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Eufaula
Eufaula, the county seat of McIntosh County, is located
in the southern part of the county, on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas
Railway, not far from the Canadian River.
The name "Eufaula" has been a favorite one among the
Creek or Muskogee Tribe of Indians.
As early as the year 1800 they had a town of that name,
on Eufaula Creek, near the present site of Talladega, Ala. It was one of
their early upper creek towns.
Pickett's History of Alabama mentions an Indian town,
belonging to the Creeks, which he calls Eufaulahatche. Little Eufauly is
mentioned by one of the historians as early as 1792. Another upper creek
town called Eufaula, was located on the Tallapoosa River, near the
present town of Dadeville, Tennessee. Another Eufaula, known as a lower
creek town, was located on the east bank of the Chattahooche River,
within the limits of the present County of Quitman in the State of
Georgia. In 1799 some of the Indians of this settlement went down to the
mouth of Flint River and established another town of the same name. And
still another lower creek town, called Eufaula, was located on the
Chattahoochee River, in Henry County, Alabama.
Our Eufaula began to develop into a town soon after the
arrival of the railroad in 1872, although .for forty years before that
time it was a well-known Indian center, a favorite meeting place for the
Creeks. Many of the pow-wows or Indian conferences were held in that
vicinity during the early days. The old Indian settlement of that name
was, however, several miles from the present site of the town, but
through the influence of G. W. Grayson, the present Chief of the Creeks,
his brother Samuel, George Stidham and others, the Railroad Company was
induced to locate one of its stations at the present site of the town
and the old Indian village was moved to the station. D. B. Whitlow and
Joseph Coody established the first store on the west side of the
railroad and the Graysons and G. E. Seales started a store on the east
side about the same time. Dr. W. H. Bailey was the first physician and
druggist to locate in the new town. Rev. R. C. McGee, a Presbyterian
missionary, established one of the first churches in Eufaula and
remained in charge of it for many years. The old Asbury Mission School,
located two miles northeast of Eufaula was, for many years previous to
the Civil war, the leading educational institution of that vicinity. It
served the Creek people faithfully, but was finally destroyed by fire.
Some of the most prominent citizens of the Creek Nation have resided in
or near Eufaula, among whom were the two Graysons, George W. and his
brother, Samuel. Samuel was an intelligent Indian, deeply interested in
the educational welfare of his people. He resided in that vicinity for
many years, and was extensively engaged in cattle raising and
merchandising. His death occurred in Eufaula a few years ago.
George W. Grayson
George W. Grayson, the late
Chief of the Creek Nation who died recently at about seventy-eight years
of age, was over six feet in height, and notwithstanding his advanced
age, was as straight as an arrow.
He was born near Eufaula and had resided in the Creek
Nation from his birth. He attended school at the old Asbury Mission in
his youth and later attended the University of Arkansas. He acquired a
good English education and so thoroughly learned the Creek language,
that his services as an interpreter have been in frequent demand.
He had given much of his time to his people having
served for several terms in the Creek Council, and having made frequent
trips to Washington as the Creek delegate.
Charles Gibson
Charley Gibson was a well-known
Creek citizen who spent his whole life in the vicinity of Eufaula. He
was born in 1846, on a farm near Eufaula, and although his opportunities
for securing an education were very limited, he acquired a good
practical education. Upon reaching manhood he engaged in the mercantile
business, first as a clerk in Grayson's store, then as the proprietor of
a grocery. During the latter part of his life he acquired quite a
reputation as a local news correspondent and his inimitable style of
composition made him popular with the newspaper fraternity. He was a
generous-hearted man and interested in the welfare of his people, as was
proven by the fact that he reared and educated several Creek orphans.
C. E. Foley
Among the early white settlers,
no one has stood higher in the estimation of the citizens of Eufaula,
than Mr. C. E. Foley. He showed his faith in the future of the town by
organizing a bank, building a hotel, and in promoting various other
enterprises. His kind heartedness and his public spiritedness have
caused him to be regarded as everybody's friend.
Alex Posey
Alex Posey was another Creek,
native of Eufaula, who attained considerable local prominence as a
writer, both of prose and poetry. He first saw the light of day on
August 23, 1873. He grew up on a farm, and after attending the crude day
schools of that period, he attended the Bacone College at Muskogee. He
was a typical Indian in appearance.' His long, black hair, his
characteristic Indian complexion, his straight manly bearing and genteel
manners, gave him a close resemblance of the ideal type of the noble red
man. He was a persistent reader and student, well informed in matters of
general, as well as of local interest. He was fond of writing both prose
and poetry and a collection of his poems was printed some years ago, in
book form. He adopted the non-de-plume of "Chumubbie Harjo" in his
writings and his prose productions were usually in artificial imitation
of a fullblood's style of English. He was interested in the education of
his people and for several years served as superintendent of the Creek
Boarding School at Eufaula. He died several years ago while yet in the
prime of life.
Schools
The settlers of Eufaula demonstrated their interest in
education by erecting a school on the east side of the railroad, and
establishing a free school by voluntary taxation, before there was any
law authorizing the levy of taxes for school purposes. As soon as the
Curtis Act was passed by Congress, Eufaula took advantage of it by
levying taxes and starting to build up a first class public school
system, and to make other needed public improvements. The city now has
paved streets, a splendid "White Way," five brick and stone
schoolhouses, seven churches, a large cotton oil mill, light and ice
plant, well built and attractive business blocks, three parks, a fine
waterworks and sewage system, four banks, two hotels, the three story
brick boarding school for Creek girls and an abundance of natural gas
for domestic and commercial purposes. There is also a very .active civic
club whose purpose is to make the town a better place to live in, rather
than to increase its numbers, an ambition which is concurred in
generally by the 3,000 prosperous and contented people who live here.
Jefferson Highway
When the Jefferson Highway was first located
through Eufaula the only way of crossing the South Canadian River, about
four miles below the town, was by means of a rather uncertain ferry, and
the citizens of Eufaula, feeling the great need of a good bridge across
the river, incorporated- The Jefferson Highway Bridge Company, and at a
cost of almost a quarter of a million dollars, built the present
splendid structure of steel and concrete, forty feet above low water;
affording a 365 day crossing throughout the year. Already the traffic
over this bridge, which was opened for use April 21, 1920, bids fair to
justify the large expenditure upon it and it is rapidly becoming one of
the notable landmarks of the neighborhood.
Indian Journal
The Indian Journal, one of the first
newspapers in the state, is still published in Eufaula and is well
supported by the business men of the city. The Masonic and Odd Fellow
fraternities are well represented here. One of the first Masonic lodges
in Indian Territory was organized here and the city claims as many
thirty-second degree Masons as any other town of its size in the state.
McIntosh County
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