Page 6 - Wewoka Chamber Directory 2020
O
THE HISTORY OF WEWOKA
ne of the oldest and most historic
communities in Oklahoma, the city of
Wewoka, was settled in 1849 by the
great Freedman leader, John Horse, and a band of
his followers. Seeking safety and autonomy from
the Creek Nation, they established a community
located at the falls of a small stream, lying in the
fertile lands between the North and South Canadian
Rivers. The steady rush of water over the falls gave
rise to the name We-Wo-Ka - meaning “Barking
Water” in the Mvskoke (Seminole) language.
Situated at the gateway to the expanding
Western Frontier, Wewoka hosted many important
historical figures in its early days, including the
intrepid Phil Sheridan and the ill-fated, George
Armstrong Custer. Adventurer Washington Irving
also passed through Wewoka during his exploration
of the Western Prairie.
Following the conclusion of the American
Civil War, the Seminoles relocated to this area,
established their final home in Indian Territory and
selected Wewoka to be their capital. Therefore,
many settlers came to the Seminole Nation to
establish businesses or build lives for their families
in the small quiet community by the falls. The
town site was opened initially for the benefit of the
Seminoles, but later was opened to others. The title
was perfected by an Act of Congress. A property
lot drawing took place in November 1902, which
gave to each of those holding a chance, a choice
or either two residence lots or one business lot. The
chance taken was on the location of the property.
Chances were sold all over the world in China,
England, South Africa and many in Canada.
The old capitol building, which so long served
the Seminole, became a United States Government
courthouse during those days when the government
held court in Wewoka prior to statehood.
Subsequently, the old building served as courthouse
for Seminole County. It was in this old building the
Seminoles made their laws. There too, they carried
them out. Legal trials took place before the Council,
and upon conviction, the guilty was either seated at
the foot of the Execution Tree and shot to death, or
tied to the Whipping Tree and whipped according
to the edict of the court.
The Execution Tree, cut down in the 1920’s,
now exists as part of the Permanent Collection of
the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City, its
bullet holes and blood stains recording for posterity
the severity of Seminole justice. The Whipping Tree
still stands on the grounds of the modern Seminole
County Courthouse. Here, over a century ago,
the culprit has his hands and feed tied together,
the hands tied over the lower branch of the now
old tree (the great branch stretching out southward
today) and between his feet was placed a rail or
pole. The whipping was done by Lighthorsemen,
and the groans and the cries of the victim could be
heard for many blocks.
During the days of Seminole rule, the Federal
government shipped gold bullion, silver and paper
money, direct to A. J. Brown, the Seminole Nation
Treasurer at Wewoka. He paid the funds directly to
tribesmen. It was an inspiring sight to see the wagon
drawn by the Seminole Nation’s swiftest horses and
guarded by five or six Lighthorsemen, with ready
carbines in their hands, meet the shipments of
money and see the horses dash to breakneck speed
from the little old depot to the waiting vaults of the
old Wewoka Trading Company Building on the
north end of Wewoka Avenue.
The Wewoka Trading Company was one of the
pioneer business concerns of the Indian Territory. it
was established in the 1880’s by John F. Brown,
Chief of the Seminole Nation; his brother, Andrew
J. Brown, Seminole Nation Treasurer and Courtland
L. Long. It rose in importance until it was rated
as one of the greatest commercial undertakings
of the Southwest. At one time, it was valued by
Dunn & Bradstreet at well over one million dollars.
The gigantic store, which covered nearly a full city
block, carried everything from a knitting needle
to a threshing machine. This company made its
own paper money, known by the Seminoles as
“Choka Sodka”. The scrip (or script) was prepared
in Canada and signed by C.I. Long, secretary of
the Trading Company and either John F. Brown
or A. J. Brown a President or Vice President. It
was redeemable in goods at the big store of the
company.
During
the
Oklahoma
Constitutional
convention, Seminole County was carved out of the
old Seminole Nation and three miles of the Creek
Nation, running from the North Canadian River
south along the east side of the county, to three
miles south of Wewoka. The old Creek-Seminole
National line was the very eastern line of what is
known as Muskogee Avenue located just behind the
Seminole Nation Museum. East of that line was the
Creek Nation, west was the Seminole Nation.
Life was tranquil in Wewoka during the years
that followed statehood; tradesmen set up shops
along the dirt-laden main street and small, clapboard
houses began to dot the spare landscape. All of
that changed on March 16, 1923 when R. H. Smith
Betsy Foster #1 oil well came in at twenty-eight
hundred barrels per day, establishing the Wewoka
Field. After that, drilling activity in the immediate
vicinity skyrocketed as a flood of hopefuls came in
search of the overnight wealth brought by the river
of Black Gold.
So inundated by lumber, supplies and oil
field equipment was the local Rock Island depot in
Wewoka, that the congestion gave rise to one of the
most famous adages in all railroad lexicon. “Caught
in a Wewoka Switch” came to mean that one was
stuck in a bind or tough situation. In later years,
oilmen, drillers and roughnecks moved on to new
oil discoveries and carried the phrase throughout
the county where its use became universal.
DID YOU
KNOW
Seminole Nation citizen Enoch
Kelly Haney, an internationally
renowned sculptor, created The
Guardian,
the 22-foot
bronze that
sits atop the
Oklahoma
State Capitol
dome.