Пинk, Оклахома: История и современность города

Pink is a town in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States, and is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. The only town in the United States bearing this name, Pink lies within the boundaries of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. The population was 2,091 at the time of the 2020 Census, which is 1.6% above the 2010 census figure of 2,058, which itself was a 76.7% increase from the figure of 1,165 in 2000. The town name of Pink may have been chosen because it is complementary to Brown (now part of Pink), which was located a few miles east in the same township and range. This would be an example of the "twin name fad" in Pottawatomie County, like the towns of Romulus and Remus. Oral history suggests that the town name was in honor of a local resident named Pink. The town was hit by a significant tornado on the night of April 19, 2023.

From the information gathered during archaeological excavations along the Little River west and south of Pink, it appears that people lived in this area for many thousands of years including during the four thousand year drought of the Altithermal which started around 8,500 years ago and turned most of Oklahoma into a vast desert. The Thunderbird Dam Site on Little River west of Pink appears to have been used from around 500 BC to 1000 AD. Hunters found the ridge above the river a good camping spot near water and plentiful game animals including deer and turkey.

The Oklahoma region became part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The Indian Removal Act, signed into law by President Andrew Jackson in 1830, authorized the President to negotiate land exchange treaties with tribes located in lands of the United States. Relocation to Indian Territory began with the Five Civilized Tribes and soon expanded to other groups residing east of the Mississippi River.

Originally driven west by the Iroqouis to the Lake Michigan area prior to 1640, the Potawatomi were driven out of their homes again during the Indian Removal. The Indiana Potawatomi were removed to Kansas and settled at St. Mary's Mission, becoming known as the Mission Potawatomi. Taking up United States citizenship, they became the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. In 1867, the Citizen Potawatomi sold their Kansas lands in order to purchase land in Indian Territory in what would become Pottawatomie County, including Pink. The Potawatomi arrived in Indian Territory to find Shawnee occupying their land. The Shawnee had been living along the Canadian River in the Choctaw and Creek nations since about 1845, and being absent from their Kansas reservation, they became known as the Absentee Shawnee. In 1872, the United States Congress gave the Absentee Shawnee title to the lands they occupied in the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Two decades later, the Dawes Act of 1887 forced the Citizen Potawatomi, Absentee Shawnee, Sac & Fox, and Iowa to accept individual allotments. After the allotments were completed, unoccupied land was opened to settlers in the Land Run of 1891, including land that would become the town of Pink.

One band of Absentee Shawnee led by Big Jim (Wapameepto), grandson of Tecumseh, opposed absorption into white society for fear of losing their cultural traditions. They had been living illegally north of the North Canadian River until November 1886 when soldiers from Fort Reno forced them to move south of the river to a place near Shawneetown. The soldiers burned their old houses and destroyed improvements they had made to the land so they could not return to their old homes. They wintered without shelter. Within three years they managed to build log houses and plant small fields and orchards amidst the White Turkeys, another band of Absentee Shawnees. By 1889 it was evident that the land they were now occupying would be broken up and sold. Refusing to accept the notion of allotments, Big Jim's Band removed themselves to what they considered the most distant and worthless part of the Citizen Pottawatomie Nation. Big Jim thought that white men would not be interested in the sandy hills near the confluence of Hog Creek and Little River, and would consequently leave them alone. It was a futile attempt to escape allotments, and in 1890 Big Jim and his followers were forced by the Cherokee Commission to accept 80 acre allotments of mostly sandy hills and overflowed bottomland. later became Little Axe in eastern Cleveland County. The original center of the settlement was flooded upon completion of Lake Thunderbird in 1965, ironically turning Big Jim's "worthless" land into a desirable and popular state park. The easternmost Big Jim Band allotments were in what is now the town of Pink. A number of these allotments are still intact, including 2,000 contiguous acres straddling the Pottawatomie/Cleveland county line on the north and south sides of Highway 9. Several houses were built at the intersection of old Highway 37 and the Pottawatomie/Cleveland county line prior to 1930. Only stone foundations and old maps remain as evidence of these Absentee Shawnee homes.

On September 22, 1891, at 12 o'clock noon, by proclamation of President Benjamin Harrison, the second Oklahoma land run began, opening 6,097 homesteads of 160 acres each in what would become Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties. The Citizen Potawatomi and Absentee Shawnee were paid by the US Government sixty nine cents for each acre that would become the town of Pink. The claimant for each homestead was required to pay $1.50 per acre upon filing a claim in Guthrie or Oklahoma City, and required to reside on the land for at least five years. During the 1889 and 1891 Land Runs, Texans and other Southern Democrats took up land suitable for cotton production north of the Red River. These Southerners carried Democratic "yellow dog" propensities into the territory as far north as the Oklahoma City Pink Tecumseh area.

Absentee Shawnee allottees of 1891 in what became the town of Pink included Rufus Coons (S ½ SE ¼ Section 7), Nellie McCoy (SW ¼ Section 7), Se So Tay Se (N ½ Section 7), Owen Gobbler (E ½ SW ¼ Section 9), Tha Ke Tep Pie (Gobbler) (E ½ Section 9), Jacob Tomahawk (S ½ Section 14), Ja Squa Way Se (W ½ Sw ¼ Section 18), Nad Pe Tok Ca (E ½ SW ¼ Section 18), Ne Ah Qua (Pecan) (N ½ NW ¼ Section 18), Pa Na Ya Sker Ca (S ½ NW ¼ Section 18), John Coons (E ½ Section 18). These original Indian allotments were not always settled upon. One exception was part of the 1891 allotment for Nellie McCoy (Now Ah Lo Pea SE), identified as Township 9N Range 2E Section 7 Lot 4 and SE¼ SW¼. A stone foundation has been located on the southern edge of this tract corresponding to a dwelling noted by the 1930 USGS Survey, likely occupied by Nellie or her relatives. Upon Nellie’s death the allotment passed to her husband John Pecan and her two sisters and brother in 1928. The USGS Survey depicts several other dwellings on adjacent land in Cleveland County that may also have been inhabited by Absentee Shawnee prior to 1930 and abandoned prior to 1956 when all of these houses were no longer shown on the survey maps due to their abandonment, decay and difficulty of access. This part of Nellie McCoy's allotment was transferred to William A and Norma Jean Mays in 1964, and later sold to William Reeves Laney and Joyce Ann Fredrickson Laney. The Laneys combined Nellie's land with adjacent property and built Wicklow in 1980, a modern interpretation of an 1850 antebellum plantation home. Ownership of Wicklow transferred to Stanley and Betty Faulk in December 2005. The Faulks subsequently designated 100 acres of the property as the "Nellie McCoy Nature Reserve" for the protection of Cross Timbers flora and fauna as well as Native American and American pioneer history. The town of Pink emerged sometime after the land run and before January 24, 1894 when the United States Post Office Department designated the Pink post office to be operated by Joseph Fahnestock. For some reason Fahnestock declined his appointment as postmaster, however the next month Thomas M. McKittrick accepted the postmaster job. McKittrick's wife Laura died one year later in February 1895, leaving her husband and seven children. The post office was moved to Michael Sheyers' place on Section 16, where Laura was buried, and Sheyers was appointed postmaster. McKittrick reportedly planned to move his family to Missouri soon thereafter. The post office was discontinued in January 1897, reestablished in 1901, just to be discontinued permanently in February 1906. The Tecumseh post office now serves the town. A number of early Pink residents have been buried in either the Black Cemetery, earliest burial in 1893, or Brown Cemetery, earliest burial in 1892. As evidenced by the headstones, there was an increasing number of births beginning in 1891, coinciding with the Land Run. Brown, about three miles east of the original center of Pink, was named for George Brown. George came from Arkansas, established a farm, and became the first postmaster of Brown. Postal business was conducted out of his home, a 16 by 18 foot log cabin. The post office operated until February 14, 1906, when its services and that of the Pink post office were consolidated in Tecumseh. At one time the town had a cotton gin, two stores, a school, doctors and an undertaking parlor. Brown has been absorbed into the town of Pink.

The 1891 Oklahoma and Indian Territories map portrays Shawneetown (Shawnee) as the only settlement north of Little River in the future Pottawatomie County. Pink appears later on Cram's 1898 Oklahoma and Indian Territory Map.] Topographic mapping of Pink and Pottawatomie County began sometime after 1903. Pink School was built sometime prior to its depiction on the 1910 McComb Quadrangle at the northwest corner of Section 28, Brinton Township (now corner of Okay Rd and Willow View Rd). Unlike some other places in Oklahoma and Indian Territories, there were no railroads established in the county until after the 1891 Land Run. As late as 1906 the focus in mapmaking was still on depicting railroads, by which time several lines had been built in the county. None would ever come closer to Pink than about 10 miles, which guaranteed lesser importance for the town in an age dominated by railroads. Although there was no railroad, an east–west road sprang up very early in Pink over which cotton was transported from the eastern part of the county to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in Norman until the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad was opened for business in Shawnee in February 1896. This east–west road is depicted on the Oklahoma 1916 Highway Map, the oldest existing such highway map for the state. The road was in reality little more than a dirt trail that became one of the first numbered roads in the state. What began as Highway 37 (1927) became Highway 41 (1932), renumbered to Highway 9 (1938), and finally paved in 1941. Erosion and the difficulty of creek crossings forced abandonment of the original location of the road between 1927 and 1932. The permanent scar of the old highway can still be seen sporadically through wooded land due west of the intersection of Fishmarket Rd and the existing Highway 9.

By 1928 the town center was located just east of what is now Fishmarket Road on Highway 9. In the early years of Pink, Walter Reuben Stapp, a blacksmith by trade, operated a gristmill Osco A. Miller received a homestead patent in 1905 and ran a general store, The store was later owned by J. R. McLaughlin, then A. C. Stapp and J. M. Stumpp. As late as 1936, the Tecumseh Cotton Oil Company maintained a location on Miller's property at the southeast corner of present day Highway 9 and Fishmarket Rd. Cottonseed oil production increased dramatically in the early 20th century with the introduction of Wesson cooking oil in 1899 and Procter & Gamble's Crisco in 1911, both utilizing the oil. Cottonseed produced by Pink farmers found its way into the marketplace after being processed at one of the several dozen cottonseed oil mills in Oklahoma.

In 1917 a radical tenant farmers' organization called the Green Corn Rebellion "Working Class Union (WCU)" claimed membership of 35,000 in the state of Oklahoma. Seventy five percent of 24 year old Oklahoma farmers rented the land they worked, and many found their economic prospects hopeless. With no interest in fighting a "rich man's war" in Europe, they found themselves at odds with the recently imposed draft. The WCU was more of a secret society, complete with night riding and physical violence against its opponents. Although it is unknown how many Pink farmers were members of this organization, it is likely that at least some sympathized with the 50 active members centered around neighboring Brown. This local group held meetings in dugouts, abandoned farmhouses, in the woods and other convenient places. A neighbor, D. O. Barton, who later became a Pottawatomie County deputy, reported them to the federal government, the local revolt was quashed, and five men were convicted of conspiracy. The Mission was originally built to serve as a school, religious building, and agricultural experiment station for Big Jim's Absentee Shawnee, however it also attracted a number of white settlers as they migrated into the area. By 1907, the now non existent town of Mardock had a post office, two stores and a cotton gin. Sixty two percent of farms in Pottawatomie County were still inhabited by tenant farmers in 1930, with the state average being 61.5%. The plight of the tenant farmer had changed little in Pink and the state of Oklahoma since the Green Corn Rebellion. An average of sixty seven acres were operated per man for all agricultural uses in the county in 1930, comparable with surrounding counties.

In a rush to get land into production, many early farmers cut down pecan trees without realizing the value of the nuts. It wasn't until about 1920 that the value of a pecan crop was recognized, and by 1935 it was the second largest cash crop in the county, behind alfalfa. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 26.0 square miles (67 km2), all land.

Most of Pink is served by Tecumseh Public Schools, providing K 12 education through an early learning center, two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. Students are afforded a large variety of classes and programs to provide a well rounded education in academics, fine arts and athletics. The area north of New Hope Rd is served by Bethel Public Schools with two elementary, one middle school and one high school, boasting a success rate as one of the finest scholastic and extra curricular public school institutions in Oklahoma. The University of Oklahoma in Norman, and Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee are each within a 20 minute drive.

On June 12, 1949, Brendle Baptist Mission's twenty three members met and formed Pink Baptist Church on Highway 9. Brother Clovis Hibbard was the church's first pastor, and work on the first building began in August 1949. The sanctuary, nursery, gymnasium and several classrooms were damaged in the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak. Church services were held in the gym until the new sanctuary was dedicated on June 23, 2002. Pink Holiness Church is located about one mile east of Pink Baptist Church. Camp Sooner, owned and operated by the Independent Christian Churches of Oklahoma and Texas, offers a retreat center, dining hall, cabins, swimming pool and activities in a Christian setting.

Health care is available in Tecumseh, Shawnee and Norman. The nearby Little Axe Health Center operated by the Absentee Shawnee Tribal Health System currently serves only Native Americans, Soonercare members and insured AST employees.

There is no public transportation. Residents must rely on automobiles due to the rural location. Passenger rail service is available on the Heartland Flyer from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth, Texas at the Norman Amtrak station. Efforts are underway to expand service north to Newton, Kansas to connect with the Southwest Chief with direct lines to Los Angeles and Chicago. The nearest commercial airport is Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City. A widening of Highway 9 to four lanes through Pink is scheduled to begin with right of way purchases and utility relocation in 2020, with completion of the project in 2025.