In 1929, as Texas and the nation teetered on the brink of financial depression, a thirty-year-old woman from a Scurry County ranching family earned her airplane pilot’s license. She was the first female in the state to do so.
Edith Whatley McKanna of Fluvanna (yeah, I couldn’t resist the rhyme) “accompanied her husband over miles of dirt roads in his Model T during the rush era of the West Texas and Arkansas oil booms,” according to her bio at findagrave.com.
But after his untimely death in 1932, Edith went on to sky-high achievements in her own right. She owned her own plane. She oversaw vast acres of oil leases at a time when women weren’t prominent in the business. She volunteered for the Civil Air Patrol during World War II and donated her plane to the effort. And she was the first woman to sign on as a charter member of the Ninety-Nines, a group that today counts thousands among its ranks but was founded to connect and recognize the world’s first 99 licensed female pilots.
It’s that legacy that Snyder, seat of Scurry County, is seeking to honor with its Edith McKanna Celebration — formerly White Buffalo Days, since 1981 — Friday and Saturday, Oct. 4–5, 2019, at the Snyder municipal airport’s new hangar.
During the celebration, the community will rename its airport, currently known as Winston Field, in memory of McKanna.
Not only will the festival’s ever-popular live music, merchandise vendors, food trucks, and other family fun move out to the airport from its previous location on the downtown square, but pilots from the Fort Worth Chapter of the Ninety-Nines will be on hand to provide brief “discovery flights” for girls ages 15-18 on Saturday morning.
There’s already a waiting list for the flights, according to Brooke Proctor, director of the Development Corporation of Snyder.
Proctor has observed that private pilots and instructors enjoy the small-town experience, flying into a variety of airfields for lower-cost fuel, lighter air traffic, and convenience, and appreciating local history and hospitality during their layovers.
“Our airport is a diamond in the rough,” said Snyder Chamber of Commerce events coordinator Josh Ortegon. “We have something that’s worth checking out.”
More about McKanna
We applaud Scurry County’s recognition of their esteemed native daughter’s legacy, and for creatively spreading the word at their signature annual event.
Attendees will want to know more.
For three years during World War II, Edith McKanna served with the rank of captain at the air force headquarters as a liaison for the Civil Air Patrol and the United States Army Air Force. After the war, according to the Handbook of Texas Online, “she returned to Scurry County, organized the Imperial Oil Company, and began securing leases. When her discovery well, the Ossie Buffalo, blew in on the Fuller field, Edith McKanna became the only woman oil operator in the oil boom that centered around the Canyon Reef field. By December 1949 she controlled 86,000 acres and had seven producing
wells. She often visited the rig sites on her leases in a white hat and white gloves, a trait she reportedly adopted ‘to let them know a lady was on the site.’ She never ventured onto the derrick floor, however, since ‘man's work’ was done there. Time magazine referred to her as the ‘Lady in the Oil Patch’ in a 1949 article, and in February 1951 Mrs. McKanna was awarded a scroll of distinction in the field of petroleum by Vice President Alben Barkley, as one of seven of the Southwest's most distinguished women. She developed her Rock Ledge Farm, near Fluvanna, into a showplace.”
McKanna contributed to civic and educational pursuits in Snyder, especially Western Texas College and its Scurry County Museum, and was a supporter of the National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock. She died March 26, 1986, and was buried in the Fluvanna Cemetery. She had logged more than 3,000 hours of flying time.
Wanna go? Event details
Other highlights of the two-day event include a comedic Wild West gunfight staged by Lagniappe Productions, and a parade.
The parade will take place Saturday at 10 a.m. and travel along 37th Street from Colonial Hill Baptist Church to the airport.
Snyder’s airport is located at 2757 Round Rock Ave., Snyder 79549, for those coming by car, with plenty of free parking on-site. If you’re arriving by air, it’s KSNK.
There is no registration fee to participate in the parade, but Ortegon requests any interested individuals or groups contact the chamber before Oct. 5. Other attractions and the full schedule are still being finalized. To register for a booth or the parade, call Ortegon at (325) 573-3558. Follow emerging details online at www.facebook.com/events/496010724299091/.
Barbara Brannon writes about heritage destinations for the Texas Heritage Trails Program, beginning its second half century of service to Texans and travelers in 2019. Barbara@Texas-PlainsTrail.com
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