Clear skies. Low around 70F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

Clear skies. Low around 70F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.

Original Enid Bottling Co. glass bottles.

The Great American Desert was what Enid and Northwest Oklahoma was named by early-day travelers. At the Cherokee Strip Land Run on Sept. 16, 1893, the name seemed to come alive.

There were 100,000 people ready to stake a claim on an available 37,000, 160-acre homesteads for either a free farm or town lot. The area was gripped by a depression with interest rates as high as 60%.

Our pioneers were tough, independent-minded and self-reliant. After the land run, they would endure three years of consecutive crop failures. Many stayed as if they had nowhere else to go. However, there was one who could see possibilities that others could not.

An exhibit at the 1893 World’s Fair showed the Territory of Oklahoma. The principal materials of the exhibit were sorghum and corn.

A 19-year-old young man was quite impressed with the exhibit and decided to come to Oklahoma Territory. His name was Richard E.P. Messall. He was born in Kansas on Jan. 16, 1874, to Gottlieb and Amelia Messall, who were native Germans before coming to America.

Richard graduated from high school and was a good scholar. He was a recognized athlete earning many honors. His father had a bottling business in Marysville, Kan., where Richard worked and learned the trade.

Richard announced to his parents that he and his brother, Frank, were going to the land run in the Cherokee Outlet. The parents rightfully asked, “Why? Neither one of you are 21 yet, so you can’t participate.”

However, Richard saw a need and an opportunity to provide for that need.

As it turned out, the parents joined the brothers at the land run opening.

Richard brought with him on the train a “knocked-down” wooden building along with bottling machinery.

“Who wouldn’t pay a nickel for a good drink of water?” he asked.

The run was on a Saturday. While others raced, he built the first manufacturing plant in Enid named Enid Bottling Works with everything installed by Tuesday.

Enid’s first business stood at 923 W. Broadway. Richard began bottling mineral water from Government Springs, which had various springs, each with a different type of mineral water. Government Springs was indeed the oasis of the Cherokee Strip. Everyone from the early day explorers to the Indians to the cattle drives along the Chisholm Trail knew of the good water stop at the Springs.

Richard labeled the water “Cherokee Springs Water.” He began selling it that Tuesday, and it was reported that he sold 200 cases by nightfall, which was 4,800 bottles of water.

He prospered from the start. Some thought the water might have special medicinal qualities. In 1914, Dr. G.A. Boyle opened the Enid Springs Sanitarium and Bath House to capitalize on the health-restoring water at Government Springs.

Original Enid Bottling Co. glass bottles.

In 1895, Richard married Amelia Jaedicke of Hanover, Kan., whose father was a banker. They would have two children, Irene Viola and Victor Richard. He turned out to be quite the entrepreneur. He accepted the agency for several of the largest brewers in the country and became involved in the grocery business, plus installed the first Enid telephone system.

The telephone system was established on the condition that 50 subscribers could be secured and that they should pay six-months’ rentals in advance. After three months, the company could not fulfill its contract so Richard took a half interest and sold it for $1,500 to save the company and protect the subscribers who had come in through his solicitation.

Richard next moved into the real estate arena, building many business and office buildings. He donated the land and organized the fundraising to build an opera house on East Broadway for the new city to have entertainment. The money was raised by subscription, lottery and donations.

The brick building was built around 1899 to welcome theatrical troupes, including opera singers. Its first name was “The Sons of Hermann Opera House,” according to The Wichita Eagle of Aug. 6, 1899.

Richard was president of the Enid Sons of Hermann Club for many years. It later was called Schiller Hall or just “the old Opera House.” From 1903 to 1907, Enid High School met upstairs. Five recitation rooms and an assembly room provided room for the high school. In the Enid Events of Jan. 11, 1906, it is stated that Richard sold the opera house to the Enid Club for $15,000. He would stay on as secretary of the Enid Club.

A Mr. Shoemaker would be the manager of the opera house. He would make it modern in every way to accommodate the best show troupes traveling. The opera house was enlarged to 1,600 seats and was called Stater Theatre. Vaudeville acts would perform there for Enid residents’ entertainment. The Enid Daily Eagle of May 23, 1911, referred to a big winding staircase in the building.

Richard then started an ice business and organized the first Garfield County Fair Association, of which he was president. He then helped build the first courthouse.

Richard was treasurer of the school board and a member of the city council for many years. He was elected to the sixth legislative assembly and was a member of the staff of Gov. Cassius Barnes. He also acted as paymaster general with the rank of major. He established a German newspaper and operated a wheat farm. His energy, hard work and vision helped shape Enid into a regional trade center.

Richard E.P. Messall died, age 54, at his home, 1915 E. Maine, with his wife, Amelia, and two children by his bedside on Jan. 10, 1928. Funeral services were at Brown Funeral Home Chapel the same afternoon with burial in Enid Cemetery. The Enid Elks conducted the service.

The Enid Morning News of July 25, 1971, reported Pruett Blackwell “found an old hand-blown glass bottle from Richard’s bottled water days while cleaning out the closets at the Bass Building. The quality of the glass left much to be desired by modern standards, and the air bubbles in the thick parts testify to its origins in the days of hand-blown glass.”

The Oklahoman of June 16, 1984, published an article by Michael McNutt about “History Buffs taking part in a treasure hunt from Enid’s First Industry.” It chronicled a “dig” to find a collection of old bottles and tools.

• Marshall Gettys, an archaeologist with the state’s Office of Historic Preservation, is certain the dig will result in the collection of old bottles and tools.

• “We’re looking to determine aspects of the history of this business and how it reflects on the history of Enid and on a broader picture of how it reflects on the development of the frontier West.”

• Messall, in 1900, moved his bottling company across the street from its original location where it flourished until he sold it in 1907. Volunteers will shave off the earth’s surface with garden and masonry trowels, digging four inches deep in areas of approximately three-square feet. The dig is a slow process.

• After the first layer was removed, glass pieces — brown, yellow, purple — could be seen scattered everywhere. To be sure nothing is disturbed, William Bentley, of Enid, is camping out at night at the dig.

• After being bagged and identified, the artifacts will go to Phillips University where they will be washed in a laboratory and cataloged before being sent to the University of Oklahoma museum for possible placing.

According to Susie Fishman-Armstrong, M.A., Collections Manager, Archaeology Division, at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of National History, Norman, the museum does not have any documentation or artifacts from the dig site. Kristina Wyckoff, the archaeologist with the Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office, likewise has no documentation or artifacts.

Richard E.P. Messall certainly ran his own race at the Land Run of the Cherokee Strip on Sept. 16, 1893. He was a declared winner, not on a horse but with a bottle of water.

A tip of the hat to Rick Simpson, great-great-grandson of Richard E.P. Messall, and his niece Jordy White, Terry Bergdall, Susie Fisherman-Strong of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of National History, and Kristina Wyckoff of the Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office for helping with this article.

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Cummings is a retired Enid businessman and historian who provides content for the Enid News & Eagle.

Have a question about this story? Do you see something we missed? Do you have a story idea for the News & Eagle? Send an email to enidnews@enidnews.com.

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