Jake Hamon Shooting - Ardmore, OK - Infamous Crime Scenes on Waymarking.com

Today, the site is a parking lot. The marker says:

Before 1899, J.W. Banks built, at this site, a mercantile establishment combined with lodging quarters. In 1903, W.F. (Dixie) Gilmer arrived from North Carolina and leased the hotel which was a three story structure with rooms on the second and third floors and long, wide verandas facing Main Street. As was the custom of the day, a horse-drawn carriage carried guests of the hotel to and from the train station.

But it was the Randol Hotel that international attention was focused on this location when on November 21, 1920, Jake Hamon, prominent oil man and political figure slated to become Secretary of the Interior under President-elect Warren G. Harding, was shot by his mistress and died a few days later. The murder trial of Clara Smith Hamon in 1921, which ended in acquittal, was closely followed by newspapers around the world through reports from the mass media that descended upon Ardmore.

On July 17, 1925, fire of undetermined origin destroyed this famous landmark.

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Laton McCartney's "The Teapot Dome Scandal" provides excellent reading about not only the Teapot Dome Scandal itself, which went ahead with Albert Fall in Hamon's place, but also the background behind Hamon's shooting and prompted it.

Hamon was one of the architects of the Harding campaign, and played a major role in getting him elected. The goal: Hamon would become Secretary of the Interior and arrange to have oil reserves under Teapot Dome (in Wyoming) and two other locations transferred from the Department of the Navy to that of the Interior. Once done, Hamon would lease out drilling to his cronies in the oil business in no-bidding arrangements, with kickbacks sent in Hamon's direction.

Hamon had abandoned his family in favor of his mistress, Clara Smith, whom he arranged to have married to his brother so she could take the name "Hamon." That way, Jake and Clara could travel under the name "Jake and Clara Hamon," and none would be the wiser. The brother was paid off well for his part in the deal, but the arrangement was to be Hamon's undoing.

At some point, Mrs. Harding discovered that she and Jake's wife, the "real" Mrs. Jake L. Hamon, were distant cousins, and this provided an "in" during the Harding election campaign. Unfortunately, after Harding was elected, this worked against him. Mrs. Harding was certainly aware of her own husband's philandering ways, and the order was issued that Hamon would have to reconcile with his family before he could serve in the cabinet. Clara had to go.

Hamon broke the news to Clara and gave her some time to get her things in order. She would walk away with a golden parachute, including some oil wells that Hamon had given her, as well as enough money to provide for her and her relatives. What Hamon didn't know is that, while Clara took the news well, she bought a pistol the day after hearing it.

What exactly happened in their room at the Randol on November 21 is unclear, but the basics are that Hamon returned to the hotel after an afternoon of drinking. Clara was there, and the lights were off. Hamon flopped down on the bed to relax before dinner, Clara sat down next to him, and she fired one shot from her .25 calibre pistol. The shot pierced Hamon's ribs and lodged in his liver. Amazingly, Hamon was in good enough shape to knock the pistol from Clara's hand before she could fire again, and while clutching his chest, he managed to pocket the pistol before confronting Clara. Hamon managed to walk to the nearby Hardy Sanitarium. He tried to cover things up, probably fearing publicity, by claiming that he'd shot himself while cleaning his gun. He died five days later, admitting that it was Clara who had shot him.

In the meantime, Clara fled to Mexico, but she was ultimately convinced to return to Ardmore, where she went on trial in March 1921 for Hamon's murder. There was enough reasonable doubt that Hamon may have assaulted Clara, prompting her to shoot him in self-defense, that she was acquitted. She eventually moved to California, remarrying, with aspirations to becoming an actress, but she vanished into history after just one movie. Hamon himself is buried in Ardmore's Rose Hill Cemetery.

Date of crime: 11/21/1920 Public access allowed: yes Fee required: no Web site: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log User Rating   01/14/2018 The Snowdog visited it