In 1866 the Cherokee Nation deeded a section of land in the Cherokee strip for a school for Indian children. The prairie land in this area was sparse of trees that stretched as far as the eye could see. In 1882 the Congress of the United States authorized a non-reservation boarding school to be constructed on the land. The first Superintendent of Indian Schools,Major James A. Haworth, inspected and selected the actual site, but deemed a section of land too small for a school of the magnitude he envisioned. He selected 1191.06 acres that was cut in two by a small stream now named Chilocco Creek. The creek lined with willows, red bud, elm and cottonwood, wound across the prairie to add its beauty to this land. This tract was later generously increased by the Cherokee to 8,640 acres.

The school was located approximately fifteen miles north of the present day Ponca City and three fourths of a mile west of highway 77.

The first building was constructed of limestone, quarried on the Chilocco reservation, and was fondly called "Major Haworth's Pet." He and his wife planned the one large four story building that was to house 150 students, the employees, the classrooms, kitchen, and dining rooms. The building opened its doors January 20, 1884 to approximately one hundred children from among several tribes to the south.

President Chester A Arthur signed an Executive order assigning the lands for the school on July 12, 1884. The school was established as a vocational educational school for Indian youth to afford a trade that would enable the Indian to integrate into the approved society. The idea of removing the Indian child from the influence of the Indian family culture also affected the decision to establish the school.

Home Two was built in 1884, and housed the smaller boys. In 1893, Home Three was erected, it housed the larger boys until 1923, when the smaller girls were moved into it. Home One was built in 1899 and housed the small boys. It only had ten rooms. In 1903 and 1909 additions were made and in 1923, final additions completed the building. Home Four was built for girls in 1903 and stood for thirty years, then burned in March 1933. It was rebuilt in modern style as nearly fireproof as possible and housed the tenth grade girls. A fire destroyed the school building in 1907. When it was rebuilt it was named Haworth Hall and was the academic building.

Home Five was erected in 1931 and was occupied by the junior and senior girls. A new building designated Home six, was constructed in 1932 with the junior and senior boys occupying it. Home one, Home Two and Home Three were demolished in the 1960's making way for a large new building called the "New Dormatory." A building for the machine shop was built in the 1960's. Chilocco's facilities eventually numbered over 100 buidings including a dining hall, a hosptal, and shops for vocational departments, employee cottages, large barns, a commissary and other buildings. From one stone building set up on the desolate prairie, Chilocco grew into one of the largest schools for Indians in the nation.The master plan for the campus was well thought out and as the buildings were built, trees were planted and grew. The once barren prairie was slowly becoming a place of beauty. The oval campus was used as a parade ground. In the beginning, the school was based on strict military discipline, which was foreign to the Indian children. Some children had a very hard time acclimating themselves to such a change, but being far from home, they had no choice but to remain. The military influence prevailed even into the late 1930's and early 1940's but it had slowly diminished through the years and gradually fazed out without fanfare.

Agriculture was taught as well as horseshoeing, blacksmithing, building trades, printing, shoe repair, tailoring, leather work, home making, cooking and in later years plumbing, electrical work, welding, auto mechanics, food services and office education. When school was not in session in the summer many students stayed at Chilocco and worked in various jobs that were required to maintain the school. Chilocco became well established as an agricultural school and students were encouraged to learn all aspects of farm life. Many students availed themselves of the opportunities provided and applied the knowledge and skill to improve the land they returned to.

In the early 1900's, Chilocco became fully accredited as an educational school. Grades ranging from the first grade through the twelth grades were taught until 1927 when declining enrollment forced federal officials to close the elementary school. Enrollment increased again in the 1930's because of the economic situation caused by the stock market crash of "29" and the dust bowl days of the 30's. Then there was an increase started its final decline, and the school closed in 1960's, the student attendance started its final decline, and the school closed June 3 at the end of the school year in 1980, not because there were no students but because Congress was advised the cost per student being educated was too high.

Following the closing of the Chilocco Indian School, the campus was awarded to five local Tribes: The Kaw Tribe, Ponca Tribe, Otoe-Missouri Tribe, Pawnee Tribe and the Tonkawa Tribe. The campus sat idle for nine years. Then it was leased to the Narcanon organization in 1989. Narcanon is a substance abuse rehab organization. Narcanon stayed at Chilocco approximately twelve years, then moved out in 2001.

Source: www.chilocco.org

We were escorted by Leroy onto the Chilocco grounds a little after four o'clock on Nov. 4, 2006. Our first building we were interested in was the Hayworth building, but unfortunately when we went inside the building, it was not in safe enough shape for us to continue an investigation in there. We then proceeded to record and video in the cafeteria. One recorder was placed on the top floor while the other recorder and video was set up downstairs. The recorder downstairs was in Sauna Room 2 and the video was set to face the same area. We recorded in the cafeteria for about 1 hour with no personal experiences to report.

Our second location to investigate was Leupp Hall. We first took a walk-through to find out the structural capability of the building. We then decided to place one recorder in the large center room that you enter into. We placed it directly in the center, and set up the video feed facing where we left the recorder. We then placed a second recorder in what we believe to be the freezer area. Our third recorder was placed at the top the staircase where it was safe enough to walk, and our fourth recorder was placed in the generator room. We recorded for roughly 2 hours a piece on the staircase and in the generator room.

After those recordings were complete, we moved the recorder from the generator room to Room 203, and the recorder from the staircase at the entrance to the staircase in the North part of the building. We recorded at these two new locations for about 2 hours also.

The only experience to report from Leupp Hall was a continuous feeling of being watched and followed. At 11 o'clock pm, we moved the equipment to the Boy's Dorm. Our first recorder was placed in the recreation area along with our video feed. Our second recorder was placed on the ground floor in the Southeast part of the hallway. The third recorder was placed on the ground floor in the South Hallway in the West end. The fourth recorder was placed in the lower floor hallway on the west side. We recorded for 3 hours on each recorder and on the video. The only personal experiences reported in the boy's dorm were feelings of uneasiness when we went to pick up the recorders. When we were finishing our last hour at the boy's dorm, four tribal police from the Ponca Tribe showed up to give us some history on our next location.

Along with our group these four men showed us our final location for the end of our investigation. We proceeded to the Women's Dorm to finish our investigation. We only set up one recorder for the final hour. We only had a few personal experiences which included a severe headache and nausea after leaving the building. We wrapped up our investigation at 4 o'clock am. Below we have posted the EVPs we caught!!! Hope you enjoy


First EVP--Cafeteria Top Floor 5:47pm
Second EVP--Cafeteria Top Floor 6:04pm
Third EVP--Leupp Hall Center Room 7:06pm
Fourth EVP--Leupp Hall Center Room 9:31pm Full Version
Fifth EVP--Leupp Hall Center Room 9:31pm EVP Only
Sixth EVP--Leupp Hall Room 203 9:42pm
Seventh EVP--Leupp Hall Center Room 9:58pm