Webbers Falls, Oklahoma - Muskogee and Northeastern Oklahoma, Including the Counties of Muskogee

Muskogee and Northeastern Oklahoma, Including the Counties of Muskogee

Webbers Falls, a town of 500 people, situated on the right bank of the Arkansas River, twenty-five miles southeast of Muskogee, is one of the oldest settlements in Muskogee County. It is claimed that a century ago, when the Indians began to settle here, there were actual falls, several feet in height in the river at this point, but a century's constant flow of water has gradually worn the rock away, until now there is only a faint ripple to mark the spot where the falls once existed.

The Hayes Mercantile Company, established there about forty years ago, has from its beginning been one of the leading business institutions of the county. R. E. Blackstone, one of the pioneer merchants, was for many years connected with the same company. In 1896 Oscar Hayes, son of J. W. Hayes, organized the Pioneer Trading Company at Webbers Falls, which soon became one of the prosperous institutions of the town.

Porum is a town of 600 people, located on the prairie, thirty miles south of Muskogee. The townsite was platted by Walter R. Eaton in 1903, upon the arrival of the Midland Valley Railroad. The firm of Cole & Matthews were the first to erect a substantial store building and fill it with a stock of general merchandise. T. H. Williams and Joseph Francis were also pioneer merchants, as were also H. <3r. and Frank Finklea. As the town began to grow some of its citizens organized the Bank of Commerce. A few years later a National Bank was established. These two banks were finally combined into one strong financial institution which was named The American State Bank.

Porum maintains a good public school, two churches and now has four general stores, two cotton gins, two drug stores, two hardware stores and several small stores and shops.

Oktaha, on the M. K. & T. railroad, fifteen miles south of Muskogee, is a flourishing little prairie town of 350 inhabitants. It is in the midst of a good farming community, maintains a good public school, churches, a bank, several general stores and is located on the Jefferson International highway.

Wainwright and Council Hill are towns of about 250 inhabitants each, located in the southwestern part of Muskogee County, on the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad. They are located in a good agricultural section and are good trading points for the farmers.

The Town of Taft, ten miles northwest of Muskogee, was platted upon a large scale, upon the arrival of the Midland Valley Railroad. It now has a population of 600, all negroes, has a good graded school, three churches, two cotton gins and several stores. Its largest institution is the school for blind, deaf and dumb negro children, established and maintained by the state.

The Oklahoma Free State Fair

One of Muskogee's most important institutions is the Oklahoma Free State Fair, organized in 1916 and chartered by the state Februarv 26, 1917.

During the years gone by, Muskogee had held various fairs with more or less success, but all of them had been dependent upon admission fees to meet their expenses, and the gate receipts were not always sufficient to insure the payment of premiums offered, the stockholders being called upon to make up the deficits.

AYhen it was proposed to organize a Free State Fair with "the gates wide open" to all visitors, many of the directors of former fairs balked, declaring that it would be impossible to pay expenses and they saw visions of larger deficits than they had been called upon to meet in former years. But the fertile brain of Mr. Tarns Bixby, Sr., had conceived a plan by which a Free State Fair could be made to succeed, and which, supported by his indomitable energy, did finally attain a degree of success which exceeded the fondest hopes of the fair officials.

In 1918 .the citizens of Muskogee voted a park bond issue of $100,000, the proceeds being used to purchase and beautify the fair grounds. In 1919 the Legislature appropriated $50,000 for the construction of two large buildings, one to contain the agricultural exhibits of the state, the other to house the exhibits of the various Indian tribes. This agricultural building with its exhibits has already accomplished much good toward educating the farmers of Oklahoma along the lines of diversification of crops and improved methods of agriculture.

The Indian building is crowded each year with the products of the Indians and a lively spirit of competition has been aroused among the members of the various tribes which promises favorably for the future. Aside from the entertainment that is furnished by the fair association, special effort is exerted to make it an educational institution. Special lectures are given upon agriculture, horticulture, bee culture and the domestic arts, which are highly instructive and interesting to the general public, and special instruction is given to the numerous boys' and girls' industrial clubs At its annual exhibition held during the first week in October, 1921, $25,000 were paid in premiums and the value of livestock on exhibition approximated $2,000,000.

The Association has already invested over $400,000, in buildings and the demand for more space for exhibits increases each succeeding year. A very large share of the credit for building up this splendid institution is due to Mr. Bixby who has served as its president continuously since its organization. His death a few months ago leaves a vacancy in the fair directory that will be difficult to fill. The fair association ought to erect a monument near the entrance to the Free State Fair Grounds to the memory of Mr. Bixby.

Muskogee And Northeastern Oklahoma

of the industries and institutions which now flourish in Muskogee, nor even to mention the names of all the good men and women who are now contributing their share toward making of it a larger and better city. This task belongs to the future historian. History is that branch of human knowledge which records past events, and it has been the aim of this work to record the principal incidents connected with the early settlement, growth and development of this section of Oklahoma. What the future historian may have to record, depends upon the activity, foresight and integrity of the men and women who are now the principal actors in life's drama. When one recalls, however, the extremely adverse circumstances under which the remarkable progress and development of the past decades have been accomplished, there is no cause for doubt or fear concerning the future.