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30-521: The Dunlap Company was founded as a small general store in about 1890 by H.G. Dunlap in Wagoner, Oklahoma (then Indian territory) during the great Land Rush . After several years of operation, Dunlap consolidated his store with the Dunlap Brothers store, which his sons had established in nearby Coweta, Oklahoma . By 1921, the Dunlap Brothers had expanded to 20 stores throughout eastern Oklahoma. Eventually,

60-599: A 45-minute drive to the northwest. The town has freight service from the Union Pacific, being at the intersection of the old Katy and Missouri Pacific lines now both owned by Union Pacific. Union Pacific honors Wagoner as a "Train Town USA," one of 131 communities out of 7,300 communities it serves, because of the town's unique, long-standing relationship with the railroad. Dawes Commission The American Dawes Commission , named for its first chairman Henry L. Dawes ,

90-425: A certain point, the company stopped re-branding its acquired stores, keeping local traditions alive and even operating single location stores. Though keeping many names around, other stores like Heironimus , Steketee's, Katz, McClurkans, and Goldstein-Migel were closed or converted to Dunlaps over time due to long distance issues or losses of lease. Despite their well-known brands, the stores had little staying power in

120-555: A city council consisting of eight members and the mayor. As of April 2020, the current mayor is Albert Jones. Wagoner is served by US-69 , SH-51 , and SH-16 , and has easy access to the Muskogee Turnpike , also known as SH-351, providing a direct route to Tulsa. Hefner-Easley Airport (FAA Identifier—H68), owned by the City of Wagoner, is two miles directly east. Commercial flights go in and out of Tulsa International Airport, about

150-608: Is a city in Wagoner County , Oklahoma , United States. The population was 8,323 at the 2010 census , compared to the figure of 7,669 recorded in 2000 . It is the county seat of Wagoner County. Wagoner became the first city incorporated in Indian Territory on January 4, 1896. Wagoner is along the path of the Texas Road cattle trail, and the later Jefferson Highway of the early National Trail System , both roughly along

180-515: Is located at 35°57′35″N 95°22′41″W  /  35.95972°N 95.37806°W  / 35.95972; -95.37806 . It is 18 miles (29 km) north of Muskogee and 40 miles (64 km) east of Tulsa . According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 7.0 square miles (18 km ), all land. As of the census of 2000, there were 7,669 people, 2,928 households, and 2,111 families residing in

210-670: The Black Seminoles , who then accompanied them to Indian Territory . Under Article 14 of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (1831), members of the Mississippi Choctaw had the option of not being relocated to Indian Territory. They were required to register and remain on allocated land in Mississippi or Alabama. The registration process was handled poorly and when blood descendants later emigrated to Indian Territory they had to appeal to

240-720: The 1970s, they have tried to end the sales of tribal lands. Angie Debo 's landmark work, And Still the Waters Run: The Betrayal of the Five Civilized Tribes (1940), detailed how the allotment policy of the Dawes Commission and the Curtis Act of 1898 was systematically manipulated to deprive the Native Americans of their lands and resources. In the words of historian Ellen Fitzpatrick, Debo's book "advanced

270-582: The Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee Nation voted in a referendum (from which the Freedmen were excluded) to exclude all Freedmen except those who could prove descent from a Cherokee on the Dawes Roll. The result of the Dawes Commission was that the five Indian nations lost most of their national land bases, as the government declared as "surplus" any remaining after the allotment to individual households. The US sold

300-508: The Dawes Commission enrolled them in separate Freedmen Rolls, rather than letting them self-identify as to membership. The same was true for members of the historical African descendant communities which developed alongside different Indian settlements in Florida (a Spanish colony for most of the colonial period until 1821 and a popular destination for both escaped slaves and indigenous Southeastern Woodlands refugees) prior to deportation , such as

330-562: The Dawes Commission for recognition as tribal members. The Commission denied power to amend the membership roles. Many Creek Freedmen are still fighting the membership battle today against the Creek Nation , as they attempt to share in contemporary benefits of citizenship. The tribe has defined as members only those who are descended from a Creek Indian listed on the Dawes Rolls. A similar controversy has embroiled Cherokee Freedmen and

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360-579: The Dunlap family decided to retire, close the stores and move to California to open a new group of stores. Retha R. Martin, who had come to work for the Dunlaps in 1916, had risen to the position of manager of the last remaining store. He was asked to join the partnership with a 40% interest. The plan was for Martin to close out the store in Eufaula, Oklahoma and move to California to run the new company. However, business

390-610: The Indian nations were stripped of their communally held national lands, which was divided into single lots and allotted to individual members of the nation. The Dawes Commission required that individuals claim membership in only one tribe, although many people had more than one line of ancestry. Registration in the national registry known as the Dawes Rolls has come to be critical in issues of Indian citizenship and land claims. Although many Indian tribes did not consider strict 'blood' descent

420-403: The average family size was 3.06. In the city, the population was spread out, with 28.1% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.7 males. The median income for a household in the city

450-580: The boom ended in 1913, when the MKT moved its division headquarters to Muskogee. The oil boom farther west and later, the Great Depression, caused a further decline in the city's economy and population. World War II started a revival of Wagoner's fortunes. The city lay between two war-related Federal Government projects: Camp Gruber to the south and the Oklahoma Ordnance Works to the north. After

480-428: The city. The population density was 1,101.4 inhabitants per square mile (425.3/km ). There were 3,152 housing units at an average density of 452.7 per square mile (174.8/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 70.48% White , 9.27% African American , 13.21% Native American , 0.34% Asian , 0.08% Pacific Islander , 0.70% from other races , and 5.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.93% of

510-419: The competitive marketplace. In June 2007, it was announced that Dunlaps and all its accompanying stores would be going out of business, thus ending one of the last small regional department store chains left in the country. They cited the cause as being unable to get financing for a loan to keep the company afloat. Within months, all the stores were liquidated and closed. Wagoner, Oklahoma Wagoner

540-556: The only way to determine if a person was a member of a tribe, the Dawes Commission did. Many Freedmen (slaves of Indians who were freed after the Civil War), were kept off the rolls as members of tribes, although they were emancipated after the war and, according to peace treaties with the United States, to be given full membership in the appropriate tribes in which they were held. Even if freedmen were of mixed-race ancestry, as many were,

570-409: The population. There were 2,928 households, out of which 35.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.3% were married couples living together, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families. 25.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and

600-652: The route of U.S. Route 69 through Oklahoma today. The town began as a small community at the intersection of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) Railway and the Kansas and Arkansas Valley Railway (later the Missouri Pacific Railway ), when William McAnally, a foreman for the MKT built a small hotel at this isolated location in June 1887. By the next summer others had built two more hotels and two general stores. The town

630-400: The surplus land, formerly Indian territory, to European-American settlers. In addition, over the next decades, settlers bought land from individual Indian households, thus reducing overall land held by tribal members. The Indians received money from the overall sale of lands, but lost most of their former territory. As tribes began to re-establish self-government after 1934, and especially since

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660-479: The town in 1895, encouraging more people to move to there. By 1896, there were approximately 1,500 residents. In the fall of 1895, the community formed a commission that circulated a petition requesting incorporation under the statutes of Arkansas. Incorporation was granted by the U. S. District Court on January 4, 1896, making Wagoner the first city incorporated in Indian Territory. A privately funded courthouse

690-405: The war, several small manufacturing industries took root. Completion of the nearby Fort Gibson Lake in 1950 stimulated the economy and turned Wagoner into a sports and retirement center. The McLellan-Kerr navigational channel made the agricultural area accessible by barges, stimulating farm-related businesses. Highway improvements created Wagoner as a suburban area for Tulsa and Muskogee. Wagoner

720-486: Was $ 30,493, and the median income for a family was $ 35,426. Males had a median income of $ 28,163 versus $ 21,331 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 14,178. About 12.2% of families and 15.5% of the population were below the poverty line , including 20.2% of those under age 18 and 14.5% of those age 65 or over. Wagoner has one newspaper, the American-Tribune . The paper is published every Wednesday. It

750-596: Was authorized under a rider to an Indian Office appropriation bill, March 3, 1893. Its purpose was to convince the Five Civilized Tribes to agree to cede tribal title of Indian lands, and adopt the policy of dividing tribal lands into individual allotments that was enacted for other tribes as the Dawes Act of 1887. In November 1893, President Grover Cleveland appointed Dawes as chairman, and Meridith H. Kidd and Archibald S. McKennon as members. During this process,

780-431: Was built in 1897, which housed a newly created U. S. Western District Court. The Dawes Commission turned Indian Territory land from tribal to individual ownership by members of each tribe. The individuals were allowed to sell their land to non-Indians, causing a real estate boom in farmland around the area. By statehood, the city had 2,950 residents and was named as the county seat of Wagoner County. In April 1914 Wagoner

810-411: Was named for railroad dispatcher Henry "Big Foot" Wagoner, who had reported the need for a railroad switch nearby to accommodate the shipment of logs and hay. The switch had been previously named "Wagoner's Switch." The switch soon relocated to the town and caused the development of a major cattle shipping business. By 1894, the community had 642 names in a local census. A local newspaper began promoting

840-548: Was owned by Community Publishers, a newspaper and Internet publisher and commercial printer that serves Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas. On Tuesday, April 21, 2015, The Tulsa World announced that its parent company BH Media , a division of Berkshire Hathaway , the Omaha-based investment holding company led by billionaire Warren Buffett had purchased several suburban newspapers, including the Wagoner Tribune. Wagoner uses

870-762: Was so good in Eufaula that year, it was agreed that Martin should stay behind. The store prospered and expanded under his leadership. In 1939, seeing the prosperity of the booming ranch and oil country of West Texas, Martin began acquiring stores in that area. By 1943, there were fourteen stores located primarily in West Texas and New Mexico , and Martin moved the company headquarters to Lubbock, Texas . Some stores acquired by Dunlaps were Goldstein-Migel of Waco, TX in 1976, The White House of Beaumont, TX in 1986, MM Cohn of Little Rock, Ar in 1989, Porteous of Portland, Me in 1992, and Steketee's of Grand Rapids , Mi in 1991. After

900-428: Was the location of a brutal lynching of a 17 year old African American girl. The boom continued through 1910, when the population reached 4,018. The MKT had located a division headquarters in the city, which then had three railroad trunk lines and twenty passenger trains a day. Industries included three grain elevators, a cotton gin, cotton oil mill, iron foundry, hardwood company, cement plant, and roller mill. However,

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