Braggs is a town in Muskogee County,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, United States. The population was 270 as of the 2020 census. The town is best known as the site of

Camp Gruber Camp Gruber is an Oklahoma Army National Guard (OKARNG) training facility. It covers a total of . The base is named after Brigadier General Edmund L. Gruber, a noted artillery officer and the original composer of the U.S. Field Artillery Mar ...

, a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

military cantonment that was the home base of the 42nd Infantry Division (Rainbow Division) and the 88th Infantry Division (Blue Devil Division).B. J. Brooks, "Braggs," ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
Accessed May 2, 2015

History

This town was named Patrick, Indian Territory, on May 2, 1886, for John J. Patrick, its first postmaster. On September 10, 1888, it was renamed for a prominent landowner, Solomon Bragg. Braggs remained a small farming town through the first part of the 20th century. During its early years, the community was regularly visited by outlaws such as the

Cook Gang Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * Ch ...

Cherokee Bill Crawford Goldsby (February 8, 1876 – March 17, 1896), also known by the alias Cherokee Bill, was an American outlaw. Responsible for the murders of eight men (including his brother-in-law), he and his gang terrorized the Indian Territory for o ...

and

Henry Starr Henry Starr (December 2, 1873 – February 22, 1921) was an American outlaw of the frontier and an actor of the silent film era. Biography Early life Starr's parents were Mary Scott Starr and George Starr. Distantly related to Sam Starr, hus ...

. In 1942, the U. S. Army created a military cantonment named Camp Gruber, just outside town. The camp cost about $30 million and brought a surge of prosperity to Braggs. The camp covered and trained thousands of new soldiers during World War II. Part of the camp was used to house captured German military men, until they were repatriated after the war. The camp was deactivated in 1947, ending the prosperity for Braggs Camp Gruber reopened in 1977 as a training facility for reserve and active duty units. It became the home for the National Guard Air Assault School in 1987.

Geography

Braggs is in eastern Muskogee County, east of the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...

along State Highway 10. It is south of

Fort Gibson Fort Gibson is a historic military site next to the modern city of Fort Gibson, in Muskogee County Oklahoma. It guarded the American frontier in Indian Territory from 1824 to 1888. When it was constructed, the fort was farther west than any ot ...

and north of

Gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manito ...

. Muskogee, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, is to the northwest by road. Braggs is bordered to the north and east by

,Map of Camp Gruber
Retrieved June 9, 2014 an

Oklahoma Army National Guard The Oklahoma Army National Guard is the Army National Guard component of the Oklahoma National Guard. The Commander-in-Chief of the Oklahoma National Guard is the Governor of Oklahoma. He appoints the State Adjutant General (TAG) who is a Major G ...

(OKARNG) training facility. It is bordered to the south and west by the

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

of Sand Hill. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, Braggs has a total area of , all land. Sand Creek touches the southeast corner of the town as it flows westerly toward the Arkansas River.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 301 people, 123 households, and 86 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 137 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 75.42%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.66%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 14.95% Native American, 0.33%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.33% from other races, and 7.31% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.33% of the population. There were 123 households, out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.5% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 104.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.3% were non-families. 26.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.92. In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.6% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 164. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $21,750, and the median income for a family was $22,500. Males had a median income of $20,938 versus $20,938 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $11,396. About 23.5% of families and 31.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 50.0% of those under the age of eighteen and 8.9% of those 65 or over.

Notable people

* Kevin King - Former baseball pitcher for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

* Archie Sam - Scholar and Sun Chief of the

Natchez people ttps://archive.org/details/dcouverteett01marg The Internet Archive website The Natchez ( , ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area in the Lower Mississippi Valley, n ...

Watt Sam file:Watt_Sam_1908.jpg, Watt Sam in 1908 holding a bow. From a series of photos taken by John R. Swanton, near Braggs, Oklahoma. Watt Sam (October 6, 1876 – July 1, 1944) was a Natchez people, Natchez storyteller and cultural historian of Braggs, ...

and Nancy Raven- the last two native speakers of the

Natchez language The Natchez language is the ancestral language of the Natchez people who historically inhabited Mississippi and Louisiana, and who now mostly live among the Muscogee and Cherokee peoples in Oklahoma. The language is considered to be either unrela ...

Sarah Vowell Sarah Jane Vowell (born December 27, 1969) is an American historian, author, journalist, essayist, social commentator, and actress. She has written seven nonfiction books on American history and culture. Vowell was a contributing editor for the r ...

- Author

Notes

References

External links

''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' - Braggs
{{authority control Towns in Muskogee County, Oklahoma Towns in Oklahoma Populated places within the Cherokee Nation reservation Populated places established in 1886 1886 establishments in Indian Territory