O. A. Cargill

Otto Arthur Cargill (February 26, 1885–1973) was a prominent lawyer, author, politician and buffalo rancher during Oklahoma's early days. He was mayor of Oklahoma City April 4, 1923 - April 12, 1927.

Otto “O.A.” Cargill was born in Viola, Arkansas on February 26, 1885. His father was a physician and Baptist minister. He was educated at Mountain Home College in Mountain Home, Arkansas. He married Delia Arnold on May 2, 1905 in Cushing, Oklahoma, and they settled in Oklahoma City in 1912. During his early days in Oklahoma and Indian territories he served as a Deputy U.S. Marshal under Bill Depew.{{ My first 80 years Hardcover – 1965

by O. A Cargill (Author) }}. Cargill worked as a streetcar conductor, became an Oklahoma City police officer, and was admitted to the Oklahoma Bar Association in 1916. He was county attorney of Oklahoma County 1919–1920.

Cargill was elected mayor in 1923, defeating Allen Street. Assuming office when the city was in bad financial condition, Cargill found his reform efforts frustrated. In 1926 the electorate voted to replace Oklahoma City's existing city commission government with a mayor–council form of government. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1926. against Henry S Johnson who was supported by the Ku Klux Klan. Cargill being bitterly opposed to the Klan came in third./>Oklahoma, a History of Five Centuries

By Arrell Morgan Gibson pg 218

Cargill practiced law for many years. Late in his career, he became embroiled in a wide-ranging bribery scandal also involving several justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. In 1965, he was convicted on three counts of perjury. In 1967, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit set aside two of the counts, but affirmed his conviction on the third.

He had four children: O.A. "Buck" Cargill Jr, Keet Cargill, Oklahoma Cargill Hood & Otha Cargill Westcott. He was the grandfather of country music star Henson Cargill. O.A. "Little Buck" Cargill Jr and Carol Cargill.