Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
1978.050.053 |
Collection |
Tulsa Association of Pioneers |
Object Name |
Letter |
Date |
05/22/1962 |
Scope & Content |
Two-page, typewritten letter from the Tulsa Association of Pioneers, Inc. to V. L. Caruthers of the Tulsa Monument Company, dated May 22, 1962. The letter instructs the Tulsa Monument Company to engrave five additional names on the Tulsa Association of Pioneers monument. The names included the following presidents of the association: Floyd V. Wilder, J. D. Hooker, Charles V. Shurtleff, D. E. "Bill" Martin, and Clyde M. Winterringer. The second page contains a separate list of the same names, along with the individuals' ranking as presidents of the association. On September 17, 1921, Dr. Samuel Grant Kennedy and Dr. J. L. Kennedy hosted a gathering and barbeque at the Kennedy farm northwest of Tulsa in Osage County, OK, calling for a reunion of early area residents. James Monroe Hall, who came to Tulsa in 1882, attended the event and suggested that the pioneers form an official organization. Those attending agreed, and the pioneers formed the "Society of Pioneers of Tulsa." The constitution and bylaws stated that the new group’s purpose was "to obtain a roll of all old settlers who have lived in Tulsa or the Indian Territory or the Osage Indian Nation for twenty-five years or longer and who now live in the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, or adjacent thereto." The members named Dr. Samuel Grant Kennedy as the first president. The group later re-organized. On June 10, 1932, the Oklahoma Secretary of State granted the association's certificate of incorporation under the revised name of "Tulsa Association of Pioneers." The incorporation paperwork stated that the purpose of the association was "to collect, preserve, and keep all historical facts, life spirit, and association of said pioneers and settlers in, of and about the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma." The association opened the membership rolls to all men and women who resided in Indian Territory or Oklahoma Territory on or before Oklahoma statehood. Their descendants were also eligible for membership. The earliest annual meetings and picnics of the association occurred at the Samuel Kennedy farm northwest of Tulsa. Each year the gathering grew in size. As many as 2,000 people assembled each June to attend some of these early gatherings. Later meetings were held at the following locations: the farm of Lon R. Stansberry, Dutsch’s Barn located at 8855 East 91st Street, Fletcher's Hall at 16th Street and South Rockford Avenue, and Whiteside Recreation Center, 4009 South Pittsburg Avenue. In 1935, the association made plans for a monument honoring Tulsa pioneer families. The Tulsa Monument Company erected a granite obelisk on the farm of Samuel Grant Kennedy in Osage County. The monument was unveiled on June 13, 1935, during the association's annual picnic. It contained the engraved names of early Tulsa pioneers who attended the initial 1921 picnic and the names of the past presidents of the association. In 1952, after the association’s gatherings were no longer held at the Kennedy farm, the monument was moved to the intersection of West Edison Street and North Frisco Avenue. In 1969, the association again moved the monument to a triangular piece of ground at the northeast entrance to Owen Park, near where the boundaries of the Osage Nation, Creek Nation, and Cherokee Nations meet. Also at that time, the association paid for an additional cement footing and bought a new slab of granite on which to continue the list of the names of association presidents. The Tulsa Association of Pioneers played a crucial role in documenting and preserving the early history of Tulsa, Creek Nation by obtaining written statements from early residents. Some of these individuals included the following: James Monroe Hall, Chauncey A. Owen, George Bullette, and Muscogee Creek citizens Reuben L. Partridge and Robert Fry. Due to this initiative of the Tulsa Association of Pioneers, the recollections of these individuals serve as some of the earliest documented histories of what is now Tulsa, OK. From the association’s inception, the group honored the Native American inhabitants of the area as pioneers. In a speech delivered by Cyrus Stevens Avery during the June 13, 1935 annual meeting and picnic, Stevens mentioned the "original pioneers" of Tulsa by stating that they were "the sons and daughters of those marvelous tribes of Indians which have helped to build out of their country one of the greatest states in the union." Avery praised the pioneer spirit of these early inhabitants and honored "the three great nations, the Osage, the Cherokee, and the Creek" in Tulsa's transition from "Indian Country" to one of the most "magnificent and modern cities in the world." Many Native Americans became members of the association and participated in its activities. Some of the Muscogee Creek members included the following: Rachel Perryman, Arthur R. Perryman, Ben Haikey (former tribal councilman), C. B. Haikey, Reuben L. Partridge (former scribe for Muscogee Creek Chief Legus C. Perryman), Joe Bruner (first president of the American Indian Federation), and Waldo Emerson "Dode" McIntosh (Chief of the Muscogee Creek Nation). Both Arthur R. Perryman and Dode McIntosh served terms as the president of the Tulsa Association of Pioneers. Other Native American members included the following: Delmas Emory "Bill" Martin (member of the Osage Tribal Council) and Sylvester Tinker (Chief of the Osage Nation). Cherokee members of the association included the following: J. C. Bushyhead, S. R. "Buck" Lewis, and Will Rogers. |
Search Terms |
early Tulsa Tulsa Association of Pioneers letters Tulsa Association of Pioneers Monument |
People |
Wilder, Floyd V. Hooker, J. D. Shurtleff, Charles V. Martin, Delmes Emory "Bill" Winterringer, Clyde M. |