Bathsheba (Hebrew: בת שבע, Bat Sheva, "daughter of the oath") or Bethsheba is a ghost town that was located in Oklahoma, United States. While its exact location is unknown, it was located between Enid, Oklahoma and Perry, Oklahoma. The town was created to be a utopia for women and no men were allowed. Even male animals were barred from the colony.[1] The town is also the subject of a realistic fiction book by Barbara DeVault entitled A Gentle Breed: The Story of Bathsheba, A Town Without Men.

Demographics

Its population consisted of 33 females, 12 of whom left the town after one week.[2] The town's government consisted of a mayor, a police chief and a city council. The police chief's primary function was to guard the community from possible male visitors.[3] It existed for a period of about 12 weeks before its residents vacated.[4]

History

In 1961, Oklahoma historian Robert Cunningham retold the story of an unnamed Kansas reporter who visited the settlement and was shot at by the female police chief while exploring the settlement from afar. A crowd of other colonists had gathered, and fled to their tents after the incident. The reporter later returned to the settlement at the request of his editor to find only prairie.[5]

The existence of Bethsheba is disputed by scholars. In researching for his book Ghost Towns of Oklahoma, Dr. John W. Morris was "unable to specifically locate" the town.[6]

The Daisy Colonists

Female boomer, Annette Daisy, gathered thirty-four women to establish a homestead "across the sacred borders of which no man shall pass."[7] The Daisy Colonists settled on 480 acres (1.9 km2), a few miles west of Ponca. This settlement had two houses and four shelters by December 1893.[8] While the story is similar, neither the town name of Bethsheba nor Annette Daisy appear in Garfield County records.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Morris, J.W., "To the reader," Ghost towns of Oklahoma, page 9
  2. ↑ Morris, John Wesley Ghost towns of Oklahoma, page 9
  3. ↑ "Cherokee Strip Museum - Perry, Oklahoma".
  4. ↑ Shirk, George; Wright, Muriel H (1987). Oklahoma Place Names. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-8061-2028-7.
  5. ↑ Jerman, Emily (June 3, 2009). "Single frontier women took part in Oklahoma 1893 land run". Oklahoma Gazette. Archived from the original on July 15, 2010. Retrieved April 13, 2010.
  6. 1 2 Word, Ron, "???Bethsheba???", Associated Press, Enid Daily Eagle, January 13, 1981, reprinted in Garfield County Oklahoma 1907-1982, Vol 2., pgs 844-845
  7. ↑ "Into the Promised Land," New York Times, September 17, 1893
  8. ↑ "Woman's World", Star, Issue 4833, 23 December 1893, Page 3


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