The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1922-07-13
OKLAHOMA TOWNS
SPRING Up IN A
TWINKLE Of EYE
Healdton, Wilson, Whiz Bang
Slick, Shidler and Others
Came on Crest of Oil
Boom in State.

Like mushrooms that spring up over
night, Oklahoma oil towns have push
ed their way into existence from the
barren prairie or the rock-strewn hill
side.
In the wake OF the "widcatter," the
lease sale and the inevitable derrick,
these towns have reached their growth
in a twinkling and flourished on the
golden pot Of oil found at the end Of
the rainbow. With their unpainted build
ings OF flimsy structure. these ephe-
neral villages blaZon the trail OF the
oil scout who has crossed hin and dale
in search OF the underground treasures
of petroleum.
The latest addition to Oklahoma's oil
towns is Shidler. A few months ago its
site was known only as the southwest
quarter Of section 90. in Usage county.
But that was before the Usage lease
sale held IN Pawhuska last December.
when oil companies and promoters paid
$4,000, 600 for leases on Indian lands.
Then drilling began, and what had been
barren plains, on the morrow was the
site Of bustling town.
Shdler Grows Fast
Shidler mas u school house, like towns
OF more sober growth. 1t was built from
funds donated by lumber companies,
when a school census revealed that AZ
children in the village craved u chance
at the Three RS" Then, too Shidler
| is a railroad terminus, for the 12.mile
line of steel from Foraker comes to
an abrupt end in this oll-made village
And II has its romance Seven months
before Shidler sprang from the prairie
7. A. Gale, a young engineer. married
an Usage Indian girl, the owner OF
many acres Of open land. the site OF
the future village. Now the Gales live
in town, along with hundreds OF other
folk.
Whiz- Bang--a word familiar to the
doughboy who fought mud and Ger
mans in trenches in France-was the
oil town sensation before Shidler pop
ped into the world. 1t, too, is located ir
the Usage Indian country and startled
the natives with its sudden growth ant
open violation of gambling and pro
hibitory statutes. A law abiding element
in the county, however. started vice
crusade which ended in the ousting oil
the Of the sheriff, after trial at the
county seat OF Jawhuska, and now
OF the town.site was Miss Eileen De
Nova, ls year old French-Indian girl
Only recently Miss De Noya sold hen
holdings and the town dropped its wal
time cognomen and adopted the more
prosaic DE Noya.
Other Town Now
Then there are the oil towns OF othei
years, which have thrived on the pools
OF crude tapped by the drillers anC
grown into respectable. incorporated
towns with stable governments. banks
schools, churches. Among these, which
were brought into the world by the dis
covery Of oil, are Healdton, Wilson
Cushing, CARRIER, Shamrock, Yale. Boyn
ton, Slick and Beggs.
The modern city of Tulsa is prlmar
lily an oil town. although few are tn
derrcks that can be seen from tn
roofs Of IS skyscrapers. When the Re-
Fork oil fields was discovered in 1901
Tulsa was a struggling village. TIL
boom was absorbed by the towns o
Red Fork and Sapulpa, which passe'
Tulsa In population. A year later. how
ever. when the Glenn pool was opene
up, II was Tulsa that benefited. 1t wa
the only nearby town where office room
was procurable and there the oil mel
flocked to establish their offices. Nov
the city claims a population OF $500
and because Of its rapid growth
known Us The Magic City