Archives and History

The conference Committee on Archives and History will be featuring a church, or churches, with their history in each edition of the Advocate. If your church has not submitted a history to the committee, you may want to do that as soon as possible. Space will determine how many we will be able to feature in each edition.

Salt Creek Okcvn' Hvtce

The Salt Creek Methodist Church had its beginnings probably somewhere between 1874-1879 and probably got its' start from some members of Tuckabatchee Church which was located three miles northeast of the current town of Wewoka. It is believed that John Reed, Cohar Rakko Harjo, Long George, Joe Buck, James Yarbrouh and others such as Newmen Harjo and Edmund Harjo were the core group that started the early beginnings of Salt Creek.

The first Quarterly Conference for Hitchitee Circuit was held at Thlopthlocco on November 8, 1879, the second was held at Tuckabatchee on February 28, 1880 and the third was held at Salt Creek on July 10, 1880. The 1880 circuit rider was Rev. Moses Siya (Sawyer); Presiding Elder was Rev. W.S. Derrick and Bishop Pierce. The fourth quarterly conference was held at Tuckabutchee on August 6, 1881 and Brother Long George was recommended by the Salt Creek Society and was given the license to preach. The person most responsible for the founding of Salt Creek Church is John Reed.

The date is not known, but a log cabin was built near the yard of Litly Scott that established a dayschool for Indian children. The new site was approximately 1/4 mile north of the present location. The building was also used for holding tribal court, and on occasions religious services. A few years later a building was built about 200 yards from the log cabin to hold religious services. Unfortunately, the building was located on the section line road.

The building was moved 1/2 mile east of the current location and was located where Rev. Butler Deer's present home now stands. In 1910 the building was moved to the present location, when the Dawes Commission designated one acre for a church site on the corner. On December 6, 1915, the Board of Trustees bought 2.5 acres from Butler and Sarah (Manley) Deer for $50. The present campus consists of 3.5 acrees.

"Rev. Thomas Long, Sr. became wealthy in oil and he contributed Salt Creek with a new church edifice in 1921, costing him in the nieghborhood of $3,200 for both the building and furniture. The orignial church was moved and became the Camp house of George Long and Betty McKane's family on campus. In the year of 1941, the church trustees erected a new tabernacle costing $750. It is one of the most beautiful structures ever built in this area or in the Creek District. It has cobblestone piers arched with red bricks and it has a concrete stage, background with rock veneer wall showing a beautiful Holy Cross up in the center wall." (Hisotry of Salt Creek Methodist Church by Rev. George Long, May 3, 1947).

Salt Creek entertained Indian Mission Conference(s) in 1921, 1925, 1936, 1943, 1944 and 1953.

Today the membership of the church has declined with the younger generation moving off to larger towns and cities to seek jobs and a better quality of life. However, many of the city dwellers do come home to Salt Creek to attend the 2nd and 4th Sundays and some retirees have returned to help keep the church going.

A new fellowship hall was built in 2000 and major efforts are underway to restore the church bulding to its orignial state. The church is located 8 miles north of Holdenville and two miles east or 7 miles west of Wetumka and 2 miles south. Church services are conducted on alternating Sundays, the doors are always open and if you are in the area please join us for services and a good home cooked meal. We are probably one of the last traditional Methodist churches in OIMC.