The whole Outlet had been cleared by troops of all of its inhabitants. Only officials and employees of the Federal Government and of the railroads remained. Except for "Sooners" hidden in canyons and other obscure places with their eyes on choice "Claims" Thousands of land hungry settlers lined up at the Kansas border hoping for some of the free land allotted by the US Government. Those who applied for the free land were required to be 21 years old or older. The settlers that staked land just seven miles across the Kansas border south of Corwin, Kansas were responsible for the birth of the new town of Byron, Oklahoma. Some of the people who made the run rode horse back; some were in horse and buggies. Others walked and a few drove cars to reach their destinations. Some of these brought their families. By night, tents and other crude living quarters were set up. A few people were greeted by “Sooners” who claimed to own the farms staked. Some of the land seekers pulled up stakes and moved on and others paid the price the Sooners asked for the free land. Since it was mid September, there was not enough time before winter to make stable homes. Many of the settlers lived in hand dug dugouts and a few made small sod houses. Prior to the Cherokee Outlet Run, seven counties were sectioned off. They were named K, L, M, N, O, P, and Q. Woods County was “M” county at the time of the run. In 1907, when Oklahoma became a state, Woods County was sectioned off into three counties. They were Woods, Alfalfa and Major. This placed Byron in Alfalfa County with the county seat at Cherokee, Oklahoma. Byron people could boast of living in three counties without ever moving. An article written by Mable Parsons Davis, the daughter of settler, Skip Parsons stated that she recalled that when her father staked his land, two men rode up to him and claimed they had staked his land prior to his arrival. They offered to sell the claim for five dollars. Her father and his brother knew they were Sooners, but to avoid a hassle; scraped up enough money between them to pay them. After the men collected the money, they rode off. She told of how her grandfather moved houses in Kansas for a living and furnished a wood frame house for her parents, making it the first frame home in the Byron area. Since there were virtually no trees in the new land and this had been cattle grazing country, cow chips were plentiful and used for stove fuel. After the first crop of corn was harvested, corncobs replaced the cow chips. A hastily built General store was set up for supplies for the settlement. It consisted of a half dugout facility with the upper portion made from local sod. The next spring sod houses were erected and a few frame homes. The need for supplies for those in this settlement brought about the building of the town of Byron. The first town of Byron was just south east of the new town. The town grew rapidly and within a few months a great little town was in the making. The first school was held in the back room in the home of Skip Parsons and taught by two Jones sisters. The only stipulation to attend school was for each student to bring their own chairs. The school term was for only three months. That was the average length of schooling in those days. The Byron post office was established on April 27, 1894 with Victoria Spurrier acting as the first postmistress. The town was named Byron for her husband Byron Spurrier. In 1899 and 1990, the Kansas City, Mexican, Orient Railroad Corporation surveyed the area for a suitable place for a railroad line. They decided the railroad should pass through the area to the south east of old Byron. The settlers brought in a depot and set it up near the railroad tracks and soon the Orient Railroad came through. Most of the old town was physically moved to the new location while a few people moved to the Amorita settlement two miles north. In 1900, Mr. A.J. Ross and Mr. T. Dudly Nash set up a publishing company They began publishing the “Byron Republican” a weekly newspaper. Mr. Ross was the owner and publisher and Mr. Nash was the editor. The subscription rates were one dollar per year, fifty cents for six months or three months for twenty five cents. The paper usually consisted of four pages with local news, “The Washington Letter” and “As the World Revolves” articles, tax payer notices and other items of interest. The April 5, 1901 edition of the newspaper stated that the “new Byron” was established. The article read on as follows; “ It will be one mile south and one half mile east of the old town. Our new town is at last located. W.C. Edwards succeeded in Securing suitable land for our town site. He purchased a quarter section from John Rankin, one 80 A of the Dean Botteman farm and forty acres of the Sterling Brown farm”. A Presbyterian Church was built from funds raised by women of the town. They made and sold ice cream with donated ingredients from other residents. They made quilts and charged the participants ten cents each to have their names inscribed on the back of each block. This church was later moved to Amorita with 60 head of horses doing the work. The Byron Christian Church was erected in 1904 and dissolved in August 2008. The Cowboy Church “Riding for Him” acquired the building and held their church services there soon after. The other church in Byron; was a Methodist Church which was built in 1903 and disbanded many years ago. In 1901 Byron got their first telephone service. The telephone poles and lines ran along the side of the Orient Railroad tracks. The same year, a new school house was erected by South Western Bell. School opened that fall in the two room school and pupils were taught by two teachers. By February of 1902, the town boasted of two banks, two general stores, two hardware stores, two restaurants, two barber shops, a Post Office, an Odd Fellows Hall, a meat market, one hotel, a real estate office, a livery stable, a pool hall, a furniture store with a funeral parlor in the back and a couple of saloons. The next year several more business was added to the list. Oklahoma became a state in 1907 and some laws changed. Railroad rates went up. Saloons were closed due to prohibition. Jim Crow cars were added and separate waiting rooms were added to all of the depots. No blacks lived in the area, but a very few traveled through Byron by train. Over the next few years Byron grew and prospered. Soon WWI was upon us and some of the sons of the community left for military service. This created a hardship on the farm families. The sons help was vital to their farm family income. The girls had to fill in for their brothers in the farm operation. Some of the soldiers never returned to the home community after the war. The use of steel for guns and other military weaponry made a shortage of steel for farm implements as well. The Byron Newspaper office closed in 1919. Local news came from Cherokee some 14 miles south west of Byron after that. In 1922 a new brick school was built for the high school and elementary Students. It was well attended and had a great curriculum. The school was active until 1951 when the school integrated with the Driftwood school. Both schools were renamed Byron-Driftwood. High school students attended classes at Driftwood the grade school students attended school at Byron. In 1970 Byron-Driftwood integrated with Burlington School, taking their name. Few of the graduates located in the Byron area after they graduated from college. Byron did not grow economically during the mid twenties. People began moving to larger towns and the farms began to decrease in number, but increased in size as more prosperous farmers bought the farms. Farmhands moved on as equipment increased and they were not needed. The “Dirty Thirties” or “Dust Bowl” days were brought about by drought and the greed of farmers trying to farm every inch of land by plowing up more grassland, which in turn the Oklahoma winds started the drought stricken and barren land to blow. Crops were lost and most barely had enough to eat. Many of the people heard about the good life in California and packed up their cars and trucks with just the bare necessities and set out for California by way of route 66. This brought about more of a decline to the town of Byron. The strong willed people stayed behind and braved the elements until better times came about when the drought ended. In 1941 WWII began and another bevy of young men went off to war, leaving conditions much the same as during WWI. Many of the young women went to larger cities to work in factories. A few young women joined a branch of the Military. The Byron population declined rapidly after this. Each year more businesses closed its door. By 1947, there was little business left in Byron. Lois Guffy recalls the post office with Post master Ed Wilson, Pat Graham’s Grocery, Winter’s Nu Way Market with a laundry in the back, two restaurants; one owned by Zelma Beard Lembke and the other called the Dew Drop Inn operated by Guy Morris, Vern Tucker’s gas station and garage, Butch White’s barber shop and a domino parlor in the back, C.A. Johnson’s drug store, Jake Grim’s creamery and feed store combined, and a telephone office with Maggie DeVeney as the telephone operator. As of 2015, the Byron business district consists of the B & R corner café; the Amorita-Byron Fire station, Byron South Central Telephone Communication office, the Alfalfa County Barn district #1 and one Church; Cowboy Church Riding High For Jesus. 
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Created December 21, 2020
Updated: 13 June, 2021
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