ICYMI: OKLAHOMA'S 67 ALL BLACK TOWNS (reprint)

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

A recent posting on FaceBook has prompted me to provide you with a partial listing of some of the Black towns that existed in Oklahoma Territory before the Oklahoma "Ruin" of April 22, 1889 - which was the biggest land grab outside of the Bush mortgage debacle of 2008.
There are others, but this should suffice to show that Greenwood - so called "Black Wall Street" - was not the only town where Blacks were thriving and raising families, Black in the day.  While historians may claim that Black towns only came into existence after th eCivil War, Black slaves were escaping into Oklahoma territory long before the Civil War, and had established homes, businesses, schools and churches long before the Oklahoma Ruin of 1889.  The land grab spelled in many ways, Black autonomy in Oklahoma for many people who had enjoyed living without white oppression, racism, and violence.  

African Towns and Settlements of Indian and Oklahoma Territories

AFRICAN GHOST TOWNS

• Arkansas Colored
• Bookertee
• Canadian Colored
• Chase
• Ferguson
• Lincoln City
• Marshall Town
• North Fork Town
• Old Vinita
• Wybark

AFRICAN TOWNS TODAY

• Arcadia
• Boley
• Langston
• Red Bird
• Rentiesville
• Taft
• Tullahassee
• Vernon
• Wewoka

AFRICAN GHOST TOWNS

ARKANSAS COLORED TOWN----From 1895 onward, this small black settlement existed in the southern part of the Chickasaw Nation. A post office operated in this town from 1895 to 1912. Not much more has even been written about the town, nor the Freedmen who resided within its limits. No trace exists of the settlement today.
BOOKERTEE----Three miles northeast of Weleetka in Okfuskee County the settlement of Bookertee used to lie. The town was named after Booker T. Washington, and was at its peak around 1920. No remnants nor written history of this settlement exists.
CANADIAN COLORED---About 10 miles south and west of the town of Eufaula the black settlement known as Canadian Colored Town existed. Nearby was the Civil War point known as Canadian Depot, which was a supply point during the Civil War. Since there were already places with the name of ?Canadian? elsewhere in the region and since this particular settlement had a large black settlement it became known as the Canadian Colored Town and with time it was simply referred to as Canadian Colored.
CHASE---Established in 1903, this town was 8 miles southwest of Muskogee. In 1908, the name of the town was changed to Beland. Neither names exist today.
FERGUSON---In 1901 this settlement on the Canadian River North in Blaine County O.T. was established. It was 12 miles directly north of the town of Watonga Oklahoma. No longer in existence.
LINCOLN CITY---Established in 1889 during the Oklahoma Land Rush, this town was a legacy to the All Black town movement of Edwin P. McCabe. It was located outside of Indian Territory and further west in Oklahoma Territory in Kingfisher County. Nothing remains today.
MARSHALL TOWN---As far back as the 1870s Marshall Town was known as a black settlement. The town was on a spot between the Arkansas River, and the Verdigris River. Between 1878 and 1885, many of the Creek Lighthorsemen were black, and there were constant clashes between Cherokee cattlemen, and the African Creek Lighthorse Police. Many of these clashes were fatal between the African Creeks and the Cherokee cattlemen. Some researchers indicated that a state that closely resembled a racial war continued for several years in the area around Marshall Town. In 1876 one of the African Lighthorsemen was killed, and in 1879 one of the Cherokee cattlemen, John Vann, was killed. It was believed that the death of the Cherokee was in revenge of the death of the African Lighthorseman. The conflicts continued for several years, and did not quiet down till the mid 1880?s.
NORTH FORK TOWN---Originally a Creek Settlement, by the 1850?s this town had a considerable number of Africans residing in the town. By 1862 the town in the early part of the Civil War, the town was raided by Confederates and many of the African citizens lost personal property and were forced to flee the town for some time. The Claims of the Loyal Creeks were made in 1867 whereby several hundred Black Creeks spoke of their lives and property in North Fork Town. (These claims can be read at the National Archives.) By the turn of the century it was an exclusively African town, with Sugar T. George serving as the most widely respected Town King in the Creek Nation.
OLD VINITA---This was a primarily black settlement in the Cherokee Nation, and was home to mostly Cherokee Freedmen. Many Freedmen eventually left and settled in Coffeyville Kansas, for job opportunities. This black settlement has been absorbed into the current city of Vinita Oklahoma.
WYBARK---Established in 1890, though settled a bit earlier, Wybark was 4 miles north of Muskogee. The town operated a post office from 1890 to 1940. It is believed to have absorbed some of the old settlement of North Fork though no remains of that town are noted. The town faded in the 1940?s.

Map of Black Towns in Oklahoma Yesteryear and Today

 

AFRICAN TOWNS TODAY

ARCADIA---Established in 1890, this town is the most recently incorporated of the historically black towns. It was incorporated in 1987--almost 1900 years after the post office was established in the town.
BOLEY---Located in the western part of Okfuskee County this historically black town was established in 1903. The town of Boley is also the site of the noted attempted bank robbery that was foiled when Black townsmen prevented the Pretty Boy Floyd gang from robbing the town's only bank. Now a much smaller town of about 750 residents, this was the at one time most vibrant black towns in all of Indian Territory. In addition each year the town hosts one of the most famous events of the state-----the Boley Black Rodeo. Horsemen from throughout the region participate in this annual event each year during Memorial Day weekend. Many of the structures are on the National Register of Historic Places. During the early 1900?s Boley was considered to be the largest black town in the United States. During the days when Boley was at its peak more than 4000 blacks lived in the town. Several restaurants, hotels and businesses were a part of this city's legacy.
LANGSTON---This city was named for the noted educator and abolitionist John Mercer Langston. It was founded in 1891, and is home to Langston University the farthest west of the Historically Black Colleges & Universities. The town was founded during the heart of the campaign to establish and all black state initiated by Edwin P. McCabe from Kansas.
RED BIRD--- In the Creek Nation, this town lies only a few miles from Coweta Oklahoma. it was officially established in 1902 though it existed as a settlement before that time. It was always a rural community and was home to many Creek Freedmen as well as State Blacks who relocated to the Twin Territories in the late 19th century. Red Bird served as a market center for many rural black farmers, providing a market exchange for the black farmers of the region. The population of the town peaked out at about 400 in the 1920?s.
RENTIESVILLE---Now only a bed-room community, this town hosts the often tri-annual reenactment of the famous Battle of Honey Springs. In the heart of the Creek Nation and only a few miles south of Muskogee this town lies on the banks of Elk Creek. The Civil War battle was won, interestingly by black soldiers many from the Creek Nation, who had served in two units------the 1st Kansas Colored and the Indian Home Guards. The well written about Texas Road runs right through the heart of Rentiesville.
TAFT---Originally known as Twine, I.T. this Creek Nation black town was established in 1903. Like neighboring Red Bird, it was a market for rural farmers mostly black. Many Creek Freedmen lived in or near Taft. The city council still exists today and is one of the few black towns remaining that has a town council still in operation. The town of Taft is now home to the Creek Freedmen Shrine and African American landmark built by Napoleon Davis a memorial to the history of the 5000 Africans who lived in the Creek Nation.
TULLAHASSEE---The history of this town pre-dates Oklahoma statehood by 57 years. Established as a mission for the Creeks in 1850, Tullahassee became the site of the famous Creek Academy--the Tullahassee Mission School. It later was abandoned by the Creek Indians who left it as a school for their former African slaves. The Tullahassee Mission school then became a boarding school for the next two decades for Creek and Seminole Freedmen, under the leadership of Fisk and Hampton trained teachers and under the financial leadership of Sugar T. George, African Town King and leader from North Fork.
VERNON---The town of Vernon was founded by Edwin P. McCabe the Kansas auditor who launched the all black town movement. It was established in 1895, and still exists today.
WEWOKA---Established by African Seminole leader John Horse, in the 1840?s this particular town is now mostly white, though a sizable black community still survives in this area. The town is the county seat of Seminole County. Founder John Horse left Indian Territory in 1848 taking several hundred Africans with him to northern Mexico, attempting to escape raids from the Creek Nation, and efforts to force them back into slavery. The town had notable African Seminoles among its residents at one time---Negro Abraham, Caesar Bruner, Dorsar Barkus, Cudjoe and others. ( The Seminole nation today now has two African bands both led by African American women tribal leaders.)

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Tulsa Historical Society

Learn » Past Exhibits » All Black Towns of Oklahoma

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All Black Towns of Oklahoma

May 2010 – September 2010 – NOW CLOSED
Oklahoma’s all-black towns epitomize the unique African-American history of the Sooner State. From the mid-nineteenth century to 1920, African-Americans established more than 50 identifiable towns and communities, some of short duration and some still existing at the turn of the 21st century. Many started as cohesive farming communities that supported businesses, schools and churches, eventually gaining town status. Entrepreneurs in these communities started every imaginable kind of business, including newspapers, and advertised throughout the South for settlers.
This traveling exhibit from the Oklahoma Historical Society is made possible through funding by the Oklahoma Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

 

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Table of Contents Search All Entries Home ALL-BLACK TOWNS The All-Black towns of Oklahoma represent a unique chapter in American history. Nowhere else, neither in the Deep South nor in the Far West, did so many African American men and women come together to create, occupy, and govern their own communities. From 1865 to 1920 African Americans created more than fifty identifiable towns and settlements, some of short duration and some still existing at the beginning of the twenty-first century. All-Black towns grew in Indian Territory after the Civil War when the former slaves of the Five Civilized Tribes settled together for mutual protection and economic security. When the United States government forced American Indians to accept individual land allotments, most Indian "freedmen" chose land next to other African Americans. They created cohesive, prosperous farming communities that could support businesses, schools, and churches, eventually forming towns. Entrepreneurs in these communities started every imaginable kind of business, including newspapers, and advertised throughout the South for settlers. Many African Americans migrated to Oklahoma, considering it a kind of "promise land." When the Land Run of 1889 opened yet more "free" land to non-Indian settlement, African Americans from the Old South rushed to newly created Oklahoma. E. P. McCabe, a former state auditor of Kansas, helped found Langston and encouraged African Americans to settle in that All-Black town. To further his cause, McCabe established the Langston City Herald and circulated it, often by means of traveling agents, throughout the South. McCabe hoped that his tactics would create an African American political power block in Oklahoma Territory. Other African American leaders had a vision of an All-Black state. Although this dream was never realized, many All-Black communities sprouted and flourished in the rich topsoil of the new territory and, after 1907, the new state. In these towns African Americans lived free from the prejudices and brutality found in other racially mixed communities of the Midwest and the South. African Americans in Oklahoma and Indian Territories would create their own communities for many reasons. Escape from discrimination and abuse would be a driving factor. All-Black settlements offered the advantage of being able to depend on neighbors for financial assistance and of having open markets for crops. Arthur Tolson, a pioneering historian of blacks in Oklahoma, asserts that many African Americans turned to "ideologies of economic advancement, self-help, and racial solidarity." Marshalltown, North Fork Colored, Canadian Colored, and Arkansas Colored existed as early as the 1860s in Indian Territory. Other Indian Territory towns that no longer exist include Sanders, Mabelle, Wiley, Homer, Huttonville, Lee, and Rentie. Among the Oklahoma Territory towns no longer in existence are Lincoln, Cimarron City, Bailey, Zion, Emanuel, Udora, and Douglas. Towns that still survive are Boley, Brooksville, Clearview, Grayson, Langston, Lima, Red Bird, Rentiesville, Summit, Taft, Tatums, Tullahassee, and Vernon. The largest and most renowned of these was Boley. Booker T. Washington, nationally prominent African American educator, visited Boley twice and even submitted a positive article on the town to Outlook Magazine in 1908. The passage of many Jim Crow laws by the Oklahoma Legislature immediately after statehood caused some African Americans to become disillusioned with the infant state. During this time Canada promoted settlement and, although the campaign focused on whites, a large contingent of African Americans relocated to that nation's western plains, forming colonies at Amber Valley, Alberta, and Maidstone, Saskatchewan. Another exodus from Oklahoma occurred with the "Back to Africa" movements of the early twentieth century. A large group of Oklahomans joined the ill-fated Chief Sam expedition to Africa. A number of other African Americans migrated to colonies in Mexico. White distrust also limited the growth of these All-Black towns. As early as 1911 whites in Okfuskee County attempted to block further immigration and to force African Americans into mixed but racially segregated communities incapable of self-support. Several of these white farmers signed oaths pledging to "never rent, lease, or sell land in Okfuskee County to any person of Negro blood, or agent of theirs; unless the land be located more than one mile from a white or Indian resident." To further stem the black migration to eastern Oklahoma a similar oath was developed to prevent the hiring of "Negro labor." Events of the 1920s and 1930s spelled the end for most black communities. The All-Black towns in Oklahoma were, for the most part, small agricultural centers that gave nearby African American farmers a market. Prosperity generally depended on cotton and other crops. The Great Depression devastated these towns, forcing residents to go west and north in search of jobs. These flights from Oklahoma caused a huge population decrease in black towns. As people left, the tax base withered, putting the towns in financial jeopardy. In the 1930s many railroads failed, isolating small towns in Oklahoma from regional and national markets. As a result, many of the black towns could not survive. During lean years whites would not extend credit to African Americans, creating an almost impossible situation for black farmers and businessmen to overcome. Even one of the most successful towns, Boley, declared bankruptcy in 1939. Today, only thirteen All-Black towns still survive, but their legacy of economic and political freedom is well remembered. SEE ALSO: AFRICAN AMERICANS, BOLEY, BROOKSVILLE, CLEARVIEW, FREEDMEN, LANGSTON, LINCOLN CITY, EDWARD McCABE, RED BIRD, RENTIESVILLE, SEGREGATION, SETTLEMENT PATTERNS, SUMMIT, TAFT, TATUMS, TULLAHASSEE, VERNON BIBLIOGRAPHY: Black Dispatch (Oklahoma City), 8 March 1923. Norman Crockett, The Black Towns (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1979). Norman Crockett, "Witness to History: Booker T. Washington Visits Boley," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 67 (Winter 1989-90). Kenneth Lewallan, "Chief Alfred Sam: Black Nationalism on the Great Plains, 1913-14," Journal of the West 16 (January 1977). Bruce Shepard, "North to the Promised Land: Black Migration to the Canadian Plains," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 66 (Fall 1988).

Now that you know

  WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?

Stay Blessed & 

ECLECTICALLY BLACK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gloria DULAN-Wilson

 

REMEMBERING THE OKLAHOMA RUIN OF 1889

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson 

Hello All:

I wrote this post in April 2015

There has been something weighing heavy on my consciousness over the past several days - especially leading up to, and on April 22 - and I just had to deal with it before going forward to other matters.

Most of the US celebrates April 22 as Earth Day - and there are a whole slew of activities that have been invented to reinforce this.  And that's wonderful, well and good.

However, in Oklahoma April 22 has a more ominous meaning:  it was the date of the infamous OKLAHOMA RUIN - known to the meanstream as the Oklahoma Run - the biggest landgrab in the history of the US, where millions of families Black and Indian (Native American to the PCs) were forcibly removed for their homes so that they could be taken over and settled by jealous whites who had already ruined the other land they touched. 

THE OKLAHOMA RUIN OF 1889 - BIGGEST LAND GRAB IN THE HISTORY OF THE US WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE BUSH ERA HOUSING COLLAPSE

It took place in what was then Oklahoma Territory in 1889 - on land that had been set aside for the five civilized tribes - Cherokee, Chocktaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Creek - who were pushed out of Louisiana, the Carolinas and Georgia onto land that was supposed to be only for them as long as the "grass was green and the waters flowed" - i.e. forever.  

THEY WERE CALLED "CIVILIZED" BECAUSE THEY COULD READ, WRITE, RUN THEIR OWN BUSINESSES

 
And they didn't reach that precious red earth by any easy  means either - after having been forced in the 1830s to relinquish their original lands in the south, they were forced marched to Oklahoma Territory, in the freezing cold - they were given blankets that was supposed to protect them from the harsh winter weather - generally speaking, Indian Nations had the good sense to go south for the winter, and generally were not in that portion of the US when it was bitter cold - they were summering in Florida along the Gulf Coast.  This was President Andrew Jackson's (a/k/a Ol' Hickory) Indian Removal Act.  (by the way the Oklahoma Territory was part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1804 - after Dessalines and L'Oveture kicked Napoleon's butt out of Haiti, they decided they didn't want any part of this hemisphere, so they sold the land to the US - Oklahoma was considered undesirable - so they gave it to the Indians). 

OL' HICKORY NUT ANDREW JACKSON STARTED THE WHOLE THING

Now, being forced through the harsh winter to a place they had never been - being given rations of meat that had sat so long that even in the winter they had begun to decay and develop maggots; and the harshest insult of all was the fact that the blankets the soldiers so "generously" gave them were blankets that had been discarded by the Army because the soldiers that had used them had died of smallpox - which later decimated the Indians as well - wiping out nearly half of the population.

Along with the major members of the Five Civilized Tribes who made that initial trip were Black families who had been held as "slaves" and were being evicted as well.  The reason the word "slaves" is in quotes is because whites had tried to force Indians to maintain slavery in the South the way whites did as a condition for their being able to "relate" to each other.  They basically said that in order to be accepted, Indians had to do like wites - or they would not be considered civilized.  So the Indians had Black "slaves."  They did the work, cooked the food, helped with the crops - and after a period of 6 months to a year married into the tribe - which was the tradition.  There was no real concept of slavery among Native Americans.  If you work that intimately with someone, they were considered family.  The next step was marriage - so the Blacks that accompanied the Indians on the trek across the US were family members. 

The Blacks and Indians who lived in Oklahoma lived charmed lives.  It had been deemed illegal for whites to go into Oklahoma Territory for any reason, unless given express permission from the US Government - so we thrived.  When I say we - I mean there were some of my ancestors among those who made that arduous trek across the US.  My mother's mother was a descendant of the Hornbeaks of Oklahoma - Cherokee and proud!

MY GRANDMOMMY CORNELIA HORNBEAK-GAINES  HER FOREBEARERS MADE THAT HORRIBLE TREK ALONG THE TRAIL OF TEARS

Now moving forward Oklahoma Territory became a "steal away" spot for many slaves along the borders of Missouri, Texas and other slave holding plantations - but whites could not legitimately go in and bring them back.  Additionally, after the Civil War, Oklahoma became a destination for many upscale Black families who wanted to raise their children in a land where there was little to no white interference - even Ida B. Wells Barnett had considered moving there. Frederick Douglass, a hero in Oklahoma, had several schools named after him, and visited Oilahoma frequently.

There were originally 67 All Black Towns in Oklahoma, along with of course wonderful outspread of Indian lands - businesses thrived, farms were bountiful, kids were well educated, women were beautiful, you had Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole, African American, and a mix of all that in some form or another - we were absolutely gorgeous - when I look at my Mom Ruby Love and my aunts, I am always reminded of what beautiful creatures Black Indian women and men are - jess sayin'!   

They men on the other hand, in addition to being extraordinarly handsome, were independent, self confident, skilled, intelligent, brave, - did I say handsome (like my dad), and determined.  {In fact, in Jake Simpson's book "STAKING A CLAIM" he tells of how whites wouldn't work with Black Indians because they were too independent, too arrogant, had their own land, and looked down on the white settlers.  Great book, by the way - you should really read it.}

Back to the jealous whites - led by David L. Payne -  they were sitting all over on their barren properties that they had over cultivated, not fertilized, depleted of the nutrients, and being totally pissed that the Black and  Indians had it so good - they began lobbying the President to open up the territory to the whites - their reason?  The Blacks and Indians were living too good.  Never mind that there was a treaty.  Never mind that there hadn't been a problem between them for nearly 40 years  - these greedy s.o.b.s wanted the land - and they wrangled, weedled, bribed, and cajoled until they found a president weak and spineless enough to say yes - and that President was Benjamin Harrison - never heard of him? Small wonder - never amounted to much.  However, he and his henchmen actually had the audacity to name the portions of land that were originally Indian territory "unassigned lands."  Now isn't that a hoot.  Clearly families there were living there - but somehow the whites had deemed it unassigned. 

CREEK FARMERS WHO HAD BEEN PUSHED OFF THEIR LAND

 Payne had been sneaking across the border into Oklahoma Territory scouting out these properties and targeting them for his henchmen.  Altogether 2 million acres of property was taken away from Black and Indian families by whites - when, at 12:00 noon on April 22, 1889, people on horseback, buckboard, carriages, and some on feet, made the mad dash for Indian land.  

CLIPPING FROM LOCAL PAPER ANNOUNCING THE RUIN

The true thieves sneaked over the night before and pretended to participate in the race - and were there to stake their claim on the choicest pieces land ahead of the rush.  They are called "Sooners" for which the football team is named.  Whenever I think of Sooners, I think of thieves. They have the audacity to call David Payne the "father of Oklahoma."  By whose history?  Blacks and Indians have been living and thriving in Oklahoma long before his greed.  The name Oklahoma means LAND OF THE RED PEOPLE!!! Not land of David Payne!!! 

Okay - so now I'm ranting!!  And that's just how I felt when I was 10 years old and found out the real truth about Oklahoma. I was pissed off - I could see my grandmom's people being pushed off their land - my grandmom was later forced to go to missionary school where they cut her hair to make her look less appealing to white men (sickos).  Fortunately, my grandfather (on my mother's side) a FINE BLACK MAN had managed to get 180 acres of land on the Texas/Oklahoma border, long before the run - and he wasn't giving it up to no rednecks no matter what - This is a matter of where stand your ground played out on our side - with a double barrelled sawed off shotgun and a Winchester, my granddaddy, Enoch Gaines, held them off - that land stayed in the family until his passing in 1963 (he lived to be 93).  Needless to say, I'm proud of my granddaddy!

But, I was furious because we used to go to celebrations of the Oklahoma Ruin without any indication of what it really stood for - not that my parents didn't know -  they did - they just didn't want to spoil it for us - they thought we were too young to absorb that kind of information - and at the time, there was no civil rights organization addressing the issues.   It was kind of like telling a kid there is no tooth fairy - Mom felt that we would know the harsh truth about the world soon enough - and she was right - because at the age of 10 I joined the NAACP Youth Council. 

It was quite fortunate, as well that I and most of my peers attended  Black schools (yay for segregation)  - Dunbar Elementary School from Kindergarten through 6th grade, and had all Black teachers who were determined to educate us as though each of us was a part of WEB DuBois' Talented 10th, meant that nothing that affected us as Black people was off the table.  

Thank goodness to Ms. Cannon, 4th Grade, Ms. Mukes 5th grade and my favorite, Mr. Hancock 6th grade - who taught us how to take full notes, do research, write term papers, and to know and  love our history - all of it!

So while everybody is going tra-la-la tripping through the tulips and trying to out green one another, I also want to pay homage to those Indian and Black families that were the true, original early settlers in Oklahoma.  It was a thriving great place to live back then because there was very little crime; no racism - Blacks and Indians intercooperated with each other; high education standards; lots of fun - great cross cultural intra action. 

A BLACK INDIAN FAMILY IN OKLAHOMA (BLACK IN THE DAY)

As Ralph Ellison said, Oklahoma was a wonderful place to grow up until they (the whites) came and messed it all up.

Many people talk endlessly about the incident that happened in Greenville, an All Black community outside of Tulsa.  What they forget to say is that the Blacks of the towns and neighboring communities got together and rebuilt the entire town - and it stayed a thriving town until dis"integration" in the 60s.   You'd think they would have learned a thing or two by then, wouldn't you?  Of the 67 All Black towns, 13 remain and are thriving - one of which is Boley, OK - someone mentioned them on FaceBook the other day. 

I've heard so many folks say they didn't know there were Black people in Oklahoma.  The interesting thing for those of us who grew up in the fifties and sixties in OKC, during the Civil Rights Era, was we didn't know how bad our brothers and sisters had it in other parts of the US.   I think we were kind of naive.  We'd read about it, but never experienced it up front.  In Oklahoma City, we had real neighborhoods, no gangs; very few, if any slums; we were segregated, but we had followed the "separate but equal" route, as enunciated by Booker T. Washington.  Our neighborhoods were as nice, if not nicer than the whites because we kept them that way - not because someone else came in and did it for us!  Our schools, places of business, homes - all of which we owned outright were kept clean and bright, not because someone else came in and gave us some funds; but because we did it together - ourselves.    Does that mean there was no discrimination?  Of course not!  Crackers are crackers - and Oklahoma City had more than its share.  They had signs in the window saying they reserved the right to refuse service to anyone - we just reserved the right to ignore it. 

We didn't let the fact that they stole our land, literally pushed us off of it, dampen our spirits or stop us for doing what we knew how to do - doesn't mean we didn't care or mind - we were out gunned by the federal authorities - but they couldn't out think us.  My dad's granddad built a sod house out of mud until he could come up with something sturdier.  They didn't let the Oklahoma Ruin ruin their dreams of having their own farm - he later was able to get 86 acres from a white farmer who gave up because he didn't know what he was doing to begin with.  (Though I was raised in Oklahoma City, we had several relatives in Boley and would visit there frequently - it never struck me that it being an all Black town was significant back then.  Now it's even more special because they're still here and thriving.)

BLACK FOUNDING FATHERS OF BOLEY OKLAHOMA 125 + YEARS AGO

 We had actively resisted being dictated to by the meanstream rednecks of OKC, designed our own curriculum, which incorporated the teachings and philosophies of Carter G. Woodson, DuBois, E. Franklin Frazier, Lerone Bennett, John Hope Franklin, Langston Hughes, and so many other great Black writers and philosophers.  We had managed to complete our education without one white teacher or administrator in our classroom - giving us pretty much "carte noire" to study them as well as ourselves - what a rich body of knowledge we garnered. 

GLORIA DULAN-WILSON - 12TH GRADE DOUGLASS SR. HIGH SCHOOL, OKC/OK!!  

                                         (PS: This is pre-Afro; I made the dress in Home Economics - lol)

 I must express gratitude to my Moon Junior High and Douglass Senior High School teachers:  Ms Lola B. Greer (Homeroom/ Exelerated Math, Ms. Maleen Lee Gallimore (Gen. Science), Ms. Scobey (English Comp), Mr. Emory (Bio - I learned to dissect frogs and worms), Mr. Rucker (Math), Mr. Buford (Political Science), Mr. Sherman (History),  Mr, Mosley (Trigonometry), Otis Dulan, Jr (yes my cousin - Physics & Chemistry), Ms. Lea Wiley (Great Books), Ms. Daisy Harris Server (Aunt), Clara Luper (civil rights mentor/leader), and a  host of others.   And of course, Mr. Perry - even though I never took a class with him, he was the orchestra and band director, and he was tall, fine and spectacular.  And could that brother march!!!  He was a fantabulous drum major!!

Okay, this is beginning to sound more like a homage to my educators - which is as it should be - because, with few exceptions, they were wonderful - and without whom I, and so many of my classmates who came before me, or were my contemporaries, I would not have this fantastic body of knowledge, or love for education.  I would not have known my history or about Carter G. Woodson, or Sequoiah, or the many things meanstream white historians try to hide or distort. 

CARTER G. WOODSON THE FATHER OF BLACK HISTORY

So, next year, as you look forward to the upcoming Earth Day set on April 22, please give a moment of silence for those whose lives were irrevocably changed in the biggest land grab ever.  Also a moment of silence for the Oklahoma bombing of April 19, which took place 20 years ago in 1995. 

Of course, the Oklahoma City we have now is a mere shadow of its former self - many of my peers, including yours truly, have moved away; many of the Black owned businesses no longer exist - however, the pride is still there.  The sense of community is still there - and we  (at least in my family) still call it the OKLAHOMA RUIN.  Those who were born in my Mom Ruby Love's day and time, and know how much we lost as a result of the invasion are fading fast from among us.  It is up to the generation in front of me to tell the history and keep the facts straight - it's an example of what we were able to accomplish without any help or interference from whites; and how whites deliberately went out of their way to destroy all that had been built or developed as the result of a cooperative coalition between Blacks and Indians - and then held a celebration and named an entire football team in honor of it.  

That said - I'm still extremely proud of being an Oklahoma Kid - I'm from that part of Oklahoma City where people stood for something accomplished great things, stood for and by each other; didn't double deal; backed each other up - and still do - I wouldn't trade my childhood for anything in the world - even the Oklahoma Ruin couldn't take away the spirit that exists among and between us.   As my favorite music teacher, Ms. Evelyn La Rue Pittman used to say, "we have a rich heritage!"   

Now that I've gotten that rant off my chest, I can continue with the other articles for my blog - hope you got something positive out of it.  Wow!! That feels so much better!!!   :)

 

NOW THAT YOU KNOW

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

 

Stay Blessed & 
ECLECTICALLY BLACK 

Gloria DULAN-Wilson

 

 

 











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All Black Towns of Oklahoma - FYE (for your edification)

-->By Gloria Dulan-WilsonHello All -
A recent posting on FaceBook has prompted me to provide you with a partial listing of some of the Black towns that existed in Oklahoma Territory before the Oklahoma "Ruin" of April 22, 1889 - which was the biggest land grab outside of the Bush mortgage debacle of 2008.
There are others, but this should suffice to show that Greenwood - so called "Black Wall Street" - was not the only town where Blacks were thriving and raising families, Black in the day.  While historians may claim that Black towns only came into existence after th eCivil War, Black slaves were escaping into Oklahoma territory long before the Civil War, and had established homes, businesses, schools and churches long before the Oklahoma Ruin of 1889.  The land grab spelled in many ways, Black autonomy in Oklahoma for many people who had enjoyed living without white oppression, racism, and violence.  

African Towns and Settlements of Indian and Oklahoma Territories

AFRICAN GHOST TOWNS

• Arkansas Colored
• Bookertee
• Canadian Colored
• Chase
• Ferguson
• Lincoln City
• Marshall Town
• North Fork Town
• Old Vinita
• Wybark

AFRICAN TOWNS TODAY

• Arcadia
• Boley
• Langston
• Red Bird
• Rentiesville
• Taft
• Tullahassee
• Vernon
• Wewoka

AFRICAN GHOST TOWNS

ARKANSAS COLORED TOWN----From 1895 onward, this small black settlement existed in the southern part of the Chickasaw Nation. A post office operated in this town from 1895 to 1912. Not much more has even been written about the town, nor the Freedmen who resided within its limits. No trace exists of the settlement today.
BOOKERTEE----Three miles northeast of Weleetka in Okfuskee County the settlement of Bookertee used to lie. The town was named after Booker T. Washington, and was at its peak around 1920. No remnants nor written history of this settlement exists.
CANADIAN COLORED---About 10 miles south and west of the town of Eufaula the black settlement known as Canadian Colored Town existed. Nearby was the Civil War point known as Canadian Depot, which was a supply point during the Civil War. Since there were already places with the name of ?Canadian? elsewhere in the region and since this particular settlement had a large black settlement it became known as the Canadian Colored Town and with time it was simply referred to as Canadian Colored.
CHASE---Established in 1903, this town was 8 miles southwest of Muskogee. In 1908, the name of the town was changed to Beland. Neither names exist today.
FERGUSON---In 1901 this settlement on the Canadian River North in Blaine County O.T. was established. It was 12 miles directly north of the town of Watonga Oklahoma. No longer in existence.
LINCOLN CITY---Established in 1889 during the Oklahoma Land Rush, this town was a legacy to the All Black town movement of Edwin P. McCabe. It was located outside of Indian Territory and further west in Oklahoma Territory in Kingfisher County. Nothing remains today.
MARSHALL TOWN---As far back as the 1870?s Marshall Town was known as a black settlement. The town was on a spot between the Arkansas River, and the Verdigris River. Between 1878 and 1885, many of the Creek Lighthorsemen were black, and there were constant clashes between Cherokee cattlemen, and the African Creek Lighthorse Police. Many of these clashes were fatal between the African Creeks and the Cherokee cattlemen. Some researchers indicated that a state that closely resembled a racial war continued for several years in the area around Marshall Town. In 1876 one of the African Lighthorsemen was killed, and in 1879 one of the Cherokee cattlemen, John Vann, was killed. It was believed that the death of the Cherokee was in revenge of the death of the African Lighthorseman. The conflicts continued for several years, and did not quiet down till the mid 1880?s.
NORTH FORK TOWN---Originally a Creek Settlement, by the 1850?s this town had a considerable number of Africans residing in the town. By 1862 the town in the early part of the Civil War, the town was raided by Confederates and many of the African citizens lost personal property and were forced to flee the town for some time. The Claims of the Loyal Creeks were made in 1867 whereby several hundred Black Creeks spoke of their lives and property in North Fork Town. (These claims can be read at the National Archives.) By the turn of the century it was an exclusively African town, with Sugar T. George serving as the most widely respected Town King in the Creek Nation.
OLD VINITA---This was a primarily black settlement in the Cherokee Nation, and was home to mostly Cherokee Freedmen. Many Freedmen eventually left and settled in Coffeyville Kansas, for job opportunities. This black settlement has been absorbed into the current city of Vinita Oklahoma.
WYBARK---Established in 1890, though settled a bit earlier, Wybark was 4 miles north of Muskogee. The town operated a post office from 1890 to 1940. It is believed to have absorbed some of the old settlement of North Fork though no remains of that town are noted. The town faded in the 1940?s.

Map of Black Towns in Oklahoma Yesteryear and Today

 

AFRICAN TOWNS TODAY

ARCADIA---Established in 1890, this town is the most recently incorporated of the historically black towns. It was incorporated in 1987--almost 1900 years after the post office was established in the town.
BOLEY---Located in the western part of Okfuskee County this historically black town was established in 1903. The town of Boley is also the site of the noted attempted bank robbery that was foiled when Black townsmen prevented the Pretty Boy Floyd gang from robbing the town's only bank. Now a much smaller town of about 750 residents, this was the at one time most vibrant black towns in all of Indian Territory. In addition each year the town hosts one of the most famous events of the state-----the Boley Black Rodeo. Horsemen from throughout the region participate in this annual event each year during Memorial Day weekend. Many of the structures are on the National Register of Historic Places. During the early 1900?s Boley was considered to be the largest black town in the United States. During the days when Boley was at its peak more than 4000 blacks lived in the town. Several restaurants, hotels and businesses were a part of this city's legacy.
LANGSTON---This city was named for the noted educator and abolitionist John Mercer Langston. It was founded in 1891, and is home to Langston University the farthest west of the Historically Black Colleges & Universities. The town was founded during the heart of the campaign to establish and all black state initiated by Edwin P. McCabe from Kansas.
RED BIRD--- In the Creek Nation, this town lies only a few miles from Coweta Oklahoma. it was officially established in 1902 though it existed as a settlement before that time. It was always a rural community and was home to many Creek Freedmen as well as State Blacks who relocated to the Twin Territories in the late 19th century. Red Bird served as a market center for many rural black farmers, providing a market exchange for the black farmers of the region. The population of the town peaked out at about 400 in the 1920?s.
RENTIESVILLE---Now only a bed-room community, this town hosts the often tri-annual reenactment of the famous Battle of Honey Springs. In the heart of the Creek Nation and only a few miles south of Muskogee this town lies on the banks of Elk Creek. The Civil War battle was won, interestingly by black soldiers many from the Creek Nation, who had served in two units------the 1st Kansas Colored and the Indian Home Guards. The well written about Texas Road runs right through the heart of Rentiesville.
TAFT---Originally known as Twine, I.T. this Creek Nation black town was established in 1903. Like neighboring Red Bird, it was a market for rural farmers mostly black. Many Creek Freedmen lived in or near Taft. The city council still exists today and is one of the few black towns remaining that has a town council still in operation. The town of Taft is now home to the Creek Freedmen Shrine and African American landmark built by Napoleon Davis a memorial to the history of the 5000 Africans who lived in the Creek Nation.
TULLAHASSEE---The history of this town pre-dates Oklahoma statehood by 57 years. Established as a mission for the Creeks in 1850, Tullahassee became the site of the famous Creek Academy--the Tullahassee Mission School. It later was abandoned by the Creek Indians who left it as a school for their former African slaves. The Tullahassee Mission school then became a boarding school for the next two decades for Creek and Seminole Freedmen, under the leadership of Fisk and Hampton trained teachers and under the financial leadership of Sugar T. George, African Town King and leader from North Fork.
VERNON---The town of Vernon was founded by Edwin P. McCabe the Kansas auditor who launched the all black town movement. It was established in 1895, and still exists today.
WEWOKA---Established by African Seminole leader John Horse, in the 1840?s this particular town is now mostly white, though a sizable black community still survives in this area. The town is the county seat of Seminole County. Founder John Horse left Indian Territory in 1848 taking several hundred Africans with him to northern Mexico, attempting to escape raids from the Creek Nation, and efforts to force them back into slavery. The town had notable African Seminoles among its residents at one time---Negro Abraham, Caesar Bruner, Dorsar Barkus, Cudjoe and others. ( The Seminole nation today now has two African bands both led by African American women tribal leaders.)

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Tulsa Historical Society

Learn » Past Exhibits » All Black Towns of Oklahoma

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All Black Towns of Oklahoma

May 2010 – September 2010 – NOW CLOSED
Oklahoma’s all-black towns epitomize the unique African-American history of the Sooner State. From the mid-nineteenth century to 1920, African-Americans established more than 50 identifiable towns and communities, some of short duration and some still existing at the turn of the 21st century. Many started as cohesive farming communities that supported businesses, schools and churches, eventually gaining town status. Entrepreneurs in these communities started every imaginable kind of business, including newspapers, and advertised throughout the South for settlers.
This traveling exhibit from the Oklahoma Historical Society is made possible through funding by the Oklahoma Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

 

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Table of Contents Search All Entries Home ALL-BLACK TOWNS The All-Black towns of Oklahoma represent a unique chapter in American history. Nowhere else, neither in the Deep South nor in the Far West, did so many African American men and women come together to create, occupy, and govern their own communities. From 1865 to 1920 African Americans created more than fifty identifiable towns and settlements, some of short duration and some still existing at the beginning of the twenty-first century. All-Black towns grew in Indian Territory after the Civil War when the former slaves of the Five Civilized Tribes settled together for mutual protection and economic security. When the United States government forced American Indians to accept individual land allotments, most Indian "freedmen" chose land next to other African Americans. They created cohesive, prosperous farming communities that could support businesses, schools, and churches, eventually forming towns. Entrepreneurs in these communities started every imaginable kind of business, including newspapers, and advertised throughout the South for settlers. Many African Americans migrated to Oklahoma, considering it a kind of "promise land." When the Land Run of 1889 opened yet more "free" land to non-Indian settlement, African Americans from the Old South rushed to newly created Oklahoma. E. P. McCabe, a former state auditor of Kansas, helped found Langston and encouraged African Americans to settle in that All-Black town. To further his cause, McCabe established the Langston City Herald and circulated it, often by means of traveling agents, throughout the South. McCabe hoped that his tactics would create an African American political power block in Oklahoma Territory. Other African American leaders had a vision of an All-Black state. Although this dream was never realized, many All-Black communities sprouted and flourished in the rich topsoil of the new territory and, after 1907, the new state. In these towns African Americans lived free from the prejudices and brutality found in other racially mixed communities of the Midwest and the South. African Americans in Oklahoma and Indian Territories would create their own communities for many reasons. Escape from discrimination and abuse would be a driving factor. All-Black settlements offered the advantage of being able to depend on neighbors for financial assistance and of having open markets for crops. Arthur Tolson, a pioneering historian of blacks in Oklahoma, asserts that many African Americans turned to "ideologies of economic advancement, self-help, and racial solidarity." Marshalltown, North Fork Colored, Canadian Colored, and Arkansas Colored existed as early as the 1860s in Indian Territory. Other Indian Territory towns that no longer exist include Sanders, Mabelle, Wiley, Homer, Huttonville, Lee, and Rentie. Among the Oklahoma Territory towns no longer in existence are Lincoln, Cimarron City, Bailey, Zion, Emanuel, Udora, and Douglas. Towns that still survive are Boley, Brooksville, Clearview, Grayson, Langston, Lima, Red Bird, Rentiesville, Summit, Taft, Tatums, Tullahassee, and Vernon. The largest and most renowned of these was Boley. Booker T. Washington, nationally prominent African American educator, visited Boley twice and even submitted a positive article on the town to Outlook Magazine in 1908. The passage of many Jim Crow laws by the Oklahoma Legislature immediately after statehood caused some African Americans to become disillusioned with the infant state. During this time Canada promoted settlement and, although the campaign focused on whites, a large contingent of African Americans relocated to that nation's western plains, forming colonies at Amber Valley, Alberta, and Maidstone, Saskatchewan. Another exodus from Oklahoma occurred with the "Back to Africa" movements of the early twentieth century. A large group of Oklahomans joined the ill-fated Chief Sam expedition to Africa. A number of other African Americans migrated to colonies in Mexico. White distrust also limited the growth of these All-Black towns. As early as 1911 whites in Okfuskee County attempted to block further immigration and to force African Americans into mixed but racially segregated communities incapable of self-support. Several of these white farmers signed oaths pledging to "never rent, lease, or sell land in Okfuskee County to any person of Negro blood, or agent of theirs; unless the land be located more than one mile from a white or Indian resident." To further stem the black migration to eastern Oklahoma a similar oath was developed to prevent the hiring of "Negro labor." Events of the 1920s and 1930s spelled the end for most black communities. The All-Black towns in Oklahoma were, for the most part, small agricultural centers that gave nearby African American farmers a market. Prosperity generally depended on cotton and other crops. The Great Depression devastated these towns, forcing residents to go west and north in search of jobs. These flights from Oklahoma caused a huge population decrease in black towns. As people left, the tax base withered, putting the towns in financial jeopardy. In the 1930s many railroads failed, isolating small towns in Oklahoma from regional and national markets. As a result, many of the black towns could not survive. During lean years whites would not extend credit to African Americans, creating an almost impossible situation for black farmers and businessmen to overcome. Even one of the most successful towns, Boley, declared bankruptcy in 1939. Today, only thirteen All-Black towns still survive, but their legacy of economic and political freedom is well remembered. SEE ALSO: AFRICAN AMERICANS, BOLEY, BROOKSVILLE, CLEARVIEW, FREEDMEN, LANGSTON, LINCOLN CITY, EDWARD McCABE, RED BIRD, RENTIESVILLE, SEGREGATION, SETTLEMENT PATTERNS, SUMMIT, TAFT, TATUMS, TULLAHASSEE, VERNON BIBLIOGRAPHY: Black Dispatch (Oklahoma City), 8 March 1923. Norman Crockett, The Black Towns (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1979). Norman Crockett, "Witness to History: Booker T. Washington Visits Boley," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 67 (Winter 1989-90). Kenneth Lewallan, "Chief Alfred Sam: Black Nationalism on the Great Plains, 1913-14," Journal of the West 16 (January 1977). Bruce Shepard, "North to the Promised Land: Black Migration to the Canadian Plains," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 66 (Fall 1988). Larry O'Dell © Oklahoma Historical Society Return to top Electronic Publishing Center | OSU Home | Search this Site

Now that you know, 

what will you do?

Stay Blessed & 

ECLECTICALLY BLACK

Gloria