Muskogee's First Band

Muskogee residents spent the first eighteen years, after 1872, without a local band. The only exceptions when Muskogee had a band were the times when traveling troupes stopped over for a couple of days before departing for new destinations. This began to change in December 1889, and January 1890.

After Professor C. H. Menefee arrived in town from Kansas City, he started promoting the idea of a Muskogee band because he was a music teacher and band instructor without a band. His proposal to establish a band took root among some of the 1,200 inhabitants of Muskogee.

By mid-January, a group of willing men agreed to form Muskogee's first band. Initially, the band was called the Muskogee Silver Cornet Band. The first members of the band were James Swift, piccolo; Ben Bellis, clarinet; Dr. A. E. Bonnell, cornet; J. W. Sanders, cornet; J. S. O'Brien, cornet; Joe Trent, cornet; J. D. Fox, cornet; William Augustus "Gus" Lubbes, cornet; William A. Maddin, cornet; Charles A. Thomas, tuba; James Tague, snare drum; E. R. Rulison, bass drum; and E. E. Burke, cymbals.

Another list of the first members included Monty Standiford, Charlie Thomas, Monta Chaplan and Beverly Berry. Mr. Meredith of Tahlequah reportedly also played in the band. Statie Bassler recalled in a WPA interview in 1938 that the band also included a Mr. Best, violin; William Bozeman, cornet; and Frank Lockes, bass viola. Statie played the piano. These had to be later members because the first band was a brass band with drums.

Maddin ordered the band instruments from Lyon and Healy of Chicago. There is the hint that Madden paid for the instruments up front and then let the band members repay him, perhaps over time. This generosity may have resulted in the band's name changing to Maddin's Mechanics Band. William Maddin led the band after Professor Menefee left.

For the most part, the initial band members were craftsmen and tradesmen. O'Brien may have been the town's first jeweler. Bellis was a plumber, while Sanders was a carpenter. Lubbes was the town jailor. Maddin, Rulison and Bonnell represented the merchant and professional class. The later was the town dentist.

In the beginning, there were no uniforms. The local newspaper later floated the idea for the town pitching in for the purchase of uniforms. An early photograph shows the band in uniform, but it is not known how they acquired them.

The band played its first performance on the porch of Pendleton's restaurant in late March. This was a free concert as well as a practice session. The band played its first formal concert at the federal courthouse on April 18, 1890. The courthouse was on the southwest corner of Court & Lake (now Second) Streets. There was an admission fee used to recover band expenses, perhaps for band uniforms.

The band held summer concerts in the open-air floor of the Hotel Adams' tower. The second floor of the tower looked out over Agency (later Broadway) Avenue to the south. The main tracks of the Katy Railroad line, and the numerous sidetracks, were east of the hotel.

During the next few years, the band played for private parties as well as for religious, political and promotional occasions. Once, the band was asked to play when a store had a sale. The band was a marked improvement in the social life of the Muskogee community. Its creation marked another step in promoting the town's development as the premier community in Indian Territory.