Seminole Indian Territory Installment X

George Birdwell and his gang robbed the Merchants Bank in Boley on November 23, 1932. Birdwell was known to many as the "chief lieutenant" of Pretty Boy Floyd. Floyd forewarned Birdwell against robbing the bank in Boley. The Boley bank robbery followed bank robberies in Earlsboro, Maud, Mill Creek, Roff and Henryetta. Pretty Boy's warning came a little like this: "Go anywhere else, but do not rob Boley. The people there need their money and they do not have much of it in their bank." The warning was couched by a reference that Birdwell and his gang would look quite unusual in an "all-black" town. Birdwell was Irish, although with a mix of Cherokee and Choctaw. In other words, he just ain't gonna fit in there. To make matters even worse, the day they chose was the first day of bird-hunting season--need I say more. The entire town was armed to the teeth! The gang was decimated, to say the least. As a personal aside, the Mayor of Boley is Joan Matthews...who knows? Henrietta Hicks is the Municipal Judge and Fran Shelton is the President of the Chamber of Commerce. Marsha and I will be dropping by in our travels, commencing again soon, in the many Seminole IT Ghost Towns. It may just be that Joan and I can determine whether we are related. I will just tell you, that in learning my family history, it is as likely as not we are blood cousins. Charles Sims, I hope this brings you up to date. BTW--this article appeared in The Seminole Producer, June 12, 2016. Jaime Birdwell-Branson is a darned good writer--in my humble opinion. This Land Press: http://thislandpress.com/

Wallace C. Moore, Seminole Co., OK, native, Butner graduate, Cromwell, OK, 1964. How many of you know that name? You should. The 1866 Treaty Memorial Event, marking the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipated Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes, as outlined in the ratified Treaties of 1866, began in OKC on June 24, 2016. Wallace C. Moore was a keynote speaker. His presentation depicts an account of the signing of the Treaty and the role of a man called Mikko "Cow Tom", played in concluding the treaty. Wallace has many talents as a historian, re-enactor, poet, etc. History and contributions made by black men and women, Freedmen, in the settling of the Old West is just one of those talents. Subjects covered are a history of “Negro” Lawmen and Outlaws in Indian Territory, “Negro” Scouts of the West, Black Cowboys, Buffalo Soldiers, etc. After the Civil War, Freedmen, former slaves of the Tribes, were emancipated by treaties signed in 1866 between the USA and Tribal Nations. These treaties guaranteed that the Freedmen and their descendants would have rights as native citizens, including rights to land and national funds. These treaties have been the subject of debate, even to this day. If you ever have the chance to see Wallace perform, do it. As an aside, the subject of Black Cowboys is one of the most fascinating aspects of Old West History but, unfortunately, largely unknown. Ever heard of Bill Pickett, Stagecoach Mary, Bass Reeves [I've written a lot about him on my websites], Crawford Goldsby aka Cherokee Bill, Nat Love? How about a modern-day black cowboy like Jason Griffin, who is a four-time world champion bareback bucking horse rider? You're fixin' to.

Some Fun and Not So Fun Factoids:
LIMA – Known as one of Oklahoma's thirteen remaining historically All-Black towns, Lima is located south of U.S. Highway 270 on County Road N3600 between Seminole and Wewoka. At the turn of the twentieth century Seminoles and Seminole Freedmen occupied the area. The community known as Lima, named for the local limestone quarries, existed at least by 1904. In 1926 the discovery and development of the Greater Seminole Oil Field brought prosperity and white settlers to the town. The newcomers started a separate village east of Lima, which became known as New Lima. This community never incorporated but built its own school, post office, and businesses. The combined population numbered 239 in 1930 and 271 in 1940. With the decline in the oil boom, the population dropped to 99 in 1950 and 90 in 1960. In 1957, with the end of segregation, the Lima and New Lima schools merged. The population of the two communities climbed to 256 in 1980, but slowly fell to 74 in 2000.

MAUD – Rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson was born here in 1937
• "Pretty Boy" Floyd robbed the bank here in 1931.
• On January 8, 1898, MS. Julia Leard was murdered by a “half-breed” Negro. When a mob of white men captured Lincoln McGelsky, who they suspected had killed Mrs. Leard, they strung him up repeatedly in an attempt to make him confess. It was later reported that two other men were burned at the stake for the murder.

SEMINOLE – Outlaw George Birdwell was buried here in the Maple Grove Cemetery. On November 24, 1932. He was a partner and friend of Oklahoma outlaw Pretty Boy Floyd. He was killed while robbing the bank in the African-American community of Boley, Oklahoma in November, 1932.

WEWOKA – Wewoka was the capital of the Seminole Nation in 1888.

1889- Oklahoma Territory- the first Oklahoma Land Run takes place. With the shot of a pistol at high noon the Oklahoma Land Rush began as 10,000 prospective land-grabbers rushed forward to get their 160-acre claim for a $15 filing fee. The U.S. Federal government had purchased almost two million acres of land in Central Oklahoma from the Creek and Seminole Indians. Some folks snuck in earlier and are known as “Sooners”, those that followed the rules were known as “Boomers”. (In case you ever wondered where the tern “Boomer Sooner” in college football came from.)

SEMINOLE –

85 Years Ago, The Seminole Producer, Text reads: "April 11, 1931--The last chapter in what has aptly been called the 'most brutal murder of 1931' was written in District Court when a local 31-year-old black murderer was sentenced by Judge George Crump to spend the remainder of his life at hard labor in the state penitentiary. He pleaded to clubbing to death Joseph M. White, 73-year-old storekeeper at Elmwood, a small community eight miles southwest of Seminole. The brutal murder occurred on February 8". Question is, where the heck was Elmwood? Maud is 8 miles SW of Seminole. Was it a "suburb" of Maud, which reached an estimated population of 10,000 at the height of the oil boom?

Search for Econtuchka

We left our house on Cherokee St at approximately 10:45 am and arrived back at approximately 6:00 pm. I had mapped, on Google Desktop Maps, 4 former Seminole IT Ghost Towns that had a Post Office, Churches, etc., well before statehood. We spent the entire time however, looking for a way to access the location for the first one—Econtuchka. Here is the book on Econtuchka: “ECONTUCHKA
Extreme northwestern part of Seminole county is a post office from September 15, 1881 to November 30, 1907. On October 19, 1899, the post office was established slightly to the west at a new site in the Pottawatomie Nation. This is the Seminole/Creek word meaning a “surveyed line.

We meandered all over these section lines in order to arrive at an approximate location where I thought the center of this Ghost Town and PO would be. You will note that the PO moved west into Pott County. It is also important to note that NS 349 aka 3490 is aka Econtuchka Road and that is in Pott Co, the first quadrant of sections west of the Pott/ Seminole Co. boundary. Thus, Econtuchka, Seminole IT Ghost Town and PO is the farthest NW quadrant of sections east of that boundary. The approximate boundaries of that area are EW 111, just below the N Canadian River on the north, NS 350 on the west, approximately EW 112 on the south and approximately NS 351 on the east; all just north of I-40. The reason I say, “approximately”, in some cases is that EW 112 stops dead at NS 350—there is no way through to NS 351. The same can be said for EW 111—it stops dead at NS 350, although, there is an obscure line on Google Desktop Maps [GDM], where it appears there is a roadbed where it was once traveled. I am going to try to find that and see just what that looks like at ground level.

To be continued…