The many interests and activities so firmly established and long sustained by the late Col. J. H. BARTLES, the founder of the two flourishing cities of Bartlesville and Dewey, are now being capably continued through his son Joseph A. Bartles, of Dewey. 

Joseph A. Bartles was born on Turkey Creek in Cherokee Nation December 15, 1874, a son of Col. J. H. and Nannie M. Bartles, and a grandson of Chief JOURNEY-CAKE, prominent as one of the leaders of the Delaware Tribe and a Baptist preacher and missionary. This is sufficient reference to Mr. Bartles' family, since space is given to his father on other pages. 

Joseph A. Bartles now lives within about four miles of his birthplace, and his home has been in Washington County practically all his life. He gained his first lessons at the knees of his mother, and then attended private school at Bacone, near the City of Muskogee, and after three or four years there entered the Kirkwood Military Academy in Missouri. His ambition at that time was to enter West Point Military Academy, and it was in preparation for this that he attended the Kirkwood institution. However, after three years he left school and abandoned his intention of becoming a military officer. Returning home, he found employment in looking after his father's interests and in business for himself. He first took charge of a cattle outfit for his father until about six years ago. From 1900 to 1908, he was in the general merchandise business at Dewey. 

For a number of years, he has been an active factor in the development of the oil and gas resources of Northern Oklahoma. He is president of the Delaware-Cherokee Oil Company, is treasurer of the Bartles Oil Company and president of the Dewey Gas Company. Most of his time is now given to the oil and gas industry, and also to farming and the handling of real estate, both city and farm property. He is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Dewey, and was one of the original stockholders of the Interurban Railroad built between Bartlesville and Dewey. 

As a substantial business man and public spirited citizen, Mr. Bartles has come into useful relations with many prominent enterprises in his section of the state. Throughout his active career he has voted and worked with the republican party, and was defeated by seventy-seven votes as republican candidate for delegate to the State Constitutional Convention. In Masonry he has attained thirty-two degrees in Scottish Rite, is a member of the Mystic Shrine, and also affiliates with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He was a subscriber to the bonds issued for the building of the Elks' Home at Bartlesville. In religious matters he was reared in the Baptist Church, of which his grandfather was a prominent member and preacher. On June 18, 1913, Mr. Bartles married Miss Edith ROSS of Oklahoma City. They lost their two children, Nancy Jane and Mary Jean.