The museum is open 10am-5pm 7 Days a week
121 N Weenonah Ave, Claremore, OK 74017
The Claremore Museum of History and the Cherokee Nation
will officially kick off Oklahoma’s Route 66 centennial celebrations with the Andy Payne Route 66 Race.
April 12, 2025
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Don’t get left in the dust! Register for the inaugural Andy Payne Route 66 Race. Participate in the 5K, fun run, virtual run or simply come to enjoy the family-friendly atmosphere and cheer on the contestants. Help us honor Andy Payne and his legacy; sign up today.
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Andy, fourth from the right, was the oldest of seven children.
Andrew Hartley Payne was born in Foyil, Oklahoma on November 17, 1907. Andy was a member of the Cherokee Nation and graduated from Foyil High School in 1927. Andy had no interest in becoming a farmer like his father, his primary interest was education. Every day he would run to the schoolhouse after finishing his chores. He often arrived before his siblings, who rode horseback across the fields to school.
In 1928, Andy joined the “C. C. Pyle’s International Transcontinental Footrace,” which was a 3,423.3-mile endurance contest from California to New York. Dubbed the “Bunion Derby” by the press, the race was the brainchild of sports promoter Charles C. Pyle. Andy won the eighty-four-day competition.
An international field of 199 “Bunioneers” started from Los Angeles’s Ascott Speedway on March 4, 1928. Following Route 66 to Chicago, Payne led the field into Chelsea, Oklahoma, the event’s midway point. Running an improvised course between Chicago and New York, the athletes once logged 74.6 miles in a day. Such exertion took its toll, and only 55 contestants finished the race at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on May 26, 1928. Averaging roughly six miles an hour, Payne crossed 13 states in an elapsed time of 573 hours, 4 minutes, and 34 seconds.
The grand prize for winning first place was $25,000, which he used to pay off the mortgage on his family’s farm and build his parents a new home. He also bought some land of his own and a Ford sedan.
Andy and Pete Gavuzzi (right) were fierce rivals, and Gavuzzi led the field in Bristow.
Oklahoma Supreme Court Clerk Andy Payne
After his triumphant victory, Andy began looking for an occupation that would allow him to use his fame as a runner, so he decided on theater. He learned to rope and billed himself as a “Dancing Cowboy from Oklahoma.” He wasn’t well received by the audiences in California, so Andy returned east and found work as a reporter in Arkansas for the Fayetteville Leader. In addition, he also did work in sales as well as in the oil fields. Andy eventually moved back to Oklahoma and became clerk of the Oklahoma State Supreme Court. Being re-elected five times, he served from January 1935 through December 1972.
After Andy turned 40, he went to law school during the evenings at Oklahoma City University. His interest lay in land acquisition with an eye toward oil production. He had held onto the land he had bought with his winnings and over the years had continued to acquire more land, studying geology to aid him in his purchases. Eventually, this paid off for him with the discovery of coal, gas and oil on his properties and he in turn became very wealthy. Despite his wealth, Payne continued his job as clerk of the Oklahoma Supreme Court until he retired in 1973. By this time, he owned over 1,000 acres of land in 17 counties in Oklahoma. On December 3, 1977, Andy passed away leaving his family a small fortune and the world a lasting legacy. In 1981, Oklahoma Governor George Nigh declared June 6 the “Andy Payne Memorial Day.”
One can’t be an athlete all his life,
“
but he can use the same desire that made him.
Andy Payne
Andy, fourth from the right, was the oldest of seven children.
Early Life
Andrew Hartley Payne was born in Foyil, Oklahoma on November 17, 1907. Andy was a member of the Cherokee Nation and graduated from Foyil High School in 1927. Andy had no interest in becoming a farmer like his father, his primary interest was education. Every day he would run to the schoolhouse after finishing his chores. He often arrived before his siblings, who rode horseback across the fields to school.
Andy and Pete Gavuzzi (right) were fierce rivals, and Gavuzzi led the field in Bristow.
The Race
In 1928, Andy joined the “C. C. Pyle’s International Transcontinental Footrace,” which was a 3,423.3-mile endurance contest from California to New York. Dubbed the “Bunion Derby” by the press, the race was the brainchild of sports promoter Charles C. Pyle. Andy won the eighty-four-day competition.
An international field of 199 “Bunioneers” started from Los Angeles’s Ascott Speedway on March 4, 1928. Following Route 66 to Chicago, Payne led the field into Chelsea, Oklahoma, the event’s midway point. Running an improvised course between Chicago and New York, the athletes once logged 74.6 miles in a day. Such exertion took its toll, and only 55 contestants finished the race at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on May 26, 1928. Averaging roughly six miles an hour, Payne crossed 13 states in an elapsed time of 573 hours, 4 minutes, and 34 seconds.
The grand prize for winning first place was $25,000, which he used to pay off the mortgage on his family’s farm and build his parents a new home. He also bought some land of his own and a Ford sedan.
Oklahoma Supreme Court Clerk Andy Payne
Beyond the Finish Line
After his triumphant victory, Andy began looking for an occupation that would allow him to use his fame as a runner, so he decided on theater. He learned to rope and billed himself as a “Dancing Cowboy from Oklahoma.” He wasn’t well received by the audiences in California, so Andy returned east and found work as a reporter in Arkansas for the Fayetteville Leader. In addition, he also did work in sales as well as in the oil fields. Andy eventually moved back to Oklahoma and became clerk of the Oklahoma State Supreme Court. Being re-elected five times, he served from January 1935 through December 1972.
After Andy turned 40, he went to law school during the evenings at Oklahoma City University. His interest lay in land acquisition with an eye toward oil production. He had held onto the land he had bought with his winnings and over the years had continued to acquire more land, studying geology to aid him in his purchases. Eventually, this paid off for him with the discovery of coal, gas and oil on his properties and he in turn became very wealthy. Despite his wealth, Payne continued his job as clerk of the Oklahoma Supreme Court until he retired in 1973. By this time, he owned over 1,000 acres of land in 17 counties in Oklahoma. On December 3, 1977, Andy passed away leaving his family a small fortune and the world a lasting legacy. In 1981, Oklahoma Governor George Nigh declared June 6 the “Andy Payne Memorial Day.”
the Life of
Andy Payne
One can’t be an athlete all his life,
“
but he can use the same desire that made him.
Andy Payne
Race Questions?
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