presented at 12 noon by a potluck lunch as part of Western Heritage Days. Hope to see you there.