Okmulgee's First Champions

Most photos were kept by Geneva Hull, grandmother of the author, in a scrapbook The game program images are from the actual game programs of the 1947 season.

	The team picture of the 1947 Okmulgee Bulldogs. As Andy Musgrave recalls: "They were black with 2 white stripes on the sleeves and I think there was a red strip in between the white stripes. We wore these with red pants. We also got new helmets that year. They were black hard leather helmets, of course with no face guards. Coach Brady also issued new low cut shoes for the backs and ends. Maybe he was expecting us to do well and wanted us to look good."
	The cover of the game program for the 1947 Oklahoma State Championship, held at Owen Field at the University of Oklahoma. Ten thousand people were in attendance at a game that was broadcast around the state via radio. A young radio play-by-play man, Curt Gowdy, did the call on KOMA Radio in Oklahoma City. He went on to become the radio announcer for the Boston Red Sox, but is better known for his work on ABC as the host of the "American Sportsman" and for being one of NBC's top play-by-play men for both NFL and Major League Baseball telecasts.
	Okmulgee halfback Louis James, an All-Stater in 1947, had a great game in the championship contest. This photo from the Oklahoma City newspaper The Daily Oklahoman was the featured photo in the next day's sports section.
	Okmulgee's All-State fullback John Mueller scored Okmulgee's winning TD in this photo taken from the Tulsa World newspaper.
	This is the Okmulgee roster taken from page four of the program for the State Championship game. Notice a couple interesting things: All the player numbers are between 60 and 89. Today's football rules would require anyone that would touch the ball (running backs, wide receivers, etc.) must wear a number between 1 and 49 and between 80 and 89. Notice the weights of every player! Today you just don't find high school football teams this small. They are lifting weights beginning in middle school and are much bigger. These guys in 1947 worked out by lifting milk cartons, bales of hay or chopping wood. Plus football was a fall-only sport. Spring and summer drills were unheard of.
	The entrance to Harmon Field, home of the Bulldogs. This photo was taken in 2004 during a fund drive to raise $700,000 to install artificial turf in the stadium. Harmon Field has been in existence since 1922. The seating overlooking the field was constructed in 1936 as part of a Works Progress Administration project.Harmon Field was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. (photo courtesy of Okmulgee Alumni Association)
	The beautiful stone wall that encompassed Harmon Field in 1947 is still there today with a much newer scoreboard. (photo courtesy of Okmulgee Alumni Association)
	The home stands of Harmon Field. Crowds as big as 7,000 crowded in here in 1947. (photo courtesy of Okmulgee Alumni Association)
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