The Beginning of Tulsa
By J. M. Hall
© Karolyn Kay Garland 1997
Page # 92
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TULSA'S FIRST HOTEL
It was only natural that Tulsa's first hotel keeper should have been Chauncey A. Owen. He had been furnishing beef to the men at work on the railroad between the Verdigris river and the Arkansas river and we have seen how he ran a boarding tent nearby when the townsite was located. He also had had teams doing the freighting from the town of Choteau to the railroad store on the Verdigris while it was conducted there.
He began erection of the first hotel soon after it had been decided to build the town in the Creek Nation instead of it the. Cherokee Nation. The building was located on the north side of the Frisco right-of-way, fronting south and east of Main street.
When the hotel was completed Mr. Owen moved to town from his farm near where the town of Coweta has since been located. He had come to this Indian country in 1874 and had become an intermarried Indian citizen. Through this family connection he was able to sell Tulsa its first park years ago. The park bears his name and is in the northwest part of the city.
With the exception of several years of residence in California Mr. and Mrs. Owen have lived in Tulsa since 1882. Of late years the family home has been at 512 N. Elwood avenue. On October 1, 1927, Mr. and Mrs. Owen left to spend the winter in California. He is 83 and has been in ill health for some years.
Mr. Owen and the writer are the only ones now living in Tulsa who were here when the town was located.
Died 1930, age 83 years. Left a wife and one son.
Col. Ed Calkin was the first mayor of Tulsa and it was under his administration that the city government was chartered and personal property taxed for the first time. The colonel was an enthusiastic Tulsa booster and made the trip with the booster train in 1908. When the colonel was wound up for the speech the oratory attracted considerable attention.
Col Calkins and wife were members of the Pine Presbyterian Church. They were good citizens. Both died years ago.
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