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Carrie Nation
 

After the Land Lottery and Land Auction, Lawton became a town.  But it was very different from most towns.  There were only two wooden buildings at first, the Land Office and a bank.  Every other business was housed in a tent.  Lawton really was a "tent city!"

Grocers set up grocery stores in tents.  Barbers set up barbershops in tents. Laundries were in tents.   Even churches were set up in tents.  But some tents held gambling houses and saloons.  The men who gambled were known as gamblers. 

Guess where all of the gambling houses and saloons were located?  They were on Goo Goo Avenue.  This was a very famous street.  Why was it named Goo Goo Avenue?  It was named after a song, “Just Because She Made Them Goo Goo Eyes.”  Miss Flora Altman sang this song in a saloon.  She was called “The Flying Lady” because she sat in a swing while she sang the song. 

Miss Altman sang so loudly that she disturbed people at church.  They wanted her to quit singing.  Some of the people in the church choir got into wagons and rode up and down Goo Goo Avenue.  They sang hymns and tried to drown out Miss Altman.  People from that time said that she out sang the church choirs.

Some men thought gambling was a lot of fun.  But the people from the churches did not think gambling was good.  They thought it was wrong.  One day, a soldier lost all of his money at a gambling house.  The people from the church decided to close all of the gambling houses and saloons. They felt sorry for the soldier who lost all of his money. 

The people from the churches marched on one gambling saloon.  They cut the ropes that held up the tent.  The tent collapsed.  Then the church people tried to hang one of the gamblers.  The city marshal had to stop them.  He told them that the law would handle the problem.

Goo Goo Avenue was also famous for its restaurants.  The restaurants were tents with poles on all four sides.  One famous restaurant was called The Barbecue Stand.  It was hard to eat in the tents because they were so crowded.  One lady said there were too many flies.  But everyone agreed that the food was very good.

Fort Sill was very different from Goo Goo Avenue.  Goo Goo Avenue was a very lively place.  Fort Sill was calm and peaceful.  Fort Sill was also the place where the mail was shipped.  At first, there was only one mail clerk.  Then, as Lawton grew, six more mail clerks were hired. 

Lawton was a very busy town.  Goo Goo Avenue was famous for gambling, entertainment, and food.  After the gambling houses were closed, Lawton became a more peaceful town.