Ochiltree Speedway Association TX
Ochiltree Speedway Auto Races, 1916
By Don Capps from ‘Rear View Mirror’ Vol 9, No 1.
8w.forix.com/rvm-vol9-no1.html
31 32
An interesting thing that happens as one slogs through the grind of looking at newspapers or magazines for those elusive nuggets of information that will hopefully enlighten and/or connect a few dots is stumbling across items that often leave you hanging and then wondering about the rest of the story. The latest of these is the case regarding an advertisement I discovered regarding an event held at the Ochiltree Speedway in June 1916. This was an event that was completely new to me. Indeed, I was not even sure what part of Texas that Ochiltree was to found in, knowing that it had to be close to Beaver, Oklahoma – wherever that was.
I did find Beaver, Oklahoma. It is out in the Oklahoma Panhandle. I also discovered that while there is a Ochiltree County in the Texas Panhandle just south of Beaver, I could not find a town by that name. The county seat is Perryton, which, I thought at first was simply Ochiltree renamed, something not unknown in the United States. This was not the case, however.
Ochiltree was once a relatively thriving town in the northern part of the Texas Panhandle. When the lines of counties were redrawn in the late Nineteenth Century, in this case 1876, and Ochiltree became the county seat of what was now Ochiltree County in 1889, four years after it was the town was established. The town and county were named after William Beck Ochiltree, who was an official during the Texas Republic and later an officer in the Confederate army. As it turns out, there is still, apparently, an unincorporated community named Ochiltree, which is located about fifteen miles south of Perryton.
As was often the case in the matter of towns thriving or disappearing, it was that the railroad was built north of Ochiltree, through Perryton, that led to its demise. Once the railroad was in place, Ochiltree quickly disappeared, with Perryman, which was laid out by those building the railroad, becoming the county seat in 1919 and Ochiltree largely abandoned by 1920.33
The Ochiltree Speedway is not found in Allan Brown’s The History of America’s Speedways Past & Present.34 This was not that much of a surprise, having come across any number of tracks – and their particulars – that Brown does not have listed. I also began to wonder if there were other events after 1916. I did find a reference to another event in September 1916…
35
… but I was unable to discover any results for the races that may have been held.
One of the (several) reasons that the Ochiltree Speedway and its events caught my attention was that it continues to demonstrate the ubiquitous nature of American automobile racing, race tracks and events pooping up in often unlikely times and places, the Texas Panhandle of 1916 filling that bill. It also reinforces the notion that it is a fool’s mission to think that we will ever have a sense of “completeness” or “mission accomplished” when it comes to The Record of American Automobile Racing.
I should add that I have not been able to find a lake in the vicinity of what would be the former site of Ochiltree that could be the possible location of the Ochiltree Speedway. This is certainly one venue that could correctly be filed under the category “Lost Speedway.”
Ochiltree Speedway Association TX
Ochiltree Speedway Auto Races, 1916
By Don Capps from ‘Rear View Mirror’ Vol 9, No 1.
8w.forix.com/rvm-vol9-no1.html
31 32
An interesting thing that happens as one slogs through the grind of looking at newspapers or magazines for those elusive nuggets of information that will hopefully enlighten and/or connect a few dots is stumbling across items that often leave you hanging and then wondering about the rest of the story. The latest of these is the case regarding an advertisement I discovered regarding an event held at the Ochiltree Speedway in June 1916. This was an event that was completely new to me. Indeed, I was not even sure what part of Texas that Ochiltree was to found in, knowing that it had to be close to Beaver, Oklahoma – wherever that was.
I did find Beaver, Oklahoma. It is out in the Oklahoma Panhandle. I also discovered that while there is a Ochiltree County in the Texas Panhandle just south of Beaver, I could not find a town by that name. The county seat is Perryton, which, I thought at first was simply Ochiltree renamed, something not unknown in the United States. This was not the case, however.
Ochiltree was once a relatively thriving town in the northern part of the Texas Panhandle. When the lines of counties were redrawn in the late Nineteenth Century, in this case 1876, and Ochiltree became the county seat of what was now Ochiltree County in 1889, four years after it was the town was established. The town and county were named after William Beck Ochiltree, who was an official during the Texas Republic and later an officer in the Confederate army. As it turns out, there is still, apparently, an unincorporated community named Ochiltree, which is located about fifteen miles south of Perryton.
As was often the case in the matter of towns thriving or disappearing, it was that the railroad was built north of Ochiltree, through Perryton, that led to its demise. Once the railroad was in place, Ochiltree quickly disappeared, with Perryman, which was laid out by those building the railroad, becoming the county seat in 1919 and Ochiltree largely abandoned by 1920.33
The Ochiltree Speedway is not found in Allan Brown’s The History of America’s Speedways Past & Present.34 This was not that much of a surprise, having come across any number of tracks – and their particulars – that Brown does not have listed. I also began to wonder if there were other events after 1916. I did find a reference to another event in September 1916…
35
… but I was unable to discover any results for the races that may have been held.
One of the (several) reasons that the Ochiltree Speedway and its events caught my attention was that it continues to demonstrate the ubiquitous nature of American automobile racing, race tracks and events pooping up in often unlikely times and places, the Texas Panhandle of 1916 filling that bill. It also reinforces the notion that it is a fool’s mission to think that we will ever have a sense of “completeness” or “mission accomplished” when it comes to The Record of American Automobile Racing.
I should add that I have not been able to find a lake in the vicinity of what would be the former site of Ochiltree that could be the possible location of the Ochiltree Speedway. This is certainly one venue that could correctly be filed under the category “Lost Speedway.”