Wewoka High School - Tiger Yearbook (Wewoka, OK)

Page 9 text:

A theme for our yearbook? Our eyes did not 'need to turn to faraway lands, to magic adventures. Wewoka, our own city, had its own magic to offer as capital of an important Indian tribe, center of rich oil area, and-above all-a home of inter- esting people. Since the Seminole Indians came here a century ago to make a new home for the tribe, Wewoka has produced more than its share of outstanding people, has played an im- portant role in the state's colorful history. A famous general of the last world war carri of his hometown, Wewoka, into many lands. Scholars, law- makers, prominent men and wom spread the fame of Wewok ed the name en of three races have a throughout the whole country. These men and women, as well as the lesser known ones who also had their share of the pioneer virtues, have given us the theme of our yearbook, The History of Wewoka. Nancy Frye ifffxxx X -. - 4 N i IME get V- Xl ' I 1 X V -x A - 1 'X g f N X 'I X xxx gd , .Q X A, ,,. '-' -X .Xe 1 -I '- Y.nPe2 ,J ,H 74- ng 'X -X S- ,ff , if 'if X ' ff' 5' Y Z fff -Q-he-L e e 14 i 'Z ix .hh -- N., A x fi Y L.-x

Page 8 text:

.Mi f0l y 0 !0 CL Wewoka, Seminole word for barking waters, is the oldest town in eastern Oklahoma. lt is rich in ln- dian history and legend, was the capital of the Semin- ole nation, and during the l84O's and l85O's was an important trading post. Wewoka was founded as a tiny Indian village soon after the Seminoles were forced to leave Florida and come to Oklahoma to share lands with their kins- men, tho Creeks. The first post office was established in l867 to distribute mail to the Seminoles with Elisha Brown as postmaster. The first sign of progress came in l895 when the Choctaw, Oklahoma, and Gulf Railway Co. decided to run its line through this point. E. J. Brown, the first white man to see business possibilities in the area, opened the first general store soon afterwards. He later sold his firm to John F. and Jackson Brown, Indian brothers, who named it the Wewoka Trading Co. lt was the largest mercan- tile establishment in this territory for many years. In l897 the Brown brothers, aided by A. M. Seran and C. L. Long, subdivided the townsite and gave it its name. lt was formally incorporated as a town in l9Ol by the federal court in Muskogee. Names prominent in the early history of the town were Brown, Seran, Aldridge, Elliot, Baker, Rob- erts, Tucker, Drs. Linn and Berry, Cranston, Reed, and Douglas. The first talk of oil was being circulated soon after the turn of the century when the town had grown to a population of about l,700. On St. Patrick's day of l'923 R. H. Smith, a Philadelphia oil man, brought in a gusher three miles southeast of the town. The oil boom didn't really get under way until about four years later. At that time the population peak zoomed to an estimated 20,000. At that time Seminole county had the richest oil field in the world. lt produced a half-million barrels of high-grade oil a day. Roads were jammed with heavy trucks carrying pipe and heavy machinery. Millionaires were made overnight. Some incomes hit preposterous amounts- about Sl50,000 a month. The drilling wells, working on a 24 hour schedule, caused the whole area to be lighted up like a vast city. Now the boom has subsided, and agriculture has again joined oil as a major industry. Wewoka has quieted down to a stable, progressive, cultured city of slightly more than l0,000 people. 1 ,Wg V , f 'I N . X .Q -- ,I :-r1Y-:,E-x?- lx' 2.',,,1i, pl, ,.:Q,, . , 5 mu' 1 YT S R lllloll 'f .ff f, ff' I. ' K .ff 1 Za V G ' f V' ff-Z' t f Q .e'i4,w 'f L' 1' f T -, :mil irc- .QNX ' X 96 X ' ff ,' fnz ffgph 'vt Q ,' 04- j' 1 Wh ff' 1 -- aff , I ,ff -1- I f X f 7 1 X -fi wL3 ' 'Pd' 11 Q 11,449 'K 'wj .v IH X .f ' ff! 1 .. i, y .,f. 4 , 4 4, f-J . -, . - 1 k ,.,.,f 1- X. -l., Ji V, --,-5, i: 'f3Q'. r 1 TT J, 17-if tel' 32-4 gil-15:3 2:-j'f.gh-jiegq- L- J... .,-3. . ,- f:.,l1.,f1i, . .L 1 I Qdyig TT535' as :i?.t:-. ,, - Q- .. ... - - . - f f wa .rs -' .4 f 'ft t'2g'3Ai1'. -I ' in - 2 . 'll' fs: -Q Y' '- S I V155 f--- Aff- E ,,,, ...w'- - --571, - t . sy ' - r , 2512 'B ,ggi-, -c5ff.'.'s-J-f,'gd' ,jf --wiigz, 15-,- Fl .r'fQ,ir. K 'M .J . fe- - -. 'fl- lzfwaw-rr-v'i'5ww1rf1,J -we ' x It eff f' - 4ga f 'S lvl ,Ili f ' ' 1 ' 'pl 1' I, Wryrlnl ' 4. V . 1 ,l,,f2l', QE- A- I ,n 1'flpitf:9'N7rlll t +ff'1ff'r r it ll r ' 'fllt ' 2 . , 'rw' H .Q .- vi fwfff 41 we'

Page 10 text:

xecu filled Mr. James R. Frazier, now serving his seventh year as Superintendent of the Wewoka Schools, is an integral part of the history of Wewoka High School. For seventeen years he was principal ot the high school. He saw school growth and progress during lush years and lean. His sense of humor and of fair play made us like him as much as we respected him, said one reminiscing alumnus. During Mr. Frazier's Superintend- ency the new library and stadium have been added to the school plant. The auditorium has been completed, and a building program including a physical education building is in progress. We should be especially proud, said Mr. Frazier, that during the diffi- cult years ot war and shortages, we have been able to maintain comparatively high standards in teaching personnel in all the schools of the community. Mr. James R. Frazier and his secretary, Miss Eunice Gantt. John R. Brown, last governor of the Seminoles before statehood, was to the Seminole Nation what Mr. Frazier is to Wewoka High School. His progressive ideas and understanding . of his people's problems did much to further the Seminoles' cultural and material advancement. I