Eufaula, Oklahoma

Episode 24 / 28 June 2017 / 65 min / full

Bad Decisions, Deadly Results

"James says they are going to Ufala, Oklahoma, in the eastern central part of the state, and that it is in Macintosh County." about 0:04:03

The case: Murder of Robert and Vivian Pendley (August 1, 1999). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2017

Population

2,936

Median age

42.2

Median household income

$33,627

Median home value

$99,000

Two-bedroom rent

$658

Cost of living

88

Religious

42.9%

Property crime

▲ almost double

Violent crime

▼ a good deal lower

History, in brief

• The town's name comes from the Eufaula tribe of Native Americans, part of the Muscogee Creek Confederacy. about 0:08:04
• The tribe was driven from the south-east to the area in the 1830s on the Trail of Tears. about 0:08:14
• Native Americans used the area as a gathering ground and held powwows there. about 0:09:07
• White settlers began arriving about 1872, after the coming of the railroad. about 0:09:31
• The town was incorporated in 1898, technically in Indian Territory. about 0:10:01
• Between 1907 and 1909, after Oklahoma became a state, the McIntosh County Seat War saw Eufaula refuse to hand its county records to Checotah, the designated county seat; armed men from Checotah tried to seize the records from the courthouse and were beaten back in a gunfight. about 0:11:09
• About a year later Eufaula was designated the permanent county seat. about 0:12:15
• Lake Eufaula is the largest lake contained entirely within Oklahoma, created by the Eufaula dam. about 0:06:57
• The lake covers Standing Rock, a historical monument that can only be seen when the water is low. about 0:07:16
• On September 25th, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson visited to dedicate the Eufaula dam. about 0:12:27
• The Selman brothers, football players who played at the University of Oklahoma, are from Eufaula. about 0:12:35
• The television show Dirty Jobs filmed two episodes in Eufaula, one about a worm dung farmer and one about catfish noodling. about 0:13:10
• The town's slogan is visit for the weekend or stay for a lifetime. about 0:06:20
• The zip code is 74432 and the area codes are 539 and, more recently, 918. about 0:05:56
• The town covers about 9.6 square miles, of which about 6.6 square miles is land. about 0:06:04
• Eufaula is about two hours from Oklahoma City, an hour and a half from Tulsa and 32 miles south of Muskogee. about 0:05:04

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