Is there a creek, stream or river near your town that is unnamed with the State of Oklahoma? Perhaps not. But stay with this story if you want to read how Captain (retired) Doyle Tampleton, a tenacious Marine Corps member (aren’t they all?) with American Legion Post 32 got a 1.5-mile-long creek that runs through Holdenville named for veterans and when the creek will be publicly commemorated.
Why name a creek anyway? To honor veterans, Tampleton said, to include Muscogee (Creek) Native Americans employed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in Holdenville from 1938-1940. He also wants “to help others understand the complexity involved, so they can name an unnamed creek.”
Creek Construction
While in high school in 1959-1960, Tampleton worked in Charlie Sims’ Grocery Store. He remembers a Native American named Harjo, a Marine veteran. “I was very impressed by all the tales he told about how this creek was built. And he was the foreman that oversaw the workers of the creek.”
Tampleton said the creek was dug with picks and shovels. Sandstone rocks were brought and dropped at one centralized point. “They made skids like pallets that traveled and they loaded these stones on these skids, and they would hitch on a mule or a horse and drag ‘em down this creek where they would concrete them in and make a channelized creek.” Backbreaking work during the Depression years for $40 a week.
About the Creek
The creek’s headwaters originate in Holdenville. It flows into Tiger Creek five miles north of the city, becomes Wewoka Creek, and finally, joins the North Canadian River.
Process Starts at a National Level
Tampleton discovered the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN), Washington D.C., approves geographic features such as creeks and mountains. The BGN sent him a 13-page application which plainly stated it may take three years to complete. “You have to have the city, the county, the state, any Native American property affected. And it all has to be related to who you wish it to be named after.”
Starting Local to get Approval
In September 2023, Tampleton’s American Legion post approved his quest. That was followed by in-person and written requests to the Holdenville City Council and Hughes County Commissioner. David Smith, State Representative House District 18, approved the request in November 2024.
Approval from the Muskogee (Creek) Nation in Okmulgee was needed because Holdenville is in their reservation. “I sent a lot of letters and on the phone talked to various parts of that nation, like the veterans, cultural and historical desks.” Result? David Hill, their Principal Chief, supported the proposal in April 2025.
State, Congressional and National Approval
Tampleton and Lou Jean, his wife, met with Senator James Langford’s staff in Tulsa. After staffers said they could help, they informed him that permission from the Oklahoma Board of Geographic Names (OBGN) was needed. Another step to complete. Cesalea Ray, Chairman of the OBGN, came to Holdenville, saw the creek and gathered more information.
Final Steps
In December 2025, the BGN approved the creek’s name. Done? Nearly. The Geographic Names and Information System (GNIS) office, a section of the BGN, needed to provide coordinates of the beginning and ending of the creek for typographical maps. This was completed in January 2026.
This February, the OGBN approved the name, Veterans Creek, in an email which read in part, “The name Tvstvnvke Hvccuce (Warrior Creek in Muscogee Creek), phonetically pronounced, Dust-Dun-Uh-Gey Huh-Jo-Jee, has been added to the GNIS with Feature ID 2833026.” State and federal approvals complete!
Public Dedication
On June 20, at 10:00 a.m. in Holdenville’s Stroup Park, officials will publicly dedicate Veterans Creek with a big celebration. The creek’s sign, “Veterans Creek” on one side and “Tvstvnvke Hvccuce” on the other, will be uncovered. Attendees will include U.S. Representative Josh Brecheen, State Senator Jonathan Winguard, David Smith, a representative from Senator Lankford’s office, Holdenville officials and veteran groups.
Tampleton’s biography
Tampleton enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1960, became a warrant officer and commissioned officer, and retired in 1985. He served in the Vietnam War south of Da Nang for 20 months and received two Purple Hearts. He was a police officer for nine years, school board representative for two years and President of the Central Oklahoma Military Officers Association of America for three years.
Captain Tampleton’s tenacity to name Holdenville’s creek for veterans, despite a two-year, five-month period that required numerous details and approvals, resulted in success. For more information, go to U.S. Board on Geographic Names. •
story and photos by Lt Col Richard Stephens, Jr., USAFR, Ret.
Creek running though it. The creek fills during rain storms.
