ENID, OK - Amelia Earhart is a name that is well known by Americans everywhere even though she vanished back in 1937 and was never heard from again. In recent years there has been much speculation as to what really happened to her and a quick search online reveals many unproven theories. There is one event that took place 85 years ago that we are certain about, Amelia Earhart flew into Enid, Oklahoma. The date was June 15, 1931.
A few years back while I was searching online for historical facts about Enid I stumbled upon a cross country flying schedule of Amelia Earhart that mentioned Enid, Oklahoma as a destination. The landing date on the list was June 15, 1931. Having grown up here almost my entire life I had never once heard the tale that Amelia Earhart had actually visited Enid.
I decided to investigate things a little further and found a second source that had Enid on Earhart’s flying schedule during her Beech-Nut Transcontinental Autogiro tour across the country. I also found news accounts of Earhart having a mishap in Abilene, Texas just days before she was to arrive in Enid. Some newspaper accounts wondered if she would continue her tour which made me question if the accident had caused her to skip Enid.
For a year I conducted quick searches online but was unable to ever find any verifiable proof that she had ever landed in Enid. One morning at KGWA while doing my radio show with Alan Clepper I mentioned my search for information on Earhart and word got back to the Public Library Of Enid. Jade Champion, Mary Shaklee and especially Sarah Cariker took time to scan old Enid Morning News articles and came up with 100% proof that Amelia Earhart had indeed come to Enid, Oklahoma!
Below are details we’ve uncovered from local news articles on the cross country tour and trip Earhart made to Enid.
The Beech-Nut Tour
Harold F. Pitcairn designed the Pitcairn PCA-2 which was an autogyro developed in the United States in the early 1930s. The PCA-2 was the first rotary-wing aircraft to achieve type certification in the United States. He used a number of high-profile activities including the first flight across the United States in a rotorcraft to promote his plane. That feat was attempted by Amelia Earhart, flying for the Beech-Nut food company, but was actually accomplished by John M. Miller who completed his flight nine days before Earhart on May 28, 1931.
Pitcairn’s intent was to fan the public fires of autogiro interest, and he accomplished that with many different marketing techniques. He arranged for journalists to take rides in the PCA-2, and then would use their columns in advertising to tout the revolutionary nature of Autogiro flight. Ernie Pyle, aviation editor for the Washington News, was given a ride and praised Autogiro’s performance in a column dated September 26, 1930.
In May 1931, Earhart took off from Newark, NJ on her first transcontinental autogiro tour. The autogiro craft in which she flew was ordered specially for the aviatrix by the Beech-Nut Packing Company to promote their chewing gum. The autogiro was a relatively new aviation design that many at the time believed to be dangerous and Earhart was out to prove them wrong.
The Crash
Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She received the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross for this record. Earhart was married to George Putnam in 1931 but because of her liberal views she kept her own name. Due to the climate of the times, many newspapers insisted on calling her Mrs. Putnam which we’ll also call her from time to time.
Putnam arranged to have Earhart fly Beech-Nut’s autogiro on a transcontinental tour to promote both the plane and the gum. Earhart took off in the company’s vivid green rotorcraft from Newark, N.J., on May 29, 1931, accompanied by mechanic Eddie de Vaught. The autogiro was capable of vertical landings and could poise motionless in mid-air. It had a 300-horsepower engine and had a top speed of 110 miles per hour.
The autogiro plane needed to be refueled frequently, which caused Earhart to make many stops in small towns across the country. She was often invited to attend luncheons and banquets in her honor while visiting and demonstrating in each city. Normally Earhart would be dressed in her leather jacket, jodhpurs and boots. Unfortunately she didn’t have room in her open cockpit to carry a nice change of clothes.
On Saturday, June 13, 1931 Earhart ran into trouble when her autogiro failed to attain sufficient momentum during a demonstration over Abilene, Texas. She crash landed the plane in an area away
from the onlookers and walked away unharmed. The plane’s rotors were damaged and the propeller was bent preventing it from being flown.
Fortunately for Enid residents, Earhart took a private plane from Abilene to OKC piloted by aviator Dick Young. Another autogiro was flown to Oklahoma City from Philadelphia and the tour continued. Major Hugh Askew, manager of the Enid airpark, tried to call Mrs. Putnam but could not get her on the wire. He then telegraphed her to ask about her Enid plans and was told she would still be coming to town.
Earhart In Oklahoma
Earhart appeared at the Oklahoma City fairgrounds on Sunday, June 14, 1931. The Texas crash had not stopped the crowds from coming out to see her as she continued the tour. Prior to her autogiro demonstration in Oklahoma City, Earhart was serenaded by a 42-piece band, an airshow featuring what one report said was “practically every plane in Oklahoma City,” formation flying, a parachute jump and a demonstration by a local woman stunt pilot.
Amelia Earhart Putnam was to arrive in Enid at 10 o’clock on Monday, June 15, 1931. She was to be
coming from Oklahoma City and would leave Enid that same day after her appearances. She was to give demonstrations with her autogiro and was to be a guest of the Enid Air club at a luncheon. She was then to appear before the Oklahoma District Lions convention at the general session in the afternoon.
Earhart made it to Enid on June 15 at 9:10am. She arrived in her ‘Wind-Mill’ plane in an hour from Oklahoma City. Upon arriving in Enid, she gave a demonstration of how her plane operated at the Municipal air park. During the demonstration she flew over Enid but landed when a rainstorm appeared in the area.
At noon, Earhart was the guest of the Rotary club at their weekly luncheon in the Masonic temple downtown. The Enid Air club was in attendance and the program was turned over to them. Mrs. Putnam, as she was called in the paper, described this area as mighty fine country to fly over and noted that we had fine landing fields. She joked that she hated to fly back east but unfortunately she had a husband there.
Earhart later greeted members of the Oklahoma Lions Convention and area residents from the mezzanine floor of the Hotel Youngblood. She was described as having a friendly handshake and charming smile in a newspaper article. She spoke about wearing flying apparel everywhere she went and let the crowd know that she did not prefer flying gear to her normal clothes.
Mrs. Putnam described flying over our part of the state as one of the prettiest parts she had seen. She described watching farm sections that appeared as tiny patches of green. Earhart said Enid could be seen for a long distance and the town itself was beautiful.
Later in the afternoon, Enid resident George Zacharias, a member of the park board and a World War aviator, was taken for a ride over the city by Earhart in her autogiro. Earhart then left Enid flying back to Abilene.
Just six years later on July 2, 1937, during an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe in a Purdue-funded Lockheed Model 10 Electra, Earhart disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. To this day there is no explanation as what actually happened to Earhart.
The photos and tour dates for this article come from the Lincoln Highway Museum website. Unfortunately many of the photos were not labeled with location or the photographer that took them. We do not know where Earhart was when the featured photo was taken. Details of Earhart’s visit to Enid were found in microfiche copies of The Enid Daily Eagle and Enid Morning News from 1931 thanks to the Public Library of Enid and Garfield County.
Contact us at buzz@enidbuzz.com if you remember hearing stories of Earhart being in Enid or have an old family photo showing her in Enid.
Photos Of Earhart In Enid
UPDATED: June 16, 2015 – Kate Shaklee, daughter of Enid librarian Mary Shaklee, found these photos while going through old family photos. Her dad’s grandfather, Waldo G. Clegg, was an editor for the Enid Morning News and was also an airplane enthusiast. The family does not believe Mr. Clegg took these photos but may have made copies from originals which were not identified.
We do not have 100% proof that these photos were taken in Enid, Oklahoma but the probability is very high. We would like to thank the Shaklee and Clegg families for allowing us to use these photos.
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M.L. Becker was 8 years old when he went to the airport to see the dedication of Oklahoma’s first municipally bonded airport. Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindberg and wiley Post were the ones who designed the layout of the runways. My understanding is that they were all at the event. Mr. Becker resides at Greenbriar Nursing Home and was a long time aviation business owner at Woodring.
Thanks so much for the info Elaine! I wonder if there’s a newspaper article about it? I’ll do some research.
Great Story!