Drumright Evening Derrick (Drumright, Okla.), Vol. 5, No. 72, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 16, 1919 Page: 3 of 8
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DRUMRIGHT, OKLAHOMA
OIL PRODUCTION DEMANDED A SUPPLY CENTER RE-
SULTING IN THE COMING INTO EXISTENCE OF
DRUMRIGHT; A COW PASTURE IN 1912 A
CITY IN 1913; TODAY MOST IMPORT-
ANT TRADE CENTER IN
CREEK COUNTY.
*mth direct rail connection stretches of eountr> tiibutary
° Drumright it is sate to predict
drumright will out-riv.
al any city in the
STATE
When the discovery well of the
Drumright oil producing district, the
to
for
this city a future growth in popula-
tion, commercial and industrial Inv
portance that will place it in the front
rank, if not in the lead, of the fore
most cities in Oklahoma.
Drumright cannot be referred to in
INTEREST STORK OF
SIX YEARS AGO
Shaffer well on the Wheeler farm, any sense as belonging to the mush-
was brought in the immediate lol-jroom class of towns that spring ui
lowing development called for a sup-j in a night and disappear in the twi
ply center. Twelve acres were platt-, light of a day, but Drumright is a
ed and placed on the market Febru-jcity built on a solid and permanent
ury 1912, which was the beginning of foundation that is moving forward in
the city of Drumright. The desir-! a steady and conservative way. There
iblity of this city's locaton as thej is no town or city In the land that is
"upply center for the big surrounding ,free the chronic whiner or knocker,
oil producing district became ap-jtbe moss-back and abstructionist. We
parent at once upon the opening of have examples of them all but Drura-
the townsite and through Drumright right has comparatively few of them,
was without rail communication and j Drumright is in every sense a young
without telegraph communication and'man's town. Its future is in no way
sprang into an immediate prominence.1 problematical. Taking the aceomp
The city of Drumright has enjoyed a!lishments of the past and the natural
which are today used as ward
schools, tho other being at present
used as a high school, nnd to meet
the further expansion in the school
population a bond issue has been car-
ried and a contract has been made
for the erection of a new $235,000
hiph school building upon the com-
pletion of which the present fine
school building now used for hlph
school purposes will be used as a
ward school. A fine municipal build-
ing housing the city offices, the nro
department, the city jail and ur-
nishing court rooms for the county
and superior court further stands as
r. monument to the progressiveness
of Drumright
AD A HUMAN INtF.RESt StORY . .
OF THE GREATEST OF ALL OIL
FIELDS—THE DRUMRIGHT
FIELD
One bleak day some six winters
ago a ragged old negro huddled on
sandstone ledge that marked the
tortuous path of Tiger Creek and
tyed a cork that bobbed listlessly up
and down in the water below. As the
sun sank low and no nibbling fish re-
warded his weary vigil, he glanced up
now and then at a miserable little
mud-chinked hut neat by and dull de-
spair clouded his eyes. They needed
food in that cabin—needed it badly.
The irregular rows of withered cot-
ton stalks that marked the rocky
Mr. Fisher, accompanied by his wife,
decided a few years ago to seek op-
portunity in the new state of Okla-
homa. With indomitable courage
they faced the long struggle to ac-
quire and pay for a farm. Mr.
Fisher worked on th£ land for which
they had contracted, fcnd Mrs. Fisher
taught school during the winter
months. By their combined efforts
and stotft-liearted determination to
achieve independence they finally
found themselves tho owners cf a
quarter-section of Cimarron River
bottom land. A little while later oil
was discovered in tho vicinity of
Aaron Drumright's farm a few miles
to the south and the oil field rapidly
extended towards their farm, then
passed it, but no wells were drilled
upon the place. Tho development in
the shallower sands waned, and, busy
with their fruitful farm and the
happy children that had come to
them, they did not waste time in la-
mentation of what might have been
A year or so later ihe quiet of tha
j lull kjiuina j *v j "v ",v • « *
Drumrignt. „„lt slopes of the little clearing told all countryside was broken by the news
One of the most progressiv groat Bartlesville sand wells.
I he city ot Lirumrigui na bujujcu nji.oumv.,™ —*
substantial growth until today it is ' advantages possessed by Drumright
& city of 15,000 population and the | the conclusion is that of a great
city looken to as the trade center .'or j growth and more general development
this vast surrounding district com-J is coming.
prising the greatest <producting oil |
field In the country, and one of the
best agricultural and grazing sec-
tions.
Drumright was born of oil and has
Been nursed and nurtured to its pres-
ent size and prosperity through oil. It
is a city possessed of many great nat-
ural resources to become a large in-
dustrial center. The one feature that
is today holding back the Industrial
growth of Drumright is the lack ot
direct railroad facilities. This dravr
back was overcome at the time that
Drumright was established when it
was necessary to haul 16 to 18 miles
all of the supplies dispensed at this
point. The city has been connected
<ip with the outside world by the con-
struction of a branch line, which con-
nects with main lines at Jennings and
Cushing and is about to be connected
with a branch line from Depew, thU
r a branch Is today running ti
Shamrock, six miles distant. The
great need still exists for a position
on a main line railroad and it is tho
■hope with promise of fulfillment that
in tlie very near future Drumright
will be located on a main line rail-
road.
The new hard surface road system
to bt 'lit In Oklahoma under the
titty million dollar bond issue has one
of its i iin lines as mapped running
throng! !'-urnright, and with
Drumright is one of the cities that
is offering to the manufacturer or
substantial business man looking for
advantageous location opportunity
that is second to no city in this great
district. Drumright Ib not one of
those cities that is ready to present
free sites, free power nor unlimited
capital to promoters but she Is one
of the cities that is prepared to meet
every legitimate expectation of the
bona fide manufacturer desiring tc
establish an industrial plant where it
will have every natural advantage to
contribute toward success. Drum
right citizens have capital to invest
In worth while legitimate enterprises
Drumrglit has advantages to ofter
and has need for further industrial
expansion and will welcome all de
sirable citizens and investors that
wish to join us in our bright future
nromise.
HIGH LIGHT IN ClTYflEVELOP-
MENT
Drumright has always had the ad
vantage of energetic citizenship. The
citizens of Drumright are largely
men possessed of capital as well as
determination and home patriotism,
the in- When any improvement has been
Drumrights* City Hall.
V^IIC v/1 ' -
the largest Rotary Club in a city of
its size is possessed by Drumngh .
4 Chamber of Commerce is today be- (
ing organized in the city of Drum-
right for the undertaking of the
broader development of Drumright's
resources and centralizing the energy
of the business men and citi/ei s un-
der the guidance of a paid secre-
tary. This will be an added asset
possessed by the city. # >
The religious life of the citizens
of Drumright is well looked after
with churches of practically all of
the Christian denominations, all of
which are housed in comfortable
church edifices, the First Baptist
Church having just completed a
magnificent new church building, an
illustration of which is shown in an-
other section of this paper. The
Methodist Episcopal Church of
Drumrigth has the plans drawn for
a new church home and has pur-
chased a site for its location. Actual
building operations are expected to
be undertaken in the very near fu-
ture.
The Drumright Hospital Associa-
tion has recently been organized and
the finances for the construction of
a modern and commodious new hos-
pital building are at present being
provided, for.
Lodge life as could be expected
in a city with the active class of citi-
zens as possessed by Drumright is
alive and progressive. The Moose
f.odge has purchased a location and
approved the plans for the construc-
tion of a fine lodge building, which
construction it is expected will be
under way within the next thirty
days. The building, as planned, calls
for an expenditure of $100,000. The
Elks Lodge, which has not main-
tained an organization in Drumright,
is organizing a new lodge with a
roster of 100 active Elks in good
standing and will apply for a char-
ter. The prospective membership
has already made plans und arrange-
ments for the construction of a lodge
home, an understanding having been
reached with W. F. Jones, pro-
nrietor of the Marnuette Pharmacy,
to construc1; two additional stories on
his building under lease to the new
Elks Lodge.
Business buildings and residences
now under construction and con-
tracted for in the city of Drumright
today tall for a building expenditure
round numbers of approximately
j mill'on dollars, representing
business establishments of the most
modern and substantial kind and
residence construction from $5,000
cost up to as high as $15,000.
Drumright is a city where many
men have become immensely wealthy
and it is a city where everybody does
a man's work, and, though its popu-
lation within the city limits is but
15,000, the records of the Drumright
postoffice show that at least 25,000
of the great Bartlesville sand wells.
A few months afterwards there was
drilled in, on tha Fisher farm, the
largest well ever drilled in the Mid-
Continent field. Ten thousand seven
hundred barrels it flowed the first
edy, and upon that very day the God tongldep that hcre ignn area 10
of his fathers called, and Mr. fisher . , , __ .,
closed his eyes in tho last sleep
Fortunately, however, grim vis
in the public eye. But Tommy
r.ot content with nitre resurrect]
as this no longer could be reg
as being a strictly original
Tommy owned land for years,
known to scores of people, dranli
share of "boot-leg," and enjoyed
deep and abiding affection of a
dozen wives and the loving guarij
ship of at least three mothers,
along came a judge interested
tails and ruled that Tommy not
did not now exist but had NEl
existed, thereby taking from To«
all earthly pleasure nr>d barring]
as well from any hope of heav
delights. Thus Tommy, by a b|
legal legerdemain, became
ethereal nothingness, and his
dozen lamenting widows, who
loudly voiced their rights to
Thomas Atkins allotment, were
to mourn not only the loss of :
uent husband but tho relinquish
of all memory of him—and
chance of sharing in his estate.
Instance after instance of un|
and seemingly improbable ha
ings crowd for place in even thel
[epitomized review of the field!
velppment, many of them so odq
people unfamiliar with the oil
try would reject their recital
longing to the realms of fictio^
not of fact. But when one st
in length and four or five mil
width, which six years ago was
Fortunately however grim vis- for fifty cents tQ a dollar a
,aged tragedy has been but an infra- admittedly
and which today is admittedly
more than two hundred millia
lars, there comes an overpo^
quent visitor in the homes of those In
whose lives tho discovery and devel-
opment of the Drumright oil field realj7l(tion that perhaps never
wrought such subtle alchemy, and jn the history of maI)kind U
humor has played a more prominent much nfw wea,th been s0 J
part' . . , , . , . poured out for the benefit of :
A Drumright hardware dealer de- ^ 9hort history of ^
lights in recounting an experience he ^ deve,opment of ^ cjl
had in selling a stove to an Indian Drumri .)t itse,f ,9 s0 repletJ
who, at that time, raided m a one- ^
room cabin a few m,les east cf the ^ ^ a ^ frQm fte
city. Finaing that lie had become ^ jp
rich overnight through the sale of ^ befor<> in ^
his lease, he hitched up and started . ., . . . . , .
' « , , has the pluck and industry
to town after a cook stove, a lus- ^ business men be<m
ury which his wife had long desired. rp ... u took irpn.hfa
The clerk at the store showed him a ^ ^ ,, ^ _
... apre on the part of these co
handsome nickel-planted range which g t<> rigk &]| ^ ^
promptly delighted mm. In fact, he fte ^ (
was so pleased with the stove that he . . . j
, ' , ,, ,, , ... town would grow into a city ol
acted on the old allopathic principle, , , ..J
, ' . 1 , „ ,, Their courage found justil
"if some is good, more is better, . . , ,
. . and today the ever ler
and hauled to his one-room cabin
, .... streets bordered by permanent)
TWO ornate kitchen ranges. . .. |
lugs are a mute prophecy thai
Most everyone in the oil fields ffce shou ^ ^
familiar with the prolific Barney dent wUh ^ first rugh of ^
fholocco Barney had the misfor mpnt has dieJ down a ]
tune, it has seemed, to shuffle oft ... , .]
,. ' . , stronger noise will have repL
this mortal coil without ever know . ,
t . in the murmur of steady tra
in* that his 160-acre allotment was roar of M the whin> of
to lay in the heart of a great oil w]wU An(, g0 the romance
Pool. Presumably Barney flattered ^ ntw soo„ tQ digappear> buJ
himself that by his untimely demise futur(> dcve;opment of the ciJ
he had thwarted the designs of some tl . , , .
.... man after man is bound to rl
lighter •skinned neighbors who were ^ b jnnip(r8 an(, ,
anxious to see him serve the tleven _ , , ,. , . .
nacle for which all strive—w
years within high stone wails at Mc-
Mother Earth pouring
out her riches
too plainly the story of a failing
effort to wrest a livelihood from the
soil.
No imagination, however fertile,
could conceive any possible chain of
circumstances that would bring the
comforts of life to this old darky and
the half-starved family dependent
upon him—and yet before the year
closed this old darky had an income
ot mora than ONE THOUSAND
DOLLARS A DAY! Now he em-
ploys a man regularly a\ a handsome
salary to do his fishing.
This is but) one of the many in-
stancels of miraculous fortunes
Alester, which a firm minded judge
which the discovery of the Drum-; hsd declared to be Barney's just
light oil field brought about. There jt;ues Barney, being of a modest
is the case of A. Muesleman, a poor jurn 0f mind, never confessed to
Syrian immigrant who was cajoled • '
by a glib-tongued land salesman
encc.
into buying eighty acres of land on
the Cimarron River. Stirred by thfe
land hunger of a soil-starved race,
he paid his entire life's savings,
$365, for this piece of land he had
r.ever seen. A few days later he set
out upon the long walk from the rail-
road to his property, and when he
reached it found that he owned only
some Tocky cliffs unfit even for goat
pasture. Footsore and weary, his
dreams of fruitful fields and a vine- |
clad cottage shattered, his saving}
(■one, the cruel spectre of poverty I
and struggle menacing his footsteps,
he staggered back to hunt for work.
Three years ago he was offered a
quarter of a million dollars for this
same eighty acres and was wise
et.ough to smile at the smallness of
the bid.
—Build a Home—
The Drumright Building an
having any progeny, but shortly association wants to talk
after his death came the discovery of about building a home.
jf*,*.-' tr
.. • jf •*' ^ - -
Si Y*";:«
Early day scene.
auguration of freight truck hauling
which will follow, this system much
of the disadvantage that held back
this city will be eliminated by this
additional feature.
Resides being well located as a sup-
ply center Drumright and the sur-
rounding district Is one abundantly
watered, possesses a deep soil, easily
tilled and productive of every grass,
grain, cereal and fruit that can be
grown In a temperate zone and has a
climate both salubrious and healthful
and not given to extremes In temper-
ature. The surrounding country be-
ride Its vast quantities of oil and gas
is rich In such natural resources
brick and potter's clays, building
ctone and glass sand. With the do-
Telopment of thepe and other re
sources to say nothing of the agrl
eultH* a i I ot .vMt
riiown to be imperative for the best
interests of Drumright her citizens
have risen to the occasion and that
improvement has been made.
When it was decided that it was
necessary for Drumright to have
better hotel accommodations the
leading citizens of Drumright organ-
ized themselves into a stock company
and had designed and constructed
the beautiful hotel building which
Not all of those who prospered by
..—v , (the discovery of this great "mother
persoii's^Cget'"their mail at this post-1 lode," this undreamed of sea of oil, -- -n,„Wrn „i- WAS IT JUST PURE NER^
office. It does not require stretch of have been poor or have stumbled into the great wells on the Tholocco al WAS IT JUST PURE NERJ
imagination to say that Drumright is their good fortune with unseeing lotment, and it was discovered that; OR WAS HE BULL HI
in reality a city of 85,000 or more
population.
No oil bearing section has
eyes. Hardly enough oil has sprayed seventy-two citizens of the state
fiom the discovery well to discolor claimed, in fact, insisted with no
liom me discovery wen 10 uiscuiur uaiuicu, ■«■ ... ^*'en„ .1
ever the "toolie's" overalls before keen- small vchemence, and backed then the Bull Head Oil Co., a?t I
been found to equal that of the <>ed men hacked by the wealth of statements up by oaths t^hat the late ^tis^^Z'wa".1 laTd o
Drumright field where millions of dol- sreot interests were scouring the dis- 1'xrnev Tholocco was their father, which h s p 1
lars worth of oil is being taken from ' Wet for leases, and paying prices Rut a short time ago when these lov- number of inches Dr. Ale,
ihe eround Drumright is the mar i^hich appeared to be beyond rea ion, mg and devotee! desconnants were ing 16 stitches o i ose
Let place for 9 Z oH field wort 1 and certainly were without pre e- , leasantly fitting for the right to Fit,gerald was working wj
<>"" "">• , . , . nre (ho rocipient, of nfteen mil-]dent, but which lator proved to be the now valuable allotment of their pulling casing, when the ele
the beautiful hotel building whlch idcUars annuaHv in paV roH The ! f'dtrv sums indeed—for manv - n i nternal iuicestor,it developed th.it striking him on the head,
today stands opposite the city hall on j ' HUrroundinr oil quarter section in the heart of the Ihe said ancestor purported to have brought to the
Broadway, The Roberts Hotel is one J I <•«'<! poured more weal,I, e. h d.V been reincarnated, (or never to have Here and the wound Mfl
of the finest and most modern m the '■ '■ U|J, . ' hca,,ouar. i lnto Ihe lease owner's coffers than departed from this mundane uent scorning an anothetil
state and was erected ar, a cost of 1 T* , ■ c- ,.ow,,npioB {j the entire Klondike Pold fields have iphaW* ar.d reported himself to be ing the doitor to go to if
5150,000. ' he e nter from wh h "j ^p incs ever produced in an equal period of fighting in Mexico, but as having through as soon as Poss.b
As the city of Drumright grew and " .. , trn(|(f ., nle. But it is the cases of sudden every intention of shortly returning wanted to get home —Heal
the children of the city became more , transformation from hardships to af- to take over his millions. aid.
ran'ate ann in ins irnue section • - - - . v m-
• • , there nre located 38 pumping stations trnnBfermation from hardships to af- to take over his millions
numerous added school facilities were ^ u of joo J(y^e nuetice thut are of the greatest in- And Tommy Atkins, whose allot-
found necessary and today the city terest and of these the'e <• <-h«rs inent is near the renowned Barneys
cf Drumright po,se«e. four nua ^roLfng oil fields of which Drum- none that stands (Jut so rtrongly aa and of great richness,has Jito W. ^taMo^wanto to
ally .fine :«hool buildings, three of ,, Uhe ,
The Drumright Bnil
sociatfon vanti
mat rmilUB WUW V OW VII* j «« ««sva w* " , UJ.
ase of the late George i-wher resurrected neighbor, figured much about buUdlllf *
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Drumright Evening Derrick (Drumright, Okla.), Vol. 5, No. 72, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 16, 1919, newspaper, April 16, 1919; Drumright, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc148748/m1/3/: accessed April 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.