W. W. Keeler
| William Wayne "Bill" Keeler | |
|---|---|
| Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation | |
|
In office 1949–1975 |
|
| Preceded by | J. B. Milam |
| Succeeded by | Ross Swimmer |
| Chairman of Phillips Petroleum Corporation | |
|
In office 1968–1973 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 5, 1908 Dalhart, Texas |
| Died | August 24, 1987 (aged 79) Bartlesville, Oklahoma |
| Spouse(s) | Ruby Lucille Hamilton |
| Residence | Bartlesville, Oklahoma |
| Alma mater | University of Kansas |
| Profession | chemical engineer, oil company executive, Cherokee principal chief |
William Wayne Keeler (1908 - 1989) is best known as the last appointed and first elected Principal Chief of the Cherokee nation in the 20th Century. Educated as a chemical engineer, he worked for Phillips Petroleum Company, where he became Chief Executive Officer at the end of a long career with the company. He was one-sixteenth Cherokee, and throughout his life he also worked in the federal government for the advancement of Indians. President Truman appointed him as Principal Chief of the Oklahoma Cherokees in 1949. In 1971, he became the Cherokees' first elected chief since 1903.
Keeler created tribal institutions such as the Cherokee Nation Builders Corporation and a national Cherokee newspaper. He helped establish the Cherokee Foundation and attain $14 million from the federal government over a land dispute. He led the drafting of a new Cherokee constitution in 1975.
Both of Bill Keeler's paternal and maternal grandfathers, George B. Keeler and Nelson F. Carr, were white men who had settled in Cherokee territory and married Cherokee women. They were notable for their roles in founding the community that is now Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Carr owned the sawmill and grist mill in town. George Keeler was one of the men involved in drilling the first oil well in what would become the state of Oklahoma.
Bill Keeler's parents were William and Sarah Louisa Carr, both of whom were of Cherokee descent. William was a stockman who had traveled from Bartlesville to the Texas Panhandle in 1908 to buy cattle. Sarah was then expecting her fourth child, but decided to accompany her husband. She delivered their first son in Dalhart. Only two of their children survived to adulthood: "Bill" and a sister, Blanche. Young Bill attended Bartlesville public schools. During high school and college, he spent his summers working on construction sites for Phillips Petroleum Company. In 1924, Blanche married Kenneth S. "Boots" Adams, who would later become president of Phillips Petroleum Corporation. The couple divorced in 1945.
Keeler was born into the Long Hair Clan of the Cherokee. He moved to Bartlesville, Oklahoma as a child and lived with his grandmother due to his mother’s ill health. She instilled into him “Indian ways” and Cherokee principles of morality. His mother eventually returned and attempted to raise him with white man principles and pushed for him to assimilate. The starkly contrasting influences from his mother and grandmother conflicted Keeler in his early life, but he ultimately successfully assimilated into white society. He began working part-time for Phillips Petroleum on various construction sites at age sixteen while still in high school, and continued during the summers while attending college. Keeler graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1930.
...
Wikipedia