ozarks
roots
the people, places and traditions that make the ozarks home Photos by Terry Ropp
Dreams Come True By Terry Ropp
Virgil Talbot established a library and local history museum in 1990 The small town of Colcord, Okla., is in the northeast corner of Oklahoma and very near the Missouri and Arkansas state lines. Like so many towns in Oklahoma, its birth came from settlers coming to the Indian territory. Originally, in the 1890s, the town began as the community of Row, several miles north of where Colcord is located. The community grew and included a bank, a school, a hotel and other businesses. Then, in 1905, a post office was established. Two years later, Oklahoma became a state and Row grew as restrictions on both Native Americans and settlers were lifted. Then, in the 1920s, a gravel road, which later became Oklahoma State Highway 116, was built and connected Gentry, Ark., to Kansas, Okla. The problem was that the
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new road was one mile south of Row, a significant distance in those days. Charlie Burbage, a rural mail carrier, understood human nature. He owned land just south of the new road and organized almost 65 acres into a template for a town. That new community, “Little Tulsa” to the locals, became what is known today as Colcord. Not surprisingly, the shift of businesses and people to a “town” nearer the road was full of hard feelings and conflicts, the most serious, according to legend, was moving the post office from Row to Colcord in the middle of the night. In 1928, the town officially named itself Colcord in gratitude of Charles Francis Colcord, who owned a large ranch west of both towns, employed many local residents and was, therefore, important to the local econ-
omy. His civic interest even purchased the first football uniforms for the high school. Local resident Virgil Talbot (1927-1998) believed in saving history. He belonged to several historical societies and though was adopted by Cherokees, was the first non-Native American to belong to the
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Cherokee National Historical Society. His dream was to establish a library and museum with emphasis on Cherokee and local history, including materials from Northeast Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas. Beginning with his ever-growing personal collection at his home on Flint Creek in
APRIL 5, 2021
