Dela, Oklahoma
Appearance
Dela | |
---|---|
Unincorporated | |
Coordinates: 34°12′01″N 95°31′20″W / 34.20028°N 95.52222°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Oklahoma |
County | Pushmataha |
Named for | Dela M. Whitaker |
GNIS feature ID | 1100348[1] |
Dela is an unincorporated community in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States, located six miles southeast of Antlers. It is within the jurisdiction of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
A
schoolteacher.[2]
Dela was originally known as White Church, or Itissa Busha in the
Choctaw Indians. The date of its construction is unknown, but antedated the settlement in 1886 of nearby Antlers; the earliest grave in its cemetery is dated 1883. When built it was located in what was then Cedar County, a part of the Apukshunnubbee District of the Choctaw Nation.[3]
In the early 1870s, Colonel Victor M. Locke established a prosperous
grist mill and cotton gin
at White Church on White Creek. The Choctaw National Council named the settlement “Lockestown,” at least for use in identifying it as an official Choctaw electoral precinct.
Locke moved from White Church to Beaver, as Antlers was then known, in 1875.[4]
The
logs for the Methodist church were hauled from Fort Towson for construction. They were whitewashed with lime, leading to the name of Itissa Busha, of White Church, by the Choctaw. By the late 1930s, historical accounts say the Choctaw who formerly lived nearby and worshiped here were deceased and the church was defunct. The church property was purchased by a white farmer, who razed the structure. Its cemetery survives as Dela Cemetery.[5]
References
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Dela, Oklahoma
- ^ George H. Shirk, Oklahoma Place Names, p. 61
- ^ The grave is that of Japhie Locke, who died in 1886, likely connected to Colonel Victor M. Locke, an early settler. Pushmataha County Cemeteries, p. 143; Morris, John W. Historical Atlas of Oklahoma (Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1986), plate 38.
- ^ “Colonel Victor M. Locke, Jr.”, Indian-Pioneer Papers, Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries.
- ^ “Bud Boyd”, Indian-Pioneer Papers, Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries