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.