1 An Ethnohistory of the Relationship between the Community of Sulphur, Oklahoma and Chickasaw National Recreation Area by Jacilee Wray and Alexa Roberts July 29, 2004 Chickasaw National Recreation Area 1008 W. 2nd Street Sulphur, Oklahoma 73806 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 2 As the Nation’s principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has a responsibility for most of our nationally-owned public lands and water resources; protecting our fish, wildlife, and biological diversity; preserving the environmental and cultural values or our national parks and historical places; and providing for the enjoyment of life through outdoor recreation. The Department assesses our energy and mineral resources and works to ensure that their development is in the best interests of all our people by encouraging stewardship and citizen participation in their care. The Department also has a major responsibility for American Indian reservation communities and for people who live in the island territories under U.S. administration. Editing services provide by Intermountain Support Office – Santa Fe National Park Service 5.9.03 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 5 FOREWORD 9 STUDY BACKGROUND PURPOSE 13 METHODS 15 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 18 INTRODUCTION 20 OVERVIEW 23 Chapter One INDIAN OCCUPATION 25 Chapter Two "FREE TO ALL COMERS IN PERPETUITY’ THE CREATION OF PLATT NATIONAL PARK 30 Chapter Three THREATS TO THE PARK 50 Chapter Four EARLY LANDSCAPE DESIGN 58 Chapter Five THE VOICE OF THE 8O8TH 63 Chapter Six AFRICAN-AMERICANS AT PLATT NATIONAL PARK 83 FREEDMEN 83 COLORED TOWN 83 "IT JUST DOESN’T SEEM REAL" 84 "COLORADO PEOPLE ONLY" 85 "KEEP A STEPPING" 86 EXCLUSIVE USE 87 CONNOTATIONS 90 Chapter Seven IT’S THE WATER 93 CITY OF SPRINGS 106 Chapter Eight A MECCA FOR REUNIONS AND OTHER GATHERINGS 112 Chapter Nine BUFFALO PASTURE 122 Chapter Ten SPEND THE DAYS 130 4 Chapter Eleven COMMUNITY AND PARK TODAY 132 PARK USES AND USER GROUPS 137 LOCAL COMMUNITY 137 PARK AND COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS AND ROLES 142 Chapter Twelve RECOMMENDATIONS 147 REFERENCES 149 APPENDICES A. PLACES, PLACE NAMES, AND RESOURCES 168 WATER RESOURCES 168 PLACES AND PLACE NAMES 180 B. PLANTINGS BY THE CCC COMPLETED BY MARCH 1934 185 C. VISITATION 187 D. PARK SUPERINTENDENTS 190 E. LIST OF INTERVIEWEES 191 F. ETHNOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW OF AMERICAN INDIAN OCCUPATION AND USE OF THE CHICKASAW NATIONAL RECREATION AREA by Clara Sue Kidwell 195 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 196 ABSTRACT 196 MANAGEMENRT SUMMARY 196 RESEARCH DESIGN 201 Chapter One INTRODUCTION 203 Chapter Two THE ARCHAEOLGY OF THE AREA 205 Chapter Three ETHNOHISTORY OF THE AREA 206 Chapter Four HISTORICAL OCCUPANCY OF THE PARK 208 Chapter Five HISTORICAL CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE AREA 211 Chapter Six CONTEMPORARY ETHNOGRAPHIC IMPORTANCE OF THE SPRINGS 218 Chapter Seven CONCLUSIONS 221 REFERENCES 222 APPENDICES I. HISTORICAL EVENTS 226 II. MAPS 227 III. CHICKASAW AND OTHER TRIBAL TREATIES 240 IV. INDIAN LAND ALLOTMENTS 280 5 ILLUSTRATIONS PHOTOS All photos by Jacilee Wray, 1996, unless otherwise noted 1. 1904 FAMILY REUNION (CHIC Archives 0128) 2. GARFIELD FALLS 3. PLATT ENTRANCE SIGN WITH WILKINS KIDS, 1964 (Courtesy Kelly D. Wilkins) 4. "Early development Pavilion Springs, upper right then known as Big Tom and Lower Left known as Beauty Springs, about 1907" (CHIC Archives 0002) 5. "Stephen Tyng Mather and Superintendent Ferris, Oct. 1921" (Harpers Ferry 69-572) 6. RETHA CONDRIFF 7. KIDS IN TRAVERTINE CREEK NEAR NATURE CENTER 8. "Visitors on Burros, circa 1900" (CHIC Archives 0133) 9. "Camping in Platt, 1910s" (CHIC Archives 0110) 10. BUS CAMPING AT COLD SPRINGS (Harpers Ferry 60-JB-252) 11. HAROLD LONG 12. FRONT VIEW OF CCC CAMP (CHIC Archives 0029) 13. CCC STAFF Vernon H. Fielding, Edmund B. Walkowiak, Sam G. Whittelsey, and Jerome C. Miller 14. JAY PINKSTON 15. TABLE AT TRAVERTINE ISLAND 16. "Working on Buffalo Springs" (CHIC Archives 0003) 17. "Rock Crew-CCC Boys" (CHIC Archives 0027) 18. "Buffalo Springs after CCC Completed Work" (CHIC Archives 0005) 19. KEN RUHNKE INTERVIEWING FRANK AND VINITA BEAVER 2O. PAVILION SPRING 21. RECREATIONAL DAM, GARFIELD FALLS 22. LITTLE NIAGARA 23. "Tree Crew at Work" (CHIC Archives 0024) 24. CCC STONE STEPS Pavilion Springs/Travertine Creek Trail 6 25. "Tree Surgery" (CHIC Archives 0037) 26. CENTRAL POOL 27. LONNIE AND FRIEDA SHAFFER 28. KIDS IN MONKEY TREE 29. GARFIELD FALLS POOL 30. BUFFALO SPRING 31. STROLLING ACROSS BRIDGE NEAR BUFFALO SPRING 32. ANTELOPE SPRING 33. FRANK AND VINITA BEAVER 34. DELBERT AND EVELYN GILBERT 35. INA LITTLE 36. "Jugs in hand, two visitors head for Bromide Pavilion for a supply of mineral waters, for which Platt National Park is famed," 1960 (Harpers Ferry 60-JB-245) 37. "Visitors applying mud, pool, Flower Park" (CHIC Archives 0328) 38. LITTLE NIAGARA 39. "Swimming in Travertine Creek, circa 1910" (CHIC Archives 2520) 40. PICNIC AT BUFFALO SPRINGS 1955 (Harpers Ferry WASO-D-798) 41. FIVE GENERATIONS OF ASHTON WOMEN, 1996 Carmie Allen, Mae Goss holding Isabel Alvey, Donna Hendrickson, and Rayna Alvey. 42. WILKINS' 60th REUNION, 1999 43. FIRST WILKINS REUNION, 1939, AT BUFFALO SPRINGS (Courtesy Kelly D. Wilkins) 44. OUTDOOR KITHCEN, 1957 (Courtesy Kelly D. Wilkins) 45. BISON AT PARK 46. "Orphan Buffalo Calf hand-raised by rangers," 1956 by Paul F. Spangle and W.V. Appling (Harpers Ferry WASO-D-804) 47. VISITORS TODAY CONTINUE TO ENJOY THE BISON 48. "Picnicking in the Park" (CHIC Archives 0143) 49. CHILD WADING AT BEACH SPRINGS 50. LILY POND 51. COLD SPRING 7 52. GARFIELD FALLS 53. LAKE PLACID 54. VELMA RATLIFF 55. FRANK AND VINITA BEAVER AT VENDOME WELL MAPS 1. AREA MAP 2. PARK MAP 3. LANDS CEDED BY THE CHOCTAW NATION, 1882 (NARA 1882) 4. CLIFFSIDE PARK SHOWING ORIGINAL BROMIDE PAVILION ACROSS THE CREEK (DOI 1908c) 5. SHOWING FIRST COLORED CAMP ECW PROGRESS MAP, October 1, 1934 to March 1, 1935 (Platt NP 1935b) 6. PLAN FOR CENTRAL PARK RECREATIONAL DAM (Platt NP 1935c) 7. NEW "NEGRO AREA" FROM MASTER PLAN (NPS 1950) 8. SANTA FE AND FRISCO RAILROAD LINES (Sulphur Chamber of Commerce 1921) 9. CAVE ISLAND FALLS (Sulphur Chamber of Commerce 1927) 10. OLD BUFFALO PASTURE AND ELK ENCLOSURE (Sulphur Chamber of Commerce 1927) 11. NEW BUFFALO PASTURE (NPS n.d.:6-7) 12. WILDCAT BEND (DOI 1908d) FIGURES 1. JAMES HUDLER'S CCC CERTIFICATE FOR PROFICIENCY ELEMENTARY MASONRY, 1936 2. JAMES HUDLER'S CCC COMPLETION TOUR OF DUTY, 1937 3. ADVERTISEMENT KU KLUX KLAN GATHERING (Platt NP 1924b) 4. ADVERTISEMENT FOR POLIO INNOCULATIONS, 1960 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 5. RECIPE FOR SAD CAKE (Courtesy of Mae Goss 1996) 8 Sulphur Springs Reservation was established in 1902 and expanded in 1904 ...for the people of the United States because of the many medicinal springs found here which have been known and used for their medicinal properties as far back as we have any record of them. The ancient Red man brought his sick and afflicted here so they might drink of the waters and be cured of all their afflictions and be restored to health. Platt National Park with its woods and streams, its trees and springs, its flowing wells and swimming pools, its birds and flowers, its cliffs and boulders of historic interest, is becoming so well known for its wonderful springs of water and its delightful drives and shady nooks that it will soon be the Mecca for the sick and afflicted of a continent, as well as for pleasure seekers [Supt. Robert G. Morris](Platt NP 1924). 9 FOREWORD As with any special place that achieves pilgrimage status with its devoted visitors, the Platt District of Chickasaw National Recreation Area is many things to many people. I first visited this serene recreation landscape in 1985, less than a decade after it changed from Platt National Park to a Chickasaw National Recreation Area, when its area increased by a couple of thousand shoreline acres around Lake of the Arbuckles, itself constructed only about 20 years earlier. At the time I needed a little help understanding how the classic American small town of Sulphur, the Native American name of Chickasaw, the huge federal Bureau of Reclamation lake, the National Park Service and its wonderful 1930s New Deal buildings here all fit together. Yet upon my first visit the magic of "Platt" inspired another pilgrim. I've journeyed back many times now, always impressed, always learning something new. From what Jacilee Wray and Alexa Roberts have conveyed to me about their encounters with Platt, I believe we all suffer the same intoxication. Initially we each learned just one of the many lessons of Platt: the place can be as alluring to its old neighbors in Oklahoma as it is to newcomers from far away. Spend a little time in Sulphur, and drive or hike the Platt parkscape, and you'll understand why Will Rogers so loved his home state, why Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein set their impressions to music and dance in the Broadway musical Oklahoma, and why native-born Hoyt Axton also put into song, "Well I never been to heaven, but I been to Oklahoma." The place simply has good karma… perhaps a result of all those artesian formations at work beneath your feet. Or maybe the subliminal attractions to this pocket of rural America, particularly for travelers in the 21st century, are its crystal clean air and virtually no light pollution on any night of the year. Jacilee and Alexa first approached Platt with academic intentions, bringing their backgrounds in anthropology, ethnography and National Park Service tenure to this middle-America retreat. They found a rich multi-layered history of mineral springs, Native American attitudes toward their land, well-meaning circa 1900 Washington politicians and their questionable local agents, and a federal park service bureaucracy born after Platt's own national park designation.