Hotel Adams, Muskogee, Indian Territory Owney tag

Owney was a scruffy mutt who became a regular fixture at the Albany, New York, post office in 1888. His owner was likely a postal clerk who let the dog walk him to work. Owney was attracted to the texture or scent of the mailbags and when his master moved away, Owney stayed with his new mail clerk friends. He soon began to follow mailbags, first onto mail wagons and then mail trains. Owney began to ride with the bags on Railway Mail Service (RMS) trains across the state . . . and then the country! The Railway Mail Service clerks adopted Owney as their unofficial mascot.

Postal workers and others began to mark Owney’s travels by placing tokens, tags, and medals on his collar. These items included baggage check and hotel room key tokens, dog licenses, and numerous items given to the dog by a variety of individuals and organizations.

The staff or proprietor of the Hotel Adams gave Owney this tag. There is no available information to indicate when this tag was presented to Owney. The Hotel Adams was located in the town of Muskogee in an area then known as Indian Territory, which later became the state of Oklahoma, on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad line. The tag was originally manufactured by W. W. Wilcox of Chicago, which was a major manufacturer of railroad baggage tags and similar metal items in the late nineteenth century. At least two other Owney tags were manufactured by W.W. Wilcox: 0.052985.24, 0.052985.22, 0.052985.191, 0.052985.173, 0.052985.179, and 0.052985.156.

Markings:
literal: HOTEL / ADAMS / 45 / MUSKOGEE / IND. TER

Museum ID: 0.052985.173