Nuyaka is a town whose history spans many states and the signing of the Treaty of New York In 1790. In the summer of 1790, the twenty-seven leaders of the Muscogee nation met with U.S. Secretary of War Henry Knox in New York (the U.S. Capital at that time). The story is that the Creek leaders were so impressed with New York they named one of their towns after it.[4] The town was abandoned in Alabama during the Creek War of 1813, burned down, and never rebuilt. White men spelled the name Nuyaka.[6]
Over the next 30 years, many treaties were signed between the United States and various Indian nations in America. In 1832 the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek was signed, and the military enforced the relocation of the Treaty of New York of 20,000 Muscogee (Creeks) to Indian Territory between 1836 and 1837, known as the Trail of Tears. After the Muscogee (Creek) Nation was moved to the Indian Territory, the name Nuyaka was given to one of the new towns they settled near Okmulgee. The town/settlement, populated by full-blooded Creek, reportedly opposed the ways of the White men. Initially led by Locha Harjo, a group opposed the constitution and formed a rival government based in Nuyaka.
Following the statehood of Oklahoma in 1907, the Creeks lost more than two million acres of allotted Territory. Between the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush and the statehood of 1907, the Creeks' land holdings were greatly diminished.
As the Creeks began rebuilding, the Baptist Indian church became the center of many new communities in Indian Territory. Alice Mary Robertson, a Representative from Oklahoma raised by missionary parents, was influential in the educational needs of the Indian Territory. In 1882, at the request of the Creek Council, the Nuyaka Mission was established and operated by Alice Mary Robertson and the Presbyterian Church. Initially, the Creek Council proposed the name Robertson Institute. The Robertson family wrote a letter in which they recommended the name should come from the Creek language.
This is where the timeline gets confusing. Information from the historical society states the Creek council, after receiving the letter from the Robertson family, chose the name of Nuyaka for the mission, naming it after a community near the mission called Nuyaka.
The puzzle surrounding the town is that the Hance post office opened on May 1, 1909. Hance was a local merchant. This was twenty-seven years after the mission was established and named after a community called Nuyaka. In 1912 the Hance post office was renamed Nuyaka. A check of the county records found no town with the name Hance having ever been recorded. The office staff, one living in Nuyaka, found the puzzle of great interest and helped me review all the records.
Putting together a puzzle involves finding all the pieces, and the Nuyaka puzzle appeared to be missing a piece. Sometimes you have to check the floor to find that missing piece. For me, that meant going back over the information and documents.
The Missing Piece
The missing piece found was the Green Peach War[9], also known as the "Peach Orchard War." The Green Peach War got its name because it occurred during the time of year when peaches were green, and the green peaches were a food source for both sides.
After being moved to the Indian Territory, tensions existed between factions of the Creek nation. Tensions culminated in a rebellion over various issues, such as the retention of tribal culture and the tribal ownership of land. In early 1883, Checote (the elected principal chief of the Creek Nation) called upon the Creek Lighthorse law enforcement unit to put down the rebellion. In February 1883, Porter's force defeated the Nuyaka rebels in the Green Peach War.
The Nuyaka men and their families subsequentially moved to Anadarko, seeking refuge among the Kiowa tribe.
Fitting The Pieces Together
1. The Nuyaka Mission was named before the Nuyaka tribal families moved to Anadarko, leaving Nuyaka empty.
2. Over the next two decades, more families moved into the area because of the mission and continued to refer to the community as Nuyaka.
3. Often the name proposed for a Post Office matched the name of the place or community it would serve. Residents often submitted names of local or famous people for selection. The community grew and expanded between 1883 and 1909. It had grown to the point where the community wanted to establish a Post Office. The name of a local merchant, John D. Hance, was submitted and accepted for the name of the Post Office. Three years later, the name of the Post Office changed to Nuyaka.
Alice Mary Robertson
When researching Nuyaka, Alice Mary Robertson is at the forefront of most history. Affectionally called "Miss Alice," she was born on January 2, 1854, at the Tullahassee Mission in the Creek Nation to Willian and Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson.
Her parents homeschooled her until she was 18 when she was sent to Elmira College in New York. She graduated near the top of her class and clerked in the U.S. Indian Office in Washington D.C, until 1879. Returning to Tallahassee, she taught in the local school and later at Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. In 1882 Miss Alice returned to Tallahassee again and established the Nuyaka Mission, being placed in charge of the Indian girls' boarding school. The boarding school eventually became Henry Kendall College (now the University of Tulsa).
Miss Alice's impact on the Indian Territory and Oklahoma history continued for many years. In 1900 she was chosen as the supervisor of the Creek Indian schools. In 1904 Miss Alice was appointed as Post Master at Muskogee by President Roosevelt. This new position came with new challenges for Miss Alice as a female supervising male postal workers, a position she held until 1913.
Alice Mary Robertson is the definition of a warrior for America: an educator, a supervisor, a supporter, and a giver. Known for supporting America's soldiers, she helped recruit troops for the Rough Riders and personally prepared field kits for them that included a small Bible. Possibly the most significant contribution came from the family farm named Sawokla. Derived from the Creek language, Sawokla means "gathering place." This name, given to the Robertson's restaurant in downtown Muskogee, is where she fed as many as six hundred people each day following World War I.
Regarded as a Presbyterian school, the Nuyaka Mission operated from 1882 until 1933.
The mission consisted of four buildings. The first building contained a chapel/assembly room and some school classrooms. The second building held the superintendent's apartment and housed the boys. The other two buildings were cottages that housed the girls and the teachers.
Initially, the mission enrolled seventy boys and girls. It had seven female teachers and one man who supervised the boys after school hours. Rev. Thomas Ward Perryman, a Creek educated at Tullahassee Mission, was the first pastor and taught religious classes.[2]
Following the oil boom in Drumright, with Wheeler well No. 1 coming in, Oklahoma became a bustling place in America. For a time, Nuyaka was a pivotal location for some activities around the state. Among these activities was connecting Bristow to Okmulgee via a new railway system. Oklahoma Southwestern Railway (OSWR) began constructing a new line to accomplish this. The first leg of the new line was between Bristow and the new town of Slick, completed in 1920.
The following year OSWR completed the tracks between Slick and Nuyaka.
Nuyaka Schools
The first school in Nuyaka was the Nuyaka Mission, maintained by the Presbyterian church and admitted only Creek Indian children. The first school for white children was the Lone Home School, a small frame building with about a dozen children attending.
In 1929 the Youngstown Oil pool increased the area's population, and the Youngstown School was built to serve the increased children population.
At about the same time, the Phillipsville Oil field came in, and the area's population grew again. The Prairie Home School was built to serve the increased children population in that area.
The fifth school was located in the center of Nuyaka and shared space with the Methodist church.
The problem with traversing Deep Fork River resulted in a sixth school being built to accommodate the educational needs of those children. The school was located on the west side of Deep Fork and was named Oak Grove School.
The lack of integration in the state at that time resulted in four neighborhood schools servicing the colored children. These schools were Pleasant Grove, Mt. Pleasant, Willow Grove, and Shady Grove. One school burned down, and the others no longer exist.
The town's incorporation in 1922 resulted in a central school being constructed on Main Street. This new school provided a centralized school district to educate the children in the surrounding area. Unfortunately, due to the lack of integration, the community maintained a separate school for colored children.
As part of the American New Deal, Nuyaka was approved for a new WPA school in 1936. The new school consisted of two buildings, a primary school building/auditorium and a bus garage.
Due to financial problems and the dwindling population in the area, the school was closed in the late 1990s. The buildings still exist today but no longer operate as a school. Local children now attend the Beggs school district.
Now owned by a local family, the buildings are being cleaned and may one day be restored. When I visited Nuyaka, I met with one of the owners and received a tour of the buildings.
Undergoing many changes over the years, the WPA structures in Nuyaka hold up to the reputation of the quality of work put into their construction.
I look forward to returning to Nuyaka and seeing how the restoration progresses.
Published in the Okmulgee Daily Times, September 17, 1997.
"In 1952, the district became the first school in Oklahoma to integrate, thus proclaiming Nuyaka again as a pioneer in education."
Nuyaka First State Bank
The First State bank in Nuyaka remained open for a short period of time. Records show that it liquidated in December 1922, less than a year after the town was incorporated.
The bank vault can be seen in a field just south of the Nuyaka school.
The vault door from the bank.
A view of the inside of the bank vault.
Nuyaka Today
Nuyaka differs significantly from the plat map filed with the county in 1922. The original Main Street is now Nuyaka Road, and most sections have now been vacated.
Streets, buildings, and businesses have long been abandoned and removed. There are now new streets, homes, and a new Baptist church.
When speaking with one of the residents, I found out that his wife and kids enjoy sledding down one of the hillocks from the OSWR trestles. Using the drone to get out to the specified location, I was able to get an image of where the trestle had been.
To my surprise, the dog that had been following me around town for two days had followed the drone.
The canine photobomb.
Well kept, you can find the Nuyaka Fire tankers in a field across from the school. Using the drone, I got an excellent picture of the tankers.
References
1. ^ "Old Nuyaka Cemetery to Nuyaka, Oklahoma". Google Maps. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
2. ^ "Nuyaka Mission". LandmarkHunter. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
3. ^ OK HomeTownLocator, Nuyaka Populated Place Profile. Retrieved April 28, 2013.[1]
4. ^ Piker, Joshua Aaron. Okfuskee: A Creek Indian Town in Colonial America. Available on Google Books. p. 198. Retrieved June 27, 2013.[2]
6. ^ Jump up to:a b Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration. Oklahoma: A Guide to the Sooner State. (1941) University of Oklahoma. Available on line from Google Books. [3]
7. ^ Jump up to:a b "Oklahoma-Southwestern Railway Company (Abandoned)". Railroads of Oklahoma, June 6, 1870-April 1, 1978, pp. 13, 27 & 60. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
8. ^ "Abandonment of Line by Oklahoma-Southwestern Railway Company, decided December 21, 1929". Retrieved October 21, 2022.
9. ^ "Three Rivers History: Growing season gave Green Peach War its name" Retrieved February 23, 2023.
10. "The History Exchange" WPA – 1935-1936