Wapanucka Academy at Bromide, Oklahoma

Wapanucka Academy: "Wapanucka Academy, Chickasaw Nation"
The picturesque location of Wapanucka Academy was always an inspiration to those connected with that early day school among the Chickasaws. Its site is on the north side of a high ridge on the upper course of Delaware Creek, about five miles northwest of the town of Wapanucka, in Johnston County. Abandoned and falling in ruins, the limestone building, now gray with age, is like a forgotten manor house in the midst of a vast part, uncared for, yet beautiful in its natural setting. One is impressed with a feeling here is romance that hints of Old England when, standing at a deep set, open casement of this gray walled ruin, he views for the first time the sweeping panorama of the countryside before him. Immediately below at the foot of the ridge to the north are woods marking the course of Delaware Creek hidden in deep shadows. Just beyond to the west, hills sparsely covered with grass round up, snowy with limestone and dotted here and there with clumps of greenery. To the northeast, rolling prairies extend to the hazy blue of hills far away in the distance. Leaving the building for a vantage point on top of the ridge, one looks down to the west into a lovely valley, a continuation of what is now Wells Valley bordered by high wooded hills. It was these scenes that inspired the following letter by Cicero A. Skeen, Superintendent of Wapanucka Institute, dated may 27, 1890. The letter was printed in his former home newspaper, in Randolph County, North Carolina, and is presented for the permanent record of the State of Oklahoma, in connection with this historical sketch of one of the first boarding schools among the Chickasaws in the Indian TerritoryClick link above to read letterjdm2006/03/06