WATONGA INDIAN BAPTIST CHURCH
 Bits and pieces of our history

    Watonga Indian Baptist Church was established in 1898 by missionaries from the Northern Baptist Convention, which is now the American Baptist Churches in the USA (ABC-USA). WIBC was established nine years before Oklahoma became a state. At the time, there was no formal convention of Baptists in the territories.  In those days, Oklahoma was divided into two territories (Indian Territory & Oklahoma Territory).
    In 1905, two years before statehood, Baptists in the two territories voted to determine with which national convention of Baptists they would affiliate. Southern Baptists won the day. A comity agreement was established and Northern Baptists agreed to stay (and work) above the Kansas/Oklahoma border. Southern Baptists agreed to stay below the border. At present, there are more that 1,800 Southern Baptist churches in Oklahoma and only 15 ABC-USA churches in the state. Of the ABC-USA churches in Oklahoma, 14 are Indian churches and 1 is an Anglo church.
    Bacone College, in Muskogee, was founded by American Baptists. Bacone was established as a school for Indians in 1880, and has the distinction of being the oldest college of continuous education in the State of Oklahoma.   

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  1. This is an 1895 map of the twin territories in Oklahoma prior to statehood. Oklahoma Territory is left on the map (pink). Indian Territory is on the right (yellow).
     
  2.  Watonga can be located in the upper left-hand portion of a blown-up portion of the map.

 


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Indian Baptist Church was established in 1898, eight years before Oklahoma became a state (November 16, 1907).
  1. The man in front of the sign is Fred Yellow Hawk.

  2. The little girl (looking down at the brown puppy) is LaDonna Roman Nose. The woman is her grandmother, Mrs. Yellow Hawk.

  3. The two women are LaDonna Roman Nose and her mother, Ruth Brooks. Ruth has been a member of WIBC for 60 years. (LaDonna's husband, Quinton, is in the background.)

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