Published: July 22, 2009 01:48 pm         

What's in a name? Oklahoma history

If ever I was tasked with responsibility to name a town, I think I would call it Guess, just to mess with people’s minds.

“What’s the name of your town?”

“Guess.”

“OK, Violet City?”

“No, Guess.” Hmm. “But that’s not a bad name.”

“Loserville?”

Ouch! “No, Guess.”

You get the idea.

Not much opportunity to name a town arises these days, but when this area opened to the biggest land run in history in 1893, the name game was all the rage, and if you were the postmaster’s wife, you had it made.

In Garfield County, alone, at least three towns — Fannie, Jennie and Luella — sprung up that were named to honor the spouse of the local master of the mail, according to “Oklahoma Place Names,” a resource book written by George H. Shirk. Glenella has the makings of a fourth, but the origin of its name was not included in the book. Of course, none of those towns are in existence today, so maybe being a postmaster’s wife was not that advantageous.

Popular draws for names also came from the postmaster, himself; landmarks; or railroad officials.

Ah, railroad officials. The companies couldn’t make tracks fast enough to keep up with all the communities that suddenly decided their towns should bear the names of railroad elite in an attempt to draw commerce in the form of transportation.

Towns lived or died by the railroads. Some even picked up the town and moved in order to draw prosperity from the tracks crossing our state.

When it was founded in January 1894, a little town in southeastern Major County took the name of Hoyle from a nearby tributary of the Cimarron River. Six years later the name changed to Ames, the surname of the secretary-treasurer of Denver, Enid and Gulf Railroad, according to “Place Names.”

Good move. The town still is in existence today, as are the railroad tracks running through it.

Speaking of the Cimarron River, Shirk’s book has its name derived, with “some uncertainty,” from the Spanish “R’o de los Caneros Cimarr—n, or ‘River of the Wild Sheep.’” Strange name for cattle country.

Studying the names of Oklahoma towns offers a good lesson in the founding of our state, and it can be a fun way to pass time while tooling down the highway.

American Indian history plays a heavy role in the names of our state’s towns and cities. Eastern Oklahoma is filled with namesakes from the Indian culture, but northwestern Oklahoma has its fair share.

Most notable are Watonga, named for Arapaho chief Wa-ton-gha, whose name means black coyote; Okeene, coined from the words Oklahoma, Cherokee and Cheyenne; Calumet, a ceremonial pipe used by American Indians; and Waynoka, a Cheyenne word meaning sweet water.

The city of Enid has a couple of interesting stories surrounding its name. The most popular theory — and the one found in “Oklahoma Place Names” — is the name was drawn from Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King.” The other story, which many of the locals adopt, is the moniker came from a restaurant’s “dine” sign that got turned upside down.

There are those names that are just wacky.

The name Waukomis generally is thought to be from “walk home us,” a situation arising when railroad officials had to walk back from Enid. Whoever thought we would have a U.S. speaker of the house from Bugtussle, what “Place Names” calls a rustic area or backwoods area. Then there’s Frogville, which Shirk says was named after “frogs so large they reputedly ‘ate young ducks.’”

There are names that disappoint. Bloomer raises visions of women’s undergarments flapping in the breeze, but really came from its postmaster. Fountain also was the postmaster’s name. America was named after the wife of a local resident.

Then there are those towns — Freedom, Bub, Hopeton — in which the origin of the name is no longer commonly known.

Wars have played a prominent role in the naming of Oklahoma towns.

Eastern Oklahoma is home to a handful of Civil War battle sites, and that history was evident in the birth of towns such as Honey Springs. The town of Fort Wayne was named for a Revolutionary War hero, and Funsten came from the surname of a Spanish American War officer.

Then there is Loyal in northwestern Oklahoma. Originally named Kiel, the German name was changed during World War I to show loyalty to the United States.

Although rare, towns still change names from time to time, offering hope for a budding postmaster or starving journalist.

In 1898 the town of Buckles was named after an editor of the Enid Eagle newspaper. Did I mention Violet City has a nice ring to it?



Anyone with information or remembrances about history of the Enid area or northwest Oklahoma can contact the News & Eagle at enidnews@enidnews.com.