HOCHATOWN — The battle for Hochatown is over.
More than 30 years, three legal battles and one tornado later, residents of this tiny southeastern Oklahoma community voted overwhelmingly last Tuesday to incorporate and become an “official” town.
The vote: 129 yes, 18 no.
Located about 10 miles north of Broken Bow along U.S. 259, today Hochatown is ground zero for state tourism. People come from all over the area to explore the mountains, camp and fish for trout. Beavers Bend State Park – just a few miles away – draws more than a million people each year.
Originally settled by the Choctaws in 1820s, Hochatown was set aside for the tribe by the Treaty of Doak’s Stand. Later, after the federal government forced the Choctaws to give up their land and move to Indian Territory, more settlers came. Trade routes were established and by the early 1900s, timber and coal had transformed Hochatown and the area.
A post office was established there in 1894.
In the 1930s, the economy tanked. Hochatown, like the rest of Oklahoma, struggled to survive. In 1963, the post office was closed.
What was left of the town was saved by illegal whiskey.
Blessed with abundant corn and water, Hochatown’s moonshine-driven economy thrived until the early 1960s. In 1970, the Army Corps of Engineers built Broken Bow Lake. After that, the area began to draw visitors. People were attracted to the lake and the mountains and slowly, bootlegging gave way to tourism.
Today, Hochatown is a premier stop on the Oklahoma Bourbon Trail. The tourism footprint in McCurtain County is at least $200 million, local businessman Mitch McDaniel said in an interview with Southwest Ledger this spring.
“It used to be a tenth of that,” he said. “The entire county has experienced phenomenal growth in its tax base.”
The McDaniel family owns and operates Hochatown Distilling – originally operated by Mitch McDaniel and his brother until Mitch’s death this year. Today, they continue to produce their signature bourbon and they also manage about 130 cabins in the area.
For Hochatown’s unofficial mayor, Dian Jordan, the battle for incorporation was, in a sense, a battle for the soul of the community.
“We’ve had this problem since the 1960s, when we lost our ZIP code,” she said. “We’re not Broken Bow. Broken Bow is 10 miles away. We want to reclaim our heritage.”
Some in the area wanted the community to become a part of Broken Bow. Others argued that Hochatown should become its own incorporated town. In the 1990s, the city of Broken Bow and Hochatown locked horns over an attempted annexation.
Broken Bow lost, but the fight continued.
Jordan, like most the residents of Hochatown, waged an ongoing battle to incorporate the town.
“If we incorporate, we have can improve roads and establish a police and fire department and take better care of our residents,” she said.
For years, she said, Hochatown has forced to rely on help from the county sheriff. The fire department is staffed by volunteers.
“When you have 30,000 people come into a town of 300 for the weekend, you need infrastructure and resources,” she said. “On some weekends, it’s literally bumper-to-bumper traffic here.”
Last Tuesday, that changed.
Oklahoma City attorney Bob Burke said the vote to incorporate Hochatown had both a sentimental and practical meaning to him. Burke, along with Edmond attorney Liz George, helped to wage the town’s legal battle for incorporation.
“My dad and mom, both of whom were born at Hochatown, would be proud that the town is receiving so much recognition,” Burke said. “My dad, longtime county commissioner Eugene Burke, always said Hochatown was the center of the universe.”
Burke said the incorporation was a necessity because of the real need for infrastructure, including fire protection, police protection and other facilities, that will make life better for residents of the community.
“I trust that Hochatown leaders have great ideas, and I believe that the next few years will be exciting for Hochatown and the surrounding area,” he said.
Tuesday’s “yes” vote for incorporation also gives the residents of the community the chance to control their own destiny, Jordan said.
Attorney Liz George said she was pleased by the results.
“The people of Hochatown have been working for years to have the opportunity to govern themselves, to dictate the future of their community where their families have lived, many for generations,” she said. “It has been a true honor to have stood alongside the people of Hochatown through this process. I look forward to watching Hochatown thrive while preserving its inherent, unique, historic nature and natural beauty.”
Still, Jordan said the work to bring the town online continues. “At first I thought the vote would be the end,” Jordan said. “You know, the splashdown. But it’s not over.”
Jordan said Hochatown residents are still waiting for the McCurtain County Board of Commissioners to sign the incorporation petition so a town meeting can be called to set a subsequent election for municipal officers.
She said the community plans to elect five at-large trustees who will then choose a mayor. That group will also hire a city manager to run the municipal government.
“Our next goal is to set a date for a municipal election,” she said.
Once officers are in place, Jordan said the community can begin to levy a tourism tax to fund municipal operations such as police and fire.
Jordan said the town’s officers will also push to have their post office restored.
“We’re ready to get started,” she said. “For years, people have been telling us what to do. Now we can do things on our terms. I think everyone in the community is incredibly happy that they get to control their own destiny.”