Government » Enid Walk of Fame » 1991-2000
Frantz was born in 1872 and made his home in Medford shortly after the opening of the Cherokee Outlet. He served with the “Rough Riders” under Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. After the Spanish-American War, he moved to Enid where he was named postmaster (1901-03). He also served as Indian Agent of the Osage Agency until becoming Governor of January 13, 1906. His later life was spent in the oil business until his death in 1941.
Born at Roanoke, Ill. N May 7 1869, Frank was one of 10 children of Henry and Maria Frantz and a descendent of an immigrant Swiss who had distinguished himself during the Revolutionary War.
In 1889 the family moved to Wellington, Kan., where Henry died, leaving behind a widow and eight surviving children, William, Edmund, Orville, Walter, Montgomery, Lulu, Frank and Mrs. George Rarey.
Orville was playing baseball at Harvard University and Frank was attending Eureka College at Roanoke in 1893 when the Cherokee Strep lands were opened for settlement. The older brothers, who were still at home, left to take up claims in Oklahoma Territory.
The Frantz brothers opened a lumber and hardware business at Medford at first. A short time later they moved to Enid, where their business prospered. Frank left school in 1894 and for a brief time worked at the family business before setting off for a new life in California. When a position as clerk with a mining company opened up in Arizona, he took it and moved to Prescott.
When the Spanish-American war broke out, a regiment of cowboy cavalry was organized and young Frantz enlisted as a private in Troop A. The unit was soon moved to San Antonio, Texas, for training. While there young Frantz was commissioned a lieutenant by the territorial governor.
After training, the unit was sent to Tampa, Fla. where the troops joined the rest of the expeditionary force under Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt. He would lead the men he called his Rough Riders into battle against Spanish forces in Cuba.
In 1935, Congress finally awarded him a medal for bravery during the war, a Silver Star requested by Roosevelt following the battle at San Juan Hill.
In 1941, Frantz died in the Veteran’s Hospital at Muskogee, OK. He was buried with full military honors in Tulsa Memorial Cemetery.
