Prairie City: The Story of an American Community

First published in 1944, Prairie City records the American frontier. Historian Debo, who came to Oklahoma Territory as a child, charts the life of a typical village from settlement through World War II. This is splendid social history, the quintessential American story of people and community. Debo portrays families building shelter, plowing prairie sod for crops, coping with drought and fire. The opening of the Cherokee Strip in 1893 doubled the size of Prairie City's trade territory; there were churches, a school, clubs, a volunteer band. The railroad arrived in 1902, followed by grain elevators. But not all was wellyoung people lacked educational opportunities, and the business population was unstable. The period between the two world wars saw an uprising from the Ku Klux Klan, bank failures and an oil boom. It would be instructive to have an update on Prairie City. Debo is now 95 years old and, we are told, ""lives and works'' in Oklahoma. Photos. History Book Club alternate. January