We don’t know when it was dammed up, but there was a man made lake of about 40 acres which extended from South Johnson and Garriott West to Cleveland. George Mosher, a dairy farmer, dammed Boggy Creek from where it crosses South Johnson today. In those days Boggy Creek had lots more water than it does today. The lake that backed up behind the dam was a popular boating and picnicking spot for Enid residents. The dam was in the low-lying area just a couple of blocks south of Garriott on Johnson. George dynamited the dam in 1912 after one of his sons drowned in the lake. Below is the full story: November 20, 2010 Remembering Enid’s once and former lake By Cindy Allen, Managing Editor Enid News and Eagle ENID — In the past several years, Enid city commissioners and others have tossed around the idea of building a lake in Enid.T.J Mosher, 93, said many people don’t realize Enid actually had a fairly large lake in the early 1900s. Mosher’s grandfather, George Mosher, owned a dairy farm and a tract of land south and west of what now is the intersection of Buchanan and Garriott in southwest Enid. On that tract, about 40 acres of the quarter section were taken up by a lake that extended from Johnson and Garriott west to Cleveland. But the lake came to an end, along with several surrounding properties, when George, in a fit of grief over the drowning of his young son in a pond near the lake, used dynamite to blow up the dam and destroy the lake.T.J. said his grandfather hadn’t counted on the water from the lake gushing along Boggy Creek across town and into the Southern Heights addition, flooding some of it. Mosher Lake was well known to Enid residents as a recreational area. Old photographs printed in previous editions of the Enid newspaper show people canoeing and swimming in the lake. To make the lake, George Mosher had dammed Boggy Creek about where it crosses South Johnson today. In those days the creek carried more water. The dam was in a low-lying area just a couple of blocks south of Garriott on Johnson. George Mosher was a prominent Enid resident. The family had come to Enid when the Cherokee Strip was opened. He owned a Guernsey dairy farm and the family lived in a two-story house at the corner of Washington and Randolph. The lake had been considered too deep for Mosher’s youngest sons, William, 9, and Hugh, 7, according to news reports in late July 1911. The boys usually waded in nearby creeks. But on that hot summer day in 1911, Hugh and Willie, as he was called, sneaked away for a swim, and they ended up swimming in a stock pond very near the actual lake, according to news reports. At suppertime, Willie returned home and was very quiet. His family inquired about where young Hugh was, and Willie said he didn’t know, but that Hugh had gotten mad at him earlier and had gone to a friend’s house. Newspaper reports of the day say Enid residents got involved in the search for the boy. One of Mosher’s older sons found a bathing suit in a field that Willie had been wearing earlier in the day. He apparently had gotten rid of it after the drowning. The older brother suspected Willie wasn’t telling the truth, and he pressed the boy. Finally, Willie confessed the two boys had been playing in the water and Hugh had gotten into trouble. Willie had tried to save his brother with a long pole, but he couldn’t. Mosher’s older son dove into the water and found Hugh’s body in about four feet of water, according to the 1911 news report.T.J. has been re-telling this story for several years. The Enid News & Eagle has published stories about the lake and the flood, although it is unclear whether the flood occurred right after the boy’s drowning in 1911 or perhaps in the summer of 1912.As the story goes, George Mosher was in such grief he decided to destroy Mosher Lake. He took sticks of dynamite and blew the dam. After the flood there were lawsuits, T.J. said; however, no lives were lost. However, T.J., who was born in 1918 — seven years after the drowning — said he remembers the dairy business continued.T.J. said he remembers when he was a high school student in 1934, some remains from old boats and cement still could be seen in the area where the lake had been. T.J. says he chuckles when he hears people talking about building a new lake.“People say it would be grand if we just had a lake,” he said. “Well, we had one. ”T.J. said he is the last of the Moshers re-telling the story to the Lions clubs and other organizations. “When I’m gone, it will be the end of that history,” he said. Check out Legends and Folklore for more interesting stories This was the 2 story house that the Jim & Norma Brooks clan grew up in on 110 Stull Court after the home was moved from the Moshers property :)
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 23:25:06 +0000
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