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 CQF:fRIUHT DEPOSm 
 
The 
 
 ROMANCE 
 
 of 
 
 OKLAHOMA 
 
 OKLAHOMA AUTHORS' CLUB 
 
 Oklahoma City 
 1920 
 

 Copyrgiht 1920 
 
 by 
 
 Oklahoma Authors Club 
 
 jAN 10 1921 
 0)CU605598 
 
FOREWORD. 
 
 Romance is an elusive, fairy thing; a twin-sister to 
 Truth, and bearing such resemblance, that often they 
 are scarcely to be distinguished; and like Truth, she is 
 one of the Infinities, albeit lesser, standing a step lower 
 by the throne of the Great Infinite. Romance is the 
 dreams of men come true ; nay, was not the creation, the 
 geatest romance of all, merely the fulfilment of the 
 God-dream? 
 
 Romance has the Midas touch — greater, indeed, for 
 the caress of her fingers leaves behind it jewels of rare 
 and splendid luster that shine with a thousand rays. 
 
 Look indulgently, then, upon the shortcomings of 
 this book; for finite cannot compass the infinite. Some 
 few jewels we have gathered from the splendid casket 
 of our State, and give them to your view. Romance has 
 loved Oklahoma, and has bestowed on her wealth be- 
 yond our telling. With what we have told, we hope you 
 may be pleased. 
 
 In writing history, no one can claim originality. We 
 have tried to make this book authentic ; and for our ma- 
 terial, we have perforce gone over ground that has been 
 written of by others. 
 
 The Committee wish to acknowledge their indebt- 
 edness to Mr. J. B. Thoburn's History of Oklahoma; to 
 the Catholic Encyclopedia; to Mr. George Bird Grinnell, 
 author of Pawnee Folk Tales; to Mr. O. D. Halsell; to 
 Mr. Selywn Douglas for his appropriate cover design ; to 
 Hon. Wm. Tilghman for the loan of pictures from his 
 collection ; and to various other persons who assisted 
 the Club in securing hitherto unwritten material. 
 
 — Editorial Committee. 
 Oklahoma City, 
 April, 1920. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Prairie Genoa Morris ' 1 
 
 Wind Song, Poem ZOE A. Tilghman 3 
 
 The First Footsteps ^OE A. Tilghman 4 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Cheyenne War Song, Poem.^OE A. Tilghman 13 
 
 Aborigines Mary Nagle 14 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 A Ranchman of Oklahoma. ..0. D. Halsell 28 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 "Happij Fancy" Kate W. Searcy 32 
 
 The Possession Caroline Cain Durkee 33 
 
 Pioneer Schools Adele Hart Brown 42 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Light of The Cross Mrs. Verner Early 46 
 
 The Triumph of the Law...ZoE A. Tilghman 59 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Under Seven Flags Adele Hart Brown 67 
 
 The Chisholm Trail Ada Pitzer Slocum 71 
 
 In the New Territory Ada Pitzer Slocum 75 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Growth of Oklahoma City..BERTKA. M. Coombs — 79 
 
 Antelope's Sorrow Pearl Futrell Hillman.... 81 
 
 Painting the Goats Bee C. Brooks 82 
 
 The Pin Indians Bee C. Brooks 83 
 
 A Young Financier Isabel Eastman Styll 83 
 
 Help! Help! Annette Blackburn Ehler 83 
 
 Selling His Dog Dr. J. W. EcHOLS : 84 
 
 The Honor of the West - 85 
 
 Primitive Court Days Adele Hart Brown 85 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE PRAIRIE. 
 By Genoa Morris. 
 
 The poets of the world have left to us a limitless legacy 
 of symbolism, through which we may comprehend man's 
 conquest of the primitive earth, and the story of its trans- 
 formation into beauty and usefulness is coeval with all 
 religious history. These are two streams with a single 
 source. 
 
 There, for instance, is the vast American Prairie; 
 crude, elemental, sublime; awaiting in pristine innocence 
 the Will that can develop her. Long, oh, long has she 
 slept! Cycle upon cycle has rolled over her fast bound 
 in savage lethargy. But now, behold: asubtle stirring of 
 the torpid heart; a slow lightening of the stony counte- 
 nance ! 
 
 Is not this Aphrodite, risen in dishevelled beauty from 
 the sea, inviting discovery by dull-eyed mortals? Or is it 
 not Eve — for "Eve" means "Life" — tarrying in the wil- 
 derness, calling on the sons of men to restore her vanished 
 Eden? 
 
 It is the masculine element that is wanting in this 
 desert land; only that touch can awaken its solitudes into 
 fruitfulness and joy. 
 
 While yet no suspicion of civilized invasion had dis- 
 turbed the Prairie into self-consciousness, an instinct of 
 coquetry, deep as Nature's heart, kept her in a never- 
 resting attitude of self-defense. "Only the brave, only the 
 brave deserve the fair!" eternally she seemed to hum, her 
 wind-swept lure accompanying. Thus, Summer's drouth 
 and Winter's blizzard alternated service, wielding a sword 
 that turned every way, to hold her virgin soil against im- 
 posters. 
 
 [1] 
 
2 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 Yet all the while, above the striving voices of the sea- 
 sons above their minor note of warning, she crooned a 
 happy home-song, 
 
 Ah! the Prairie is a Lorelei, luring to a unknown fate! 
 
 Westward, still westward, as flotsam before the tide, the 
 helpless Red Man was tossed by the flood of civilized im- 
 migration; until at length he arose, a disillusioned, des- 
 pairing creature, and turned for a final stand. 
 
 This unwise rebuke, this futile recrimination, com- 
 pleted his undoing; and his racial evolutionary period was 
 cut peremptorily from an age to a day! 
 
 Meanwhile, the flood, unimpeded, went on. 
 
 And now, behold! upon the western horizon, yet south- 
 ward, as rises the sun of Indian Summer, a roseate light 
 is breaking! Bright banners gleaming, seeming almost 
 to flutter in the breeze! Smoke curling, as from the 
 cam.p-fires of a mighty, invisible battlefield! Highways, 
 straight and wide, cutting the vast plain, clearing the way 
 for conquest! 
 
 These, wonderer! are but church-towers and sky- 
 scrapers, homes and schools, and the insignia of a living, 
 thriving commerce. 
 
 Scenes of peace, yet symbols of war? Aye, and the 
 morning stars are singing- 
 
 While here, in the Redlands of Oklahoma, is staged a 
 world-record invasion of things primitive ; an unparalleled 
 attack upon ignorance, narrowness and prejudice; against 
 poverty, disease, and the exploitation of innocence; upon 
 vice and crime and every possible obstacle to the hasten- 
 ing of human progress. 
 
 And the Prairie pays the cost, ably and willingly! 
 
 For the masculine, brute-conquering element, so long 
 awaited, has at last appeared, and the Desert is bursting 
 into bloom. 
 
WIND SONG. 
 
 Oklahofna Anniversary, April 22. 
 ZOE A. TILGHMAN. 
 
 Wind of the Prairie, sweeping adown from the hills 
 Bending the upstarting grass of the early spring, 
 
 Tell me what you are singing. 
 Summers and winters uncounted, unknown. 
 Over the wilderness roaming, 
 So you have learned if you will hut tell. 
 All that in the long years befell; 
 
 Sing to me, then of the Coming. 
 
 "Tread of the moccasined Indian, trailing the deer in the 
 
 timber, 
 Stalking the bison and antelope grazing the open plains; 
 Flying with stolen ponies snatched from the Utes of the 
 
 West; 
 Plumes of the war-parties riding — past, like the wind in 
 
 the grass. 
 
 "Tramp of the cavalry horses, and gleam of the council 
 
 fires burning; 
 Sound of the axe and of hammer where forts arise at 
 
 their bidding; 
 Dim trails over the prairie where long-horns journey to 
 
 northward ; 
 I lift the mists from the river, and these are gone as the 
 
 vapors. 
 
 "Creaking of laden wagons in lonely and desolate places, 
 Ring of the wires drawn taut as the staples are driven 
 
 home; 
 Grazing herds in the pastures; long lines winding down 
 
 to the river 
 They drink, and I ripple the water, and these are gone 
 
 like the ripples, 
 
 [3] 
 
4 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 "Alone in the smile of the springtide the land lies wait- 
 ing before me. 
 The jackrabbit leisurely lopes on quest of his own, and 
 
 the coyote 
 Howls in the night at the camp fires that gleam in the 
 
 darkness before him ; 
 Men and women and children about them gathered and 
 
 waiting, 
 Faces and hearts alight with a wonderful hope and 
 
 desiring ; 
 Soldiers riding before them, as the sun climbs high in 
 
 the heavens; 
 I scatter the smoke of their guns and the throngs are 
 
 melted as quickly. 
 
 "Over the land they are poured, in a flood resistless, un- 
 yielding; 
 Toiling with stubborn patience, a winter light in their 
 
 faces ; 
 Steadfast through days that are dark, till the first great 
 
 struggle is over; 
 Winter winds have they borne, but now the joy of the 
 
 springtime 
 Wells in their hearts once more, as they who remain are 
 
 foregathered ; 
 Past on the breath of the wind, pioneers who blazed the 
 
 way for them, 
 But these are they who have conquered and kept — the 
 
 People of Eighty-Nine." 
 
 I 
 
 THE FIRST FOOTSTEPS. 
 
 In those far-off days before the movies were, when the 
 opera house was the sole temple of the drama, we watched 
 Hamlet's ghost-king glide mysteriously, or held our breath 
 as Eliza leaped desperately over the floating ice. And 
 while we waited between acts, and read the advertise- 
 ments on the curtain — for the hundredth time — sometimes 
 
Z y.'~ 
 
 
 ^ "" r "^ ^ 2 
 
 i; y- , j s -t 
 
 >^ 5 i^ > ■- "■? 
 
 •/: s a- !H ~ '^ 
 
 ^ ^ 5' = =f "^ 
 
 ^-^^ i. n i: ^ 3f 
 
 
 
 e; ■{. X £ ? 
 
The First Footsteps 5 
 
 we wondered what was behind the stage. What a thrill 
 was that first glimpse of this mysterious world, when 
 the scene-shifter let you in as extra help ; or when the 
 leading lady chanced to be Mamie Jones' cousin's sister- 
 in-law, and Mamie took you back to meet her. 
 
 However fascinating the play, there is yet other ro- 
 mance behind the curtain. 
 
 To those who think of Oklahoma today as a land prin- 
 cipally of Indians and oil wells; to those outside her 
 borders, and for the late-comers among her own people; 
 for those, wherever they may be who find romance behind 
 the scenes, this little book is offered. 
 
 Three-score years before the English colonists settled at 
 Jamestown, Francisco de Coronado, cavalier of Spain, 
 made his way across the dry wastes of the Texas Pan- 
 handle, and to guide his return, drove stakes along his 
 route; thus establishing on the maps for many a day, the 
 name of the Llano Estacado, or Staked Plain. So he came 
 at length to a more fertile region; a land of wide, rolling 
 prairies, of strange sandy rivers seething with floods from 
 the mountain snows ; with weird, white, glistening salt 
 plains, last remnant of a vanished sea ; a land of countless 
 herds and wandering peoples, of marvelous blue skies, and 
 sunshine, and of sweeping winds. 
 
 Coronado recognized the richness of the land, but the 
 cry of that day was "gold." And this he did not find. Nor 
 did those who followed him have better fortune. They 
 were conquistadores, not colonizers. Resolute, daring, 
 courageous, no toil or hardship was beyond them. With 
 the lure of fabled gold ahead, they faced heat and cold, 
 quicksands and floods, the parching thirst of the dry 
 plains, starvation, and hostile tribes, — ^all the terrors of 
 the untamed wilderness. But it was not in their genius 
 to subdue that wilderness, and make it yield up its riches. 
 They could overrun the established empires, enslave their 
 peoples and appropriate their treasures. But they could 
 not fight the will-o'-the-wisp tribes that came and went in 
 the vast plains; nor bend themselves to the patient labor 
 
6 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 of the pioneer. So they were mere sojourners in the land, 
 leaving no trace save their fruitless gold-diggings in the 
 Wichita mountains, and a few^ names. 
 
 The most notable of these v^^ords is the name of the 
 river, Cimarron. The word has a curious history. It 
 seems to have originated along the Isthmus of Panama, 
 where, after the Spanish conquest, escaped negro slaves 
 were called **simeroons.'' Bands of these were at times 
 almost as formidable as the pirates who harried the coasts. 
 The word came northward with the conquerors, and some 
 circumstance, we know not what, fastened it on the river. 
 Possibly its significance of "wanderer" seemed to fit the 
 stream; possibly some slave of the expedition escaped and 
 became a simeroon among its drifting sandhills. 
 
 The name has survived the tendency of the American 
 pioneers to change or translate the Spanish and French 
 names. The most striking example is the name of a river 
 in New Mexico. When a Spanish expedition disappeared 
 utterly, leaving no trace in a mountain valley, that stream 
 became El Rio de Las Animas Perditas — The River of Lost 
 Souls. The French voyageurs translated the cumbersome 
 title into their own language as La Purgatoire; and the 
 American frontiersmen anglicized this by sound rather 
 than sense, into "Picketwire." Cimarron, however, was 
 easy enough to say, and perhaps was a welcome relief from 
 the unimaginative North Fork, Dry Fork and various 
 other "Forks," by which the Americans were wont to 
 divide out one ns,me to serve for several streams. 
 
 Nearly two hundred years after Coronado, the French 
 voyageurs began to push westward along the Arkansas 
 and the Red rivers, in search of skins. They depended on 
 boats for travel and transportation, hence their . activities 
 were confined chiefly to the wooded and hilly eastern part 
 of the state, and scarcely touched the prairies. They 
 traded with the Indians, and their canoes, laden with traps 
 and trade goods, pushed up nearly all the passable tribu- 
 taries of the two rivers. Auguste Choteau, of the great 
 
The First Footsteps 7 
 
 fur company, personally kept a trading post on the Grand 
 river for many years before his death. 
 
 Yet, two hundred years after the coming of the Span- 
 iards, and after three-score years of French dominion, 
 Oklahoma was still an untouched wilderness. No white 
 man's dwelling was within her borders; no fields were 
 cultivated save those of the Wichitas, the one tribe of the 
 Plains who planted and garnered. One change only the 
 white man had brought; the horses escaped from the 
 Spaniards had multiplied into myriad herds, and the In- 
 dians had learned to tame and ride them. This one thing, 
 however, was a vital change in the life of the vdld tribes, 
 rendering their hunting range greater, their subsistence 
 more secure, and their war-like activities measurably 
 enhanced. 
 
 The French had been friendly, and had brought them 
 coveted trade goods. The Spaniards further away, had 
 troubled them little. But a new flag waved over Louisi- 
 ana, and a new people came to see the land and possess it. 
 They drove their long white wagons over the Santa Fe 
 trail, and they met war with war. Now and again some 
 hapless party would fall victims to the Indians. The gold 
 rush of '49 brought some travelers across Oklahoma, prob- 
 ably starting from Fort Smith, instead of the more usual 
 route beginning at the Missouri river. At a ford of Coim- 
 cil creek east of Stillwater, the spring floods, within re- 
 cent years, washed out two old flint lock muskets, long 
 buried there; memento of some far-off tragedy, a dream 
 of California fortune ended at this pleasant camp. 
 
 In the bitter struggle of the Last Frontier, the story 
 of Oklahoma is inextracably bound up with that of Kan- 
 sas. The settlement and the railroads, following the San- 
 ta Fe Trail, gradually pushed the Indians southward. It 
 was from Oklahoma that they made their last terrible 
 raids on the frontier settlements. It was from the forts 
 and military post in Kansas that the punitive expeditions 
 were sent out which finally quelled the tribes. 
 
8 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 The plainsmen succeeded the trappers, with their canoes 
 and trade goods. These men rode horses, and no journey 
 was beyond them ; no storm or thirst or hunger daunted 
 them. Many fell, indeed, but where one failed another 
 came boldly forward to succeed. No rigors of the wilder- 
 ness or terror of savage men could stay the pioneer. They 
 killed the buffalo which for the Plains Indian were food 
 and raimant and shelter; and aside from his ponies, his 
 only real wealth. When the Indians stole their horses, 
 they made reprisals on the Indian herds. These amenities 
 belong especially to Oklahoma, for it was not until Kansas 
 was settled, and the Indians held south of the line that 
 the practice was most flourishing. 
 
 Cattle ranches were establislied in southern Kansas, and 
 as there were no fences, of course the cattle strayed south. 
 Often they would drift before a storm for twenty miles or 
 more. In the recognized domain of the Indian, only the 
 hardiest white men would venture. The cattle men paid 
 extra wages to those who would go to gather the strays. 
 With guns and saddle, and a meager outfit on a pack- 
 horse, these men ranged the enemy's country. Now their 
 horses would be stolen from the picket ropes at night, and 
 the white men would be set afoot. Almost as good a 
 trailer as the Indian, he frequently recovered the stolen 
 horse — or another. Sometimes the Indian was "pun- 
 ished." Again, the white man suffered. Thus, Pat Hen- 
 nessey, freighter, was found amid the charred remains of 
 his wagon. Amos Chapman, with five companions, bear- 
 ing dispatches from General Miles to Ft. Supply, was 
 attacked by a war party. Their horses shot or gone, one 
 of their number killed and Chapman himself wounded 
 severely in the leg, so that it was afterward amputated, 
 they took refuge in the shallow depression of a buffalo 
 wallow. The hot sun blazed upon them ; the flies gathered. 
 Then it rained — ^blessed relief from the torture of thirst— 
 and the buffalo wallow became a pool, foul with the blood 
 from their wounds. Without food, and with only the filthy 
 water to moisten their aching throats, by night and day 
 
The First Footsteps 9 
 
 they kept watch, to hold the besiegers at bay. Brave 
 though the Indian is, he never liked to face open fire. It 
 is not his way of fighting. And he stood in wholesome 
 awe of the plainsmen's splendid rifles and matchless 
 marksmanship. The waiting game was safer, and seemed 
 just as sure. In the night, Billy Dixon skipped through 
 the cordon to seek help. He met a detachment of troops, 
 who could not move them, but left food, and carried word 
 of their plight to the General. With a new suspense, they 
 took up the watch for two more days and nights of agony. 
 Then to their strained ears came the bugle call, and they 
 fired their guns in reply. If the darkness hid tears upon 
 their faces who shall wonder? Chapman finished his trip 
 in an ambulance and delivered the dispatches. 
 
 Near the place where Pat Hennessey met his tragic 
 fate, a band of Indians, supposed to be the same that 
 killed him, fell in with two plainsmen who had been gath- 
 ering strayed stock. They had thirteen head of ponies, 
 and these they drove with them as they fled. From time 
 to time, as their mounts flagged, they would rope a loose 
 pony, change the saddle and ride on, tightening the girths 
 as they went. They dared not stop at night lest they be 
 surrounded. The state line was still far away. Late in 
 the afternoon of the second day they came to the Salt 
 Fork. It was up, but flood and quicksand were less dan- 
 gerous than the foe behind. Four horses had dropped 
 out in the flight, but the remaining nine were urged into 
 the water and swam across. The Indians quit. They 
 never cared for an excess of water — a trait that may be 
 observed in some of their descendants today. 
 
 With the early grass each spring, the great herds of 
 cattle came northward along the trails. The earlier route 
 went through the eastern part of the state, passing near 
 Muskogee, and heading toward Coffeyville, Kansas. But 
 about 1866 the Chisholm Trail was opened, a direct and 
 easy route across the Territory. With from three hun- 
 dred to three thousand head of cattle, a chuck-wagon 
 remuda — Spanish for remount — extra horses, and men 
 
10 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 enough to handle the herd, the cattle man made the drive 
 to Wichita, AJbilene, or Dodge City, as each in turn be- 
 came the principal shipping point. From the Red River 
 to the Kansas line there was no house nor well, or even a 
 barbed wire fence ; only the big rivers to be crossed, often 
 swimming the cattle, sometimes pulling or digging out the 
 animals caught in the quicksand. By night the men 
 would roll in their blankets about the camp fire, while the 
 night herd rode slowly around the bed-ground of the cat- 
 tle, singing strange cowboy melodies. This custom orig- 
 inated doubtless in the desire of some lonesome rider to 
 relieve his burdened spirit; but all the cattlemen consid- 
 ered that the singing had a soothing effect on the cattle, 
 and was to be commended as a salutary precaution against 
 that most dreaded catastrophe, a stampede. The cattle- 
 men had little trouble with the Indians. Usually a chief 
 would appear asking for beeves, and these were given 
 him; often cows, or young stock or strays which were 
 mere extras in the herd. 
 
 No chapter in frontier story is more thrilling than that 
 of the Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry and its gallant cam- 
 paign under General Custer, in '68 and '69, which quelled 
 the savage tribes. The awful trail of blood and flame, 
 rapine and desolation which marked the Indian war-path 
 of '68 was scarcely cold when the call went forth for a 
 regiment of volunteers to avenge the slaughter. Thus 
 was the Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry enrolled, from the 
 boldest of the pioneer youth and the hardiest frontiersmen. 
 The governor of Kansas, aforetime Indian fighter, re- 
 signed his office to become their leader; and on the roster 
 of officers was the name of David Payne, later the Boomer, 
 father of the state which he now helped to make safe for 
 civilization. Marching from Wichita, the regiment, 
 through incompetent guides, became lost in the Cimarron 
 sand hills. They ran out of food and suffered terrible 
 hardships in a blizzard which overtook them there. Cour- 
 iers got through to Fort Supply, however, and relief came. 
 At the Fort they joined General Custer with the Seventh 
 
The First Footsteps 11 
 
 Cavalry and thenceforth were under his command. After 
 a brief and successful campaign on the Washita, and a 
 rest at Fort Sill, Custer, with his available men, set out 
 on what was perhaps his hardest, and certainly his most 
 decisive, campaign. Most of the Cheyennes had fled west- 
 ward across the Staked Plains; and all the Indians be- 
 lieved that this region was impassable in the winter. 
 Without camp equipment, with only a few wagons of food 
 which soon was eaten, the men ate the flesh of the wagon 
 mules as these gave out from toil and starvation, on the 
 way. Cavalry no longer, footsore and hungry, they 
 pushed on; and at length they found a village of the 
 Cheyennes. Custer seized three chiefs and demanded the 
 release of two captive white women whom the Indians 
 v/ere known to have; also that the Indians return to their 
 reservation. Never, even in his heroic death, did General 
 Custer appear greater than when, with his few needy and 
 desperate men, he coolly met the raging of the furious 
 warriors; and sat silent before the passionate protesta- 
 tions of the wily chiefs. Following the great tradition 
 of American diplomacy, he confounded their crafty lying 
 by ignoring it utterly, as if he had not heard. And when 
 he spoke, it was an ultimatum as bold as Roosevelt's 
 famous demand for Pordicaris. The two white women 
 must be delivered up unharmed, or the chiefs would be 
 hanged at sunset the next day. To' cold and hunger was 
 now added the agony of suspense. Every free Indian dis- 
 appeared. Had they made good their escape, leaving the 
 chiefs to their fate? What an inglorious ending to the 
 terrible expedition — to hang three Indians, while the 
 rest laughed at their demands. Anxiously every soldier 
 watched the descending sun. At length, when it was a 
 red ball, a mere hand's breadth above the horizon, a sol- 
 itary figure appeared on the hilltop, beckoned, and an- 
 other and another came; at length, one pony with two 
 riders, which came on before. It was the two white 
 v/omen for whose sake the troops had struggled on so 
 desperately; released at last from their awful slavery. 
 
12 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 With the return of the Cheyennes to their reservation, 
 the savage menace was almost ended, and no serious 
 trouble occurred for several years. Henceforth the ad- 
 vance of the pioneer v^^as to be peaceful possession. The 
 blood which was yet to be spilled for the establishment 
 of the state was not in the struggle of White and Red, 
 but of Lawlessness and Law. 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 CHEYENNE WAR SONG. 
 
 By Zoe a. Tilghman. 
 
 Now the time of the snow is over, 
 The white frost comes not in the night, 
 The soft winds blow from the southland 
 And the green grass springs on the hills. 
 Bring your arrows, your sharp war arrows. 
 That hang in the teepee. 
 
 Let the young men go forth to hunt 
 
 That there may be meat in the wig-wams. 
 
 The grass is green and the ponies eat and grow strong; 
 
 They grow strong and swift for the warriors. 
 
 Bring your bows and your sharp war arrows. 
 Paint your faces with war paint. 
 The medicine men are singing. 
 They are making a mighty medicine; 
 They will make strong the warriors. 
 
 i 
 
 The grass grows tall; it covers the hoofs of the ponies; 
 
 It is the sign for the war path. 
 
 The warriors ride far away to the place of the white man ; 
 
 They will burn his wig^wams, 
 
 They will bring scalps and ponies and captives. 
 
 Leave in the village the old men, the women and children. 
 
 Mount on your swift war ponies. 
 
 Bring many sharp war arrows. 
 
 The medicine men are singing; 
 
 The sign of the tall grass tells them 
 
 It is the time of the war path. 
 
 [13] 
 
14 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 ABORIGINES. 
 By Mary Nagle. 
 
 "As unto the bow, the cord is," so, unto Oklahoma, 
 is the Indian, and this "Romance of Oklahoma" will not 
 go far on its road to fame and fortune, without a chapter 
 given over to the Story of the Indian. 
 
 It has been declared, by "wise men of the East," that 
 no perfect history of our great state, is yet possible; that 
 we are too young; that our citizens have no perspective, 
 and no background. 
 
 But we assert that our state furnishes a sufficiently an- 
 cient background in the American Indian, who roamed 
 the prairies of Oklahoma long before Columbus discovered 
 America. 
 
 This writer has neither knowledge nor space, to dwell 
 on the prehistoric Indian, nor to tell much of the pioneer 
 life of the early Indian, but, rather, to relate some facts 
 and stories (perhaps, before untold), of our red brother 
 as he came to Oklahoma, and show the influences and 
 environments, which have made him and his descendants, 
 important citizens of our state. 
 
 When, through a long series of treaties with the 
 Great Father at Washington, the five civilized tribes were 
 transplanted frota their old homes in the South lands, 
 to the Indian Territory, they settled in the eastern por- 
 tion, as follows: 
 
 To the extreme northeast lives the Cherokee Nation with 
 Tahlequah as its capital. The Choctaws occupy the south- 
 east corner of the state, with the Chickasaws, a closely re- 
 related tribe, immediately west of them. Just north are the 
 Creeks, and the little country of the Seminoles. Tisho- 
 mingo is the capital of the Chickasaws, Okmulgee of the 
 Creeks, and Wewoka of the Seminoles. Unfortunately, 
 the big tribal toM^n of the Choctaws, Tuskahoma, was 
 never made a county seat. 
 
 These locations are given for the benefit of our read- 
 ers, who are like the woman from the East, who said, "I 
 
' -^'"^ ^=t'- j^fe ^ 
 
 
Aborigines 15 
 
 know Oklahoma is full of Indians, but I have not the 
 slightest idea of their names or where they live." 
 
 To the Indian, Oklahoma owes, first of all, her name, 
 and altho many disputes have arisen as to the origin and 
 meaning of the name, it is generally conceded to be a 
 Choctaw^ word meaning "Red People." 
 
 Oklahoma also owes to the five civilized tribes, who 
 came to her between the years 1832 and 1835, her first 
 civilization, for they brought with them their own tribal 
 governments, patterned after the lands of the South. 
 Each tribal town was the seat of Council, where they 
 elected Chief, Second Chief, Council of Five and War 
 Chief. They also appointed police and marshal, which 
 were called lighthorsemen, and these were given power 
 to inflict punishments. 
 
 The sentences for crime were usually fines; for grave 
 offenses so many blows from the lash; and, for extreme 
 offenses, death which was inflicted by standing the pris- 
 oner against a wall, and after baring his breast, shooting 
 him with fire arms. 
 
 To the high minded Indian of those days, the crime of 
 cowardice was worse than death, and prisons were not 
 needed, for no full-blood was ever known to evade his 
 punishment for crime, or to run away, when sentenced to 
 die. 
 
 The early Chickasaws and Choctaws were a pure 
 blooded race of Indians, and had a horror of any ming- 
 ling of their blood with the negro, which race had been 
 brought to this country by them, as slaves. 
 
 Henry Benson, one of the early Choctaw Missionaries, 
 gives this incident to illustrate this marked trait of these 
 tribes. 
 
 To his "Academy for Boys" there came one day, a 
 handsome lad of fourteen years, whose hair was so black 
 and curly, that his playmates taunted him about it, call- 
 ing him "Nigger." The boy, who knew nothing of his 
 parents, for hehad been an orphan from infancy, rushed 
 in to Mr. Benson and demanded to know the truth. "My 
 
16 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 boy," said the teacher, "I know of both your parents, 
 your father was a noble Choctaw Chief, and your mother, 
 a beautiful mulatto slave of his household." The boy fled 
 from the room, ^\dthout a word, and when, later, on hear- 
 ing a shot, Mr. Benson went outside, he found the little 
 half-breed dying from a self-inflicted wound, murmuring, 
 "Me no good Choctaw, me die." 
 
 Among the great Chiefs of the Choctaws, the name ot 
 Pushmataha, stands alone. He was not only a great war- 
 rior, but was a statesman as well, and was the only full- 
 blood Indian to bear the rank of Brigadier General, in the 
 Federal Army. When he was dying he was asked if he 
 had any request to make as to his burial. He said: 
 "Shoot heap big guns over my body," accordingly, he was 
 buried with military honors. 
 
 History tells us that four of the five civilized tribes, 
 who were moved from the South, came reluctantly, yet 
 peaceably, but that the Seminoles back in Florida, fought 
 desperately for seven years against removal. Under their 
 powerful Chief, Osceola, they defied the Government, and 
 it was not until Osceola was captured, that they could be 
 m'oved. At first they settled on the lands of their kins- 
 men, the Creeks, but fearing that they would lose their 
 identity, they complained to the Great Father, who finally 
 set aside a part of the Creek's country for them, as their 
 own. 
 
 Of all the eastern Indians it may be said that the 
 Creeks and Seminoles clung longest to the old customs 
 and habits of early days and the manner of preparing 
 their food is most primitive. A dish of corn, called 
 "Sofky," is made by the Creeks in this manner, and is 
 much the same as hominy. On a log of hard wood, oak, 
 or hickory, two feet through and about a foot high, is 
 dug a deep round hole, into which is put corn, which the 
 squaws pound to a coarse grit with a long round stick, 
 for a pestle. The ground corn is soaked in lye, made 
 from wood ashes, until tender, then boiled until the water 
 
Aborigines 17 
 
 turns a dark yellow, when it is soft and ready to eat. 
 The Indians never use seasoning of any kind. 
 
 The old superstitious regard these Indians have for 
 their priests or "medicine men," was brought out in a 
 Court trial of a Seminole, just recently. 
 
 The Seminole was being tried for murder, and the 
 prosecuting attorney had discovered that he had gone to 
 a "medicine man" for so-called murder medicine with 
 which to heal himself from crime. The Court refused to 
 allow the medicine man's testimony to be entered in the 
 case, setting it aside as sacred, as that of a Priest or 
 Doctor. 
 
 Of the Cherokees, it has been said, that they have 
 more institutions of learning in their nation, per capita, 
 than has any other nation in the world. They gave to our 
 state, its first Colleges, introduced the first printing 
 press, and published the first newspaper, the Cherokee 
 Messenger, in 1844. Whole volutaes might be written on 
 the advancement of these Indians along lines of educa- 
 tion and culture, and many prominent men, notably. Sen- 
 ator Robert L. Owen, of presidential timber, have had 
 their origin in this race. 
 
 The story of that early genius, Sequoyah, has gone out 
 to all lands. How that an uneducated, ignorant Indian, 
 v/ho had lived to middle age, without being able to sign 
 his own name, was confined to his lodge one whole winter 
 long with rheumatism, and amused himself by cutting out 
 figures on pieces of bark. 
 
 He soon discovered that he could make these bark 
 chips talk, and tnom this small beginning, the eighty- 
 five letters of the Cherokee alphabet, were formed and 
 named, before the winter's end. 
 
 This invention of Sequoyah, in 1820, spread like wild- 
 fire through the tribe, and all studied hard to learn to 
 read and write as it is said that any Cherokee, old or 
 young, could master the alphabet in three weeks' time. 
 Sequoyah's death occurred in 1844, while on a hunting 
 expedition in Mexico. Not long ago, a skeleton was 
 
18 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 found in a cave in Mexico, which on account of a ring on 
 the finger and other characteristic marks, was thought by 
 some to be that of Sequoyah, whoise body was never 
 found. 
 
 But while we are studying the Cherokee from this 
 highly civilized point of view, let us not forget that there 
 is a vast difference between the rich and the poor of this 
 tribe. 
 
 The poor Cherokee live very much as the poor whites 
 of our own race, with a small patch of ground, on which 
 he raises just enough corn for his family, and a little 
 feed for his few bony horses, and his hogs, of the typical 
 "razor back" variety. 
 
 This poorer class of Indian is found in all the tribes, 
 and it is this class, as is the truth of any people, who 
 cling longest to old superstitions and customs of early, 
 primitive days. 
 
 There is a belief among the Indians, that if, when 
 starting out on a hunt, they fail to kill the first animal, 
 they must go back and start all over again, thereby chas- 
 ing away the bad luck spirits. 
 
 Their horses or ponies are always mounted from the 
 right side, and when driving a team, an Indian will in- 
 variably turn to the left — using a "Cherokee turn out" 
 as it is commonly called by the whites. 
 
 Lying directly west of the Cherokee Nation is the coun- 
 try of the Osages, with Pawhuska, its county seat town. 
 This country of the Osage Nation, made so rich in re- 
 cent years by the bringing in of the Mid-Continent Oil 
 Fields, is said to be the richest nation per capita in the 
 world. All oil royalties in the Nation are held in the 
 tribal fund, so there are no rich and poor Osages, as all 
 share alike. 
 
 This tribe, and the Quapaws, a related tribe, are com- 
 monly known as the indigenous Indians of Oklahoma, but 
 it is now believed that they came originally from the 
 Sioux stock, and migrated to this country six hundred 
 years ago. There is an old legend that the Kaw Indians 
 
Aborigines 19 
 
 were once a branch of the Osages, and became separated 
 from them in this manner. Many years ago, when the 
 Osages were making their laborious way across the coun- 
 try, they came to a very large stream which only a few 
 of the tribe dared to cross. Those who stayed behind were 
 called "Kaws" or cowards. But we are inclined to sympa- 
 thize with the Kaws in this story, when we know that the 
 stream they were afraid to cross was the Mississippi River. 
 
 When Washington Irving toured Oklahoma in 1832, he 
 must have had some days of real sport and genuine thrills, 
 for he is said to have hunted buffalo a few miles south 
 of the present site of Oklahoma City, and chased wild 
 horses near where Guthrie now stands. 
 
 In his book "Tour of the Prairies," he describes a 
 chance encounter with seven Osage Chiefs and war- 
 riors. "They were dressed," says Irving, "in scarlet 
 frocks, with fringed leggins of deer skin, and I could not 
 help but admire the fine heads and busts of these savages, 
 and their graceful attitudes and expressive gestures." 
 
 The interpreter with Irving stopped the Indians and 
 asked where they were going. They told him they were 
 on the War Path to the Pawnees. The interpreter tried 
 to persuade them to go home quietly, and not attack the 
 Pawnees. The Indians bowed ceremoniously and rode 
 away, but as they went the big Chief was heard to say, 
 that if it was true that the Great Father would soon put 
 an end to all warfare among his red children, he must 
 make the most of the time left, so off they went, to 
 plunder, scalp and kill. 
 
 The Osages, always a friendly race to the white man, 
 were, nevertheless, a fierce and warlike tribe in early 
 days. 
 
 Many bitter fights occurred between them and the Cher- 
 okees, and the historic battle of Claremore Mound did 
 more to settle the trouble between them than all the peace 
 treaties the Government tried to arrange. 
 
20 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 On the northwest part of the Osage Country is a region 
 of hills, the highest two of which, are of dumb-bell shape, 
 and connected by a narrow ridge. 
 
 These hills are about a mile across the top, and com- 
 prise several acres. Great round holes in the top of the 
 hills, nov/ filled with rubbish, look as if they might have 
 been wells, and the Osages have a legend that this old 
 Fort, as it is called, was the scene of a long siege between 
 themselves and Wichitas, who cam.e on tlie War Path to 
 the Osages. 
 
 After a fierce fight, which lasted a long time, the 
 Wichitas were so badly beaten and their tribe so broken 
 that they never came again to the country of the Osages. 
 
 The Osage Indian of today, though very rich and pros- 
 perous, is still very much "Indian." The old full-bloods, 
 especially, like to meet in villages, wearing their blankets 
 and Indian togs, and tell the stories and legends of former 
 days. With their children, they are over-indulgent, and 
 spend much money on foolish and extravagant presents. 
 
 That most of the tribe still hold to the old belief in 
 evil spirits is shown by the superstitious fear they have 
 of one of their tribe, who failed to stay dead after he was 
 buried. This was poor John Stink, who years ago, fell 
 sick, and according to the customs of the Osages, was 
 carried out of his house to die. He did not die, however, 
 and is now an outcast in his tribe, dead to his own people, 
 and, according to his own belief, an "evil spirit." 
 
 He has taken up with dogs, many of them, for com- 
 panions, and is a common sight in Pawhuska, the Osage 
 capital, lounging about in public places and doorways of 
 business houses. 
 
 Not long ago, the town marshal ordered John to keep 
 his dogs off the streets, but John did not understand, nor 
 did he pay any attention, for the next day, he, with the 
 dogs, made his appearance, as usual. The marshal shot 
 into the pack of dogs, killing a little white one. John 
 says he is now "through with white man, too." 
 
 Among the tribes who were moved from Nebraska and 
 
Aborigines 21 
 
 Kansas, to reservations in the Cherokee strip, west of 
 the Cherokees, are the Shawnees, Pottawatomies, Sac 
 and Fox, Otoes and Pawnees'. 
 
 Among these names, none is more familiar than the 
 Pawnees, yet of no tribe is less known. George Bird 
 Crinnel, in his "Pawnee Folk Tales" gives this interesting 
 sketch of this tribe. 
 
 "Once the Pawnees were a great people. They were 
 very numerous. They were undisputed masters of a 
 great territory, and had everything that heart could 
 wish — ^their corn and their buffalo gave them food, cloth- 
 ing and shelter; they had weapons for war and for the 
 chase. In peace, they were light hearted and contented; 
 in war, they were fierce and successful. This was in the 
 past; now they are few in number, poor, and truly a 
 vanishing race." When Mr. Crinnel first knew the tribe 
 in Nebraska in 1870, they numbered three thousand, as 
 he last saw them in the first days of their coming to Okla- 
 homa, there were but eight hundred. To earn their liv- 
 ing by toil, to plow, to dig, to sow and to reap their grain 
 for subsistence, is the main problem of the Pawnee today. 
 Yet the tribe is rich in old legends and hero stories, and 
 all who are familiar with these beautiful, fantastic tales, 
 are convinced of the high qualities of the Pawnee char- 
 acter. 
 
 Like many tribes of the Plains Indians, the Pawnee had 
 a custom of worshipping at the time of the first thunder 
 in the Spring. This thunder told them that Winter was 
 over and the time was coming to plant their grain. 
 
 "Old Curly Chief" describes the "Corn Dance" as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 The windy month, March, was the one in which the 
 gods gave us the seed to plant. The first moon of April 
 is when we had a worship about the corn. Until this was 
 over, no one would clear out the patch where he intended 
 to plant the crop. 
 
22 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 The preparations for the Corn dance are always made 
 by a woman. She must furnish the dried meat made 
 from the buffalo. 
 
 The sack which holds the heart of the buffalo, she dries, 
 and fills it with all various kinds of colored corn; the blue 
 corn, which is for the blue sky; the red corn, for the 
 evening sunset; the yellow corn, for the morning sun- 
 rise; the white corn, typifying white cloud; the spotted 
 corn, which represents the sky dotted with clouds. All 
 these she puts into a bag, placing in the sack, three 
 grains at a time. After much ceremony and dancing, the 
 woman, goes to the high priest and hands him the dried 
 meat and sacks of corn and two ancient, sacred hoes, 
 made from the shoulder blade of the buffalo. After the 
 corn has been duly blessed by the priest, the woman 
 holds it up to the sky in both hands, and the priest sings 
 over it. After this ceremony, the women clear up the 
 patches and get ready to plant the com. 
 
 One more interesting note on the medicine men, or doc- 
 tors of the Pawnees. These medicine men are said to 
 have had wonderful powers, often curing ailments which 
 white doctors could not heal. 
 
 Fevers v/ere often treated by the sweat house; this was 
 a sort of "Turkish bath," made by throwing blankets over 
 a low frame of light poles, then placing in this enclosure 
 several rocks, heated very hot in the fire. Water was 
 poured over these stones from which a heavy steam arose, 
 causing the patient to sweat profusely. 
 
 The Pawnees have always been called "Wolves" by 
 other tribes, because they are said to have the endurance 
 of wolves, to prowl like wolves, and to be able to run all 
 day, dance all night, and live on little or no food for days. 
 
 Mr. Gordon W. Lillie, a one-time Indian trader and in- 
 terpreter, and now white chief of the Pawnees, has done 
 much for this tribe, for he says, to the Pawnee Indian, 
 he owes much. At his .magnificent ranch home near 
 Pawnee, Oklahoma, he is conducting an experiment, which 
 
Aborigines 23 
 
 he hopes, will be the means of preserving to the future 
 generations, the American buffalo. 
 
 Also, at Pawnee, he built the typical Indian Council 
 House, which will stand as a monument to the Pa\vnee 
 Indians, showing their great ingenuity and skill in build- 
 ing. It is built of bark, mud, sticks, stones and heavy 
 timbers, bound together with willow twigs and raw-hide 
 thongs. Here the Indians hold their religious ceremonies, 
 give their feasts, and meet in council away from the 
 curious eye of the whites, and here the old men relate 
 the oft-told hero stories and legends of the once powerful, 
 but now, rapidlj'' diminishing race of Pawnees. 
 
 South and west of the Pawnee country, live the once 
 wild Indians of the plains, the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, 
 Comanches, Apaches, and Kiowas. 
 
 They now hold lands which had been ceded to the U. S. 
 by the five civilized tribes in 1866. 
 
 These tribes were of a roving nomadic nature, not con- 
 tent to live quietly on their lands, but restlessly seeking 
 other country over which to roam and explore. 
 
 During the Civil War, when the government had few 
 soldiers to spare to guard the frontier, these Indians kept 
 the whole country in terror, raiding settlements, killing 
 settlers, and taking the white women and children as 
 captives. 
 
 After the war, the Federal Government made peace 
 treaty after peace treaty with these lawless tribes, who 
 seemed to regard them as mere scraps of paper. At the 
 beginning of the winter months, the Indian would make 
 a treaty, come very peaceably to the Agencies for rations 
 for his hungry family, and then, in the Spring, when the 
 grass was long enough to make pasture for his ponies, he 
 would start out on the War Path again. 
 
 Finally in 1868, a regiment, under the command of 
 Gen. Geo. A. Custer, and the famous Nineteenth Kansas 
 Cavalry, under Gen. Crawford, opened up a Winter Cam- 
 paign against these Indians, who had fled to the Washita 
 Valley for safety. 
 
24 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 In this attack, which was a complete surprise to the 
 Indians, they were so severely punished and defeated, 
 that they completely surrendered, and came to the con- 
 clusion that a Peace Treaty meant something after all. 
 This great Winter Battle in the valley of the Washita 
 was the last fight with the Indians for several years, and 
 Fort Sill was established in 1869, to guard against further 
 outbreaks. 
 
 There were some uprisings after this, as more recent 
 happenings and events will disclose. Geronimo, a noted 
 Apache Chief and Warrior, after slaying, stealing and 
 plundering on every hand, was run down and captured, 
 with his band, about 1886, iby Gen. Nelson Miles, after a 
 perilous chase through the deserts and mountains of 
 New Mexico. At first they were sent to Florida, but were 
 afterwards brought back and held on the Reservation 
 at Fort Sill as prisoners of war. 
 
 The Government tried to force Geronimo and his band 
 to take allotments, and live as the other Indians, but the 
 old Chief would never surrender, and remained a regular 
 "Bolshevik" Indian, to the day of his death, which oc- 
 curred several years ago at Fort Sill. 
 
 In sharp contrast to the career of Geronimo, is the 
 story of Quanah Parker, which reads like a wonderful 
 Cooper Romance. His mother, when a child, was cap- 
 tured by the Kiowa and Comanche Indians, when they 
 destroyed Fort Parker. Most of the garrison at the Fort 
 were scalped and murdered, and little Cynthia Anne 
 Parker was snatched from her murdered mother's arms. 
 She was carried away, and lived with the Comanches un- 
 til she grew up. Then she was wooed and won by Peta 
 Nacona, a famous War Chief, noted among the Comanches 
 for his great bravery and daring. 
 
 To them were born two sons and a daughter. In 1860, 
 Nacona's band was attacked by Governor Ross' troops. 
 Nacona was killed, and Cynthia Anne and her children 
 were taken captives and delivered to Isaac Parker, an 
 uncle. 
 
Aborigines 25 
 
 But as Quanah grew older, he would not live with the 
 white man, and was restless until he rejoined his tribe, 
 of which he afterward became a great and wise Chief. 
 He became very rich and prosperous, and lived in a beau- 
 tiful canon south of the Wichita Mountains. 
 
 In an article on "Quanah Parker," by 0. W. Bronson, 
 he tells us that Quanah owned great herds of horses and 
 cattle, and several sections of land. In appearance, he 
 was as tall and as straight as an arrow, with a very 
 dark, clear skin. He is said to have been the best example 
 of the "survival of the fittest" of the Red Man of the 
 border. 
 
 President Roosevelt honored him with his friendship, 
 and Quanah acted as his guide when he came to hunt in 
 the Territory. He was friendly to all the white man's 
 enterprises, and kept those of his tribe who were not, in 
 subjection. Quanah's home is the finest one in the Reser- 
 vation and was the first one built. 
 
 He adorned the roofs of his house, sheds and barns with 
 great white stars, which can be seen for a long distance 
 across the country. His death occurred just a few years 
 ago, and he is still loved and mourned by his family and 
 loyal people. 
 
 In the early days, the Plains Indians lived almost en- 
 tirely on the meat of the buffalo, but as a change, or sottne- 
 times when meat was scarce, they would gather the roots 
 of a wild plant which they called kokinah. This trailing 
 plant, with handsome dark red flowers, grew abundantly 
 on the prairie. When the Indian met the white man who 
 gave him bread, he called it ko-kinah, as it tasted some- 
 thing like their root. 
 
 These Indians of today are still great meat eaters, and 
 it is generally known that they eat dog meat, with great 
 relish. 
 
 In Robert M. Wright's book on the Indian, he tells this 
 amusing anecdote. One day when Bob was riding across 
 the prairie, he met an old Indian who stopped him and 
 tried to sell him the hindquarters of a dog, telling him 
 
26 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 that he didn't know good meat when he saw it, if he 
 didn't buy. Bob refused it, and went on to the camp, 
 where he found the boys at supper, eating with great 
 relish, the meat of an antelope as they thought. "Come 
 on," said they to Bob, "and eat some of this delicious ante- 
 lope which an old Indian sold us." Bob shook his head, 
 but forebore telling them that they were eating just 
 plain dog. 
 
 Not many Indians like to live in the houses, into which 
 civilization has forced them, and much prefer to stay in 
 the brush shades or arbors, which they make by throwing 
 branches of trees over a frame of poles. 
 
 One reason for this preference is that the houses be- 
 come so infested with fleas as to be unbearable. The In- 
 dian and his dogs are inseparable, and the dogs and fleas 
 are inseparable, so, naturally, where the Indian is, there 
 will the fleas be also. Do not these primitive character- 
 istic traits of the Indian, arouse in us a feeling of sym- 
 pathy for these once roving tribes, who are now forced 
 to settle down quietly, to lead the life of an ordinary citi- 
 zen of a widely different race? 
 
 What shall their future be? What is written of the In- 
 dian of yesterday, is not true of him today, and what is 
 told of him today, will not be true of his tomorrow, for 
 the race is passing through a period of swift transition; 
 every generation is changing. 
 
 But to those who believe the race will become extinct, 
 we quote the following from a recent issue of the Omaha 
 World-Herald : "The Indian, apparently, is always going 
 to remain with us, for the Indian is not dying. He has 
 been multiplying since 1870, and there are now 333,702 
 Indians in the United States." 
 
 The article goes on to suggest that the young male In- 
 dians begin military training in distinct units as Indian 
 troops. 
 
 There were over 10,000 Indian troops raised in the 
 United States for the World War. and Oklahoma wull 
 
Aborigines 27 
 
 never forget the 'brave part played by her Indian troops 
 in that great conflict. Many saw service in France, and 
 were decorated for deeds of bravery and daring. 
 
 A distinguished French sculpter chose an Indian soldier 
 as his model for the typical American soldier, and surely 
 he has the first claim to this title, for he was the first 
 American, of a strong and virile race, and always, a great 
 fighter. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 A RANCHMAN OF OKLAHOMA. 
 
 By 0. D. Halsell. 
 
 I was bom in Red River County, Texas, February 14, 
 1859. My parents then lived at Decatur, northwest Texas. 
 In November, 1876, I went to work for my two uncles on 
 a ranch near Wichita Falls. The same ranch was located 
 in 1868 or 1869 by Dan Waggoner and my two uncles. 
 They were, however, forced to move back to Jack and 
 Wise County on account of desperate raids made by Co- 
 manche Indians. During one of these fights one of my 
 uncles, George Halsell, was killed. They, however, opened 
 up the ranch again in 1874 or 1875. 
 
 During the year of 1877 my uncle came to me and 
 stated that he had sold his fat cattle to certain parties, to 
 be shipped to Chicago or Kansas City markets, but on ac- 
 count of these markets going down the parties to whom 
 he sold had disposed of the cattle to someone v/ho had a 
 contract with the Government to furnish beef to Indians 
 at Anadarko. What he wanted was for me to follow these 
 cattle to Anadarko and pay the buyers $2.00 per head to 
 , kill them all within my presence as he did not want them 
 turned loose on the ranch up there for fear they would 
 drift back into Texas and have their brand on them, and 
 the chances were that they might get hold of more of his 
 cattle and put their brands on them, and it would be hard 
 for him to tell whether these were the original cattle sold 
 or not. 
 
 While in Anadarko I for the first time remember of 
 having ever heard of the name of Oklahoma. A bunch of 
 cowboys in talking made the remark that there was a crazy 
 fool by the name of David L. Payne who was trying to 
 claim Oklahoma v/as government land and subject to settle- 
 ment. I made inquiry as to what Oklahoma was, where it 
 
 [28] 
 
A Ranchman of Oklahoma. 29 
 
 was located and I was informed that it was a block of land 
 lying in the center of the Indian Territory on which no 
 one was allowed to live, but was claimed by the Creek and 
 Seminole Indians for hunting purposes only. 
 
 In 1880 my uncles on account of drought in Western 
 Texas decided to move to the Cherokee Nation. On 
 August 25th that year I arrived at the Cimarron River 
 just north of Guthrie, meeting one of my uncles who had 
 gone on ahead to locate the ranch. We bought out a small 
 rancher at the head of Cedar Creek, just north of Mulhall, 
 believing that we were locating on the south edge of the 
 Cherokee Strip. It afterwards proved that it was really 
 in Oklahoma. This was the first ranch that was ever 
 located on this block of land, Oklahoma. 
 
 Afterwards different cattlemen began to come in and 
 locate ranches on the edges of Oklahoma, allowing their 
 cattle to drift over on to these lands, it being the only free 
 grass in the country. All cattle rr^en were forced to pay 
 the Indians lease money when grazing on their lands. On 
 account of the agitation of David L. Payne and his colon- 
 ists, claiming the' government was allowing cattle men to 
 use these lands and was not willing to allow actual settlers 
 to locate on them, the government decided to clear Okla- 
 homa of all ranch men and sent Phil Sheridan to Fort Reno 
 to take charge of same. Sheridan took several thousand 
 soldiers, got after the ranch men on the west side of Okla- 
 homa, drove them and their cattle out of Oklahoma in the 
 middle of the winter. He got as far as the Cimarron 
 River with these herds. The cattle were poor and began 
 to die in large numbers and Sheridan gave up trying to 
 do anything until spring opened up. By the time he got 
 back to his work in the spring all the ranch men had 
 gotten out to the Cherokee Strip, Iowa Reservation, 
 Chickasaw Nation or Oheyenn^ and Arapaho Reservations 
 on the west. 
 
 About this time David L. Payne, old man Couch, and 
 Captain Couch, his son, (who was afterwards killed on a 
 claim adjoining Oklahoma City on the west) gathered to- 
 
30 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 get'her about three thousand people, coming from the 
 states of Missouri, loiwa, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas. 
 They located on the Chickaskia River just south of Hunne- 
 well, Kansas, Late in the fall they completed their prep- 
 arations for going to Oklahoma and making settlement. 
 They started south in a body to the banks of the Cimar- 
 ron River, seven miles north of Guthrie, camped there for 
 several days until all of their different bodies of men could 
 come together at that one point, and be ready to march 
 in a body across the Cimarron River into Oklahoma. I had 
 a ranch eleven miles below, on the northwest corner of the 
 Iowa Reservation. The government heard of this raid, sent 
 about a hundred soldiers to this crossing, lined them up 
 on the south banks guarding the crossing. Payne got 
 ready to move south at sunrise. His party crossed the 
 river in a body, marched right into the soldiers who had 
 their bayonets drawn, drove right through them, came on 
 south to the North Canadian and scattered from Council 
 Grove, seven miles west of Oklahoma City, down the river 
 ten or tv/elve miles, with the idea of making settlement. 
 I had word that he was going to move a certain morning, 
 got up early and went up and sat on my horse on a hill 
 three or four hundred yards away, expecting to see a big 
 fight, all of which blew up on account of the government 
 having insufficient men to handle Payne and his organi- 
 zation. 
 
 A few days later Captain Carroll with tv/o thousand 
 men marched down the North Canadian River, picking 
 up these settlers who had gotten scattered, disarming them 
 and driving them north to the Kansas line, taking Payne 
 and the Couches to Anadarko and* keeping them there 
 under guard until the government finally ordered them 
 released. 
 
 This raid, however, was so strong and got the people 
 over the United States so agitated that they brought such 
 pressure to bear on the government as to cause the govern- 
 ment to make settlement with the Creeks and Seminole 
 Indians, paying them $1.50 an acre in settlement of their 
 
A Ranchman of Oklahoma 31 
 
 claim. The government then opened Oklahoma up for 
 homestead purposes on April 22, 1889. 
 
 This settlement was made by people gathering on the 
 borders of Oklahoma, north, east, south and west, and at 
 twelve noon, April 22nd, certain parties were selected to 
 fire guns as a signal for the time for the people to start 
 running for whatever lands they wished to make settle- 
 ment on. Some went for farms, some went to townsites, 
 such as Oklahotma City which had already been surveyed 
 and laid out by the government. 
 
 I had been in the ranch business all of my life, a large 
 portion of the time in or on the border of Oklahoma. I 
 naturally had an opportunity to know all of the old-line 
 ranch men as well as practically every outlaw in this part 
 of the country and a great many of the United States 
 marshals and government officials who were then and had 
 been in the past trying to keep down outlawry in the In- 
 dian Territory, most of which was caused by whiskey 
 peddling, cattle and horse stealing, etc. I personally knew 
 all the Daltons prior to the time they turned out as out- 
 laws. I was also well acquainted with Bill Doolin and his 
 entire bunch. My first associate in the wholesale grocery 
 business was United States Marshal E. D. Nix who was 
 appointed by Grover Cleveland and had charge of the gov- 
 ernment work in the first opening of this country under 
 territorial forim of government. 
 
 I am only able to state things in a general way. So 
 many thousand happenings during all of this period which 
 became common to me would be interesting to others and 
 I hope some day someone who is well informed on the real 
 facts from the beginning, I mean from the time that the 
 government began to settle Indians on the lands that are 
 new embodied in the State of Oklahoma, will write a 
 history of facts, and this should be done soon for the 
 benefit of school children. I do not believe that any state 
 in the Union would be able to show so many different 
 happenings which would be so interesting as would the 
 history of the State of Oklahoma if properly written. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 "HAPPY FANCY" 
 
 By IvATE W. SEARCY 
 I 
 
 Monarcli proud, aloft it rose, alone vipon the plain. 
 
 With roots deep-drilled that scorned alike the summer's drouth or rain. 
 
 Prairie schooners off the trail, far-sighted men conveyed. 
 
 They "squatted" there. A city great was platted 'neath its shade. 
 
 Churches, schools and business blocks ; streets, alleys, avenues ; 
 
 Playgrounds, parks and boulevards — these men had modern views. 
 
 Enterprising builders boomed the magic city's stride ; 
 
 Airs quite metropolitan were advertised with pride. 
 
 Faithful to their primal vision loomed the old tree, plain. 
 
 In the city's heart where Broadway intersected Main. 
 
 "Happy Fancy" romance named it. Romance headed in 
 
 Toward that Oklahoma city, where rainbows begin. 
 
 Lovers loved to linger there beneath its green-leafed boughs — 
 
 Arm by arm and heart by heart they voiced undying vows. 
 
 Married couples sat there, too, and planned for joyous years ; 
 
 Children played and climbed and swung^'twas place for songs and cheers. 
 
 Barbecues and picnics gay, campmeetings, campaign talks. 
 
 Church bazaars and orchestras, chautauquas, moonlight walks. 
 
 Happy Fancy stood for all that made life glorified. 
 
 Folks said they would leave the town if Happy Fancy died. 
 
 II 
 
 Came one day two cowboys gay. They sprawled beneath the tree, 
 Reminiscing loudly on the days when range was free, 
 "Wuzn't that a pasttime. Matt, when we breezed over here, 
 Hangin' Blim on that there limb fer stealin' John Buck's steer?" 
 "Bet yer spurs," said Matt, "it wuz. C'n see yit how he swung!" 
 Kickin' out. An' then, jest think of all the rest we hung !" 
 "What, by gun, would we hev done without this Hangin' Tree? 
 'Old Law-an'-Order Gallows,' we called it, didn't we? 
 Sunk their huns of skeletons at them roots, there, deep down. 
 What you bet they's ghosts an' hants galore in this here town? 
 " 'Member, Jones, how Broadley's bones looked rattlin' on this limb? 
 He wuz sich a murd'rous cuss we never buried him ! 
 Hangman's Tree ! Old bully tree ! Old God-send to the west, 
 When nothin' but a loop o' hemp kep' manhood at its best!" 
 
 Ill 
 
 Horrified, the denizens of Happy Fancy stood. 
 Gasped and shivered chillily, then went to sawing wood ! 
 Beauteous boughs, substantial shade they long had deified. 
 Gave them creps and miseries ; rank hatred replaced pride. 
 With axes wielded fiercly, with saw and spade and pick, 
 
 [32] 
 
The Possession 33 
 
 They splintered the old landmark, their strokes and pulses quick. 
 Grubbed the roots (the bonfire rose like ghost-wraiths to the sky) ; 
 In the trench poured strongest brine and concentrated lye. 
 Not till then did they feel safe from souls demoralized ; 
 Safe from baleful shadows of the tree they erstwhile prized. 
 Never now do pioneers hint that their city's fame 
 Wealth and health, its very life, were built about a name. 
 Flesh or phantom, ghost ungodly, saint — whate'er they be — 
 Nevermore sit underneath the Happy Fancy Tree. 
 
 THE POSSESSION. 
 By Caroline Cain Durkee. 
 
 Back of every enterprise stands a personality — a human 
 being, thrilled with imagination, and glorified with faith 
 in the ultimate success of his undertaking. When Okla- 
 homa pauses for a brief instant to look backward, she 
 smiles gratefully into the face of David Lewis Payne. 
 
 Receiving but a scanty education, Payne eagerly ab- 
 sorbed all the knowledge that studious reading could afford 
 him, and in this way acquired the information which 
 proved so useful to him in later years. Brave and ad- 
 venturous, he served during the Civil War with the Tenth 
 Kansas Volunteers — -known as the "Bloody Tenth." Later, 
 v/hile serving as captain in the Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry, 
 he became familiar with much of Western Oklahoma and 
 learned many things about the land for which he after- 
 ward labored so valiantly. 
 
 In 1880, Captain Payne led a colony of "boomers" into 
 the Oklahoma Country, locating near the site of Oklahoma 
 City, where, close to the present entrance to Wheeler 
 Park, Payne's own log cabin was erected. The colonists 
 were arrested by government officials and were taken first 
 to Fort Reno and later escorted by United States troops to 
 the Kansas border. Here they were released, four months 
 after the date of their invasion. 
 
 Within a month, Payne returned to Oklahoma, to be 
 again arrested. Five times did this indomitable human 
 boomerang come back with a colony of "boomers" to the 
 land which his agitation helped so materially to open to 
 white settlement. 
 
34 ' The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 With the death of Payne in 1884, one of his most active 
 lieutenants, William L. Couch, carried on the work with 
 great energy and enthusiasm. It is said of him that once, 
 while laboring in Washington for the cause to which he 
 was so devoted, he pawmed his overcoat and lived upon as 
 little as ten cents a day. Under him, parties of "boomers" 
 struggled heroically to effect a settlement in Oklahoma, 
 but abandoned their efforts later in 1885. At that time a 
 bill was introduced in Congress providing for the legal 
 opening of the public lands of the Indian Territory to 
 white settlement immediately after the beginning of the 
 first session of the Fiftieth Congress, one month later. 
 And believing that they would soon be permitted to move 
 and take peaceable possession of the land, the "boomers" 
 ceased their efforts to force a settlement. 
 
 But four years elapsed before they had this privilege, for 
 it was in March that Benjamin Harrison issued a procla- 
 mation, announcing the opening of the Oklahoma lands to 
 white settlers at and after the hour of noon, on the twen- 
 ty-second day of the folloviang April. After ten years of 
 hardship and defeat, the "boomers" were at last to see 
 their cause triumph. 
 
 Scattered about among the multitudes who came from 
 every state in the Union to make the race for new homes 
 in a new land, these men who had spent their time and 
 strength in the weary struggle for the right to settle in 
 Oklahoma, stood, on that twenty-second day of April, ready 
 to make the final run for the coveted ground. 
 
 In wagons, buggies, carts, on horseback or on foot, 
 ner\'-es taut, eyes strained to follow the movements of the 
 patrolling cavalrymen, the throng — one hundred thousand 
 strong — awaited the approach of the zero hour. It came 
 at high noon. With it sounded the faint notes of a bugle, 
 the subsequent firing of the cavalrymen's signals, and the 
 answering shout of the mighty host as it swept outward 
 and onto the promised land. 
 
 No new occasion ever brought forth stronger new duties, 
 nor called for the display of greater ingenuity than did 
 
The Possession 35 
 
 this opening of the Oklahoma land. One group of prospec- 
 tive settlers found themselves at the edge of the Salt Fork 
 River, with no bridge between them and the opposite 
 shore save that of the Santa Fe railroad. The terrified 
 horses refused to cross upon the ties, set so high above the 
 rushing water, and, at last, with the hardihood of true 
 pioneers, the men unhitched the horses and with their 
 ov^m sturdy arms, pushed the wagons across the bridge. 
 When the last one was safely over, the horses were ridden 
 into the water and made to swim across. 
 
 An amusing incident occurred among a group of men 
 who made the run from Iowa country. These men were 
 camped along the Cimarron River the night before the 
 run was to be made. When all was still, one member of 
 the party slipped quietly away through the darkness to 
 discover the safest path across the river. Carefully riding 
 his horse across, and planting stakes to mark the location 
 of treacherous quicksands, that he might easily avoid them 
 on the morrow, he slipped back undiscovered by his sleep- 
 ing companions. 
 
 He was the first to cross the river. Others, who sus- 
 pected that he was guilty of sooner exploiting, followed 
 the line of stakes, thinking they marked the safest paths, 
 but they were cauglit in the quicksand and delayed, thus 
 giving the near-sooner his opportunity to secure his choice 
 of the claims. 
 
 Another type of "sooner" has been called the construc- 
 tive sooner. These men based their rights to a premature 
 claim on the new land on a false construction of the 
 phrase, "enter or occupy," and a number of men were 
 perhaps rather willingly led to believe that they might 
 enter the land previous to the opening, stake off their 
 claims and occupy them immediately after noon of the 
 22nd. Needless to say, these claims were not allowed by 
 the government. 
 
 The next important opening was that known as the 
 Cherokee Strip, which was ceded to the United States by 
 the Cherokee Nations, after nearly four years of negotia- 
 
36 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 tion. The sixteenth of September, 1893, was the date set 
 for this opening. In an effort to prevent the unlawful 
 entry of "sooners," prospective settlers were required to 
 file a declaration, in writing, of their intention to make 
 the run. - A certificate was then issued by a registry clerk 
 and attached to the declaration, the whole being kept by 
 the entrant as his identification when he appeared at the 
 land office after the opening to file his homestead claim. 
 
 In order to carry out this plan, nine registration booths 
 were established in various places along the border. When 
 Hoke Smith, then Secretary of the Interior, determined 
 the location of these booths, he did not realize that the 
 Oklahoma border was a blazing, sun-scorched prairie, with 
 no accommodations of any kind — not even water. 
 
 Again vast throngs of people assembled to wait for the 
 opening. Registration was a painfully slow process, the 
 number of booths being utterly inadequate to handle the 
 crowds. There were many who remained in line for three 
 days and nights, waiting their turns to register. The 
 sun beat down mercilessly upon them, and a regulation 
 Oklahoma wind sprang up, whirling clouds of dust and 
 sand straight into the faces of the helpless throngs. 
 
 In the midst of this discomfort, there appeared an enter- 
 prising farmer, seated upon a wagon filled to the brim 
 with watermelons. Had each melon represented a choice 
 claim of land, the struggle to reach them could have been 
 no more intense. Coins and bills of all denominations were 
 recklessly pressed upon the owner of the melons, who 
 standing upon the seat of his wagon, rapidly and indis- 
 criminately tossed his tempting wares into the sea of 
 out-stretched hands. Long arms and strong fingers 
 snatched the prizes, but the spirit of unselfishness pre- 
 vailed and the melons were divided and made to relieve 
 as many parched throats as possible. 
 
 No greater tribute can be paid these pioneer settlers 
 than to say of them that, through all the stifling, windy, 
 noisy hours of waiting, first to register and later to start 
 on their runs, they remained determinedly good-natured. 
 
The Possession 37 
 
 Just a few minutes before the signals were given, when 
 suspense was at its height, a frightened jack rabbit darted 
 suddenly from the edge of the crowd, out over the for- 
 bidden ground. Instantly the air resounded with rollick- 
 ing shouts of "Sooner! Sooner!" The sweltering, panting, 
 jostling crowd laughed at its own humor, and felt the 
 spirit of good-comradeship a bit more keenly than before. 
 
 Yet, in spite of the good faith of thousands, the "sooner" 
 again appeared, calm and serene upon his claim when the 
 honest settlers made their appearance. In Perry alone, 
 which was eight miles from the line, there were one hun- 
 dred claimants on the townsite seven minutes after the 
 hour appointed for the opening — each with a registration 
 certificate in his possession. 
 
 Naturally, there was more complaint than ever and a 
 great deal of scandal involving those who played official 
 parts in the opening. Four new land districts with offices 
 where settlers w^ere to file their claims were established at 
 Perry. Enid, Alva and Woodward. Furious quarrels sprang 
 up at all these places among rival contestants, gamblers 
 and rogues in general plied their trades among the un- 
 wary, and lawless conditions generally prevailed for a 
 short time. Before long, however, the law-abiding major- 
 ity established order, and soon each new community raised 
 a proud head and gazed fearlessly into the future. 
 
 This opening of the Cherokee Strip added to the settled 
 portions of Oklahoma seven new counties, which were 
 known at first merely by letters of the alphabet, but were 
 later named by vote of the people of the counties — Kay, 
 Grant, Woods, Woodward, Garfield, Noble and Pawnee. 
 The county seats were located by the government. The 
 location of Pond Creek, the county seat of Grant county, 
 was not strictly in accord with the views of a group of 
 promoters who wished to build up a town of their own 
 across the river from Pond Creek and some four miles 
 distant. Accordingly, the one railway running through 
 Pond Creek gave notice that it would not stop there, but 
 would run on to the rival town and draw up at that sta- 
 
38 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 lion. The residents of Pond Creek appealed to the gov- 
 ernment, but, that slow moving body not acting quickly 
 enough, they took matters into their own capable hands. 
 With a determination, touched as much with the spirit of 
 mischief as with that of retaliation, the men of Pond 
 Creek removed a few rails from the track and went back 
 to their work in quiet satisfaction. The train stopped in 
 Pond Creek that day, and soon the stopping became 
 habitual, — Pond Creek was a recognized station. 
 
 Just one hundred and twenty-five years after the sign- 
 ing of the Declaration of Independence, President McKin- 
 ley announced that the surplus lands of the Comanche 
 Kiowa, Apache Indians and of the Wichita, Caddo Indians 
 would be opened to white settlers on and after the sixth 
 of August, 1901. 
 
 This opening was conducted by drawing lots. Each 
 person who desired to take up a homestead was required 
 to register. Their names were then written on cards 
 v/hich were enclosed in blank envelopes. These envelopes, 
 after a thorough shuffling, were drawn out and numbered. 
 The applicants were then permitted to file on homestead 
 claims at the district land offices according to the numbers 
 on their envelopes. This system, while not entirely abol- 
 ishing illegal settlements, w^s by far the most satisfactory 
 one ever tried. 
 
 The new land offices were located at Lawton and El 
 Reno, and all registration was done at one of these two 
 places. The work of shuffling and drawing the envelopes 
 was all done at El Reno, and as there were about 16,000 
 quarter sections subject to homestead entry, and ten times 
 as many registrations, the excitement was intense. It 
 was a brilliant day for the little town and one which thou- 
 sands never forgot. 
 
 Thus ended the last great land opening in Oklahoma, 
 and thus began another colony of new homes in a strange 
 country. Back of that country stands David L. Payne, 
 whose life history is so well known. Following in his 
 steps come the thousands of pioneer settlers of whom no 
 
Pioneer Schools 39 
 
 word has been written, yet without whose brave struggles, 
 Payne's efforts had been useless. Oklahoma, the magic 
 State, Similes backward, not at Payne alone but bows in 
 grateful admiration to the hardy pioneers who made 
 Payne's dream come true. 
 
 PION^EER SCHOOLS. 
 Adele PIart Brown. 
 
 The Oklahoma pioneers were restless, adventurous 
 spirits, sometimes impelled by the cosmic urge to found a 
 new home in a far land ; sometimes stung into action by 
 the whip of necessity. 
 
 They found already in scattered possessions, the descend- 
 ants of more than fifty tribes or nations of Indians, poetic, 
 imaginative, aloof, yet with a keen mentality — some of 
 whom later, for the first time in Indian history, played an 
 important part in the construction of the State. The Puri- 
 tan and Cavalier, the Southron and the Northerner, 
 came from the four corners of the earth, with mental 
 equipment as varied as their native habitat — all singing 
 the song of the sons of Esau — "So that we might wander, 
 v/as the world made wide!" Because it is true that "I am 
 a part of all that I have met," the modern Oklahoman is 
 the composite embodiment of inherited tradition. The 
 pioneers had been given educational advantages in their 
 youth, and had brought with them the desire to widen the 
 intellectual horizon of their children. They had broken 
 the crust of many traditions when they fared forth in their 
 covered wago-ns to the land of adventure; but underneath, 
 still flowed the deep, hidden current of love learning. The 
 ranchman, with the fine, stern honor of the open range — 
 the planter, who won the battle of the wilderness, were un- 
 compromisingly committed to the doctrine of the square 
 deal, and felt that their children must not lose in the race 
 of life because they were weighted with ignorance. So, 
 they conspired to make the "Professor," whose university 
 laurels had not yet withered, and who gathered his scat- 
 tered flock daily at some central point, the most popular 
 
40 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 man in the community, with more invitations to Sunday 
 dinner than the Presiding Elder, of sacred memory. But 
 again and yet again after a trial at "baching" in a dug- 
 out, the Professor invariably concluded that it v^as not 
 good for man to be alone, and went "back east" to the 
 girl he left behind — sometimes returning with her to join 
 the ranks of pioneers. 
 
 Again ranchmen and farmers banded together and wire- 
 lessed some fair damsel of their old home town, with a 
 merry smile and a strong right arm, and promised fer a 
 fair salary, a handsome saddle, with full equipment of 
 slicker and spurs and quirt, and an elusive broncho for her 
 individual use; — a chance to study huinan nature at first 
 hand, as she boarded around among her patrons, — and 
 most seductive of all, her choice of the multitude of young 
 cowboys, who, one and all, were eager to lay their tall som- 
 breros and their lariats at her feet. The charm always 
 worked, and the first buckboard that brought the weekly 
 mail from far away civilization, brought also a bright- 
 eyed lassie who gladly followed the lure of the unknown. 
 Sometimes, a lucky young cowboy with a singing heart, 
 and his brand on a few mavericks, soon transferred her 
 to his own claim in triumph ; but if she preferred her 
 larger kingdom, she could set the pace for the community. 
 She was the court of last resort, and many vexed ques- 
 tions were referred to her for adjudication. 
 
 On one occasion, the young and hospitable mistress of a 
 near-by ranch, told the cowboys that each one bringing 
 her a turkey, (wild, of course; bronze beauties are civili- 
 zation's by-products), for the Christmas dinner, might 
 invite a guest to the feast, imagine her consternation 
 when nine of the boys appeared with the holiday birds, 
 each privately confiding to her that the pretty little "School 
 Ma'am" was to have his invitation. Even the boy who 
 brought in an only antelope, had the same ambition. Only 
 by quiet diplomacy, and the assertion that the young lady 
 had already promised to be her guest, could the hostess 
 preserve the friendship of the boys for each other. Tur- 
 
Pioneer Schools 41 
 
 keys and the "School Ma'am" frequently graced her board 
 thereafter; and the maiden smiled impartially upon the 
 ex-Harvard man and the boy in his teens, who ran away 
 from "God's country," to share the fascination of broncho- 
 busting, trail-herding, and other amusements of the cow- 
 puncher's life. Frequently the teacher was inveigled to 
 the round-ups, and being mounted on a well trained pony, 
 soon learned to "cut out" the desired yearlings. She ate 
 sour-dough biscuits and hot steaks with zest at the chuck- 
 wagon dinner, when the boys in a tin cup of coffee drank 
 "to her health, her happiness, usefulness, marriage and 
 wealth," each hoping to be the bridegroom. 
 
 What did it matter to this young enthusiast that the 
 children gathered round her in a sod house, with flowers 
 nodding gaily from its earth-weighted roof? She never 
 knew the tragedy of the unprepared. 
 
 If text-books were from different states, or of varying 
 editions, she bridged the chasm; and every ancient news- 
 paper and magazine that drifted westward, was the basis 
 of a geography lesson. Her botany class found Vv^ild 
 fuschias in the arroyos, loco on the prairies and blue ager- 
 atums and verbenas down by the little bubbling spring. 
 Lacking chalk, they used the soft red stone from a hillside 
 on their homemade blackboards. One young teacher, with 
 an initiative which might have brought her fame or for- 
 tune in a different environment, used the clay walls of 
 her dugout school room for mathematical problems, smooth- 
 ing them over between whilees with a dampened impro- 
 vised trowel. Old Mother Necessity sharpens the wits, if 
 she has material for the grindstone ! In fair weather they 
 brought their rustic seats into the open and revelled in the 
 ozone, as they absorbed knowledge under the brush-cov- 
 ered arbor. 
 
 And who shall measure the teacher's influence? The 
 boys worshiped her, and shoed the depth of their ador- 
 ation by greeting her coming with a roaring fire, by un- 
 saddling and blanketing her broncho, and begging for the 
 privilege of helping her mount. The girls shared their 
 
42 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 lunches with her, copied her hair-dressing and manner- 
 isms, and prayed to be like her some sweet day. To her, 
 the dearest word in the voca'bulary was education; and 
 she rang the changes on its values in their eager ears, till 
 they seemed to be as many as spokes in a wheel. She 
 fanned the flame of their ambition, till they brought live 
 coals to the altar of efficiency. She thus found self-ex- 
 pression in conscientious action, and was happy. 
 
 When the dugout and adobe gave way to the little white 
 school house, which served for "the cov/boys Christmas 
 ball" and other revelries by night, and assumed a becom- 
 ing dignity at the Sunday sei-vices of some preacher with 
 a wandering foot, they enjoyed more style, but less com- 
 fort. The big stove in the center of the room, whose fires 
 were always red-hot, or on the verge of dissolution, was 
 a spasmodic protection from the northers which some- 
 times swept over the country with blizzardy force. But 
 they learned to turn the other cheek, and if their hands 
 were numb, their hearts were warm, and they reminded 
 each other that ventilation was the vogue, and fresh air, 
 nature's own elixir. Besides, the tempestuous breezes gave 
 wings to invading germs and sent them beyond the bord- 
 ers, thus justifying their boasting claim of the country's 
 healthfulness. Even the barrel of "gyp" water, which 
 stood at the door, and prematurely announced the coming 
 dryness of the country, and the community dipper which 
 remained immune in the face of abundant opportunity, 
 were accepted with that philosophy which is the heritage 
 of the westerner. 
 
 The overworked mothers were glad to share their homes 
 in turn, with the beloved teacher, even though in pioneer 
 parlance, they only had "a box in every room" ; and she 
 inspired them with a new sense of their blessed usefulness 
 in giving good citizens — not vessels of dishonor — to the 
 world. The annual picnic was a gala occasion, and the 
 menu was a resurrection of unforgotten delicacies, with 
 an additional western tang. The teacher vied with fond 
 mothers in applauding the budding orators and incipient 
 
Pioneer Schools 43 
 
 prima donnas, and all were oblivious to shifting sands and 
 "the creepin', crawlin' critters" of the prairie. 
 
 If, in some lonely hour, nostalgia tugged at the teacher's 
 heartstrings, as she listened to the wind-voices of the 
 prairie, and felt herself an insignificant atom in the broad 
 vastness, can we wonder that she murmured, 
 
 "Prairies wide, will ye always be 
 Prisons, until ye are shrouds for me — 
 Until I lie in your breast 
 In my last, dreamless rest?" 
 
 But the mood passed, as strong hearts will them to do, 
 and galloping away on her faithful broncho, she caught 
 at her waning energy and Richard was himself again. 
 Horseback riding was a pleasure that never palled, wheth- 
 er in the hours of golden moonlight when unbroken mag- 
 nificent distances made vision deceptive, — or when the 
 elusive mirage, shimmering in the noonday sun, showed a 
 corner of a new world untrodden by the foot of man ; — 
 always, who drew near to nature's heart, and the age- 
 old balm of solitude, wrapt her soul in perfect peace. 
 
 All this was before American life became complex and 
 high powered as it is today; even before the memorable 
 day when the flower-hung gates of the Land of the Fair 
 God were thrown open to a surging mass of varied hu- 
 manity, who came to found a new commonwealth ; before 
 Uncle Sam, in the early days of statehood, in lieu of any 
 public land in Indian Territory, gave us $5,000,000.00 to 
 be invested for a perpetual public school fund; and before 
 the state, receiving an additional grant by the Enabling 
 Act, boasted a total of 3,100,875.94 acres for the use of 
 the schools and educational institutions of the state. Some 
 of this land may be sold under certain conditions, but 
 most of it is leased, and the fund cannot be legally used 
 for any other purpose. Sequoyah, inventor of the Chero- 
 kee alphabet, left his foot prints on the "East side," and 
 the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians had their own native 
 
44 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 schools, which were supplemented by the zeal of early 
 missionaries; — but that is another story. 
 
 As time passed, the public school system prospered, and 
 the County Superintendents, who were often women, be- 
 came persons of importance. They were faithful and 
 efficient, and many schools were named in their honor. 
 Before the advent of our present net-work of railroads, 
 they suffered many hardships in their long drives over 
 rough, new-made roads, often crossing swollen, bridgeless 
 streams at their peril. The wife of one of our distin- 
 guished governors was one of these capable officials, who 
 surmounted all obstacles in true pioneer fashion, and left 
 a record of devoted service. 
 
 Frequently, each child provided his own chair and table, 
 and in one instance the sod school house was built for a 
 home by one contestant, who sold out to the other claim- 
 ant, and left the country. Our present educational sys- 
 tem is very complete, with a college for girls, an A. and M. 
 College open to both sexes. Normals in every section of 
 the state, and a State University which is worthy of our 
 enlightened citizenship. 
 
 Our rural school buildings are well built, properly lighted 
 and heated, and with modem, ventilation. The consoli- 
 dated rural schools are increasing, having demonstrated 
 their practical usefulness. With these improvements are 
 combined better salaries, and higher preparation for 
 teaching. 
 
 But it does not inevitably follow that the teacher of to- 
 day, magnifies his office as did his pioneer predecessor, 
 who felt "the call" as insistently as though it had been to 
 foreign fields, and ungrudgingly, gave her all. All honor 
 to the teacher of by-gone days, who galloped gaily o'er the 
 soil of these sun-kissed prairies, dominated by the spirit 
 of service and courageous faith ! For deep in the heart of 
 every individual who makes a success of life, is a micro- 
 cosm, so every true teacher's career is an epitome of life 
 itself, — with strength and weakness, — with bruises and 
 consolations, — with successes and failures — ^but they fall 
 
^^,^ 
 
 *%^.. 
 
 GERONIMO. 
 
Pioneer Schools 45 
 
 to rise again, and meet every challenge of the difficult with 
 unceasing effort. Their abundant reward lies in the con- 
 sciousness that they have breathed the breath of aspira- 
 tion into some cold of inertia whose atrophied soul then 
 woke to the true meaning of life. And, to have "saved a 
 soul alive" — is not this compensation in full, for hard- 
 ships and weariness and isolation? 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE LIGHT OF THE CROSS. 
 
 Mrs. Verner Early. 
 
 To the Christian missionaries of all denominations, is 
 due the Christianizing and the advancement of all the 
 Indian tribes. These missionaries were men of the most 
 unselfish character whose sole aim was to teach those 
 people whose ideas of immortality and of the beneficence 
 of God and his creation were of the crudest thought. The 
 genesis of missions, was the Union Mission established in 
 1820 by Rev. Wm. F. Vail who was sent by the United 
 Foreign Missionary Society for Avork among the Osages. 
 The first Protestant conference in what is now the State 
 of Oklahoma was held at Union Mission from Nov. 2nd to 
 7th, 1822; the session being from 5:15 a. m. to 9:00 p. m. 
 The location of Union Mission was close to the salt springs 
 where Campbell's salt works had been operated. In 1823, 
 another mission was established for the Osages by the 
 same society in the valley of the Grand, near the south- 
 east corner of Craig County. It was called the Hopefield 
 Mission. 
 
 An epidemic of Asiatic cholera prevailed at these two 
 missions in the summer and autumn, 1834. At Hopefield, 
 there were sixteen deaths, including that of Rev. Wm. B. 
 Montgomery, who was in charge of the mission. The site 
 of Union Mission is known and identified but the last 
 vestiges of its buildings have almost disappeared. Upon 
 a wooded summit, near the site of the mission there are 
 several graves. At one of these is a headstone, neatly 
 chiseled from native stone, upon which appears the follow- 
 ing inscription: . 
 
 [46] 
 
The Light of the Cross 47 
 
 In 
 
 Memory of 
 
 Epaphrus Chapman, 
 
 Who Died 7 June, 1825, 
 
 Age 32. 
 
 First Missionary to the Osages". 
 
 Say Among the Heathen, the Lord Reign eth. 
 
 The Progress. 
 
 Rev. Epaphrus Chapman, with Mr. Job P. Vinal, has 
 been sent by the Foreign Missionary Society, on a tour of 
 exploration west of the Mississippi, with instructions to 
 select a site for a mission among the Western Cherokees. 
 The Society was organized in New York City, July 25, 
 1817, by the joint action of representatives of the Presby- 
 terian and Dutch Reformed churches. Finding that the 
 American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions 
 had already arranged to plant a mission among the West- 
 ern Cherokees, Messrs. Chapman and Vinal pushed on up 
 the valley of the Arkansas to the eastern part of what is 
 now Oklahoma. A number of mixed blood people of the 
 French-^Osage parentage had formed a settlement near the 
 mouth of Chouteau Creek, and it is believed that some of 
 them encouraged Mr. Chapman to locate his mission sta- 
 tion in their neighborhood, so that their children might 
 have an opportunity to attend school. The party which 
 came west in 1820, consisted of Rev. Epaphrus Chapman 
 and wife. Rev. Wm. F. Vail and wife, Dr. Marcus Palmer, 
 six farmers and mechanics and six young women who 
 were to serve as teachers and assistants. From Pitts- 
 burgh, the journey was made entirely by boat. Low water 
 and sickness interfered greatly with the progress of the 
 journey, especially after reaching the Arkansas. Two of 
 the young women died on the way and most of the party 
 suffered from fevers. The Dwight, established in 1833, 
 also the Park Hill Mission, established in 1830 by the 
 same board, were located at the forks of the Illinois River. 
 
48 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 The Park Hill Mission was the largest, and the Dwight, 
 the most important ins-titiition of its class. This latter 
 included the buildings of the missionaries, teachers and 
 employees' boarding hall, a grist mill, shops, stables, bams 
 (for an extensive farm was conducted in conjunction with 
 the mission station), and printing office and book bindery. 
 This Mission press was the first printing press in Okla- 
 homa. Much of the Mission printing, first of the Chero- 
 kees, then also of the Choctaws and of the Creeks, was 
 done at the Park Hill Mission press. 
 
 Rev. Loring S. Williams and Rev. Alfred Wright were 
 the leaders who established the first missions of the Amer- 
 ican boards in the Choctaw Nation. Although the work 
 of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
 missions was jointly supported by the Congregational and 
 Presbyterian denominations, a large percentage of the 
 missionaries sent to Oklahoma were from the Congrega- 
 tional Church. 
 
 Rev. Duncan O'Briant, who organized the work of the 
 Baptist denomination in the new Cherokee country, had 
 immigrated to the West, accompanied by eight Cherokee 
 families who had become affiliated with the Baptist 
 Church in their old homes in the East. 
 
 The first Baptist missionary in the Creek Nation, of 
 which there is any record, was Rev. John Davis, who, as 
 a member of the tribe had been converted under the 
 preachinig of the missionaries in the old Creek country, 
 east of the Mississippi, and who had accompanied one of 
 the earlier parties of Creek immigrants, who came to the 
 Indian Territory probably the year 1831. 
 
 The Endurance. 
 
 Many years elapsed in which these missionaries suffered 
 hardships, sickness and trials, yet we find the Methodist, 
 Presbyterian and Baptist denominations had promptly 
 resumed their work in the Indian Territory after the war. 
 The Moravian mission in the Cherokee Nation also sur- 
 
The Light of the Cross 49 
 
 vived, as did the Catholic missions among the Osage. The 
 Benedictine Fathers, the first missionaries representing 
 the Catholics, established themselves at Sacred Heart Ab- 
 bey in Pottawatomie County in 1880. The first Prefect 
 Apostolic was the Rev. Isidore Robot, 0. S. B., whose ap- 
 pointment dated from 1877. The permanence of Cath- 
 olicism in Oklahoma oves much to his persevering ef- 
 forts. A native of France, he introduced the Benedict- 
 ine order into the Indian country, choosing the home of 
 the Pottawatomie Indians as the centre of his missionary 
 labours. 
 
 At this time, a few Catholics other than the Pottawat- 
 omie and Osage Indians were scattered over this vast 
 country. Soon after Robot's appointment as Prefect 
 Apostolic, he had the foundations of Sacred Heart College 
 and St. Mary's Academy well established, the latter under 
 the care of the Sisters of Mercy. These institutions have 
 grown and prospered. Father M. Bernard Murphy was 
 the first American to join the Benedictine order and from 
 1877 Vx^as a constant companion and co-worker of Father 
 Robot until the latter's death. Father Robot fulfilled his 
 charge well and laid a solid foundation upon which others 
 were to build as the great state developed. He died the 
 fifteenth of February, 1887, and his humble grave is in 
 the little Campo Santo at Sacred Heart Abbey. Well did 
 he say: "Going, I went forth weeping, sowing the word 
 of God; coming, they will come rejoicing, bearing the 
 sheaves." 
 
 The Right Reverend Bishop Theophile Meerschaert, the 
 first Bishop of Oklahoma, was born at Roussignies, Bel- 
 gium. Coming to America in 1872, he laboured in the 
 Diocese of Natchez, Miss., until 1891 — when he entered 
 the wonder State, Oklahoma. By his example and his 
 labours he has endeared himself to his own flock, and 
 also to fair minded non-Catholics. When his adminis- 
 tration began, his labours were difficult and perplexing; 
 he was compelled to travel long distances and weary miles 
 on horseback, railroad facilities being very meagre and 
 
50 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 accommodations poor. In those days mass was celebrated 
 many times in dugouts, no house being available, and 
 churches being few and these only in the larger towns. 
 
 Development has come with the multitudes of people 
 who have come to this new countiy to make homes, bring- 
 ing with them the best ideals of the old states from which 
 they came. The labours of the bishop have been manifold 
 on account of the great influx of people, but the Catholic 
 has kept pace with all development. Most of the Indians 
 of Oklahoma are Baptists and Methodists; some of the 
 Pottawatomies are Catholics; among the Choctaws there 
 are a great many Catholics, and the Osage tribe in the 
 northern part of the state is entirely Catholic. 
 
 The Catholics sent a priest with an escort of Spanish 
 soldiers from Santa Fe to the Indians about the Wichita 
 mountains. This was nearly two hundred years before 
 any other missionaries came. There were no permanent 
 results achieved from this first missionary effort. 
 
 It is told that the first chimes from a church bell ever 
 heard in Oklahoma came from a bell that hung in the 
 belfry of a church at the Moravian Mission for the Chero- 
 kees. The Moravian Mission organization was one of 
 the earliest and one of the most presevering. 
 
 The Achievement. 
 
 Hanging on the wall of the room occupied by the His- 
 torical Society of Oklahoma, located at the State Capital 
 at Oklahoma City, is a sampler neatly hand-woven, which 
 speaks for itself and tells so truly of the noble and inex- 
 haustible efforts of the early ministers in their endeavors 
 to educate and to inculcate the highest ideals in the lives 
 of the Indian brother. 
 
 The Sampler is a piece of ornamental needlework, woven 
 by Ruth Phillips, a Cherokee pupil of Dwight Mission, 
 and reads, 
 
• The Light of the Cross 51 
 
 "To-day is added to our time. 
 Yet while we sing it glides away; 
 How soon shall we be past our prime? 
 For where alas; is yesterday?" 
 
 Rev. L. J. Dyke, a Baptist minister of prominence and 
 worth, and a man of strong ideals and great strength 
 of character, relates many interesting experiences of his 
 early life as a missionary. Rev. Dyke is still in active 
 service for his Lord and still proudly bears the escutcheon 
 of Christ on which are emblazoned the arms of religion. 
 He is one of the many of whom it was said, "Not mis- 
 sionaries for a month or a year, but for life. These who 
 had passed thru fiery ordeals and had stood firm. They 
 had suffered willingly for Christ's sake, claiming re- 
 v/ards only in Heaven." Rev. Dyke was appointed Gen- 
 eral Missionary to Oklahoma one year after the opening 
 in 1890. His supervision included white, Indian, and 
 negro work. The first few years he roamed the prairies 
 with horse and buggy, often sleeping at night under the 
 buggy. His first sermon in Oklahoma City was preached 
 in a so called hall over a saloon, on Broadway between 
 Grand and Main streets. The first Baptist meeting 
 house built in Oklahoma was at Dead Man's Crossing, 
 eight miles Avest of Oklahoma City. It was of cotton- 
 wood boards and would possible seat twenty-five people. 
 There was no need of windows, the cracks let in sufii- 
 cient light. The well known Oklahoma winds and sand 
 played their havoc with the missionary. One man living 
 in one of the early day shacks, relates that he and his 
 wife used to take their meals on windy days, standing 
 with their heads under the curtain of a box cupboard as 
 a measure of protection from the sand and dirt. When 
 it rained he used to pile his small library of eight volumes 
 on the bad and cover them with his slicker as the only 
 means of keeping them dry. 
 
 One example of Rev. Dyke's usefulness and sympathy, 
 is shown in the following story: 
 
52 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 •'One time when driving north from El Reno, I saw, a 
 little way from the road, three or four Indians apparently- 
 digging a grave. I went to them and found they were 
 burying a young woman, the sister of one of the men. 
 The remains were wrapped in a piece of old tent cloth. 
 The grave was about two feet deep. They could not 
 understand English, so we could only talk by signs. When 
 they had laid the remains in the grave, I indicated to 
 them that I wanted to pray. We all knelt down, and while 
 they could not know a word I said, yet they were moved 
 to profuse tears, and shook my hand cordially and showed 
 the greatest gratitude when I left them." 
 
 Another incident that the Rev. Dyke relates, which 
 has not the pathos of the above, is of his endeavors to 
 organize a mission among the Comanche Indians. 
 
 "Our District Secretary, Dr= Rairden, of Omaha, and I, 
 visited their chief, Quanah Parker, who was living vdth 
 his six wives twenty miles west of Ft. Sill, and secured 
 his consent to build a church house in their midst. I 
 v/ent to Vernon, Texas, eighty-five males distant, where 
 1 bought sufficient lumber and had it hauled to the ap- 
 pointed spot. 
 
 Later, I secured the assistance of Bro. Firestone of 
 Guthrie, a carpenter, and others, to build the house. 
 When we proceeded to survey the ground, (this was 
 about two miles from Parker's place), the Indians decided 
 that we were about to take possession of some of their 
 land. We could not make them understand our purpose 
 so I appealed to Parker, He replied : "I don't care where 
 
 you put the d d thing, just so you don't put it near 
 
 me, or within one mile of any Indian claim." Some of 
 the women took hold of me and shook me up in good 
 fashion, and indicated to me by signs and grunts to get 
 into my buggy and get away from there. There were 
 possibly twenty of the Indians there. The men put the 
 women forward: they did not dare moleiSt us themselves. 
 We were obliged to move on six miles from this place, 
 
• The Light of the Cross 53 
 
 to find a site sufficiently removed from any Indian claim 
 that Ave could build on." 
 
 The first v/hite settlers promptly turned their thoughts 
 to religion. In the first summer after the opening to 
 settlemient, a meeting place was established near the pres- 
 ent station of Mehan on Little Stillwater. This place 
 was fifty miles from a railroad and materials were not 
 easily obtained, but logs were hewn and split in halves 
 and laid across stakes to form rude benches. These were 
 placed in the shade of a little grove where religious ser- 
 vices were held until cold weather made the gathering 
 impossible. 
 
 The Tragedy. 
 
 Fugitives from justice from the states were sufficiently 
 numerous. It was not considered good taste or even po- 
 lite to manifest interest bordering on curiosity as to the 
 part of the country whence another man hailed. Rev. 
 Dr. Theo. F. Brewer, a well kno-vvTi missionary and edu- 
 cator, who was for years given supervision at Muskogee, 
 tells of one of these unknoA\Ti fugitives and his dramatic 
 end: 
 
 '*A white m.an of unknown antecedents was employed 
 by an Indian citizen who had a ranch some twenty miles 
 from Muskogee. In the course of time this white man 
 was arrested on the charge of stealing livestock. He was 
 taken to Fort Smith, tried, convicted, and sentenced to 
 a term in an eastern penitentiary. A year or two later, 
 when in a dying condition, having contracted pulmonary 
 tuberculosis, he was pardoned. He did not have a friend 
 in the world, but when his pitiful condition was made 
 known to his former employer, the Indian citizen, this 
 man at once offered to take him in and care for him if 
 he were brought back to Muskogee. When he arrived 
 there, he was too weak to walk so he was taken to a near- 
 by lodging house to stay until his former employer could 
 send for him. As he was rapidly losing strength, he re- 
 
54 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 quested that a clergj'^man be asked to call. A messenger 
 was sent for Rev. Mr. Brewer, who immediately answered 
 the summons. After talking to Mr. Brewer, the man 
 expressed a desire to be baptized. Preparations having 
 been made for the administration of the rite, the minister 
 read the introductory part of the service, and asked the 
 usual questions to which satisfactory responses were made 
 and was proceeding to pronounce the name by which the 
 man had hitherto been known, when he suddenly threw 
 up his hand in a gesture of dissent, and exclaimed: 'Wait! 
 Wait! I want to be baptized under by own name.' The 
 minister saw in the man's face the evidence of a determin- 
 ation to tell the part of his life story which he had con- 
 ceal for many years; but just as he would have made it 
 known, another paroxysm of coughing and he settled back 
 on the pillow, dead, with his name, identity, antecedents, 
 his home and life story hurled in the great oblivion, from 
 which no life thought or story ever returns to be told." 
 
 A Tragedy! you whisper, a fatal and remorseful event, 
 yes, but only one of the many experiences which made 
 and completed the wonderful romance of Oklahoma's ear- 
 ly religious work. 
 
 There was much persecution of the missionaries by the 
 non-pregressive element which was in control in the Creek 
 Nation. Rev. Mr. Joseph Island, who was affiliated with 
 the Baptist denomination, was the preacher in charge. 
 He had given his own home for a church, moving into a 
 small cabin until he could build a new one. Many of his 
 converts were whipped and he was often threatened. The 
 controlling element, styled the Creek Council, had passed 
 a law forbidding a white man to preach. The usual pun- 
 ishment was fifty lashes on the bare back for any Indian 
 or Negro in the nation who was found praying or preach- 
 ing. Rev. Mr. Eben Tucker, the appointed missionary 
 to Creek Indians, counselled the faithful Creek Baptists 
 to assemble for worship, at convenient places just across 
 the line, in the Cherokee Nation. Others who lived in the 
 southern part of the Creek Nation, likewise crossed to 
 
The Light of the Cross 55 
 
 the Choctaw country, to hold religious services. Many of 
 
 the individuals, white, negro, and Indian, were scourged, 
 yet they remained faithful. 
 
 The Success. 
 
 Geronimo, the famous Indian chieftain of the Apache 
 tribe, boasted of ninety-nine scalps at his belt. Of his 
 age we have no record ; he was perhaps, seventy-five, 
 probably he had registered one hundred and ten years. 
 His characteristics were those of a strategical warrior 
 He was an untiring slayer of defenseless men, women and 
 children and whom General Miles styled, "The Human 
 Tiger." Geronimo was at one time the most feared, 
 most despised, and most hated Indian fighter in existence, 
 and his record of devastation and bloodshed is unequaled 
 in the annals of American history. 
 
 The mountains and deserts of Arizona were his rendez- 
 vous. From those practically inaccessible haunts, he 
 stole forth with his band of half naked savages, raided 
 farm houses, settlements and villages. He did not wage 
 an open warfare, but sought opportunities to rob, steal, 
 and kill, through strategy and deception. The number and 
 a^vfulness of his raids and exploits probably will never be 
 known, as Geronimo himself and all his braves, while 
 they could converse about the present day occurrences, 
 yet maintained a blank countenance when incidents of 
 their former lives were inquired into or commented upon. 
 
 Perhaps he v.^as ashamed of his past, after he had con- 
 fessed his sins, and had bowed his head in humble sub- 
 mission to the white man's God. Perhaps Geronimo felt 
 that his terrible past was blotted out forever when it 
 was replaced by that mysterious supernatural power, that 
 wonderful religion which he had accepted at the hands of 
 the missionary. Nevertheless, Geronimo never referred 
 to his past, after he was converted. His conversion 
 makes an interesting story. 
 
56 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 It was in Geronimo's village, in the shadows of Medi- 
 cine Bluff, underneath broad branching pecans, that the 
 annual fall revival of the Apaches and Comanches was 
 held. Every Indian of the two tribes knew of the place 
 and date. Services, beginning on Friday, were to con- 
 tinue for three days. Beeves were to be slaughtered and 
 rations distributed. T^\'o days before missionaries pitch- 
 ed their camp, the valley was dotted with teepees and 
 tents, and the place w^as made lively by baily clothed 
 bucks and blanketed squaws mixing among numerous 
 ponies and countless dogs. On the day set for the open- 
 ing service, the squaws were maintaining well equipped 
 camps, and they, with the bucks, were ready for the 
 feast, physical, as well as spiritual. With the arrival of 
 the preacher came his equipment, consisting of interpre- 
 ters and helpers, a large tent for a tabernacle, organ, 
 stands. Bibles and song books, together with private tents 
 and a well supplied commissary wagon. The large gospel 
 tent was stretched in the midst of the village and on the 
 ground M'^as laid a canvas, the size of the tent. Camp 
 chairs were provided for the preacher and choir. The 
 Indians sat upon the canvas, the Apaches to the right and 
 the Comanches to the left. The Apaches, being prisoners 
 of war, were attired in the white man's garb, but the 
 Comanches presented a more lively picture. There were 
 robust, healthy Indians, some belted with geestrings, and 
 others robed in blankets of striking colors, and all painted 
 lavishly to indicate their rank and to set forth their deeds 
 of valor. There was squaws with long, coarse flowing 
 hair and flaming robes, with buckskin leggins and beaded 
 moccasins. There were papooses encased in cornaks, 
 all were closely crowded together on the Comanche side 
 of the gospel tent. The services were conducted in En- 
 glish. Old time religious songs were sung to the accom- 
 paniment of a small church organ. Many of the wor- 
 shipers seemed familiar with the proceedings, and joined 
 in the singing. Geronimo sat upon a chair just in front 
 of the organ and choir. His piercing eyes, overlooking a 
 
The Light of the Cross 57 
 
 massive face, were fixed upon the Apache interpreter, 
 and, closely watching every move, he seemed anxious to 
 catch every word. During the lull in the service his 
 head would drop upon his breast as if in deep meditation. 
 But neither a move was made nor a word uttered by this 
 picturesque chieftain. 
 
 On Sunday, the last day, interest among the Indians was 
 intense. Many had already been converted and the new 
 Christians were active in bringing others to accept the 
 white man's Jesus. The baptising was to take place im- 
 mediately'' after the afternoon service. A great crowd of 
 whites had assembled to witness the ceremony, and to 
 extend fellowship to their new brethren in the church. 
 
 When the preacher arose and approached the altar, one 
 of the interpreters, a full blood Comanche Indian and a 
 college athlete, arose and took a position to the left fac- 
 ing his tribe ; the other interpreter, an Apache, uniformed 
 in the khaki of a private soldier, stepped to the right of 
 the altar and faced the remnant of a once proud, arrogant 
 and dreaded band. The preacher announced his text, 
 and immediately each interpreter announced it to his au- 
 dience; sentence by sentence, the preacher's simple story 
 of the white man's Omnipotent God was earnestly inter- 
 preted and eagerly followed by the auditors. 
 
 After the text of the last sermon had been expounded, 
 the preacher extended an invitation to all the Indians as- 
 sembled, to leave the red man's way and to take up Jesus 
 and follow Him. Before the preacher had concluded his 
 appeal, Geronimo, who had remained silent through all 
 the services, followed by frail gray-haired men, who had 
 never deserted their leader, silently but firmly made his 
 way to the altar and gave his hand to the astounded min- 
 ister. Here followed a scene which words are inadequate 
 to portray. The same great uncontrollable spirit which 
 a few years before had known the white only to hate and 
 destroy him, now stood humbled at his feet, conquered 
 by the white man's Christ. Geronimo asked to be ac- 
 cepted into the church and, when his request had been 
 
58 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 granted, the old chieftain, with tearful eyes and a tremb- 
 ling voice, attempted to speak. But, after a few words, 
 he was choked with emotion, and sank to his chair amid 
 profound silence. 
 
 Rev. Jno. B, McFerrinn, in 1826, received into the 
 Methodist church, the celebrated chief, John Ross, of the 
 Cherokees. This act exerted a great Christianizing in- 
 fluence among the full bloods, and soon afterward, Turtle 
 Fields, a noted Cherokee, entered the ministry and for 
 many years was a faithful missionary among them. 
 
 The Summit of the Years. 
 
 We hear the Godlike edicts of the people as we stand 
 on the summit of the years, viewing the trend of time 
 as it forever moves onward and upward, but never back- 
 ward. We see the minister and his religious work, like 
 two rocks suspended by the side of the same waves of 
 time, and offering a never weakening resistence as they 
 look on the tide of the years which has beaten and push- 
 ed them, now back, nov/ forward, until on the summit, 
 they, with the hosts of others who have been benefited by 
 their endeavors view the great victory wrought by their 
 noble cause. 
 
 We hear the voice of a people, a composite of the best 
 from the many states that make up the United States, 
 setting forth their religious ideals for their newly enter- 
 ed state as the first essential in their constitution. For 
 when the Congress of the United States, passed what is 
 known as the enabling act, permitting the people of Okla- 
 homa and of Indian Territory to form a constitution and 
 to be admitted to the Union, it was provided in the first 
 clause of said act: "That perfect toleration of religious 
 sentiment shall be secured and that no inhabitant of the 
 State shall ever be molested in person or property on ac- 
 count of his or her mode of religious worship, etc., and 
 that polygamous or plural marriages are forever prohib- 
 ited." 
 
The Triumph of the Law 59 
 
 A number of denominational colleges have been devel- 
 oped in the former territory of Oklahoma, from the early 
 missions. These include Kingfisher College, owned by 
 the Congregational Church; Phillips Christian University, 
 at Enid; Oklahoma Methodist University at Oklahoma 
 City; Henry Kendall College, (Presbyterian) located at 
 Tulsa; and the Oklahoma Baptist University at Shawnee. 
 The Catholic College which was established at Sacred 
 Heart in 1873 was moved to Shawnee and renamed the 
 Catholic University of Oklahoma. 
 
 The romance of the missionary is, in a special sense, 
 the romance of the pioneer. For while others came to be 
 hunters, farmers, mechanics, carpenters, teachers, the 
 missionary, in his own person was all of these. As he 
 preached the gospel, he must labor to provide his own 
 food and shelter. And both as a means of winning a 
 hearing for his gospel, and for the well being of his con- 
 verts he became their teacher in all the arts of civilization. 
 He was truly "all things to all men"; and in addition to 
 his material efforts he was leader, actor and spectator in 
 the great spiritual drama of life and death, which unfolds 
 in the savage wilderness as in the heart of the great 
 metropolis. 
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF THE LAW. 
 
 ZOE A. TiLGHMAN. 
 
 In every normal boy's life there comes a time when the 
 outlaw, whether Captain Kidd or Jesse James, is a hero. 
 The doings of the James boys and the Younger brothers 
 have thrilled a generation. It was, fortunately, an evan- 
 escent thrill and most of those boys, past the bowie-knife 
 and cave age, developed into staid and respectable citizens 
 who shuddered at the name of Oklahoma, which conjured 
 dire visions of Indians and outlaws. 
 
 Outlaws and crime the Territory had. But let it be 
 remembered that California and Nevada were as notor- 
 
60 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 ious for their stage robberies as Oklahoma ever v/as for 
 train hold-ups. These events are part of the history of 
 every frontier. Nor is the reason far to seek. The wild- 
 er lands offer retreat for those who have become unde- 
 sirable citizens in their former homes. In the unsettled 
 condition of the country they find both safety from the 
 law, and fresh opportunity for a career of crime. 
 
 Thus for years before the opening of Oklahoma to set- 
 tlement the Territory became the dumping ground for 
 fugitives from all of the older states. Most of them re- 
 mained in the eastern part. The so-called civilized tribes 
 maintained governments of their own and they had no 
 extradition treaties with the government at Washington. 
 The Indian law and Indian police were the sole agencies 
 of justice. Thus, if a white man behaved himself reason- 
 ably well, he was safe. For subsistence he could seek out 
 som.e lonely spot along one of the many creeks, and with 
 the timber at hand, erect a cabin. A small patch of corn 
 cultivated in the fertile bottom would provide him bread 
 and to eke out the game, he raised a few hogs, which ran 
 wild in the timber. Often he w^ould marry an Indian 
 woman, thus securing a right in the land. 
 
 The children of these men grew up to evil. There is on 
 record one family of eleven children, every one of them 
 criminals — not of the petty thief order, but guilty of 
 murder and other terrible crimes. The Indians and the 
 church missions maintained some schools but in the sparse- 
 ly settled country, the district school house was unknown. 
 Children born in these remote and squalid cabins grew to 
 manhood and womanhood without ever seeing the inside 
 of a church or school house; many of them could neither 
 read nor write. They could shoot and ride a pony — that 
 was all. 
 
 The United States courts had at length been given juris- 
 diction in the Indian country. Selling liquor to the In- 
 dians was foi'bidden, and this was usually the first step 
 in a boy's life of crime. Whisky peddling and drinking 
 meant a shooting scrape soon and then the boy "went on 
 
■ The Triumph of the Law 61 
 
 the scout," a fugitive. In that wild country it was often 
 possible to elude the officers for several years. Indeed, 
 the force available found that they had plenty to do in 
 running down the more desperate criminals and murder- 
 ers. They worked hard and faithfully, and more than 
 one marshal gave his life for the work. The annals of 
 the Fort Sm.ith court are abundant witness to this. The 
 famous Judge Parker who presided there for many years, 
 found it his duty to pronounce the death sentence on 
 eighty-eight men. 
 
 Among these was Cherokee Bill, perhaps the worst, and 
 in many respects typical of the Indian Territory bad man. 
 He was of mixed blood, white, negro, Mexican, Sioux In- 
 dian and Cherokee. He was entirely imeducated and was 
 an out-and-out killer. After being lodged in jail at Fort 
 Smith, he in some way obtained a gun and shot the jailer, 
 for which last murder he was hanged. Before shooting 
 he "gobbled" at the jailer. This gobbling was a peculiar 
 noise to a turkey's gobble, and was a bestial sound uttered 
 by the Indians when about to kill. It seems to have been 
 confined to the eastern Indians. At another time in the 
 Fort Smith court, a man pleaded killing in self defense, 
 and in support of his plea it was shown that his oppo- 
 nent "gobbled" at him — when realizing his danger, he 
 shot first. His plea was allowed and he was acquitted. 
 
 The account of this criminal class should not be taken 
 as a reflection upon the Indian governments. Nor should 
 these be considered as typical citizens. The majority of 
 the tribes were honest, industrious and enterprising. 
 They conducted farms and raised herds of cattle and 
 horses; they had in their homes many refinements of civ- 
 ilization, and they sent their children away to boarding 
 schools to be educated. Then, too, many of the fugitive 
 white men were persons of generally good character, driv- 
 en thither by some unfortunate slip. And these, instead 
 of sinking into the squalor of the poorer class, affiliated 
 with the better Indians, and living uprightly, were assets 
 
62 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 to their communities. This sharp division of classes, 
 however, must be recognized. 
 
 In the western part, which up to the time of statehood, 
 was Oklahoma, different conditions prevailed. As long as 
 the Indians were hostile, the white fugitives dared not 
 go there. Moreover, it was policed by the garrisons of 
 soldiers from the forts and no white man was allowed 
 to stay in any reservation without a permit from the 
 Indian agent. The only white man's dwellings, aside from 
 those of the agency traders and employees, were the few 
 ranch houses of the cattlemen. 
 
 With the opening in prospect, the grazing leases were 
 not renewed. The pastures were cleaned up, the cattle 
 sold, and as the trains puffed out from the sidings, the 
 cowboy's occupation vanished. There remained a few, 
 a very few ranches in the Indian Territory, but these 
 had not the big range, they were half farms. The cow- 
 boy is not lazy. He works hard. He must go in all 
 kinds of weather and spend long hours in the saddle. He 
 is probably as tired at night as any other worker. But he 
 feels at home only in the saddle. Often he despises other 
 work; always he dislikes it. One of them tried to ex- 
 press this feeling, but words failed him. Said he: "This 
 looking up and down a corn row — GOSH." 
 
 Few of them had the education and none of them the 
 capital to engage in business. So, with the opening, some 
 of them drifted west to seek the remaining ranges of 
 Texas and Arizona. Some took up claims and settled 
 themselves reluctantly to farming. And a few of the 
 bolder and more restless spirits became the outlaws which 
 for some years made the Territory notorious. The ma- 
 jority of both the Dalton and Doolin gangs, the most im- 
 portant ones operating in the Territor>% were ex-cowboys. 
 They were used to riding and were skilled shots. They 
 knew the country thoroughly, and they were able to have 
 hold-outs at convenient places both in the Indian Territory 
 and Oklahoma; either with some of the disreputable cit- 
 izens of the "Nations," or with some ex-comrade who had 
 
The Triumph of the Law 63 
 
 turned settler, and whose loyalty to their old friendship 
 made his house a haven. 
 
 Post offices, banks, trains and express offices were rob- 
 bed in the Territories and along the borders of Kansas, 
 Missouri and Texas. The express companies used to 
 send extra guards on the trains and at one time refused 
 to accept large shipments of money to pass through Okla- 
 homa to Texas. A drastic law was passed making the 
 penalty for train robbery life imprisonment. 
 
 The Daiton gang met a tragic end in battle with the 
 citizens of Cofieyville, Kansas, where they were attempt- 
 ing the before unheard-of feat of robbing two banks in 
 the same town at once. The only member of the gang 
 who escaped death or capture was the one who was ab- 
 sent — Bill Doolin. His horse had become lame and leav- 
 ing the gang to procure another mount, he failed to reach 
 them in time to take part in the raid. 
 
 Perhaps he saw in his comrade's end the fate that he 
 too must meet some day. But he had gone too far to 
 turn back. Some time after this, in conjunction with a 
 brother of the Daiton boys, he organized the gang which 
 Vx'as known by his name. Though quite uneducated, bare* 
 ]y able to write his name and spell out a few words in a 
 newspaper, learning which he acquired after reaching 
 manhood, Doolin is described as a man of kindly and win- 
 ning personality. His qualities as a leader were proved 
 in the exploits of the gang under his leadership; and the 
 fact that misfortune befell them as soon as they began to 
 operate without him. With him, they conducted more 
 successful operations than any other band in the history 
 of the Southwest. They secured large sums of money, 
 but frequently at cost of a fight, and there were many 
 warrants charging them with robbery and murder. 
 
 No net-work of telephone lines crossed the country in 
 those days, the roads were often poor, and the outlaws, 
 with intimate knowledge of the entire country, were able 
 to evade the officers time and again. 
 
64 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 A pitched battle was fou,<jht in the town of Ingalls, 
 September first, 1893. It was almost a drawn engage- 
 ment for though the officers captured one and wounded 
 another seriously, and drove the outlaws out of town, two 
 of their own number v/ere killed. 
 
 Outlawry had become so bad in Oklahoma that Congress 
 made a special appropriation for the purpose of ridding 
 the Territorj^ of this trouble. The work was in the 
 hands of the United States Marshal, and the most com- 
 petent officers on his force were detailed for this work. 
 
 Captain Heck Thomas, as a boy of twelve had served 
 a,s messenger in the Confederate army. While yet a 
 young man he had foiled the famous Sam Bass gang of 
 outlaws in Texas and safely carried through the large ex- 
 press shipment of money intrusted to him. He had, sin- 
 gle handed captured two desperate outlaws for which the 
 governor of Texas gave a special reward. William or 
 "Bill" Tilghman had gained experience as an officer in the 
 frontier town of Dodge City, Kansas. Chris Madsen, the 
 third, had at the age of sixteen, fought for his native 
 country, Denmark, against the Prussians. Later he had 
 served in the French Legion in Algiers; then in the army 
 of the United States, in the later Indian campaigns. 
 
 With camp outfit and supplies in a spring wagon, with 
 saddle horses and guns, the officers took the trail. Often 
 they just missed the outlaws. But there was no giving 
 up. One by one the gang was killed or captured. 
 
 Doolin had married a minister's daughter, and a child 
 had been born to them. His health was breaking from 
 hardships and exposure. For the sake of his wife and 
 child he determined to leave the country and begin a 
 new life. He went to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, to take 
 treatment, and here Deputy Tilghman trailed him. Sin- 
 gle handed, he arrested the King of the Outlaws and 
 brought him to the Federal jail at Guthrie. From here, 
 the outlaw escaped, and taking refuge near his wife's 
 home, was killed by a posse while resisting arrest. 
 
The Triumph of the Law 65 
 
 After this, only one organized gang appeared in the 
 Territory. Little Dick who was the sole survivor of the 
 Doolin gang, joined with two Jennings boys, Al and 
 Frank, and the two O'Malley brothers, in what was known 
 as the Jennings gang. 
 
 They had but a brief career. Four months after their 
 first hold-up, all but one were in jaiL Little Dick was 
 killed some time later while resisting arrest. The gang 
 had, in the four months, made several unsuccessful at- 
 tempts to rob trains or banks. They were hungry, ragged 
 and penniless. So in desperation they held up the Rock 
 Island train south of Chickasha, in daylight. They tried 
 to blow up the express safe with dynamite, but being ig- 
 norant at handling the explosixes, they failed. They then 
 robbed the passengers, getting about three hundred dol- 
 lars, or about sixty dollars apiece when divided. They 
 secured a bunch of bananas and a two gallon jug of 
 whisky from the wrecked express car, which was the 
 entire loot they got from the express companies during 
 their career. Shortly after this, they robbed a country 
 store of its small money till, and several suits of duck 
 working clothes to replace their own ragged garments. 
 
 Al Jennings, after serving a term in prison, wrote a 
 story founded on his life, which many persons have be- 
 lieved to be wholly true. But at the time when he repre- 
 sents his romantic adventures, leading a gay life in Nevv^ 
 Orleans society, and having various experiences in South 
 America and Mexico, he was living in Pottawatomie coun- 
 ty, where his father was judge; and was not even a fugi- 
 tive from justice, as no v;arrant had been issued, or charge 
 of crime made against him. 
 
 The average career of the Oklahoma outlaws was three 
 years. Bill Doolin desperate and resourceful, evaded the 
 officers for eight years. But one and all, the strong hand 
 of the law fell on them. 
 
66 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 The outlaws, picturesque only in imagination, hard men, 
 living a hard life, were destroyed by the tireless, brave 
 and loyal work of the officers. The last terror of the 
 frontier was ended, and the settler, in security and peace, 
 could bend to his task of building a state that should be 
 worthy of a star in the Flag. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 GREER COUNTY UNDER SEVEN FLAGS 
 Adele Hart Brown 
 
 Texas, the Empire State of the South, with a domain 
 reaching from the Liana Estacada to the smiling waters 
 of the Mexique Gulf, — with boundless prairies — with ce- 
 dar crowned mountains and canons of mysterious beauty 
 — ^with forests of pine and the oleander of the tropics, — 
 Texas has a history crowded with romance. There is not 
 a blank page in her annals. Even the darkness of tribu- 
 lation but throws into bold relief the rose-crowned days of 
 happiness. May we disturb the dust of the archives, and 
 look for a moment at her glorious past? The Mexican 
 adage, "Whom the gods love, they let live in Texas," has 
 found many echoes, for she has been the heart's desire 
 of many nations. Her turquoise skies have looked down 
 upon six flags, as they floated in her translucent atmos- 
 phere, each leaving it a bequest of enrichment. 
 
 The lilies of France, symbolic of love and loyalty and 
 beauty, unfurled by La Salle as a gift to Louis the Mag- 
 nificent — the colors of Spain with her long history of 
 aristocratic grandeur — of Mexico, with her unforgotten 
 coercion and tempestous tyranny — the Lone Star of the 
 Republic, bought with the blood of many heroes in the 
 long struggles for independence — ^the Stars and Stripes, 
 which she unfurled when she gave herself and her bound- 
 less resources to the Union, and voluntarily relinquished 
 a brilliant destiny that she might be the fairest in the 
 galaxy of states — ^the Stars and Bars, for which our fath- 
 ers suffered and our mothers mourned, when she joined 
 the sister states of the South in defense of states' rights 
 — her unquestioned loyalty when the arbitrament of war 
 decided for all time we were to be a united nation — one 
 
 [67] 
 
68 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 and inseparable — with such chronicles as these, what 
 more could she ask for her children than the gift of 
 remembrance ? 
 
 Texas history goes back to those epic days when reality 
 was romance, and every heart throbbed with the courage 
 of a crusader. Fate threw into the melting-pot the stern 
 patrioit, the soldier of fortune, the gay adventurer, and 
 the flotsam and jetsam of an unguarded coast; and fused 
 by the fires of chance, the crucible answered with refined 
 gold. For the enthusiasm of restless spirits inspired ^vith 
 new courage the sturdy pioneer, when the vision in his 
 eyes darkened with hope deferred. All united under the 
 oriflame of liberty and fought for an ideal, and exulted 
 together in success. 
 
 All this unique history is Greer County's heritage, since 
 she was indisputably a part of Texas for more than a 
 century. Greer originally had an area of 1,500,000 
 acres, and was bounded on the north and east by the 
 North Fork of Red River, on the south by the South Fork 
 of Red River, and on the west by the 100th meridian. It 
 was considered a part of the Texas Republic, but as early 
 as 1859 the United States made claim to it. In 1819, a 
 treaty had been drawn up between the United States and 
 Spain, defining their boundary line and the Red River 
 formed a portion of this boundary. V/hen, years after- 
 ward, this river was more fully explored, it was found to 
 have two forks. Texas claimed the North Fork to be 
 the principal fork, and hence the Red River meant in the 
 treaty. The United States claimed the South Fork to 
 be the one meant in the treaty, which would throw Greer 
 County north of Texas, in the Indian Territory. In as- 
 sertion of Texas' claim to this tract, the Texas legisla- 
 ture, in 1860 named this county Greer, in honor of a- 
 former Lieutenant Governor. Stockmen began to range 
 cattle on the Greer county lands soon after the disappear- 
 ance of the buffalo, the first settlements being made in 
 1880. Many settlers were veterans of the Mexican war, 
 who were given patents to a section of land by the State 
 
Greer County Under Seven Flags 69 
 
 of Texas, and immediately located homes on its rolling 
 prairies, and the slopes of its granite mountains. The 
 settlers had many tragic moments: in the summer of 
 1885, they were warned to leave, by the Federal authori- 
 ties, and attempts were made to remove them as intrud- 
 ers, by the troops; but they remained, and were not again 
 molested. As the county became more thickly settled, 
 the question of ownership increased in importance. In 
 1885 Congress decided to have four commissioners ap- 
 pointed by the President, to meet four commissioners 
 froon Texas, to settle the matter. The Texas legislature 
 agreed and Governor Ireland appointed J. T. Bracken- 
 ridge, W. S. Herndon, William Burgess and George R. 
 Freeman to represent Texas. The commissioners met 
 February 23rd, 1886, and spent several weeks carefully 
 investigating the matter. When the final vote came, the 
 four United States Commissioners favored the South Fork 
 as the Red River of the treaty, while the four Texas Com- 
 missioners favored the North Fork. 
 
 Texas claimed that when she became an independent 
 Republic in 1836 that she acquired a good and valid title 
 to all territory rightfully claimed and included within 
 the limits of the Republic of Texas; that on the 29th day 
 of December, 1845, when the Republic of Texas ceased to 
 exist and her territory became one of the states of the 
 Union, that the United States eliminated the question of 
 boundary from further dispute between Texas and other 
 governments, and guaranteed to her the peaceable pos- 
 session and right to dispose of her lands as she deemed 
 proper; and therefore, that the United States was forever 
 estopped from re-opening the question of boundary. 
 
 President Cleveland in 1888, issued a proclamation, 
 warning settlers against buying property in Greer County, 
 as if the land be proven to belong to the United States, 
 their titles would be void. Nevertheless, Texas continued 
 to have faith in the validity of her title deeds; and in 
 1888, Greer County having the requisite population was 
 duly organized under the laws of the state of Texas, Man- 
 
70 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 gum was chosen as the county site, and was named for 
 Col. A. S. IVIangum, formerly of Sherman, Texas, a vet- 
 eran of the Mexican War. Greer County was made a 
 part of the Forty-Sixth Judicial District of Texas, and 
 Judge G. A. Brown, late Associate Justice, Oklahoma Su- 
 preme Court, being judge of the district, presided over 
 the courts continuously from 1888, to March 16, 1896. 
 The first term of court w^as held under a tree, the few 
 residences being dugouts, because of the prohibitive prices 
 for freighting lumber. However, a rough shack had been 
 provided, when the second term was held six months later. 
 The Greer County case had been carried to the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, but the final decision was 
 against Texas, and by act of Congress, approved May 4, 
 1896, it was declared the property of the United States, 
 and the county was reorganized under the laws of Okla- 
 homa Territory. 
 
 It was an exciting moment in Greer County history, 
 when a galloping messenger brought the news just flashed 
 over the wires that Greer County was no longer a part 
 of the state of Texas. Strong men were moved to emo- 
 tion, and women gave way to tears. They were Texans, 
 and had been thrust out of their native state. The court 
 was eng'aged in the trial of an important case — ^but Judge 
 Brown immediately adjourned court, having no further 
 jurisdiction. It is an interesting coincidence thart; Judge 
 Brown was the last Judge of the Texas regime, and the 
 first after statehood, having removed to Mangum several 
 years previous to that time. One of the jurors of Judge 
 Brown's last term, John Rose, also served on the first 
 jury after statehood, and is still a resident of Mangum. 
 
 There was a strong personal attachment between Judge 
 Brown and the Greer County settlers, the unwritten law 
 of the pioneers being a warm, unquestioning loyalty. At 
 their solicitation, he went immediately to Washington to 
 intercede with the powers that be, asking that Greer 
 County settlers be given a preferential right to their land 
 and improvements. President Cleveland and Attorney 
 
The Chisholm Trail 71 
 
 General Harmon approved; a bill was drawn and imme- 
 diately passed by Congress, and the settlers were made 
 secure in their possessions. 
 
 But, again did the hand of Fate carve history out of 
 "Imperial Greer." The Constitutional Convention, see- 
 ing her fertile soil, her rolling prairies, with outcropping 
 bluffs of gypsum along the streams, her forest lands, her 
 wonderful granite mountains, divided this broad domain, 
 taking part of her territory to add to Beckham County on 
 the north and creating two new counties. Jackson and 
 Harmon, on the south and west, leaving "Little Greer" 
 in the center, and thus cutting her off forever from the 
 LfOne Star State. But, although she thus transformed 
 her allegiance to the "46th" Star — ^the mystic seventh 
 flag of her history, and is now a loyal daughter of Okla- 
 homa, yet those annals of grandeur and glory, of cruelty 
 and oppression, of battle and conquest that glorified the 
 Lone Star State, are hers to hold forever. The heroism 
 of the Alamo, that Thermopylae that had no messenger 
 of defeat — ^the conquering courage of San Jacinto, which 
 unafraid, burned its bridges on that April day when Tex- 
 as was made free — can Greer County forget these fateful 
 days? 
 
 So long as her Granite Mountains keep watch beside 
 the river of her destiny, and the balmy southern breezes 
 whisper of the Mexique Sea — ^so long shall Greer County 
 remember! Like the scattered beads from the rosary of a 
 hand worn out in service — each bead the record of an 
 answered prayer, these sacred memories are shrined in 
 her heart forever. 
 
 THE CHISHOLM TRAIL 
 
 Mrs. Ada Pitzer Slocum. 
 
 In the spring of 1865, Jesse Chisholm, the veteran 
 Cherokee trader, set out from his temporary residence 
 near the muoth of the Little Arkansas River (the site 
 upon which the City of Wichita, Kansas, has since been 
 
72 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 built), on a trading trip to the valleys of the Canadian 
 and Washita Rivers, in the Indian Territory. 
 
 With several wagons loaded with goods adapted to his 
 purpose, he followed the faint trail which had been left 
 by the retreating column of Federal troops under the 
 command of Colonel Emory. 
 
 The main cattle trail crossed the Red River at Red 
 River Station near the present town of Ringgold, Texas. 
 It followed a course almost due north across the extreme 
 western part of the Chickasaw Nation, keeping well to 
 the East of the Kiowa-Comanche and Cheyenne- Arapaho 
 Reservations. 
 
 A short distance South of the Cimarron River crossing 
 (near the present town of Dover) it joined tlie Chisholm 
 Trail, which was followed to the crossing of the Arkansas 
 River at Wichita, Kansas. 
 
 The name of the Chisholm Trail, which was originally 
 a road traveled by traders from the Arkansas River to 
 the Washita, was extended to include the cattle trail clear 
 down to, and beyond the Red River. 
 
 In 1871 the Chisholm Trail terminated at Ellsworth, 
 Kansas, a distance of three hundred and fifty mjles from 
 the Red River Station, but of course the terminals changed 
 with the coming of the railroads. 
 
 The following is taken from an old copy of the San 
 Antonio Express and is quite a unique advertisement of 
 the railroads at that time. 
 
 1871 TO Texas Cattle Drovers. 
 
 With the approach of the season for cattle shipments, 
 renewed efforts will be made by the several lines of rail- 
 way now competing for your trade, to induce you to give 
 their new, and in some cases, untried routes another 
 trial, and while your experience of the past will, in a 
 great measure, guide you in the future, it is proper your 
 attention should again be called to the important advan- 
 tage of adhering to the old established and reliable Kansas 
 Pacific Route, in regard to which, all stock shippers seem 
 united, — 
 
The Ch]sholm Trail 73 
 
 1. Our Trail has been reduced in distance some eighty 
 miles, making the drive seven or eight days less than in 
 former years. 
 
 2. The M^estward location of our trail enables you to 
 cross your cattle at or near the heads of streams, where 
 they are narrow and more easily passed than on trails 
 farther eastward, where you are compelled to cross at or 
 near the mouths, where they are deeper and wider, and 
 approaches more difficult. 
 
 3. The general advantages from the superior grazing 
 along the trail, freedom from timber or underbrush; 
 absence of flies and ticks; abundance of pure water and 
 convenient distances, rendering long and exhaustive 
 drives unnecessary; country free from flinty rocks and 
 steep breaks, are sure that cattle driven by this route 
 arrive at their destination in better condition, and there- 
 fore command higher prices than those driven by other 
 routes. 
 
 4. As the Trail is through a thinly settled country, 
 drovers are not subject to molestation from settlers, they 
 have no taxes to pay, and the streams being fordable, no 
 ferriage is necessary. 
 
 5. The greater experience of the Kansas Pacific Rail- 
 way with this particular trade, which contributed so large- 
 ly to the satisfactory result of the business the past year. 
 The pre-eminence of Abeline as a cattle market, and well 
 known point of shipment, and the additional facilities 
 afforded at Solomon, Salina, Brookville and Ellsworth. 
 
 6. The policy of express stock trains, the immense 
 equipment of First Class motive power and rolling stock, 
 especially adapted to Texas stock trade; recent arrange- 
 ments by which all yards on the line of road are made 
 free to shippers, superior hotel accommodations and bank- 
 ing facilities, and lastly, the low or lower rates of freight, 
 all show a better comprehension of this business and more 
 thorough organization to do it than has yet distinguished 
 the efforts of other lines. 
 
74 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 7. New Union Stock Yards are to be built at Kansas 
 City, for the trade of this season, and are intended to be 
 as complete in their appointments as the Union Stock 
 Yards of Chicago, and will have a capacity of over 20,- 
 000 head of cattle, with the object in view to hold cattle 
 for a considerable time if desired. It is the intention to 
 make a general cattle market at Kansas City, where buy- 
 ers and sellers can come together, and a drover arriving 
 at any station on the road with a herd can ship at once, 
 and be sure to find a market when his animals arrive in 
 Kansas Citj\ 
 
 The following shows the table of distances and the 
 points between Red River and Ellsworth, Kansas. The 
 table was taken from an Ellsworth paper of date contem- 
 porary with the trail. 
 
 Table of Dlstances. 
 Dis. bet. 
 
 points. Tot. dis. 
 
 Red River Station to 
 
 3 5 Beav^er Creek - 15 
 
 15 Monument Rock 30 
 
 15 Stage Station ....- 45 
 
 20 Rush Creek, Head of... 60 
 
 12 Little Washita 72 
 
 14 *Washita Crossing at Lino Creek 86 
 
 14 Hills of Canadian 100 
 
 10 CANADIAN RIVER 110 
 
 12 *North Fork 122 
 
 11 Prairie Spring .133 
 
 11 *King Fisher Creek 144 
 
 8 RED FORK 152 
 
 6 Turkey Creek 158 
 
 12 Hackberry Creek 170 
 
 Shawnee Creek - 178 
 
 12 *Salt Fork — 190 
 
 3 Pond Creek . 193 
 
 12 Pole Cat Creek 205 
 
In the New Territory 75 
 
 8 *Bluff Creek 213 
 
 12 *SHAW-A-OOS-PAH RIVER 225 
 
 13 Slate Creek 238 
 
 12 *Ne-ne-squa River ...250 
 
 12 Cow Skin Creek 262 
 
 6 ARKANSAS RIVER 268 
 
 10 *Little Arkansas 278 
 
 18 Sandy Creek, Head of - -296 
 
 44 BROOKVILLE 340 
 
 49 Salina .345 
 
 51 Solomon 347 
 
 54 Abeline - - 350 
 
 54 Ellsworth -350 
 
 * Trading Posts — where supplies can be obtained. 
 
 IN THE NEW TERRITORY 
 Mrs. Ada Pitzer Slocum. 
 
 "He" wanted to come to Oklahoma in 1889 when the 
 country was first opened, but at that time he was very 
 busy courting "Her" and Oklahoma had to wait, however 
 late in the Fall of 1891 he ran down to look things over 
 and decided it was the "Coming State" and he must get 
 there and, as he expressed it, "get in on the ground floor." 
 
 "She" did not want to leave her friends and relatives 
 and come to a new country, but there had been county 
 seat fights and much trouble in which they were more or 
 less concerned, so when he promised her that he would 
 keep out of politics and stick to his law business from that 
 time on, she finally consented to come — how he kept his 
 word these pages will disclose. 
 
 Just six months after the little family reached Okla- 
 homa, he was elected Probate Judge of his county — the 
 first republican to be chosen in the county. He held this 
 oflfice until he was elected and qualified as President of 
 the third Legislative Assembly, and was preparing for 
 something higher when the Judge of all men called him 
 before the last Tribunal. 
 
76 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 The methods by which law and order were maintained 
 in this new country during these early days were, to 
 say the least, rather primitive. To be sure there wert. 
 officers of the law — first appointed by the President, and 
 later elected by the people, and there were all kinds of 
 civil cases, as well as, not a few criminal ones, many of 
 the latter the outgrowth of feuds, caused by conflicting 
 land titles and other similar causes. Many of those early 
 disputes were settled in the old primitive manner, with 
 the gun, which was ever ready to hand in those days and 
 it was just a question of being "quick on the trigger." 
 
 The first Legislature did very little, except to squabble 
 over the location of the Capital and to adopt a code of 
 laws from another State, and subsequent legislatures have 
 been kept busy eliminating such laws as were not adapt- 
 able to our locality. Many amusing, as well as disgust- 
 ing scenes occurred at the meeting of the first legislature 
 at Guthrie. At one time a bill was before that body for 
 the removal of the Capital to Oklahoma City — as happen- 
 ed at the convening of every assembly — and it was sup- 
 posed that the bill was in possession of the Hon. Dan 
 Peery, of El Reno, who was a member of the first House 
 of Representatives, as well as several subsequent ones. 
 In order to prevent consideration of the bill, he was chas- 
 ed out of the House, by the Guthrie delegation, through 
 the Council Chamber and finally hid himself in an unused 
 ice-box, where he remained several hours, and perhaps it 
 was as well that he did not put in an appearance very 
 soon. 
 
 The first judges being appointed by the President were 
 for the most part "Carpet Baggers" and for that reason 
 were not very popular with the masses of the people and 
 not always with the lawyers who had business before their 
 courts. There was much resigning and changing of offi- 
 cers from the Governor down, and as the Supreme Court 
 was composed of the District Judges, on account of un- 
 pleasant feelings M'-hich occurred between the lawyers and 
 judges before whom thej'' tried their cases, they could 
 
In the New Territory 77 
 
 never be certain of the outcome of those cases when they 
 reached the Supreme Court. 
 
 It was not a very desirable time for a man to bring 
 his family to live in this turbulent country, but many did, 
 and while most of the men rather enjoyed the fussing 
 and bickering, it was, as some one aptly expressed it 
 "hell for women and babies." 
 
 There were more saloons in every town than any other 
 kind of business, and for one who had lived in a prohibi- 
 tion state, this was something just a little hard to get 
 used to. It was difficult at this time to decide which of 
 the two evils brought more grist to the lawyers' mill, the 
 saloon or divorce. Most criminal cases were caused in 
 the first place by whisky, and the "Girl" from a prohibi- 
 tion state had many amusing, and some very embarrassing 
 experiences. Soon after her arrival and while still at the 
 hotel, she met a lady who was from her state; they soon 
 found they had many friends in common, and becatme, 
 themselves quite friendly in a short time. Of course the 
 question soon arose, "how do you like Oklahoma?" Our 
 girl being very outspoken and knowing nothing of the 
 business associations of the other's husband, replied: "I 
 think I should like it very much if I could get used to 
 saloons, but I have to pass, at least one in getting to my 
 husband's office and I cannot get used to it." The other 
 lady demurely replied, "I do not like saloons very well 
 myself, though it is my husband's business." 
 
 For several years our divorce laws were very lax and 
 you could get a divorce on almost any provocation, or 
 sometimes none at all. I have many times heard lawyers 
 say, "If you want a divorce just take it to Judge Henry 
 Scott at Oklahoma City, as he never refuses anyone." I 
 remember reading a letter from a very prominent man in 
 another state asking upon what grounds one could get a 
 divorce in Oklahoma, and I also saw the reply to this, 
 which in substance was, "Come on dovni and we will fix 
 you out with one on almost any grounds." For several 
 years people came from New York and San Francisco 
 
78 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 and remained just long enough to secure their divorce, 
 which at that time was three months. Those who lived 
 here could get a divorce in the morning and marry again 
 in the afternoon. One very amusing incident occurred 
 during the last days of easy divorce. The couple lived 
 in New Jersey — I think — and the wife left home for the 
 summer— presumably — ^to visit friends and arranged with 
 some friend to receive and forward her letters from 
 "Hubby," and in the meantime came to Oklahoma, settled 
 at Guthrie and applied for a divorce. When she was well 
 out of the way, friend husband followed suit and estab- 
 lished himself at another town near where his wife was 
 located. Both received their decree the same day, and 
 both being in somewhat of a hurry, took the afternoon 
 train for the north, reaching Arkansas City at the same 
 time and stopping at the eatinghouse there for supper. 
 The meeting took place in the dining room and as described 
 by eye-witnesses, was quite exciting. 
 
 The colored people wanted to keep up with their white 
 brethren and Rastus was no exception to the rule. "Mr. 
 Jedge," said he one morning, as he rested from his labors 
 of sweeping the courthouse, "Ah, jist bin calculatin' to see 
 you all 'bout gittin' a vorce from Malinda." '^"WTiat's the 
 matter, Rastus, don't you and Malinda get along all 
 right?" "No, Mr. Jedge, she all won't let me come home 
 any more." "Well how will a divorce help you?" "AVell 
 you see, Mr. Jedge, ah know a nice woman ah can get 
 married with if ah can get 'vorced from Malinda, and she 
 makes three or four dollars a week washin'. Rastus had 
 no money, but he tormented every one so much about his 
 "vorce" that finally the county officers chipped in and 
 helped him get it. All was serene for a few weeks, when 
 again he appeared before the Judge and requested another 
 "vorce" from Number 2. "Why Rastus, what is the mat- 
 ter," asked the Judge, "Don't she get enough washing to 
 keep you?" Rastus hung his head and replied, "Yes, Mr. 
 Jedge, she gits plenty washin', but she won't give me any 
 of the money." There v/as no second divorce. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE GROWTH OF OKLAHOMA CITY. 
 IMPRESSIONS IN 1913. 
 
 By Bertha M. Coombs. 
 
 In the first place I want to say 'at it wouldn't be possi- 
 ble for any living human bein' to write a story 'at would 
 be as live as our town is, because "our" town is Oklahoma 
 City, an' everybody knows 'at it is the very livest town 
 that ever jist happened to happen. 
 
 Why, twenty-three years ago we didn't have no town, 
 nor no nothin' but prairie with a wind over it, and today 
 if a feller goes in one o' our sky scraper buildings an' 
 don't come out the same door he went in at, he can't find 
 hisself unless he's got his name and address plainly writ- 
 ten on him somewhere, so a politician can look up his 
 records and find out who he is and where he lives at. 
 
 Why, in our town we all have got one man 'at is as big 
 as our town's going to be, and twenty-three years ago he 
 didn't have nothin' either, but he just got 'im a job, and 
 one day he said to hisself 'at he was tired of having people 
 tellin' him all the time just what he ought to do, and 
 where, and when and why, and he went to his home, and 
 he says, talking to hisself, "Blame me I b'lieve I'll buy 
 me a little bit of land up north here that nobody wants 
 much, and see if I can't persuade some of these here 
 fellers, 'at is always tellin' me where to get off of, that 
 they want that land out there worse than they want some 
 other things. There's other things that kin be white- 
 washed, says he, besides the fence Tom Sawyer made such 
 a easy mark of." "Blame me," ses he, "There's whole lots 
 o' fellers in this town that's selling groceries at fancy 
 prices, and patent medicines, and coal stoves and brass 
 
 [79] 
 
80 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 bedsteads, and instid o' puttin' all that money back in 
 their business, they could be buying lots o' me, and then I 
 couid tell some of them just where to make their payments, 
 and how often." 
 
 And blame me, if he didn't do just that, and he built 
 'im a nice house, and he fixed it up just as nice, with new 
 fangled, jim crack things that he'd seed advertized in the 
 back o' magazines, an' along came the wife o' one of the 
 fellers what had more dollars 'an he needed in his busi- 
 ness, and she got stuck on the house, and nothin' would 
 do but she must have it, and put on some style, like she'd 
 read of in the stories in the fronts of the magazines, and 
 she got it, and then this first feller he built 'im another 
 house, an' made it a little bigger, and a lady friend of 
 the "first lady saw it, and she went home and went up nice 
 to her husband, like ladies usually do just before Easter, 
 and she knowed he had a lot o' dollars 'at he didn't know 
 what to do with, an' she fixed him the nicest kin' o' supper 
 and tol' him 'at she was sure glad 'at she'd got him sted 
 o' some fellers 'at went to school with her, an' then she 
 tol' him about the nice house wat this feller 'ad built an' 
 he says, "Dog-gone me, Mame, but Fm going to get you 
 thet house," and' she says, "No, 'at it was too expensive a 
 luxury for 'em," but he wouldn't have it thet way, and he 
 got her the house, an' pretty soon all the bong-tong people 
 was after houses and lots out there, where it was all 
 prairie dog homes, and red clay dirt at fust, and the fust 
 feller he begun to wonder what he was goin' to do with 
 the cash an' payments thet was comin' in. 
 
 Well, finally, "Blame he" ses he, "I believe I'll build me 
 a get-your-nickle-ready, trolley pole street car sistem jes 
 to use up the dough," ses he, and sure enough he did thet 
 very thing, an' the money it kept comin' in faster an' 
 faster, an' the feller, he had to keep readin' in the bacl-cs 
 o' magazines awful fast to keep the town ahead o' the 
 money, an' he built sky-scrapers, an' improvement parks. 
 an' donated to all they thet was hard-up, and never said 
 "no" to orphan asylums an' other charit-able institutions, 
 
Antelope's Sorrow 81 
 
 an' he was the fust to git a sleepin' porch and the fust to 
 have one o' those electric coop-es that run without any 
 horse bein' hitched to em anywheres, an' then lots o' 
 people thet would have loved to a bought that tract o' 
 land, if they'd jest thought about it, said lots of awful 
 mean things about 'im, an' how sinful it was for one man 
 to be so rich, when lots o' people that was too lazy to read 
 magazines was starvin'." 
 
 And one day — which is wat started me to think o' this 
 story in the fust place — a stranger cum to town, and was 
 bein' showed and scorted around in a au-to-mo-bile, and 
 he asked, "Who do this b'long to?" an' "Who do that 
 b'long to?" an' the folks that was showin' him around 
 said, "Why the Lord owns that river," and the stranger 
 said, "Why how did the Lord ever happen to git it away 
 from the feller that owns this town?" 
 
 ANTELOPE'S SORROW. 
 
 By Pearl Futrell Hillman. 
 
 Fenton Antelope was a very worthy Indian, whose dig- 
 nity was the e>mbodiment of all the best manhood in a 
 race of warriors. When Fenton Antelope walked up and 
 down the pavements of our little city, he wore his hair in 
 two long bright braids, and the part in the center was 
 accentuated by the narrow ochre line that followed the 
 part from forehead to crown. Though surrounded by 
 civilization, he clung to the garb of his tribe. On his farm 
 he had an excellent home, with modern equipment, and he 
 lived there happily with his wife, Mary Antelope. 
 
 One day, while driving by Antelope's house, we noted a 
 strange air of desolation. In the doorway sits Fenton 
 Antelope, as immovable as a statute of Buddha. We note 
 that his long black braided hair has been shorn, and he is 
 the image of despair. We dismount and enter his abode 
 and look about. Disorder and destruction are on every 
 hand. Furniture is overturned and broken. In the 
 
82 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 kitchen, all manner of crockery and utensils are shattered 
 and scattered abooit. We retrace our steps amid the con- 
 fusion and discover that his fine phonograph, (next to his 
 wife his most valued possession), cannot be found. We 
 ask him v^hat has become of it. He does not turn his 
 head, but points to the bluff overlooking the river. We 
 go and look. It is broken to bits on the rocks below. 
 
 What did it all mean? We felt that something deeper 
 than the blind instinct to destroy, born of savagery, was 
 manifest in the act. Was it a symbol of abject woe? 
 Was it an act of defiance, — a challenge to the Great Spirit, 
 whose decrees had proved intolerable? But what could 
 have caused such a cataclysm in the life of Fenton Ante- 
 lope? We found no answer in the inscrutable face of the 
 Indian, as, with set lips and sombre face he sat. 
 
 We turned and drove away. Dovni the road, we heard 
 the news. Fenton Antelope's wife had died, and the ruin 
 of his home was the expression of his unutterable grief. 
 
 PAINTING THE GOATS. 
 
 My sister drew a claim in the opening of the Comanche 
 and Kiowa lands. The claim was covered with small 
 brush, but had also some splendid trees on it. In order to 
 clear the land she bought about one hundred and forty 
 Angora goats. Around one eighty acres she put a six 
 strand barbed wire fence but the old cattle trails had been 
 v/orn deep; so the goats crawled under the fence at the 
 trails and wandered away at their own sweet will. We 
 decided to mark the goats so that if they persisted in 
 wandering we might identify them.. We procured a can 
 of black paint, let two or three goats at a time into a small 
 lot by the- corral, caught them and painted the right ear 
 of each goat black. The first pelting rain, however, washed 
 the paint off. 
 
 — Bee C. Brooks. 
 
Miscellaneous 83 
 
 THE PIN INDIANS. 
 
 The Loyalist or Union Indians were called Pin Indians. 
 This name was applied in derision by their enemies on 
 account of the peculiar manner in which the members of 
 their loyal secret society wore ordinary pins as emblems. 
 The name was accepted and adopted by the loyalist tribes- 
 men, most of whom were full bloods. The Keetoowha 
 Society of the Cherokee Nation, is said to be a perpetu- 
 ation of the Cherokee loyalist organization which existed 
 at the close of the Civil War. 
 
 — Bee C. Brooks. 
 
 A YOUNG FINANCIER. 
 
 "Is Captain Swift at home," inquired ten-year-old Ned. 
 
 "Yes. Do you want to see him?" 
 
 "Yes, I want to sell him these frogs. I have been trying 
 all morning to give them away, and nobody would have 
 them. Do you think he will buy them?" 
 
 "Oh, I think so. I will call him." 
 
 "Hello Ned, what have you there?" 
 
 "Frogs. And I want you to buy them. Papa said he 
 didn't want them, and to give them away ; and if I couldn't 
 give them away, to find Captain Swift and sell them to 
 him. Will you buy them?" 
 
 "Ha, ha! Certainly. Here is half a dollar. Is that 
 enough?" 
 
 — Isabel Eastman Styll. 
 
 HELP! HELP! 
 
 A girl in her teens who was studying physiology for the 
 first time, and coming to the chapter on common diseases, 
 found the word "pneumonia." She read the description, 
 symptoms of the disease, etc., and then arose to consult 
 the teacher. 
 
 'Teacher, what is the difference between "neumonia" 
 and "P-neumonia?" 
 
 — Annette Blackburn Ehler. 
 
84 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 SELLING HIS DOG. 
 By J. W. Echols. 
 
 A small negro boy, bareheaded and barefoot, in patched 
 overalls, was leading a half starved cur pup three or four 
 months old, which he held secure with a hemp string 
 composed of five or six pieces tied together. He met a 
 physician on the walk, who, taking notice of the youngster 
 stopped and asked if he would sell the dog. 
 
 "Yas'sa, I'll sell 'em." 
 
 "What will you take for him?" 
 
 "Dun'no sa, what'le you gim' me?" ^ 
 
 "I would like to know something about what he is good 
 for before making you a price." 
 
 "He's good fur everything, best dog I ever seen." 
 
 Just then the scrawny pup jerked away, running across 
 the street to another dog. 
 
 "Come back heah Jack Johnson ; come back heah, sah, 
 I'll beat 'chu to death if yu run off eny mo; be still sah, 
 'tie I tie dis string; Mr. hep me hole 'em." 
 
 The doctor held him by the ear until the lad tied his 
 already knotty string. 
 
 "Why do you call him Jack Johnson?" 
 
 "Cause, dats his name, don't 'cher no Jack Johnson? 
 He's cullud and dun whupped all de white men; want 'ta 
 buy dis dog, I gotta go?" 
 
 "Well make me a price on him," said the doctor very 
 much amused and trying to detain him as long as possi- 
 ble, for the purpose of hearing him talk. "Tell me what 
 he is good for." 
 
 "Dun tole yu he's good for everything." 
 
 "Well, can he catch rabbits and coons?" 
 
 "Yes sa, yes sa, he dun kotch coons and possums and 
 rabbits, too; go away off in de woods by his self and tree 
 um; and bokan bok 'tie yu cum and git um; dat's gist 
 de way he's dun ever since he's a little bitta pup, I ain't 
 telling you no lie, he show duz it." 
 
 "Well, what will you take for him?" 
 
Selling His Dog 85 
 
 Looking up at the Doctor, the sun beaming into his 
 "cotton" eyes, he said: 
 
 "I'd take five dollars," and again he ran over all the 
 long list of the pup's accomplishments. Just then an old 
 negro came along with a family wash on his back, evi- 
 dently surmising what was taking place called out: 
 
 "Give you a dollar for that pup, sonny." 
 
 "All right sa, if dis man doan take 'em, he gwine 'ter 
 gim'me five fer 'em." Turning hack to the Doctor he said: 
 "Gon'na buy 'em Mister, I gotta go?" 
 
 "Tell me where you live, I might want him pretty soon." 
 
 "Fawty-sebum ninte street, sah ; soon as you gits de 
 money, you kum on up da; if I ain't dun sole 'em, you can 
 have 'em." With this he left the doctor standing as he 
 and his pup went galloping up the walk. 
 
 THE HONOR OF THE WEST. 
 
 "I settled in Western Oklahoma. Our nearest railroad 
 point was in Texas. Going there to meet my fatmily, we 
 were water bound by a rise of Red River. The river 
 stayed up for several days and there were about twenty 
 wagons waiting at the ford. Nearly all of the men, on 
 account of the unexpected delay, ran short of <money and 
 provisions. Having just sold out back east, I had ready 
 cash, and I lent small sums of from two to ten dollars to 
 those who needed. The river went down at length, and 
 we all crossed and went our separate ways. But within 
 ten days, every dollar was paid back to me, some of the 
 men driving twenty miles to bring theirs. But," he added, 
 gloomily, "you couldn't do that now." 
 
 PRIMITIVE COURT DAYiS. 
 
 I attended the second term of court held in Mangum, 
 going with Judge Brown across the country from our 
 western ranch, sleeping on the prairie at night as was 
 our custom in pioneer days. We camped near a famous 
 "turkey roost" and Judge Brown awoke me before day 
 
86 The Romance of Oklahoma 
 
 to see the turkeys fly away, as I had refused to believe in 
 the fabulous numbers reported. He fired a shot and the 
 noise of a million wings convinced me that they were as 
 the sands of the sea shore. 
 
 A murder case was tried, and the little shack was 
 crowded for every one in town went to hear the closing 
 arguments. 
 
 Though they lived in dugouts, the ladies showed true 
 western hospitality, and we dined out every day. The 
 hotel was in two dugouts, and was kept by "Mammy Pear- 
 son," a dear, lovable woman, the adopted mother of the 
 cowboys. 
 
 — Adele Hart Brown.