On Sept. 25, 2024, Lake Eufaula observed the 60th anniversary of its official opening.
President Lyndon Johnson was flown by helicopter from Muskogee to a site southwest of the dam where he spoke to a crowd of more than 30,000.
“This is a great day for the Sooners. I thank you for letting a Texan have a little slice of it. But Texans and the people of Oklahoma alike share the memories of the days before dams like this remade the earth,” he said.
Before the dam, McIntosh County experienced frequent flooding.
Floodwaters, in 1903, claimed the life of one of the area’s most prominent citizens, Alexander Posey, esteemed journalist.
Floods in 1904, 1921 and in other decades destroyed brides, crops, homes and lives.
Finally, in the 1930s, Congress decided to do something about it.
Three decades before Johnson dedicated the Eufaula dam, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers drew up plans for 23 flood-control projects around the nation.
In December 1934, a Eufaula reservoir was included in a plan for future appropriations for development of systems of navigation, waterpower, flood control and irrigation.
The local reservoir’s slice of the pie would be $1,350,000.
Governor-elect E.W. Marland named a committee to promote those developments within Oklahoma.
But decades would pass before the 1934 seed of a plan bore fruit in McIntosh County.
The Eufaula Indian Journal reported in May 1923 the “wettest spring this section of the country has known for years,” and in October of the same year it reported the “Canadian Rivers Run Wild” with 500 feet of rail track carried off and highways “Under 10 feet of Water.”
In June 1945 a sevenfoot rise in the North Canadian River took out 148 feet of railroad trestle, the disaster following closely on the heels of record-breaking flooding in mid-April, which saw over 1,000 feet of the railroad lines swept away.
Headlines follow the progress
The following headlines covering the next 18 years highlights the progress of the reservoir’s development, which experienced a lot of turmoil before construction finally began – including whether there should be one or two dams or any dam at all, whether landowners were receiving a fair price for their property.
Thursday, Jan. 31, 1946 Army Engineers To Hold Meet
A survey report on the Arkansas river and tributaries for improvement in the interest of navigation, flood control and power development and other water uses, which was prepared in compliance with several congressional acts and committee resolutions by a special board, is now under consideration by the War Department.
Thursday, May 9, 1946 Eufaula Dam Is Incorporated in Arkansas Plans
Local Project Is Included in Huge Flood Control Job
A $54,395,000 Eufaula dam was included in a $500,000,000 project designed to develop the Arkansas River Valley Basin which was presented to Congress Wednesday by spokesmen from Oklahoma and Arkansas.
The improvements on the rivers in this basin include flood control, power production, irrigation and navigation possibilities.
Thursday, May 23, 1946 McIntosh County Democrat
Lake Eufaula to be Largest in Southwest The proposed Eufaula reservoir on the Canadian river, 15 miles southeast of Checotah, will be the largest artificial lake in the southwest and the fourth largest in the nation, a recent survey reveals.
The Eufaula project is the capstone of the flood control structure in the Arkansas Valley.
Wide benefits to eastern Oklahoma, including the development of industry, are envisioned for all the towns surrounding the proposed lake including Checotah, Eufaula, McAlester, Haileyville, Stigler, Porum, Henryetta and Okmulgee.
The Eufaula dam is designed for flood control, silt control, power and an aid to navigation through regulated water flow.
Thursday, July 11, 1946 McIntosh County Democrat Dam Fate Depends on President Immediate action to prepare the ground for construction of the $54,000,000 Eufaula dam project on the South Canadian River, 15 miles southeast of Checotah, will take place if President Truman signs the river and harbors bill which was placed on his desk Thursday.
Thursday, May 16, 1946
Eufaula Dam Gets Top-flight Priority By U.S. Engineers Clearing its first congressional hurdle, the U.S. Army Engineers’ huge river development program, in which the Canadian rivers at Eufaula are an integral part, was granted $55,000,000 to get the projects underway.
Thursday, May 30, 1946
Congressman Stigler to Work For Early Passage Eufaula Of Project The Arkansas river navigation bill and the 1946 flood control bill, both of vital importance to Oklahoma and the second district, have been reported out of committee and are expected to come before the house for final passage next week, according to a telegram just received form Congressman W.G. Stigler, who said that he would remain in Washington another week to do all he can to secure passage of this important legislation.
Thursday, July 25, 1946 McIntosh County Democrat Truman Approves Big Canadian Dam The bill authorizing construction of the $54,000,000 Canadian river dam was signed by President Truman this week, it was stated in Associated Press dispatches from Washington.
It may be a year or longer before actual work gets started on the huge project.
Thursday, August 29, 1946 McIntosh County Democrat
Eufaula Dam Work
Halted Indefinitely
Division Engineer Says Brakes Put On Project Construction of the great $55,000,000 Eufaula dam on the Canadian river has been indefinitely delayed, as a result of the recent action of Congress, Col. Henry Hutchins, Jr., southwestern division engineer of Dallas, stated in a letter to the Democrat this week.
Thursday, August 1, 1946 Gov. Bob Kerr To Speak Here On September 5 To explain proposed Eufaula dam Gov. Robert S. Kerr will visit Eufaula Thursday, September 5 for the purpose of explaining his views on the proposed Eufaula dam, it was announced here today by Joe M. Whitaker.
Thursday, April 24, 1947 North Canadian Bridge May Be Opened to Traffic June 15 With good weather to speed the work, the new bridge over the North Canadian River on Highway 69 may be opened to traffic by June 15, and almost certainly by July 1, Wayne Williams, construction foreman, reported this week.
The old bridge was washed out by flood waters two years ago this month.
Thursday, June 19, 1947 Canadian Bridge May Open by July 1 With only finishing work requiring but a few hours’ time remaining to be done, Officials of Moran and Bukner, Muskogee contractors, predicted that the North Canadian river bridge on Highway 69 would be opened for traffic by July 1.
Thursday, July 17, 1947 Expert Says Eufaula Dam Is Key to Flood Control To obtain funds for planning the proposed huge Eufaula reservoir just above the junction of the Canadian rivers with the Arkansas is Oklahoma’s goal in the present session of Congress.
Thursday, July 31, 1947 Eufaula Lake Funds Assured In a telegraph message to John Castle, his former campaign manager here, Sen. Elmer Thomas announced last weekend that he had secured $500,000 for planning of the Eufaula reservoir in the Congressional appropriations bill approved by joint committees of the House and Senate.
Eufaula Slated to Get Office of Dam Engineers Eufaula civic leaders, including both business and professional men, met Tuesday night to greet Army engineers from the Tulsa District, who have charge of the engineers’ work in the building of the Eufaula Dam.
The visit to Eufaula was made primarily to determine the adequacy of housing and office space necessary to the setting up of engineering offices here where the vast task of planning the dam, surveying the land and planning the development will be carried on.
Col. C.H. Chorpening insinuated the offices will definitely be located here, and that between 50 and 75 men will start moving in within two weeks to a month.
Thursday, July 24, 1947 Senate Group Asks Money For Eufaula Dam Prospects for early action on the Eufaula Dam project were heightened this week by an action of the senate appropriations subcommittee. The group included an item of $500,000 for planning on the local project.
The House previously had voted $134,434,000 for the projects for flood control construction in Oklahoma.
Thursday, August 7, 1947
Survey Engineers Prepare to Open Eufaula Offices George Shepherd, until recently in charge of an engineering project at Fort Smith, will be in charge of the Eufaula office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, conducting the preliminary survey on the $50 million Canadian river dam and lake project.
Survey of Housing for Engineers Underway Dam Survey Makes Housing Need Urgent in City In order to help U.S. Army engineers and their families establish homes in Eufaula during the survey for the Canadian river dam and lake project, the Business and Professional Women’s club this week began a survey of the available rooms, homes and apartments in the city.
Thursday, August 14, 1947 Dam Engineers Set Up Offices In City Hall U.S. Army Engineers, making the preliminary survey for the Eufaula dam and reservoir on the Canadian river east of town, established offices in the City Hall this week and began their organization of work crews to lay the groundwork for the $68 million project.
Thursday, August 28, 1947
Survey Force Half Complete
With its survey crew approximately halfway completed, the Eufaula office of the U.S. Army Engineers headed by G.D. Shepherd is engaged in preparation of topographic maps of the reservoir area to be affected by the dam across the Canadian river at the southeast corner of McIntosh County.
Shepherd said that some 45 men had been employed by the local office to date, and that a crew of almost 100 would be engaged in the survey work eventually. Core drilling at the dam site is expected to be started within the next two weeks.
Thursday, December 4, 1947 Eufaula, Sallisaw Join In Protesting Warner Army Housing Project Eufaula civic leaders have joined those of Sallisaw in a campaign to try to defeat the Army’s plan to establish a housing project at Warner for supervisory personnel for the Eufaula and Tenkiller dams.
Thursday, January 1, 1948 Dam Construction is Likely to be Started Eufaula had substantial growth in population during 1947 and business has expanded proportionately.
Some five dozen new homes in and near Eufaula have been constructed during the past 12 months and at least a dozen new business buildings have been erected.
George Shepherd, in charge of the preliminary work, said that engineering services would be required throughout the construction period and he announced “We expect to be here for about five years.”
Thursday, January 15, 1948 McIntosh County Democrat Truman asks for Cash to Build Dam Construction of
See DAM, page A7 Giant Project May Start By Fall
An appropriation of $3 million to start work on the Eufaula reservoir in 1948 has been requested by army engineers.
The Eufaula project was included in a list of 11 flood control projects totaling $26,577,000 in the message submitted to congress by President Truman Monday.
Appropriation bill reported out by the House appropriations committee Tuesday.
Thursday, March 25, 1948 McIntosh County Democrat
$1,000,000 IS APPROVED FOR COUNTY DAM SURVEY BIG RESERVOIR IS ABANDONED
An appropriation of $1 million to complete a preliminary survey for three proposed dams in McIntosh County to replace the giant Eufaula reservoir has been approved by a sub-committee of congress, it was reported by G.L Shepherd, resident engineer at Eufaula.
Approval for the funds was secured through the efforts of Congressman W.G. Stigler and Sen. Elmer Thomas.
Plans for the 163,000acre Eufaula reservoir were dropped by army engineers after it was revealed that the cost had increased to nearly $100 million and that the expense of moving Highway 69 and the M-K-T railroad was excessive. The relocation alone had been figured at $25 million.
Under the new proposal the engineers are planning separate dams on the South Canadian River, the North Canadian and Deep Fork combined and on Gaines Creek.
Thursday, December 2, 1948 Engineers Give Formal Notice Of Hearing On Reservoir Proposed 2 Dams To be Discussed Here Dec. 21 Formal notice of the public hearing on the North and South Canadian River sites of the Eufaula Reservoir, was issued this week by Col. C.H. Chorpening, district engineer of the Corps of Engineers, Tulsa.
The hearing will be held in the McIntosh County courthouse starting at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 21. At that time representatives of the Engineers Corps will be on hand to explain the proposed flood control project in detail and hear statements of all interested persons.
The project report has been completed over a two-year period and considers the building of the two alternate dams, and possibly a third in lieu of the one large dam located 12 miles east of Eufaula.
Thursday, December 9, 1948 City Dads Back 2-Dam Project Eufaula city dads led off in backing the twodam Eufaula Reservoir, by adopting resolutions favoring the project at their regular meeting Monday night.
At the same meeting, city attorney Harry Parris urged the council members, as individual businesses and professional men, to write to the U.S. Army Engineer’s office at Tulsa requesting and urging the project in the public interest.
Henryetta Man Heads Drive to Stop Eufaula Dam The Henryetta Daily Free-Lance announced Sunday that farmers in the Henryetta area are organizing to make a stand against the Eufaula reservoir project.
Heading the move to organize opposition is Harry C. Decker, Henryetta businessman who owns farmland in the proposed reservoir area.
Landowners in the area have been invited to meet at the Gulftown school house, six miles east of Henryetta, next Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, December 16, 1948 Public Hearing on Dams to be Held Tuesday
Public hearing on the proposed two-dam project for the North and South Canadian rivers will be held in Eufaula starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec.1. Both opposing and favorable groups are expected to be substantially represented, in response to the invitation of Col. C.H. Chorpening, district engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa.
Thursday, December 23, 1948 Neighboring Towns Air Hostile Views On Two-Dam Plan Here
Eufaula on record favoring two dams
Delegations from nine eastern Oklahoma cities and towns voiced their opposition to the two-dam Canadian river flood control project at the U.S. Army Engineers public hearing here Tuesday.
But Eufaula went on the record as favoring the Onapa-Canadian dams, while not opposing the one larger reservoir favored by most of the delegation.
Thursday, February 3, 1949 Engineers Say Two-Dam Plan Is Recommended The public relations office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa, revealed today that Col. C.H. Chorpening’s report on the survey for Canadian flood control, included a recommendation for the two-dam project.
Thursday, May 12, 1949 Reservoir Ceiling Is Assailed; Planning Fund Is Approved A Senate appropriations sub-committee approved a bill giving only enough money for additional planning of the Eufaula reservoir last Friday, thus striking another blow to hopes that the project would be started during the next fiscal year. The amount approved was $150,000, the same as voted by the House earlier.
Thursday, Jul 7, 1949
House Committee Action Revives Reservoir Talk Local observers consider the House public works committee’s action in hiking authorization for the Eufaula reservoir, a move to keep the project “alive,” and see no indication of early construction.
Sen. Robert S. Kerr announced Saturday that the committee had approved an increase of $15 million for the project, making a total authorization of $70 million.
Thursday, February 26, 1959 Curry Engineering Co.
Survey Around City The Army Corps of Engineers notified Guy Swadley Jr., mayor, Monday of this week, that Curry Engineering company of Muskogee had been awarded the contract for an instrument survey of lots and land in and near Eufaula to determine just how much will be required for acquisition for Eufaula lake.
Thursday, March 5, 1959 Eufaula Council Wants Dike Built At Cemetery Mayor Guy Swadley received council approval Monday night to tell the Tulsa engineers Tuesday at a meeting in Tulsa that Eufaula city officials favored a dike to hold off lake waters from the Eufaula cemetery, rather than move from 350 to 400 graves from the southwest twofifths of the cemetery.
Thursday, April 16, 1959
Engineers Set To Sell
Buildings
Tulsa District Army Engineers announced that the sale of dwellings and real estate buildings located in the Eufaula reservoir area totaled $1,115,840.
The Engineers received acceptable bids only on five of the eight items offered for sale to the highest bidder.
Thursday, June 4, 1959 Reservoir Funds Are Set For Area WASHINGTON – The House Appropriations Committee Tuesday approved more than 46 million dollars for water projects in Oklahoma in the fiscal year beginning July1. Most of it is for construction, but some is for planning.
In addition, Oklahoma will share in several millions allotted for work along the Arkansas River in both Arkansas.
Among other projects in Oklahoma, the Eufaula Reservoir on the Canadian east of Eufaula is being allocated $13,400,000 this fiscal year.
July 30, 1959
Construction of the Eufaula Dam project is 6 percent complete
June 25, 1964
President Johnson and his wife Lady Bird arrived by helicopter at the dedication site on the south side of the dam, greeted by more than 30,000 people.
So one can see 90 years after the initial planning of the Eufaula reservoir and all the re-planning year after year, Eufaula Dam was and still is a big deal 60 years later.
