William Couch

Who was William Couch?

William Lewis Couch was a leader of the Boomer Movement and the first mayor of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

He was born in North Carolina, later moving to Kansas as a farmer. He joined the Boomer Movement in 1880 and became the sole leader of the movement after David L. Payne's death on November 28, 1884. He participated in the Oklahoma Land Run on April 22, 1889 and was elected mayor soon thereafter on April 27, 1889. He remained mayor until November 11, 1889. On April 4, 1890, he was shot by J. C. Adams in a duel involving a dispute over his homestead claim, and died on April 21, 1890.