STORY TOLD BY ZACK T. MILLER.

One of the First Automobiles in Ponca City.

Early-Day Car, Owned by Priest, Raffled to Miller.

Ponca City News, September 15, 1952

According to a story told by the late Col. Zack T. Miller, one of the first automobiles in Ponca City was an Interstate, owned by Rev. Fr. R. Severns, then Catholic priest here and later monsignor of the Tulsa bishopric.

During a drive to Newkirk the automobile frightened a team of horses hitched to a grain binder, Miller related, and in the mix-up one of the horses was killed. The owner of the team received a $100 judgment against Severns.

Disgusted by the affair, Fr. Severns raffled off the Interstate, which was won by Miller, who later traded it, roundabout, for a Brush automobile.

Miller said that the very first automobile to reach Ponca City was an Orient Buckboard, driven through the country as an advertising venture. The car slipped into a Grand Avenue gutter, and due to a recent rain, the dirt road was slippery. It was necessary to hitch several teams of horses to the car to pull it back into the street.