1916 Muskogee Balloon Race

Muskogee hosted the first of two "International Balloon Races" in 1916. While not officially sanctioned by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, this race kept interest in ballooning alive in America during the years of the Great War.

The race was sponsored by the Oklahoma Free State Fair to promote that year's fair. In 1916, the contest drew six contestants. None was from foreign countries because of the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. The board posted a prize of $2000 for the entrant who traveled the farthest.

October 7th, the last day of the fair, saw the gas bags lift off from the fair ground racetrack. The Muskogee Gas and Electric had pumped 360,000 cubic feet of natural gas into six balloons. Three of them were 80,000 cubic feet in size.

The "Dayton" balloon launched first. A lumberman from Dayton, Ohio, piloted one of the smaller balloons. He sailed aloft without a rider. This balloon came down near Kansas City, Missouri.

The "Saint Louis No. 1" lifted off second. It suffered a rip in its bag at 14,000 feet. Fortunately, the fabric acted as a parachute. Both passengers landed safely near Macon, Missouri.

The "Wichita" departed with two dentists aboard. The balloon lifted slow enough to not even clear the north fence around the racetrack. This embarrassing beginning was quickly followed by a landing at Coweta.

The Kansas City Aero Club sponsored the "Uncle Sam." Its captain was Harry E. Honeywell of St. Louis. He won the silver trophy for the greatest distance traveled at the 1909 International Balloon Race. By the end of his ballooning career, he had made about 600 flights.

After arriving in Muskogee, Captain Honeywell recruited Jack Horne to travel in the race as his aide. Horne was the district manager for a national insurance company.

While flying near Bartlesville, they were fired upon by "Indians." One of the bullets hit the bag, causing a steady leak that finally forced the balloon down near Dubuque, Iowa.

The "White" balloon also had two passengers. Both the pilot and aide came from Saint Louis, Missouri, for the race. Their luck held throughout the race. They traveled 410 miles, landing near Chariton, Iowa.

The "St. Louis Million Population" balloon rose into the air last. Captain John Berry was the oldest at seventy-six years of age. A manufacturer, he agreed to take another Muskogean.

Miss Irene Adams was set to depart when Capt. Berry abandoned his plans to take her at the last moment. She was a single Illinoisan who worked selling curios at the Muskogee Indian Trading Company.

Berry's balloon was the last one to report in at the end of the race. This was the result of landing in a rural area of Harrison County, Missouri. It took him longer to get to a telegraph office in order to notify the race officials back in Muskogee where he came down and when he landed.

The fair board awarded the first prize money to Capt. Honeywell for his masterful piloting of a damaged balloon. In the end, however, the real winner was the town of Muskogee because of the excellent national news coverage the race received.

Charles A. Moon, Orphaned Lawyer

The photograph above shows the facing of the sidewalk step at 819 West Martin L. King Blvd. Charles A. Moon purchased the house about 1919 and later paved the sidewalk. He was proud of his home and this last vestige reminds us of this man's life in Muskogee.

Born in Cartersville, Georgia about 1883, Charles A. Moon was the son of Charles A. and Hattie (Goodwin) Moon. His parents, who married in late 1880, died when he was still an infant. A multitude of kin thereafter took turns in raising him. His upbringing left him with a strong sense of fairness and justice.

Fortunately, his mother's younger sister took him as a "pupil" because she wanted to become a schoolteacher. Her efforts to "teach" Charles resulting in him attending the University of Georgia Law School.

He arrived in Muskogee in 1906 after graduating with his law degree, but began working as an errand boy for Benjamin Martin's law firm. Before long, however, he was practicing law. Eventually, he served as City Attorney under four different mayors.

Always a leader, Charles was active in unraveling the mayoral form of government when Muskogee's city council ceased functioning harmoniously. He was among those who advocated the manager form of government. A city election in 1919 changed Muskogee's government to its present form.

Charles Moon won his first election to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1926. Then he won re-election in 1928. During this term, legislators tried to impeach the governor. After a failed attempt in 1928, Oklahoma state legislators impeached Governor Henry Simpson Johnston the next year. Moon acted as the leading prosecutor among the legislators who supported Gov. Johnston's impeachment.

Same year, Moon became involved in impeaching Gov. Huey P. Long of Louisiana. Moon advised those seeking to oust Gov. Long because of his experience in impeaching Gov. Johnston. However, he withdrew his efforts before Gov. Long beat back his opponents.

Representative Moon ran against Muskogee's State Senator W. M. Gulager. Moon won the election in November of 1930. After replacing W. M. Gulager as State Senator, Moon immediately wanted to replace many of Gulager's appointees. Following his instincts for fairness, Moon said one of Gulager's appointees spent the previous eight months of the year in Texas instead of on the job in Oklahoma.

Senator Moon served a second tern as state senator. During this term he helped to end the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution that abolished the consumption of alcohol. At one point, those seeking to reintroduce legislation allowing alcoholic sales in the state came up short of the votes. Those in favor flew Moon from Muskogee to Oklahoma City to vote in the Senate. This vote led to the reintroduction of legal consumption of liquor.

Charles Moon spent the remainder of his life in Muskogee. Home life and his law practice took up much of his time. Nonetheless, he found time to perform civic work, too. For example, he served as attorney of the Oklahoma Free State Fair for many years. He finally retired from this work in 1952. He was nearly seventy years old.

When you are driving across the intersection of Ninth Street and Martin L. King Blvd, look for "Chas. A. Moon" on sidewalk step. When you spot the name, tip your hat to a man who believed in fairness and justice in Muskogee.

Free Beginning Genealogy Workshop Coming May 3

The Muskogee County Genealogical Society and the Muskogee Public Library is presenting a Free Beginners Genealogy Workshop on Saturday, May 3. Registration begins at 9:00. Registration is not necessary unless ordering a box lunch.

There will be five sessions during the day. Each session lasts forty-five minutes. The first session begins at 9:30.

Jere Harris starts with "Basic Genealogy 101." This session tell you what a person needs to know to get started.

Stacy Blundell and Alissa Hill teach the researcher about "Organizing Your Family History." This tag-team humorously tackles the task of keeping track of your family details.

Sue Tolbert covers "The Why and How-To of Citing Your Sources." Sources are important for evaluating the accuracy of the information uncovered during research. Sue teaches the proper steps for following a standardized approach.

Lunch begins at 12:15. Workshop attendees may "brown bag" by bringing their own meal. If they prefer, attendees may reserve a box lunch by registering early and paying $5.50. Pre-payment is required by May 1 for a box lunch. Sandwich choices are Ham/Cheese or Smoked Turkey.

Nancy Calhoun kicks off the afternoon sessions at 1:30. Her topic will be "Research Aids in the Local History & Genealogy Department of the Muskogee Public Library. She will also cover how to find the material in the collection.

I will be teaching the last session beginning at 2:15. The topic will be "Websites Worth Using (Free)." The emphasis of my talk will be on using the internet to find free information about your family or ancestor.

All during the day, researchers may access the resources in the Muskogee Public Library. During the afternoon, society members will be available to provide one-on-one assistance in overcoming research roadblocks.

The workshop is free and open to anyone wishing to begin researching their past family history. If you are lucky, you may even take home a door prize.

Mark your calendar for the next workshop coming October 4.

Trolley Tour of Historic Downtown

Become a "historical tourist" this coming Saturday. Muskogee's "Trolley Tour of Historic Downtown" will visit many local points of interest. This annual event by the Three Rivers Museum lasts about an hour and a half.

Historic re-enactors will enliven this year's stops. They will illustrate some of the flavor of early day residents and scoundrels who once walked down the streets or once rode the old (pre-1939) Muskogee Electric Traction Company trolley cars. The cast of re-enactors include actors from the Muskogee Little Theater.

Barbara Downs really enjoyed her tour last year. When asked for a comment, her excitement amplified her memories. She exclaimed that it was so much fun and so informative that she was going on the tour again this year. This time a friend is going with her to share the experience.

There are many historical sites that we drive past each day. While some of the old structures are now gone, not all are. The tour will demonstrate that Muskogee is a historic town.

There are two tours scheduled this year. Seating for both tours have sold out. All that remain are spaces for standing in the aisles. Standing spaces are available for both tours.

While saving gasoline, join with your neighbors to see Muskogee as you never have seen your town before. Compare the photographs of the historical structures with today's buildings. See how some buildings have changed while others are either unchanged or are gone forever.

Each ticket costs slightly more than a movie pass at $10. The profusely illustrated booklet describing the historical sights alone is worth the price of a ticket. Reservations can be made by calling the museum at 686-6624. Departure times are 10:00 am and 1:00 pm at the Three Rivers Museum parking lot, 220 Elgin Street, three blocks south of Muskogee's City Hall.

Muskogee's Bicycle Craze

The bicycle craze struck Muskogee residents during the spring and summer months of 1896. The interest in bicycles swept into other Oklahoma towns like Vinita several months after it began in Muskogee.

The eastern states saw this euphoria earlier, beginning in 1887. For example, the Wright brothers purchased their first bicycles in the spring of 1892. This was a decade before their interest in flight took them to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Bicycles of the 1890's operated somewhat differently than modern two-wheelers. This is because a chain directly connected the pedals and rear wheel. When one turned, so did the other.
The faster one sped along the faster the pedals turned. Coasting ever faster down a hill challenged the cyclist to pedal faster. This is why Muskogee inventor, George Beebe, came out with an improved propulsion where an "up and down" motion powered the rear wheel. The March 22, 2007, blog will tell you more about his invention.

On the last day of April 1896, a bicycling crowd headed east to Fort Gibson. The pretty weather encouraged to group of men to over-do it physically. Moreover, the road proved to be a challenge.

Some rode out and back. Many more walked back or caught a train ride. In the early days, there were no gears or multiple sprockets to make pedaling up hill easier. Riding to Fort Gibson required conditioning that few of these April cyclists possessed.

Hardware stores advertised the sale of different brands of bicycles. Maddin Hardware ads touted bicycling as excellent exercise for the businessman. The store sold the Columbia "wheel." A Columbia "High Wheel" had a large drive (front) wheel and a 15-inch back wheel. Columbia also manufactured modern style bicycles during this period. The Turner Hardware Company sold the Fowler brand of machines. They were sturdier and simpler bicycles.

A man named Shultz rode into Muskogee about this same time on a Columbia "Wheel." He was traveling from Los Angeles to Hartford, Connecticut. Schultz was emulating Thomas Stevens' 1884 transcontinental ride.

In the middle of June 1896, there was talk of having a bicycle race, or perhaps two, at the Muskogee fair in the fall. It was to be an attention-getting event open to all territorial cyclists. Unfortunately, the plans for the fair fell through that year.

However, bicycling entered the public's vocabulary in full measure. Never failing to miss a chance to connect with buyers, stores used the cycling imagery to promote product sales to the younger adult market. Advertisements for both men's and women's merchandise capitalized on the bicycle interest.

Even the Muskogee Literary and Society Club was not immune to the fad. Often the members performed readings of poetry or sang songs. Bicycling entered the picture when the newspaper reported the effort of one non-rider reading the Mosaics magazine as going "spinning up the road of good journals."

Ultimately, the price of a bicycle dropped because of mass production. As a result, bicycles became common around town. The heady days when few owned two-wheelers were fleeting glory days. In Muskogee, those days were in 1896.

Miss Alice Robertson, Photographer

Many are aware that Alice Mary Robertson, a missionary's daughter, served as Oklahoma's first Congresswoman in Washington. During most of her life, people affectionately called her "Miss Alice."

However, did you know she owned a photography studio for many years? She became a "photographer" after seeing the benefits of using photographs to illustrate her points during speeches. While at the Lake Mohonk Conference in October 1892, she sought improvement in Native American lives at the annual of "Friends of the Indian" meeting. She asked that funds be raised nationally for the education of Indian daughters. Among the girls she mentioned as an example of a need was the orphan of Captain Samuel Sixkiller. To make her point she displayed a number of photographs of Indian girls.

After returning to Muskogee from the New York conference in the spring of 1893, she found that Jacob F. Standiford, the subject of last week's blog, wanted to sell his photographic studio. Being mechanically inclined as well as a good photographer, he had become an agent for gasoline-powered electric generating plants.

His house in Muskogee that accommodated his photography studio had been for sale for months when Alice Robertson returned from back east. Standiford thus readily accepted Miss Alice's offer. After taking possession, she spent time and effort modernizing the old portrait rooms. She also hired a man named Tolbot to assist her, no doubt a former assistant of Standiford's. An advertisement described him as "one of the very best artists in the west."

His employment, however, raises questions of exactly what Miss Alice's role was. Chester Cowan, Still Photo Archivist for the Oklahoma Historical Society, says that she worked in other areas of the business, but not behind the camera.

A year later, Miss Alice undertakes another major renovation. The resulting cost forced her to take her employee as a partner. Thereafter, the business became known as "Robertson & Co." Miss Alice again returned to Lake Mohonk conferences in 1899 and 1900. Each time she took more photos to illustrate Native American life. She persisted in bringing their problems and progress to the public's attention.

Photographs attributed to the firm include an undated photograph with the notation, "Miss Robertson's scholars at the Muskogee School at Mus-ko-gee Indian Territory." The local newspaper mentioned that the firm had a negative of the Buck Gang shortly after the outlaws were hung in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Arthur Palmer was another of Miss Alice's partners. Palmer continued to use card stock for cabinet photographs that was impressed with the Robertson name. In order to improve her financial circumstances, Miss Robertson became the supervisor of the Creek Indian schools in 1900.

Her photography enterprise was almost over. The business struggled for another few years before finally going out of business. Standiford's start ended under Miss Alice's management.

J. F. Standiford, Photographer

Jacob F. Standiford was an early artist among the many photographers in Oklahoma. He grew up in a large farming family in Marshall County, Virginia. Marshall County is one of the western counties of Virginia that became West Virginia after the Civil War. He was born in February 1852. Jacob usually went by his initials, J. F. He did so because of a slightly older cousin also named Jacob Standiford.

J. F. moved to Muskogee in the spring of 1878 following a wanderlust that began at a young age. There he constructed a residence and art gallery. These were not separate structures. His photographic studio was his parlor. He developed negatives and made prints in a back room.

At the time, the Creek Nation required non-Indians to get a permit if they wanted to reside within the Nation. Because he enjoyed the rough western life, he applied for a permit. For many years thereafter, he advertised on the backs of his cabinet cards that he was the only licensed photographer in the territory.

Standiford covered most of Indian Territory in his photographic efforts. Partly this was because of his wandering nature. He was also aware that competitors could come into the area just as he had. His competition was the photographers living in adjacent states. Occasionally, such photographers came into Indian Territory only to shortly return to their native states. As time passed, more came and stayed.

Like the traveling photographers from adjacent states, Standiford regularly traveled throughout Indian Territory in a wagon. At every opportunity, he offered to take photographs at any gathering or farmstead. His photography business took him to Eufaula, McAlester, Tahlequah, Vinita and Wagoner.

During the mid-1880's, he moved to Kansas where he advertised himself as "The People's Photographer" in Parsons. After a brief spell, Muskogee drew Jacob back for another half dozen years. On July 14, 1892, he made application for a patent on a tool used in etching. Clarence W. Turner witnessed his application.

He married in 1886. His wife joined him in the business by assuming the developing chore. Later, Rachel L. Standiford, a sister, joined the couple in the business. J. F. and his wife had no children. The chemicals in the developing solutions might have been the reason for no children.

Here are some of the photographs Standiford took over the years in Indian Territory. He agreed with Campbell Russell about the need for paved streets in Muskogee. Standiford also appreciated the commercial possibilities of a photograph showing Russell fishing in a waterhole in Muskogee's Main Street in 1888. The powerful image was the result of their co-operative enterprise.

The following year, Standiford made a photograph of Tahlequah. He took the picture from the Cherokee Female Seminary on the outskirts of town. He also made a picture of fishermen at Flat Rock Bend. Another commercial success was Standiford's photographs of the inside and outside of Stampede's Saloon, Tulsa. His most common photographs surviving today are the numerous studio and tent photos he made of families and individuals all across the Indian Territory.