HISTORY OF EL RENO, OK BY Carolyn Barker £L &^ tt^yj/nfc, #^° 1 I1 1 1 f JI HI ID I JI II ll ll ll ll ll V 5C_UWK<-/ History of El Reno, OK El Reno has a remarkable and interesting history. This was my endeavor to help preserve some of it. This history was written for the Canadian County History Book that was published in 1991 by Carolyn Barker. EL RENO El Reno had a controversial beginning. This town began in 1889 and was not legally straightened out until 1892. John Foreman located cattle trails for railroads and assisted in running a line from Kansas to El Reno in the 1880s. In the 1889 landrun he homesteaded the NW% 9-12-7. Foreman filed...a_ soldier' s declaratory statement on it. He also signed a homestead affidavit stating that the entry was "for the purpose of actual settlement for his own benefit and not for other people." On May 13, two days after filing his homestead, Foreman took a four day trip. Upon his return he found a group of men surveying and laying out a town. They advised him to lease a portion of his homestead to the townsite company. On May 19 he leased 120 acres to the Oklahoma Homestead and Town Company, while 40 acres were kept for his own to cultivate. This company was chartered February 26, 1889 as a private corpora­ tion. Some of the objects of the company were to purchase land, lay out townsites, buy and sell lots, rent buildings, etc. After securing the lease the company platted the town. A charter was adopted on the townsite on May 22nd. It read: "It was unanimously resolved, that, whereas, there are no means whereby the inhabitants of El Reno can legally enter lands under the laws of the United States, and whereas_ in all lands attempted to be occupied as goverment town- sites, there is great strife and uncertainty in regard to titles and the possession of lots, it is expedient that the people of the town of El Reno, adopt the system proposed by the Oklahoma Homestead and Town Company, and take leases for the lots with an agreement for the deeds as soon as the settlers get final receipt or the government provides a law under which the occupants can secure title." Apparently Foreman and the townsite company were in harmony, as he made more than one trip to Washington to secure appropriate townsite legislation and to enter his homestead for townsite purposes. The Territorial Act of May 2, 1890 made provisions for the incorp­ orations of towns. So on June 11 a petition was submitted to the county commissioners. They ordered the 120 acre tract of Foreman and the ad­ joining 80 acres of Thomas Jensen be incorporated as the "Village of El Reno." A. A. Farnham, E. E. Elterman, A. F. Masterman, M. M. Kerfoot ' • .-.:-..•' *•••••• •.-"•• *' "" * V,;'; .... 7 Legal Petition of El Reno Village ¥r ':IA For Incorporation Is Reprinted :; 7 Incorporation :of the Village of El* Reno..Petition presented., by the citizens of, tho. Village of El Reno'rcqucstingthe Honor*?' • able. Board:-;of County. Commissioners to incorporate said Vil- : lage of El-Rcho:as':pcr.the provisions of Chapter 14 of the' Re-/. ' vised -Statutes of •Nebraska;"', applying in Oklahoma Territory under Section 11. of the ''Organic Act" of said .Territory. _••..,-.: • The Honorable Board made the following-order:--••-•--.-.' v.'- \•". '•'•' And now, on this 12th day of June, 1890 comes t-on • for., '..hearing the. petition of the inhabitants ,of* the Village of El*. •Reno, .Fourth County,-Oklahoma Territory, praying that they..' ' may be incorporated and may have the power of incorporated • " towns that the name.of said Village be El Reno and the metes.. and .bounds of said.Village be as', hereinafter described. '•'••'• •"'..-• •• And it appearing to" the'Board that a majority. of_.the.Taxr.-, able male inhabitants..of said Village have signed the petition and that the prayer of the petitioners is reasonable, it is there­ fore ordered and declared that said Village0be incorporated • with the following metes and bounds Viz.:* .' '••.». Beginning at the northwest* corner, of the northwest * quarter of Section (9) nine Township 02) Tyyclye north of ^ •-.-•'•Range- (7). Seven West 'of• Indian Meridian: Thence' West"• along._t.hc Section line to thc.point.where said Section line'. intersects-the' 00th Meridian: Thence South'along'said ". meridian-line 160 rods: Thence east on the half section ;line ",. to the point where said half section, line intersects the sec­ tion line between sections (8) eight and (9) nine of said'.. Township and Range: Thence East. 1G0 rods:7 Thence North 1G0 Rods;.Thence West 80 Rods:* Thence North 80 '.- . Rods: Thence \Vest 80 rpds_to.the_p.]acc_Q_Lbcginning: and • that the inhabitants within -said bounds by a body politic * .and icorporate by'the name and style of "The Village of • .••El Reno" and by that name-they and their successors shall . be known in law...' •.'"*"•'... "And it is-further ordered that A. A. Farnham, E; E. Eltcr-; . man, A. .F.-Mastcrman, M. M. Kerfoot and WIT. Graham be- -r\ and'constitute the' Board of Trustees, for. said Village of El. •'Reno until, their successors .are elected and qualified as.pro­ vided by. law.' . •*' '„.',. ...• ';]'•' '' . .'• '.*..' '. •-.. •/. .*. -.* . '-'A. •',. "At a' subsequent, meeting oh the Honorable* Board of .County.: .-Commissioners held on.the 7th day of July, 18.90 the-rcsigna-', tion of A'.. F. Mastcrmah was received .'and accepted arid H. K: . Rickcr was appointed to fill the vacancy"./.v' • •-'•.•*• '»•*.'.'. .-The Territory of Oklahoma 1 '•''-•.. —*—_ „_ . _ vss t , .;•••..J3 Fourth County^ . Jj„< .. '.' * ;• •'' ;;.,*I, Parker _*§. Smith, 'County .'Clerk .within 'and.'' for.'said •.-.Territory.'do hereby certify that -the- foregoing is a- true copy •;. of vthe-decree of. -Commissioners"Court of- 'the"FouRH'-'Couhty" Of Oklahoma Territory now on file in my office.' * Witness my hand and.seal this-15th day of July, 1890. ., • Signed: ' ' • _' PARKER S. SMITH, . • \ ((SEAL) • . County Clerk. ' -• page 2 and H. T. Graham were appointed as trustees of the village. Anson A. Davis, a homesteader near Frisco, charged Foreman was a "sooner" and worked for the townsite company. The Commissioner of the General Land Office ruled in favor of Foreman. Davis then appealed the decision to the Secretary of the Interior. The matter was also taken to the U. S. Congress. The town lot holders urged congress to pass a bill for the relief of the inhabitants of El Reno, so they could get clear title to their lots. On February 6, 1892 John W. Noble, Secretary of the Interior handed down his decision. He directed that the homestead and cash en­ tries made by Foreman, be cancelled and the land be entered under the townsite law. LOT JUMPING About noon the same day an El Reno citizen received a private message about Mr. Noble's decision. The Foreman land was opened for public settlement. About 9:00 p.m. lot jumpers moved on the land and in about an hour almost every lot was occupied. It was reported the sound of hammers were heard all night long. The next morning shingles, pieces of foundations, dugouts and skeleton frames had been put on these lots, i On February 15, 1892 several El Reno citizens presented a petition to the U. S. Congress, asking that the land be entered under the town- , site law. Adjoining homestead entries of Thomas Jensen and James Thompson were cancelled on November 26, 1892. John Foreman relinquished to the U. S. Goverment all his right, title and interest in the tract of land he had claimed as a homestead on August 1, 1893. Thus the first clear title was secured by the city of El Reno in 1893. HOW EL RENO GOT ITS NAME The promoters of the town, which included several officers from Fort Reno, wanted to name their town after the fort. So they decided on the name Reno. But the post office department refused to establish a post office with that name. It claimed there would be too much con­ fusion with Fort Reno, Reno City and Reno all within a few miles of each other. page 3 The town promoters and the Fort Reno officers met several times to choose a new name. In July, 1889 William C. McDonald, R. R. Hickox and Dr. A. K. Jackson were in a wagon on their way to Fort Reno to again discuss a new town name. When they reached Target Creek, near Fort Reno, the driver, Mr. McDonald, suddenly exclaimed he had a name! "El Reno!" He explained that "el" in Spanish meant "the". He felt sure the post office department would accept that name. Which it did. At first it was spelled as one word. Elreno. However, when Reno City faded from existence, the name became the two words "El Reno" as we know it today. EL RENO IN THREE LAND OPENINGS El Reno's early history was unique in another way. It had a part in three different land openings. The east part of the town was established in the 1889 land run. Grand street was on the edge of the 98th Meridian, which was the west boundary of this land run. Many people came to El Reno to make the run into the Cheyenne and Arapahoe lands in April 1892. This opened the land which became the western part of El Reno. The 1901 land drawing was held in El Reno. That summer the town was host to thousands of hopeful people wanting land. FIRST STREET NAMES In June 1889 George Lambe was hired by the townsite company to plow the streets.