Archive 2008 - 2019

A New Old World In Oklahoma

by Jenny McGee
12/30/2012

Not much has changed in Velma since I graduated from high school.

There is still one very small grocery store (smaller than Russell’s); a post office and a bank; five flavors of churches (no Catholics); four or five gas stations that also sell homemade food; a dairy queen type place; a feed store; the town hall; a flower shop that is also a beauty parlor; the school (all grades -- about 500 students in one location); and one Chuck Wagon restaurant that is very good and draws traffic from other towns. It is still hard to find food that has not been fried and the drink is sweet tea or a soda (I still drink mostly water).  Mother had a beauty shop here in town for several years and still comments on hair styles. The only real change in Velma is the addition of a liquor store.  All other services are in Duncan about 17 miles away (civilization).  Mr. Halliburton started his business in Duncan and to this day all the oil field workers wear bright red coveralls.  I am quite sure that Mr. Cheney never wore them.

It is so weird being here doing the same things with the same people so many years later.  I now live in the house I own that belonged to my mother and her parents.  This is the house I lived in when I graduated high school and got married.  Susan’s first outing at four weeks was to this house.  It feels strange but comfortable.  I did get unpacked, with the help of family and friends, and the tree up in time to host Christmas for the entire family.  Of course there was freezing rain and then snow with many accidents and fewer guests than expected.  

The population of Velma is 664, with 247 households, and everyone knows everyone. Gossip is the main activity just after high school football. The High School football team has their own luxury bus to travel to away games.  Football starts with six year olds. The racial makeup of the town is 90.96% White, 0.00% African American, 8.28% Native American (diversity any one?). The median income for a  family is $34,286. Males have a median income of $32,083 versus $16,136 for females (well now that has to change).  The amount of poverty is depressing as is the amount of drug use.  It is not as safe here as it once was.

The Velma Police Department is comprised of two officers and units as well as two reserve officers and there are 25 volunteer Firemen.  We do have an ambulance with six volunteer crew members and one Director. Jil, a family friend, is the Velma Town Clerk and Treasurer reporting to a five member town council.  She wants me to be on the council and perhaps mayor one day.  From selectman to mayor, I could be moving on up in local government.

The weather, O the weather.  Summer heat goes as high as 116 degrees (only up to 106 while I was here from August to November).  The winter rarely gets below freezing. There is little rain these days but a lot of storms and tornados.  ( I should get a job at the Oklahoma tourist bureau or maybe as a storm chaser). The most amazing are the ice storms in the winter where everything – cattle, cars, each blade of grass, each tree limb, roads, and anything else outside – are covered in a thick coat of ice.  No one goes anywhere and just waits for it to melt.  The occasional snow storm was never more than a couple of inches until the last few years.  Recently Susan, Shelby, Tyler and I drove from Oklahoma City to Velma in a full blown blinding snow blizzard that accumulated a foot with very large drifts.  (Did I mention that the wind is always blowing?  Anywhere from 5 to 50 miles per hour.)  Our car was the only one that did not end up in a ditch the entire 80 miles to Velma and if we did not know the route by heart we might have gotten lost.

The most rewarding thing is being near my mom and helping improve her quality of life at 83 as she did for me when I was five.  If she had not pushed until she found a doctor who could diagnosis my diseased spleen and removed it, I would not be here today. Her memory is failing fast and I love to make her smile and laugh as she did when she was younger. I am also getting use to the slower pace of life. 

It is nice being close to other family members that I have not seen for awhile, but not too close.  It is a hoot spending time with my high school and family friends, most of whom are still in the area.  I am one of the few that left the state and so glad I did and ended up in Holliston.  I really miss Susan, Shelby, Tyler and Holliston and all my friends.

But on the positive side you wake to beautiful sunshine every day and days are longer and the sunsets are magnificent.  You do not have to wear winter clothes and boots and hats and all that stuff -- no change over of seasonal wardrobes.  The dress code is casual or all western.  Everyone is very friendly and help each other no matter what.  Men actually wait for women to go through the food line before they do and they open doors for women, which is strange to me now. 

For the history buffs, most of the land that is now Oklahoma was acquired by the United States in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. In the 1830s, the U.S. used the land to relocate Indian tribes and it became the Indian Territory (Remember the Trail of Tears?).  The “Velma” settlement area was Choctaw land and I am very proud to be part Native American.  The Velma town historian writes “The early Plains Indians made their homes among the wonders of Velma. The mountains, the creeks and the wooded areas made it an ideal home."  (It has not aged well.)

Of course the white man came and in 1834  named  this area Camp Choctaw. The white man settlement grew and on September 25, 1886, a post office was established in what had been known as Doak's Store. It was necessary to have a name for the post office and after much discussion the name, Velma, was selected. It was named for Velma Dobbins, daughter of Mr. Dobbins who had once operated the store. In those days the mail was brought by horseback from Spanish Fort, Texas.

In 1889 Congress authorized the opening land seized from the Indian Territory for homestead settlement (those who cheated and staked their land before it was officially opened for settlement were called Sooners), and a year later Congress passed an act that officially created the Oklahoma Territory.  In 1902, the leaders of Indian Territory sought to become their own state, to be named Sequoyah. They held a convention in Eufaula, consisting of representatives from the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole tribes, known as the Five Civilized Tribes. They met again next year to establish a constitutional convention. President Theodore Roosevelt and Congress turned down the Indian Territory proposal but today Oklahoma still has tribal lands, governments, and law officers that take care of tribe members.  The Chickasaw tribe is the richest as it owns most of the casinos in the state built only on tribal lands.  Finally in November of 1907 President Roosevelt signed the proclamation establishing Oklahoma as the nation's 46th state (almost 200 years after Holliston was born).

Then came the oil boom. The Velma Mountain (a little higher than the hill behind Town Hall) has produced more black gold than the yellow gold in the vaults of Ft. Knox. The discovery well drilled in 1917-18 is still pumping today. A lot of Velma folks made a great deal of money, but it doesn’t really show.  I would be happy to give you a tour of the area if you would like to visit.

 

Comments (4)

Jenny, your description of Velma reminds me of what Holliston was fifty years ago. I am glad you are enjoying Velma.

John Losch | 2013-01-04 07:34:18

Jenny - wonderful reading about your adventures and return to home. I shared the description and history of your town with my 12 year old son and he was fascinated with how different it is from Holliston. Look forward to more stories from Velma!

Tara Hathaway | 2012-12-30 18:57:09

Jenny, I was stationed in Amorilla, TX in the 50's and they used to say, when the wind blew, the only thing keeping OK dust out of TX was a barbed wire fence. Sounds like you're already back in the groove. Have a Happy New Year.

Herb Krauss | 2012-12-30 08:44:20

Jenny - Best be careful when folks start urging you to run for Mayor. Of course Velma's Mayoral duties may be a little more critical than mine of judging the Annual Fog Jumping Contest. I'll bet you folks even have a tumble weed blowing race. If you do decide to run for Mayor maybe you could promise the Velma citizens solar power. We have a company back here looking for a location to place their panels. Or how about a nice cable studio placed in the rear of one of those gas stations. Or how about McGee for Mayor, she promises to put Velma on the map with VALCAT. I'll send along those extra skewers I promised for your first fundraiser. Did you say your serving rattlesnake kabobs?

Mayor Blair | 2012-12-30 07:14:08