Seminole County

 

Sasakwa

Sasakwa meaning "Wild Goose in the Indian language was the name Governor John F. Brown chose for the post office in his general store located two and a half miles west of the present day Sasakwa. Gov. Brown opened his general store about 1868 to supply the needs of the Indians. He also had a cotton gin. Gov. Brown's store had the first telephone and freight from Wewoka once a week.

A wagon train of twelve wagons stopped at Gov. Brown's store, where they had their horses and mules shod and were offered food from Gov. Brown. The families that stayed in Sasakwa were Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Brown, Mr. and Mrs. W.R. Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Blankenship, Mr. and Mrs. George Gibson, Mr. and Mrs. Press Walton, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Buckmaster and others.

The "Light-Horse" were the Seminole Nation's form of law enforcement. After the Civil War there was up to twenty fights a day. The Light-Horse numbered about twelve and the captain was Jim Larney. Court was held in the old Council House in Wewoka, and prisoners were punished by the lash Law.

Gov. Brown built a two room cottage in 1875, and didn't stop there, he then built a sixteen room, three story mansion. It was completed in 1877. When he closed his store at night he would invite whoever was there to have supper with him. The mansion stood until the 1950's when some of the heirs had it torn down.

The new town of Sasakwa was the results of the Frisco Railroad in 1900. Gov. Brown at that time moved his store, cotton gin and grist mill to the new site. Gov. Brown gave the land for the town site. In 1906 they set up the city charter with 44 men signing that charter. The streets were named at that time. Gov. Brown designated where the Baptist and Methodist Churches should be. The charter for the Baptist Church was also signed in 1906.

The first one-room school was located on a hill east of Sasakwa. In 1910 a new two story school was built at its present site. In 1927 a fire destroyed the school, it was rebuilt that same year at the cost of ten-thousand dollars.

In August of 1917 our government ordered all males  between certain ages to register for military service. From this list of registered citizens the army of World War I would be drafted. General Spears organized the farmers from the area into a group which he called "Working Man's Union," creating opposition to the draft. They urged the farmers to rebel against the draft, calling the World War a "Rich Man's War, Poor Man's Fight."

About 300 farmers refused to register from this area and armed themselves. They planned to burn bridges, destroy railroad trestles, and cut telephone lines. There were to march on the nation's capital after they raided and looted Sasakwa for arms and provisions.

Lawmen by the hundreds poured into the area from Seminole, Hughes, Cleveland, and Pottawatomie county leading a posse numbering nearly a thousand men, including twenty-five national guardsmen from Okemah ascended  to "Roastin' Ear Hill."

The farmers being away from home for some time became very hungry, stole a cow from Rube Wyatt and green corn from a nearby field. Just as they were ready to eat, they were sighted by a Konawa band ascending the bluff. The rebels hid and took aim.

Deputy Sheriff William Cross was shot from ambush, Wallace Cargil, one of the rebels was also shot, both recovered.

There were several skirmishes and three deaths, also several hundred men were captured. Nearly 400 were held at McAlester Penitentiary awaiting trial. Most prison sentences were suspended and the men were sent home to their families. The revolt was later called the "Green Corn Rebellion," because green corn was about all they had to eat.

The oil boom came to Sasakwa in April 1927, the first well some say was drilled by W.R. Ramsey brought in 957 barrels of oil a day. Sasakwa enjoyed the boom while it lasted. The town population nearly doubled overnight. The boom only lasted five years and there are still a lot of production from wells drilled many years ago.

One of Sasakwa's first newspapers stated, "from a humble beginning of a tie camp it has steadily grown until it is now one of the most important trading centers of the country." That was in 1911. By the early fifties, most of the town of Sasakwa had been destroyed by five major fires.

Golda G. Brown, (daughter-in-law to Gov. Brown) said, "History seems to never end--The good out weighs the bad--People are the greatest asset of any community, town or hamlet, who develop progressively with vision. Nest, collectively, forming the basis of a well-developed, well planned town or community is our schools and churches--What better anchor can we claim?"

 

 

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 05/01/2016