From gunfights on the third floor to Bible studies in the parlor, the Dewey Hotel served as the center of all aspects of community life. In 1900, the three-story white Victorian towered above the empty prairies, housing rail travelers, rodeo performers, cowboys and oilfield roustabouts in its 31 rooms. Visitors to the recently-restored Dewey Hotel Museum can see what life would have been like in a turn of the century hotel.
Visitors may be lucky enough to get eighty-seven-year-old Don Thorpe as a tour guide. He is the only person still living in Dewey known to have stayed in the hotel, and two years ago, he became a docent, bringing the stories of the hotel to life for another generation.
“Buildings don’t make history,” Thorpe said. “People do.”
He enjoys telling of the hotel’s founder, Jake Bartles, who got so mad when the railroad went on the wrong side of the river that he put his general store on logs and rolled it up to Dewey, leaving behind the town named after him – Bartlesville. His wife – Nannie Journeycake Bartles – was the daughter of an Indian chief and a Baptist minister, and held Bible studies in the front parlor.
Historical photos of the town lining the walls of the museum foyer bring back the early oilfield days, and the front parlor, where the wealthier guests socialized, features a Steinway Grand Square Piano. Visitors take the creaking stairs to the second floor, where rooms are set up as if they were ready for 19th century hotel guests and the Bartles’ family living quarters have been recreated. The rooms feature historical artifacts of the area as well, including a civil war bugle and a display of historical dress from the Osage, Delaware and Cherokee tribes from the Bartlesville Indian Women’s Club.
"Buildings don’t make history. People do."
Museum docents also love to tell about the legendary poker room on the third floor. The third floor housed the cowboys and oil field workers and had its own private staircase so they didn’t run into the fancier guests staying on the second floor. The guests would play poker and drink – alcohol was declared illegal at statehood – late into the night. The wide windows in the turret gave a view of the street so they could see if the Sheriff was about to raid, and two hidey holes gave a place to stash anything they might not want him to see. According to local legend, one night a gunfight broke out when one cowboy accused another of cheating at cards. The man was shot and drug out to the front lawn, where he died. The museum staff keep poker chips, playing cards and empty liquor bottles on the poker table, as if the participants in the legendary game have just stepped out for a minute.
“If you want to see what life was like in 1900, come to the Dewey Hotel,” Jack Flaherty, head of the Washington County Historical Society, said. “ . . . (After the recent restoration work), it’ll last another 100 years.”
This article was originally published in the July/August 2018 issue of Oklahoma Today.