Description:
Only four short days after the opening of Oklahoma territory, a meeting took place in the newly-founded Oklahoma City in which temporary officials were nominated to hold elections on May 1, 1889.
CALL FOR MASS CONVENTION
Oklahoma City, April 26, 1889.
We, citizens of the city of Oklahoma, request the meeting in mass convention of all citizens of the city for the purpose of nominating a temporary mayor and city recorder to hold their offices until such time as there may be elected by ballot their successors, which election shall be held within five days from and after the election of said mayor and recorder. Such mass meeting to be held April 27, 1889, at the hour of 6:30 o'clock p. m., and every citizen of said city shall be entitled to vote. The election of said temporary mayor and recorder shall be by the voice, and shall vest in them the power to appoint police to preserve the order of said city, and the power to call said election for permanent mayor, recorder and prescribe the manner of holding said election. Said mass meeting to be held at the corner of Main and Broadway.
(Signed) Ledru Guthrie, J. B. Weaver (not a citizen of the city, but living near the same), John B. Banks, S. Lum Biedler, W. P. Easton, J. E. Carson, J. D. Drake, T. B. Riley, G. A. Biedler, p. m., O. H. Violet, Sidney Clarke, Bluford Wilson, D. A. Harvey, W. P. Shaw.
The call for a mass convention was the result of a dispute that erupted on opening day after an attempt was made to organize and establish a provisional city government. Two rival groups were engaged in a battle to win the right to plat the city: the Seminole Townsite and Development Company and the Oklahoma Town Company. According to Angelo C. Scott, founder of The Oklahoma City Times, the two groups were scheming to control the townsite and increase profits by stacking the pool of candidates with company men. William L. Couch, probably one of the best-known men in the community due to his involvement with the Boomer Movement and highly respected for his tenacity and hard work, was appointed temporary mayor until an official election could be scheduled.
On May 1, 1889, the men of Oklahoma City wrote their candidates’ names onto a piece of paper, dropping them into a large coffeepot. The corner of Main and Broadway served as one polling place; another was set up at the corner of California Ave. and Broadway. At the end of the day, Couch was elected mayor with a total of 766 votes. His efforts to maintain public order during the first few months of settlement included the passing of an ordnance which imposed a $100 fine on those found guilty of lot-jumping. Sadly, Couch was later shot and mortally wounded during a dispute over a homestead claim, clinging to life for six days before dying on April 20, 1890.