This weekend we decided to take a break from the never ending list of things to do around the farm to go for a hike. We ventured up to Copan Lake as I had just learned of a trail that goes along the side of the lake and that wouldn’t be too difficult to trek through with a nine month old strapped to your back. We walked a total of about 6 miles and had a wonderful time.
Copan Lake Trail Near Dewey
At the end of the day we decided to take a detour in Dewey just to look around. We love to take the side roads of little towns and look at all the old houses and the old downtowns.
Dewey is a great little town just to the north of Bartlesville and is home to the Tom Mix museum as well as the Dewey Hotel Museum. The Dewey Hotel has an interesting history as the home of Jacob Bartles as well as the first hotel in the area.
Dewey Hotel and Museum Present Day
Mr. Bartles first built a general store on Turkey Creek near present day Bartlesville next to the Grist Mill that he also operated. His home and mill were the center of the community and is where social events were usually held. All was well in Jacobs life until two of his store workers decided to open their own store on the other side (south side) of the Caney River. This obviously more than likely made Jacob pretty mad since he was the only game in town for almost a decade. But, you know the old saying, when it rains it pours? That’s what was about to happen when the Kansas, Oklahoma, Central and Southwestern Railway decided to come through Indian Territory and into Tulsa.
I found this really cool map of the Railroad running through Collinsville.
Railroad Map for Oklahoma, Kansas, Central and Southwest Railway
Jacob and a couple of friends decided they would make it easier for the railroad to decide where it would go through by starting to survey and clear the land, and of course part of it would run on the North side of the Caney River. They did this until they ran out of money and then the railroad company took over. But instead of using the same route they surveyed they made a slight change to the south side of the Caney River closer to his competitions store. This infuriated Jacob and he literally decided to up and move. He decided he was going to move his store a few miles north to a wheat field he owned closer to the railroad tracks. So he used logs and greased railroad ties and moved his entire store/house intact. It took them 145 days to move the store with a team of horses. Do you want to know the craziest part about the whole story? The store stayed open the entire time, everyday but Sunday it was open.
Dewey Hotel – Date Unknown
The spot he settled on is what is now Dewey, Jacob Bartles has the naming rights to two towns in Oklahoma. The one that has his name Bartlesville and Dewey, he named after George Dewey the Spanish-American war hero of the time. The hotel construction began in the 1899 and included rocks from the Osage Hills as well as timber from the Caney River area. When the railroad came through they used milled lumber brought in to finish the hotel. The oil boom at the end of the 1800s and beginning of the early 1900s brought lots of activity to the area and the Dewey Hotel helped to supply meals to the oil hands.
Jacob didn’t see the success for long as he grew even more ill with Bright’s disease (constant inflammation of kidneys) and passed away on 18 October 1908 just a year after statehood.
Dewey Hotel 1958
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References:
Date Uknown Dewey Hotel Picture
1958 Dewey Hotel Picture
https://www.accessgenealogy.com/oklahoma/biography-of-colonel-jacob-h-bartles.htm
http://wchs-ok.org/history
http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=DE017
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6093757
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