Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) — The Sycamore Inn's first season generated enough business that its owner, James P. Thompson, constructed a double-tract, inclined railroad with four passenger cars to take guests from the lodge to the river, 300 feet below; built six cottages upstream from the lodge; and added a billiard hall during the winter of 1921-22.
During the off-season, Thompson had been busy promoting the recreational potential of the Cherokee Hills and his resort. Newspaper articles and ads characterized Sycamore Inn as "the Playground of eastern Oklahoma" and the nearby valley carved by the Illinois River as the Grand Canyon of the Sooner state. Even before the official opening of the lodge's second season, newspaper advertisements advised the public the Inn was "now open for outing parties."
The lodge formally opened for the 1922 summer season on Saturday, April 29. Activities included a dance with music provided by "a famous orchestra from Wichita, Kansas." Thompson hired Cale Thorne to supervise operations of the resort.
The resort's owner had negotiated with Oklahoma Baptists to host an eight-day "Northeastern Assembly" in which members of area churches leased the entire resort - including the lodge and cabins - for their annual youth assembly July 14-21. Two large tents were erected to provide additional accommodations for 500 participants from eastern Oklahoma. It was such a success the Baptists decided to make it an annual event, the Tahlequah Daily Press (http://bit.ly/1P8EykF ) reported.
Although most Americans worked a six-day week, federal officials in Muskogee gave employees Saturday afternoons off during summer months. The Muskogee Times-Democrat noted many who had been granted the "half holiday" had "left this afternoon for Sycamore Inn and other resorts over in the Cherokee hills, which are rapidly becoming the playground of Muskogeeans who must answer the call of the wild by getting close to nature."
The newspaper also published a detailed strip map of the route from the Federal Building on Okmulgee Avenue to the Sycamore Inn. The article accompanying it promised the improved roads to Tahlequah "will lead to worlds of pleasure for the city-worn man and his family."
Thompson worked with the Cherokee County agent who coordinated with the county's six agricultural clubs to hold a joint meeting at Sycamore Inn. He also persuaded William T. Ford, president of Northeastern State Teachers College, to entertain members of the State Board of Education at Sycamore Inn when they met in Tahlequah.
Difficulty in obtaining high-quality chickens and cream for his guests prompted Thompson to purchase a flock of 500 chickens and Jersey cows. In addition to managing reservations and cooking, Mrs. Thorne's duties included tending the chickens and cows.
As the pleasant days of fall shortened and grew cool, activity at Sycamore Inn was scaled back, but did not end entirely. Thompson entertained any proposal that meant income from his enterprise. On Christmas night 1922, the Sycamore Inn became "the scene of one of the largest celebrations in eastern Oklahoma."
The abundance of the wildlife near Sycamore Inn was one of the resort's attractions, and many sportsmen headquartered there during hunting and fishing outings. In 1923, the region's wildlife attracted Margaret Morse Nice, an ornithologist more interested in observing birds than shooting them.
About a month before the formal opening of the resort, Nice, whose influential "The Birds of Oklahoma" was published the next year, traveled from Norman, where her husband taught physiology at The University of Oklahoma. She took the sleeper from Norman to Muskogee and continued to Tahlequah on the Frisco.
After a breakfast of T-bone steak, hot cakes, and coffee for 40 cents, she walked from the Tahlequah depot to the Sycamore Inn on Sunday morning, May 6. En route, she passed flowering dogwoods, hackberry, bird's-foot violets, wild geranium, wind anemones, and bloodroot, all in bloom.
Of greater interest were the birds she observed: "66 species in one day - my best record for Oklahoma." They included rose-breasted grosbeaks, which she had not seen since Massachusetts; a singing Solitary Vireo, the first she had identified in Oklahoma; and 14 species of warblers. She listed many other unusual species and called the day one long to be remembered.
After a day of birding around the Sycamore Inn, she commented, "How I grieve that the University had been established on the prairie in Norman instead of in this idyllic spot, with its hills, its clear streams and oak woods on every side."
A month later, Saturday, June 2, the Sycamore Inn formally opened for its third year under the management of Mr. and Mrs. W.P. Clemmer. An orchestra from San Antonio had been contracted to play for the entire summer.
The day of the opening, the Muskogee Times-Democrat praised the Sycamore Inn as the forerunner of the type of resort that would enable eastern Oklahoma to compete with establishments in northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri for the growing tourist market.
The editor noted success and burgeoning popularity of 20 outing clubs in eastern Oklahoma demonstrated the scenic appeal of the region, but he pointed out, "The great mass of the people cannot belong to these clubs. They need hotels and camping accommodations. They need good roads to get to them."
Citizens of Cherokee County continued to work on improving roads and bridging streams. By 1927, State Highway 10 from Muskogee to Jay had been graveled, and graded dirt roads connected Tahlequah with Westville and Stilwell to the east.
Thompson continued to expand business at the Sycamore Inn. Civic clubs from the region took advantage of the resort for their activities, and a person was guaranteed to impress by mentioning a vacation there.
Northeastern's administration, students, and faculty were particularly good customers, frequently using its facilities for official occasions, such as banquets, initiations, and dances. The college's Greek organizations found the resort ideal for their social events. Northeastern officials used it for their annual meetings with the County school superintendents and found it an attractive location to entertain visiting state legislators.
Northeastern summer school students even formed a club, the Sycamore Inn Broadcasters, composed of members of the resort's orchestra, who "enabled themselves to make more than expenses of attending college while playing." In addition to providing music for dances every Saturday night at the resort, the six students also played nightly at Thompson's Sequoyah Theater in Tahlequah.
Within a few years, Thompson's resort had established a reputation that extended beyond the borders of Oklahoma. A 1926 issue of Harlow's Weekly, an influential state literary digest, referred to the Sycamore Inn as "the famous summer resort near Tahlequah on the Illinois River."
The continuing prosperity of the Roaring 20s and Thompson's effective promotion promised another successful season in 1927, but early Sunday morning, Jan. 9, fire believed to have originated in a defective flue consumed the Sycamore Inn within an hour.
The resort's custodians, Mr. and Mrs. Cale Thorne, who discovered the fire about 6 a.m., could not contain the flames, and by the time firefighters arrived, the lodge was beyond help. Although the cabins and other outbuildings were saved, Thompson estimated his loss at $20,000.
The owner's other commercial interests may have persuaded him to concentrate on them and not rebuild. For whatever reason, Thompson did not reconstruct his resort, but he had demonstrated the recreational potential of the Illinois River and the Cherokee Hills.
By the end of the 20th century, the Illinois River had become a major source of tourism in the Tahlequah area. It attracted approximately half a million tourists and generated $9 million in revenue annually. James Thompson's pioneering Sycamore Inn demonstrated the potential for tourism in the valley of Oklahoma's Illinois River.
___
Information from: Tahlequah Daily Press, http://www.tahlequahdaailypress.com
This is an AP Member Exchange shared by the Tahlequah Daily Press
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
