Charles Francis Colcord
Encyclopedia
Charles Francis Colcord (August 18, 1859–December 10, 1934) was a successful cattle rancher, U.S. Marshal
, Chief of Police
, businessman, and pioneer of the Old West. The community of Colcord, Oklahoma
is named for him.
Colcord's life spanned the American Civil War
, the taming of the west, the cattle drives, the Land Run
s, the Wright brothers
' flight, World War I
, Wiley Post
, Will Rogers
and Charles Lindbergh
, the Roaring Twenties
, the Great Depression
, and the transition of Oklahoma City
from a frontier prairie
to a booming metropolis with skyscrapers, oil fields and airplanes. On December 30, 1934, a resolution adopted by the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce
stated,
"Affluence came to him but left unspoiled his native gentleness and simplicity. Always he was modest, humble, democratic, generous, just and kind. He remembered the less fortunate friends of his early days."
, Kentucky
to Col. William Rogers Colcord (November 26, 1827 - January 10, 1901) and Maria Elizabeth Clay (March 1832, Paris, KY - ?, Denver CO). His father was a son of Charles B. Colcord and Louisa Metcalfe Bristow. with deep roots in Kentucky, as attested by his brother's biography:
His mother's parents were William Green Clay and Patsy Bedford of Paris. His maternal grandfather was General Green Clay
of Paris, Kentucky, a cousin of Sen. Henry Clay
and father of abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay.
For much of his young childhood his father was an officer fighting for the Confederacy
in the Civil War
, and moved his family to Georgia and New Orleans. After the war, the senior Colcord sold his interest in the family farm to his brother and used the proceeds to purchase a sugar plantation north of New Orleans. When son Charley, then about ten, contracted malaria
from a nearby swamp, his father sent him to the ranch owned by his friend Charles Sanders near Banquete, Texas
so that he could recover. When W. R. Colcord opened a ranch near Corpus Christi, Texas
to raise horses, Charley ran away to work as a cowboy. In 1875, he was sent on a cattle drive to Baxter Springs followed by a buffalo hunt on the western prairies. There he learned of the need for horses in central Kansas, which he reported back to his father.
; Charley was among the half-dozen riders. They decided to stay in Kansas and lived near Medicine Lodge
in Comanche County.
The senior Colcord teamed up with neighbors R. C. Campbell, Bob Campbell, Billy Carter and Frank Thornton to form the Jug Cattle Company, with Charley employed as range boss. The Jug livestock brand
(pictured here), became famous throughout Kansas
and Oklahoma
.
Colcord's father joined about fourteen of his neighbors to form the Comanche Pool, one of the first corporate ranches in the southwest. Starting with about 26,000 head of cattle around Evansville, Kansas, the pool grew to control nearly 11000 acres (44.5 km²) shipping over 20,000 cattle to market each year.
In 1879, outlaws John Middleton
and Henry Brown left Billy the Kid
's gang and stayed at Colcord's camp in the Cherokee Outlet for several weeks. On December 18, 1879, Middleton married Colcord's 15 year old sister, Maria "Birdie" Colcord, but the marriage only lasted about a year.
During the 1880s, cattle prices remained high and the members of the Comanche Pool continued building their herd. In 1882 a lease was negotiated for over 3000000 acres (12,140.6 km²)of land for ten years at an annual rent of two cents an acre, payable semi-annually in advance. By the fall of 1885, the Pool cattle numbered nearly 84,000 head. But by then, reacting to allegations of bribery and fraud, President Cleveland voided the leases that were never approved by the federal government, and ordered all cattle removed from the reservation within forty days. 210,000 head of cattle were moved to the already overstocked ranges of the adjoining states.
An unusually dry summer in 1885 was followed by a bad winter; nearly 85 percent of the cattle died during an 18 month span, reducing Pool assets to a mere 13,000 head. Most of the ranchers were wiped out and moved elsewhere. The Colcord family continued with the Pool until its final collapse. Charley, now married (see below) and his brother William moved to Arizona to manage a ranch, followed by their mother, younger brother and now-divorced sister Birdie.
was announced. According to one account, Charles made the run on April 22, 1889, then traded his $66 investment in a team and wagon for a shack and lot. By the end of the excitement, a noisy tent city had sprung up, and Colcord was its leading citizen, with his lot becoming Lot Number 1, Block Number 1, Oklahoma City
. Another source indicates that Colcord first staked a claim in Hennessey, then immediately sold his claim and arrived in Oklahoma City on April 23, 1889.
In either event, as Oklahoma boomed he served for two years as Chief of Police
, then Oklahoma City's first Sheriff
(essentially the army left what was a territory, declared it a state, and gave Charlie the stockade and a gun.) He later became a deputy US Marshal
for five years (appointed by President Grover Cleveland
), serving with Bill Tilghman
. He worked hard to control a lawless, wild area, fighting Bill Doolin
, Bill "Tulsa Jack" Blake, the Dalton Gang
, Richard "Little Dick" West, and others. He personally rounded up five members of the Dalton Gang and supervised their hanging
.
He also participated in the 1893 Cherokee Strip land run
and built a home there. During the run his horse ran into the horse of an old friend, Sheriff George Parker
of Lincoln County
, when George's mount stepped into a prairie dog
hole. George said "Stay down, Charlie, that's a corner lot!" and Charlie staked his claim where he fell. In six hours Perry, Oklahoma
had a population of 15,000, and Colcord was appointed marshal.
In 1898 he returned to Oklahoma City and established the Colcord Investment Company and the Colcord Park Corporation, the latter of which developed Delmar Gardens
southwest of downtown. He organized and headed the Commercial National Bank of Oklahoma City, was vice president of the State National Bank, president of the Oklahoma City Building & Loan Association, and director of the Oklahoma State Fair Association.
Then, on a hunting trip in 1905 with Galbreath and Frank Chesley, Colcord's two Kentucky wolfhounds chased after a wolf and disappeared. A search for the dogs brought them to a farm owned by a Creek Indian named Ida Glenn. While searching for the dogs with Galbreath and Chesley, Chesley discovered a spot where oil was seeping from some rocks. Along with John O. Mitchell, the men eventually secured the right to drill on the land. On November 22, 1905, a discovery well gushed oil, leading to the discovery of the Glenpool oil field, which became one of the world's largest known oil fields. Glenpool produced over 340 million barrels of oil over the next century and put Tulsa on the map, by 1907, as the Oil Capital of the World. Galbreath became known as the "Oil King of the Southwest" and was "rated the richest man in Oklahoma." With his share of the profits, Colcord invested $750,000 in the Colcord Building in 1912.
and built a convert|2000|acres|km2}} ranch there. Nearby a little community was springing up that was named after the rancher in February 1930. Mr. Colcord employed many local residents of Colcord, Oklahoma
and was very important to the spirit and economy of the growing town.
In 1933, Colcord had his last episode with lawbreakers. A close friend of his, Charles Urschel, was kidnapped by Machine Gun Kelly
and his gang and held for ransom, not uncommon in those Depression
days. Colcord called a meeting at the Colcord Building of the richest men in Oklahoma City and put together a large reward. Kelly was eventually captured, and Charles Urschel was returned unharmed.
A Democrat in politics, Colcord was president of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce in 1914 and president of the Oklahoma Historical Society during the 1920s and 1930s until his death. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1929 and had achieved the thirty-second degree of the Masonic Order. He was also a member of the Oklahoma Consistory of the Valley of Guthrie, the Indian Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and the Golf and Country Club.
A few months before his death, as president of the Historical Society, Oklahoma's "First Citizen" gave an address at a reunion of the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty pioneers that gave remarkable insight into the history of the Great Plains.
He died in 1934 at age 75 at his Delaware County ranch; with a police honor guard, his body lay in state in the rotunda of the Oklahoma Historical Society building. At his death, his estate was unofficially valued at $1.5 million, the equivalent of about $24 million in 2009. He is buried with his wife, Charles F. Colcord Jr. (1888–1900), W. R. Colcord (1827–1901), Sidney B. Clay (1847–1918) and Rena (Piner) Colcord (1886–1938) in Oklahoma City's Fairlawn Cemetery.
His tombstone reads:
"His life was gentle, and the elements
So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up —
And say to all the world, 'This was a man'."
They moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, before participating in the Run. They had seven children:
, which was the first skyscraper
in Oklahoma City. It was also the first steel-reinforced concrete
building in Oklahoma, because Colcord had seen the devastation to lesser buildings in San Francisco following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
and resulting fires. Originally designed with two wings, only the east wing and connecting elevator/stair segment were constructed. Architect William A. Wells was a protégé of Louis Sullivan, a founder of the Chicago School style of architecture. Sullivan designed the molds for the decorative terra cotta ornamentation on the first, second, and twelfth floors of the Colcord. The building survived Oklahoma City's Urban Renewal efforts and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Developer Paul Coury, with the help of investors including Beck Design and Manhattan Construction, have transformed the office building into a boutique hotel
adjacent to what will be the state's tallest building, the new 51 story, 274 metres/900 feet Devon Tower
. The Colcord Building is now owned by Devon Energy
. Colcord also built the Commerce Exchange Building and the Biltmore Hotel
.
When he died Oklahoma City named the new Civic Center
after him. His dedication to the city and his cowboy origins landed him in the Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Colcord built one of Oklahoma City's first great mansions in 1901 at 421 Northwest 13th Street, beginning the development of what was soon Oklahoma City's finest "suburban" neighborhood. Colcord's three-story pillared Georgian home with its beveled-glass windows, mirrored ballroom, and carriage house was demolished in 1965 and replaced by a now-failed insurance company building. Alarm of the demolition of the Colcord mansion led to the establishment of a historical preservation district in what became known as "Heritage Hills" and the preservation of the nearby Henry Overholser mansion and other monuments to the early days of the city. In their book, "Vanished Spendor", Jim Edwards and Hal Ottaway (Abalache Book Shop Publishing Co. 1982), gives the following description of the home:
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
, Chief of Police
Chief of police
A Chief of Police is the title typically given to the top official in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. Alternate titles for this position include Commissioner, Superintendent, and Chief constable...
, businessman, and pioneer of the Old West. The community of Colcord, Oklahoma
Colcord, Oklahoma
Colcord is a small farming town in southern Delaware County, Oklahoma, United States. The community lies in the northeastern part of the state in a region known as Green Country. At the 2000 census, the population was 819.- History :...
is named for him.
Colcord's life spanned the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the taming of the west, the cattle drives, the Land Run
Land run
Land run usually refers to an historical event in which previously restricted land of the United States was opened for homesteading on a first arrival basis. Some newly opened lands were sold first-come, sold by bid, or won by lottery, or by means other than a run...
s, the Wright brothers
Wright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...
' flight, World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Wiley Post
Wiley Post
Wiley Hardeman Post was a famed American aviator, the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high altitude flying, Post helped develop one of the first pressure suits. His Lockheed Vega aircraft, the Winnie Mae, was on display at the National Air and Space Museum's...
, Will Rogers
Will Rogers
William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
and Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
, the Roaring Twenties
Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America, but also in London, Berlin and Paris for a period of sustained economic prosperity. The phrase was meant to emphasize the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism...
, the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, and the transition of Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
from a frontier prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
to a booming metropolis with skyscrapers, oil fields and airplanes. On December 30, 1934, a resolution adopted by the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
stated,
"Affluence came to him but left unspoiled his native gentleness and simplicity. Always he was modest, humble, democratic, generous, just and kind. He remembered the less fortunate friends of his early days."
Early years
Charles Colcord was born near Cane Ridge, Paris, Bourbon CountyBourbon County, Kentucky
Bourbon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the remnant of what was previously a much larger Bourbon County, established as part of Virginia in 1785, and comprising what are now thirty-four modern Kentucky counties...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
to Col. William Rogers Colcord (November 26, 1827 - January 10, 1901) and Maria Elizabeth Clay (March 1832, Paris, KY - ?, Denver CO). His father was a son of Charles B. Colcord and Louisa Metcalfe Bristow. with deep roots in Kentucky, as attested by his brother's biography:
This interesting and gentlemanly proprietor of Burr Oak farm, [Frank P. Colford] is a son of C. B. Colcord and Louisa Metcalf, who was a niece of the honored George Metcalf. The father of our subject settled in 1813 at MiddletownMiddletown, KentuckyThe median income for a household in the city was $53,608, and the median income for a family was $61,667. Males had a median income of $45,417 versus $33,135 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,660...
, this county, from the State of New Hampshire, he being then about twenty-seven years of age, and soon after engaged in business at that place with an older brother who accompanied him to his new settlement. Their spirit of business adventure, however, was not to be satisfied in a village traffic, but they engaged in extensive speculation which proved remunerative, C. G.[sic] Colcord being the first man who ever took a drove of mules to New Orleans by land from Bourbon County; he was married to Miss Metcalf in 1824, and by that union were born six children, only two of whom grew to maturity; viz: William R., born Nov. 26, 1827; married in the vicinity of Middletown, now residing in Wichita, Ka., where he is extensively engaged in the stock business. Our subject was born Sept. 17, 1829; received a liberal education, attending the Western Military Institute in 1849 and '50, then located at Middletown; one of his preceptors and intimate friends being the Honorable James G. Blaine, Secretary of State. Mr. Colcord is an enterprising, thrifty farmer, with 432 acres of choice land, about eight miles from Paris, which he has well stocked, and conducts in a successful manner. He was never married, but enjoys an independent life with his pleasant surroundings.
His mother's parents were William Green Clay and Patsy Bedford of Paris. His maternal grandfather was General Green Clay
Green Clay
Green Clay was a United States politician and a soldier in both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812....
of Paris, Kentucky, a cousin of Sen. Henry Clay
Henry Clay
Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...
and father of abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay.
For much of his young childhood his father was an officer fighting for the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
in the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, and moved his family to Georgia and New Orleans. After the war, the senior Colcord sold his interest in the family farm to his brother and used the proceeds to purchase a sugar plantation north of New Orleans. When son Charley, then about ten, contracted malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
from a nearby swamp, his father sent him to the ranch owned by his friend Charles Sanders near Banquete, Texas
Banquete, Texas
Banquete is an unincorporated community in Nueces County, Texas, United States.Banquete is located at the intersection of State Highway 44 and FM 666, 23 miles west of Corpus Christi...
so that he could recover. When W. R. Colcord opened a ranch near Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
to raise horses, Charley ran away to work as a cowboy. In 1875, he was sent on a cattle drive to Baxter Springs followed by a buffalo hunt on the western prairies. There he learned of the need for horses in central Kansas, which he reported back to his father.
Cattle rancher
In 1876 W. R. teamed up with Hines Clark to trail 1200 mares north to pens in the Cherokee OutletCherokee Outlet
The Cherokee Outlet, often mistakenly referred to as the Cherokee Strip, was located in what is now the state of Oklahoma, in the United States. It was a sixty-mile wide strip of land south of the Oklahoma-Kansas border between the 96th and 100th meridians. It was about 225 miles long and in 1891...
; Charley was among the half-dozen riders. They decided to stay in Kansas and lived near Medicine Lodge
Medicine Lodge
Medicine Lodge may refer to:* Medicine Lodge, Kansas, United States* Medicine lodge , a ceremonial sauna-See also:* Medicine Lodge River* Medicine Lodge Township* Medicine Lodge Treaty...
in Comanche County.
In the fall of 1877, father moved the rest of the family up from Texas and we built three or four fine big dugouts for them... near the mouth of Red Fork, about five miles from the head of Jug Mott Creek, three miles from Evansville, and about twenty-five miles southeast of ... where Coldwater, Kansas was afterward built.
The senior Colcord teamed up with neighbors R. C. Campbell, Bob Campbell, Billy Carter and Frank Thornton to form the Jug Cattle Company, with Charley employed as range boss. The Jug livestock brand
Livestock branding
Livestock branding is a technique for marking livestock so as to identify the owner. Originally, livestock branding only referred to a hot brand for large stock, though the term is now also used to refer to other alternative techniques such as freeze branding...
(pictured here), became famous throughout Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
and Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
.
Colcord's father joined about fourteen of his neighbors to form the Comanche Pool, one of the first corporate ranches in the southwest. Starting with about 26,000 head of cattle around Evansville, Kansas, the pool grew to control nearly 11000 acres (44.5 km²) shipping over 20,000 cattle to market each year.
This Comanche Pool was the biggest outfit anywhere. It had from sixty to eighty thousand head of cattle belonging to the various pool members, which ran all over the country; in our annual roundup we used to come as far south as Sacred Heart Mission on the Little River, sometimes even to the Red River, ... west as far as the west end of the Panhandle."
In 1879, outlaws John Middleton
John Middleton (cowboy)
John Middleton was friend of Billy the Kid and a key member of the Regulators, who fought on behalf of John Tunstall during the Lincoln County War....
and Henry Brown left Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid
William H. Bonney William H. Bonney William H. Bonney (born William Henry McCarty, Jr. est. November 23, 1859 – c. July 14, 1881, better known as Billy the Kid but also known as Henry Antrim, was a 19th-century American gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War and became a frontier...
's gang and stayed at Colcord's camp in the Cherokee Outlet for several weeks. On December 18, 1879, Middleton married Colcord's 15 year old sister, Maria "Birdie" Colcord, but the marriage only lasted about a year.
During the 1880s, cattle prices remained high and the members of the Comanche Pool continued building their herd. In 1882 a lease was negotiated for over 3000000 acres (12,140.6 km²)of land for ten years at an annual rent of two cents an acre, payable semi-annually in advance. By the fall of 1885, the Pool cattle numbered nearly 84,000 head. But by then, reacting to allegations of bribery and fraud, President Cleveland voided the leases that were never approved by the federal government, and ordered all cattle removed from the reservation within forty days. 210,000 head of cattle were moved to the already overstocked ranges of the adjoining states.
An unusually dry summer in 1885 was followed by a bad winter; nearly 85 percent of the cattle died during an 18 month span, reducing Pool assets to a mere 13,000 head. Most of the ranchers were wiped out and moved elsewhere. The Colcord family continued with the Pool until its final collapse. Charley, now married (see below) and his brother William moved to Arizona to manage a ranch, followed by their mother, younger brother and now-divorced sister Birdie.
Oklahoma years
Then the Oklahoma land runLand run
Land run usually refers to an historical event in which previously restricted land of the United States was opened for homesteading on a first arrival basis. Some newly opened lands were sold first-come, sold by bid, or won by lottery, or by means other than a run...
was announced. According to one account, Charles made the run on April 22, 1889, then traded his $66 investment in a team and wagon for a shack and lot. By the end of the excitement, a noisy tent city had sprung up, and Colcord was its leading citizen, with his lot becoming Lot Number 1, Block Number 1, Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
. Another source indicates that Colcord first staked a claim in Hennessey, then immediately sold his claim and arrived in Oklahoma City on April 23, 1889.
In either event, as Oklahoma boomed he served for two years as Chief of Police
Chief of police
A Chief of Police is the title typically given to the top official in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. Alternate titles for this position include Commissioner, Superintendent, and Chief constable...
, then Oklahoma City's first Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
(essentially the army left what was a territory, declared it a state, and gave Charlie the stockade and a gun.) He later became a deputy US Marshal
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
for five years (appointed by President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
), serving with Bill Tilghman
Bill Tilghman
William Matthew "Bill" Tilghman was a lawman in the American Old West.-Early life :Bill Tilghman was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on July 4, 1854. He became a buffalo hunter at age 15 and claimed he killed over 1000 bison over his five years of activity...
. He worked hard to control a lawless, wild area, fighting Bill Doolin
Bill Doolin
William "Bill" Doolin was an American bandit and founder of the Wild Bunch, an outlaw gang that specialized in robbing banks, trains and stagecoaches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas during the 1890s.- Early life :...
, Bill "Tulsa Jack" Blake, the Dalton Gang
Dalton Gang
The Dalton Gang, also known as The Dalton Brothers, was a family of both lawmen and outlaws in the American Old West during 1890-1892. They specialized in bank and train robberies. They were related to the Younger brothers, who rode with Jesse James, though they acted later and independently of...
, Richard "Little Dick" West, and others. He personally rounded up five members of the Dalton Gang and supervised their hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
.
He also participated in the 1893 Cherokee Strip land run
Land run
Land run usually refers to an historical event in which previously restricted land of the United States was opened for homesteading on a first arrival basis. Some newly opened lands were sold first-come, sold by bid, or won by lottery, or by means other than a run...
and built a home there. During the run his horse ran into the horse of an old friend, Sheriff George Parker
George Parker
George Parker may refer to:*Sir George Parker, 2nd Baronet , English politician, MP* George C. Parker , American fraudster* George Parker , South African cricketer...
of Lincoln County
Lincoln County, Oklahoma
Lincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population as of 2010 was 34,273. It is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area.Its county seat is Chandler....
, when George's mount stepped into a prairie dog
Prairie dog
Prairie dogs are burrowing rodents native to the grasslands of North America. There are five different species of prairie dogs: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah and Mexican prairie dogs. They are a type of ground squirrel, found in the United States, Canada and Mexico...
hole. George said "Stay down, Charlie, that's a corner lot!" and Charlie staked his claim where he fell. In six hours Perry, Oklahoma
Perry, Oklahoma
Perry is a city in Noble County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,126. It is the county seat of Noble County.-19th century:...
had a population of 15,000, and Colcord was appointed marshal.
In 1898 he returned to Oklahoma City and established the Colcord Investment Company and the Colcord Park Corporation, the latter of which developed Delmar Gardens
Delmar Gardens
Delmar Gardens of Oklahoma City was an amusement park in Oklahoma City that operated from 1902 to 1910.After the emergence of New York's Coney Island, the fad of waterside amusement parks graced with wooden boardwalks spread across the country...
southwest of downtown. He organized and headed the Commercial National Bank of Oklahoma City, was vice president of the State National Bank, president of the Oklahoma City Building & Loan Association, and director of the Oklahoma State Fair Association.
Oil exploration
Colcord also became involved in oil exploration. After Dr. Fred Clinton and Dr. J.C.W. Bland drilled a successful well in 1901 north of Red Fork, 2,500 people were attracted to the area, including Colcord and Robert T. Galbreath who had been partners in a real estate venture. Colcord and Galbreath organized the Red Fork Oil and Gas Co. and drilled the first wells in the town limits of Red Fork. Colcord later drilled in Healdton, Loco and Duncan fields.Then, on a hunting trip in 1905 with Galbreath and Frank Chesley, Colcord's two Kentucky wolfhounds chased after a wolf and disappeared. A search for the dogs brought them to a farm owned by a Creek Indian named Ida Glenn. While searching for the dogs with Galbreath and Chesley, Chesley discovered a spot where oil was seeping from some rocks. Along with John O. Mitchell, the men eventually secured the right to drill on the land. On November 22, 1905, a discovery well gushed oil, leading to the discovery of the Glenpool oil field, which became one of the world's largest known oil fields. Glenpool produced over 340 million barrels of oil over the next century and put Tulsa on the map, by 1907, as the Oil Capital of the World. Galbreath became known as the "Oil King of the Southwest" and was "rated the richest man in Oklahoma." With his share of the profits, Colcord invested $750,000 in the Colcord Building in 1912.
Later years and death
By the 1920s, Colcord was a wealthy man. He learned of opportunities for cattle ranching in southern Delaware County, OklahomaDelaware County, Oklahoma
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 37,077 and the newest population estimate is 45,000. Its county seat is Jay. The county was named for the Delaware Indians resettled in what was then Indian Territory in the 1830s. .Delaware County...
and built a convert|2000|acres|km2}} ranch there. Nearby a little community was springing up that was named after the rancher in February 1930. Mr. Colcord employed many local residents of Colcord, Oklahoma
Colcord, Oklahoma
Colcord is a small farming town in southern Delaware County, Oklahoma, United States. The community lies in the northeastern part of the state in a region known as Green Country. At the 2000 census, the population was 819.- History :...
and was very important to the spirit and economy of the growing town.
In 1933, Colcord had his last episode with lawbreakers. A close friend of his, Charles Urschel, was kidnapped by Machine Gun Kelly
Machine Gun Kelly
George Kelley Barnes , better known as "Machine Gun Kelly", was an American gangster during the prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thompson submachine gun. His most famous crime was the kidnapping of oil tycoon & businessman Charles Urschel in July 1933 for which he,...
and his gang and held for ransom, not uncommon in those Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
days. Colcord called a meeting at the Colcord Building of the richest men in Oklahoma City and put together a large reward. Kelly was eventually captured, and Charles Urschel was returned unharmed.
A Democrat in politics, Colcord was president of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce in 1914 and president of the Oklahoma Historical Society during the 1920s and 1930s until his death. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1929 and had achieved the thirty-second degree of the Masonic Order. He was also a member of the Oklahoma Consistory of the Valley of Guthrie, the Indian Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and the Golf and Country Club.
A few months before his death, as president of the Historical Society, Oklahoma's "First Citizen" gave an address at a reunion of the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty pioneers that gave remarkable insight into the history of the Great Plains.
He died in 1934 at age 75 at his Delaware County ranch; with a police honor guard, his body lay in state in the rotunda of the Oklahoma Historical Society building. At his death, his estate was unofficially valued at $1.5 million, the equivalent of about $24 million in 2009. He is buried with his wife, Charles F. Colcord Jr. (1888–1900), W. R. Colcord (1827–1901), Sidney B. Clay (1847–1918) and Rena (Piner) Colcord (1886–1938) in Oklahoma City's Fairlawn Cemetery.
His tombstone reads:
"His life was gentle, and the elements
So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up —
And say to all the world, 'This was a man'."
Family
Over her family's objections, Charles Francis Colcord married Harriet Scoresby (August 1865, Iowa - June 26, 1951, Oklahoma City), in Hutchinson, Kansas on February 9, 1885. She was the daughter of Rev. Thomas Smith Scoresby, a Methodist Episcopal minister born in England.I went up to Elm Creek to attend a dance given by Mrs. Slack, an elder sister of Harriet Scoresby and fell violently in love with her at first sight and determined to have her for my wife.
The second time I met Harriet I was driving a herd of cattle from the range into Kansas. Her father, her uncles and all other members of her family were bitterly opposed to Harriet marrying a wild cowpuncher. I made up my mind all the preachers in Kansas could not stop me. I talked to Harriet's brother-in-law, who lived in Barber County, Kansas and he told me the whole family was opposed to me because people had exaggerated reports about me. I think this brother-in-law did a lot towards breaking down this opposition and Harriet's mother, who was one of the greatest women I ever knew, was favorable toward me from the very start. Also a young brother, O. C. Storesby, who was something of a wild kid himself, seemed to take a liking to me and often helped me out in meeting his sister.
They moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, before participating in the Run. They had seven children:
- Ray Colcord (born September 12, 1886, died February 1971, St. Petersburg FL), married Rena Piner
- Charles F. Colcord Jr. (born June 12, 1888 in Kansas, died August 23, 1900 in Oklahoma City)
- Marguerite Colcord (Mrs. Lee Dudley) Callahan, died May 1980 in Oklahoma City).
- Caroline Colcord (Mrs. John Wesley) Bates, b. August 8, 1895, Oklahoma Territory, died October 13, 1995, Tulsa)
- Sidney Colcord (born February 17, 1898 in Oklahoma Territory, died December 22, 1969 in Tulsa)
- Cadijah Colcord (Mrs. Walter H.) Helmerich (1899–1990)
- Harriet Colcord White (born September 2, 1901, died June 1979, Oklahoma City)
Legacies
Colcord built the Colcord Building, now known as the Colcord HotelColcord Hotel
Colcord Hotel is a luxury boutique hotel located in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The building was finished in 1909 and is considered Oklahoma City's first skyscraper. It is tall and has 14 floors...
, which was the first skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
in Oklahoma City. It was also the first steel-reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
building in Oklahoma, because Colcord had seen the devastation to lesser buildings in San Francisco following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
and resulting fires. Originally designed with two wings, only the east wing and connecting elevator/stair segment were constructed. Architect William A. Wells was a protégé of Louis Sullivan, a founder of the Chicago School style of architecture. Sullivan designed the molds for the decorative terra cotta ornamentation on the first, second, and twelfth floors of the Colcord. The building survived Oklahoma City's Urban Renewal efforts and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Developer Paul Coury, with the help of investors including Beck Design and Manhattan Construction, have transformed the office building into a boutique hotel
Boutique hotel
Boutique hotel is a term popularized in North America and the United Kingdom to describe intimate, usually luxurious or unique hotel environments. Boutique hotels differentiate themselves from larger chain/branded hotels and motels by providing personalized accommodation and services / facilities...
adjacent to what will be the state's tallest building, the new 51 story, 274 metres/900 feet Devon Tower
Devon Tower
Devon World Headquarters Tower is a 50-story corporate skyscraper under construction in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Construction began October 6, 2009, and is expected to be completed in 2012...
. The Colcord Building is now owned by Devon Energy
Devon Energy
Devon Energy Corporation , is among the largest U.S.-based independent natural gas and oil producers. Based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the company's operations are focused on North American onshore exploration and production...
. Colcord also built the Commerce Exchange Building and the Biltmore Hotel
Biltmore Hotel
Bowman-Biltmore Hotels was a chain created by hotel magnate John McEntee Bowman.The name evokes the Vanderbilt family's Biltmore Estate, whose buildings and gardens within are privately owned historical landmarks and tourist attractions in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. The name has...
.
When he died Oklahoma City named the new Civic Center
Civic center
A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building...
after him. His dedication to the city and his cowboy origins landed him in the Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Colcord built one of Oklahoma City's first great mansions in 1901 at 421 Northwest 13th Street, beginning the development of what was soon Oklahoma City's finest "suburban" neighborhood. Colcord's three-story pillared Georgian home with its beveled-glass windows, mirrored ballroom, and carriage house was demolished in 1965 and replaced by a now-failed insurance company building. Alarm of the demolition of the Colcord mansion led to the establishment of a historical preservation district in what became known as "Heritage Hills" and the preservation of the nearby Henry Overholser mansion and other monuments to the early days of the city. In their book, "Vanished Spendor", Jim Edwards and Hal Ottaway (Abalache Book Shop Publishing Co. 1982), gives the following description of the home:
"Built and designed by William A. Wells, this mansion was almost an exact replica of Mr. Colcord's father's home in Kentucky. It had twenty-five rooms, besides halls, nooks, closets, and baths."
External links
Further reading
- Colcord, Charles Francis. The Autobiography of Charles Francis Colcord. C.C. Helmerich (privately printed), 1970. Library of Congress No. 73-140435.