Sat, Jul 19 2008
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Published May 13, 2008 12:33 pm - Fort Gibson History: 1904 newspaper editor had vision for area By Liz McMahan Times Editor Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of columns about Fort Gibson through the years. If you have photos or stories you would like to share send them to lmcmahan@muskogeephoenix.com or call 684-2926. A column in the July 6, 1904, edition of the Fort Gibson Demophone newspaper observed that the land around this area was perfect for raising produce. The editor predicted the 2,000 acres of light, sandy soil adjacent to the town would increase in value from $20 per acre to well over $50 an acre in three years as a colony of 50 German families who had located there developed farms. Farming has been a mainstay of the area’s economy but it has declined somewhat in recent years, said John Harrison, who came here in 1949 as vocational agriculture instructor and has farmed full-time since retiring from the school system 16 years ago. “All of the older guys who were growing have passed on,” Harrison said. And housing has taken over a lot of what used to be pasture land, he said. The 1904 article touted the area as being prime land for raising canteloupe and strawberries, peaches, apples, cucumbers and onions. “The old idea that raising cotton and living on credit will never be eliminated here among the farmers is absurd,” the article states. A lot of cotton was raised here for many years, but those fields were turned to pasture or other farm crops when the boll weevil invaded and practically eradicated all cotton production in the state. There used to be quite a lot of canteloupe and watermelon raised in the area, but the lack of available farm labor has diminished those crops, Harrison said. He still raises only grows as much in those crops as he can take care of himself, he said. The farm lands left around Fort Gibson are now devoted to either tree nurseries or crops that can be harvested mostly by machine: corn, wheat and soybeans, he said. Buy more Taystee bread An advertisement in the May 25, 1959, Fort Gibson Independent asks readers to buy more Taystee bread to help Chester A. Owens win a trip to the World’s Fair in New York. 
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