imams®

SBBDNS. imams®.'/</.

192

Ctoaakl

INDEX. CARDS

ficwa

BemovHouses-~Creek NationDyes— CreekOenAÔreek Nation

.Fur tradeFruits, wildCiril W»r—battleoRanchlng—Gl«»k NationCattle—roundupsCovooysfood—Craek

Paint— OrtekMedicine—

Botels—Cp««lc Nation0sages

\

Miller, BlufordFields, RiderBruner, lewisiiclntoah, HollaMcFarlaoi, TomAnderson, DareMoors, Napoleon B«

,ConetaCouncil HillIgperhecharSfiWOK/dLeeMusic—-CreekPermits.—Creek

—»6reek

Njsgro*Inaia& intermarriage—CreekHousehold manufactures—Crenk 'm^j^ffpyy r<pXfies p**<i>vrpeic wa T&ÛX

Civil War reftjâs<»*lfartheraCivil War Befugees—SouthernXatertrioa.1 marriagesMercantile esteb.—Creek NationCivil War~*Gretk Nit ionIndian fights—Creek-OsageIoAianToll bridgto—Creek NationIbwn gowwoment—Creek'HLaoktmitliB—Creak Nat ionLewPerrymftn,Pcrryuaan, OeorgeFewTiei—Ârkanaaa RiverFtrrles—Veidigria RiverOwen Peach WarBuffalo herdsFinances-Creek XâtionOutlaws—Creek NationPenyoan, êeFiaHer TownDigtricts—CreekChecote, SamuelStage routesSections—CreekBrokm Arrowanallpox—Creek NationC eras terlee—CreekChooki PostTexas TrailSalt works—CherokeeCapi tola—Creek

Weai-y^ Indiana—CreekCourts—Creek

•Mounds

/ V .1SIMMONS, JAKE. < INTERVIEW*

193I , L . W . ' * «•• • • . .

Research Worker . --•es

Interview with lie* Jake Simmonsaa given to L. W. Wilson, IndianPioneer Hiatory.

3

Tale interview covers a l l the Information known to Jak«

Simmons, which includes his per actual aotivi t ies and of that

revealed to hint by his parents and grand parents. His good

wife, Rose Simmons, assisted him as far as possible in substan-

tiating exaot locations, dates, eto*

Mr. Simmon8 states that he was born at Boggy Depot on

the Fort Washita River near Port Washita la the month of -ept-

ember, 1865, and that he is nan near 72 yeejes of age*

Hia irift Rose Jefferson-Simmons is now 79 years of age

and was born in the Red River country of the Indian Territory.

hia fether, Jim Simmons., came from Kansas and Missouri

in 1851 and became an adopted Cherokee Citizen in the Indian

Territory and died in the Flat Rook Country of the Cherokee

Nation in 1875. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was en*

listed in the Confederate Army.'

Hia mother Lucy Perryman was born near the old Vann

Cemetery, then known as Gatesville,/^dian Territory, and was

later called Ghoski bottoms which is about six or seven miles

east of the present tom'of Haskell. This was at the time of her

birth near wh t was knows es Mose Perryman'8 plantation and she

SIMMONS, JAKE. INTERVIEW;

is a half s i s t e r to John Harrison, f/ho i s of Negro descent.

Mr. Simmons i s of Cherokee from his fatherâ.sidei,

and negro from his mother's s ide And his grandparents were of

Cherokee and Creek descent.

MIGRATION BEFORE THE CIVIL ffAR ' .

The Creek, or what was known as the Muakogee Indians,

living in Georgia and Alabaam were assigned to lands between

the Arkansas and Canadian Rirers long before they were re-

moved to the Indian Territory. Some of them begin moving

West as early as 18S5. .This removal was necessary, due to

the white man wanting to s e t t l e up the present s ta tes of Ala-

bama and Georgia.

Most of the Creeks did not want to move for they loved

the land in which the ir ancestors had l ived a l l the ir l i v e s

and their loved ones were buried there, which a l so added to

their not wanting to l eave . The Creeks aa a whole were not

consulted much and fraud was used and t rea t i e s signed which

the Government f ina l l y forced and those who refused to go

were driven out l ike so many o e t t l e and made to come here to

the Indian Territory. The Creeks were very much peeved, die*

satisf ied and mad at ths ones making the t r e a t i e s . My grand?

parents have to ld me that the Creeks were so mad that they k i l l -

ed a fellow by the name of Solntosii , a half-breed, ifco was

instrumental in get t ing these t r e a t i e s s igned.

SIMMONS, JAKE. INTERVIEW.

195

A few of the Creeks, who oame at the instance of the

treaties-of their own free accord and w i l l , were taken by

the Government to New Orleans, Louisiana, and then by

steamboat up the Mississippi River and then the Arkensas

River to 'tebbers Falls. Indian Territory, and Fort Gibson.

Indian territory. Ibis pert of migration startSd in 1836.

Jn 1837, those who refused to go were driven through the

Country. This part of .the migration consisted of Caravans

and Wagon trains. They suffered many hardships, were foot

sore and weary,, ragged, tattered and town by the long treke?

••' much sickness among them and many died along the way and were

buried in un-marke'd graves. After they arrived here the only

thing they had with whioh to make a l iving was given to them

by the U.S. troops whloh was a f l int and steel with whioh to

start a f i re , a big eyed hoe, and ax, some corn and a few other

l i t t l e articles together with a few l i t t l e things that they

had gathered together whioh they had back in the old Country

(meaning back in Alabama) • They were moved by the United

btates troops, they had to go or die . They took their only

alternative, moved west, leaving their rich fert i le farms

back east. Many died of sorrow and home-sickness, even after

they reached the Indian Territory. My grandparents have told

pe that children were born on this move but that not halt the

SIMMONS, JAKS. INTERVIEW.

196

move in th« l e a s t , as the women was placed in the wagon without

delay, possibly only a day before the birth of the c l l d 9 while

prior to than she walked and marched the best she could, often

wading streams up to h>.r neok und when the streams were deeper

than t h i s , the women, together with the re s t of them, were put

across the r ivers in l i t t l e boats, , made sometimes of hollow

logs i f a l l of t e Army boats and l i t t l e sk i f t s were in use,

SETTLEMENT OF THE IRSiSKS BEFORE THK 3IVIL WAR

They f ina l l y reached the land of the Indian Territory,

but i t was much unlike the promised land spoken of in the Bible,

for i t was not one of milk and honey,nor did i t rain manna

from heaven.

With their ax they set about cutting down trees and build*

ing log cabins and clearing land Tor cult ivat ion* Some of these

cab in 8 were b u i l t of logs stood on ends, others were layed hor-

izonallyT —The—roofs-were^thetched (buTIIPof limbs and grace) ,

some of the roofs were made of clap boards s p l i t out with the

ax. They had no na i l s and these shingles or clapboards were held

on by laying logs at intervals to hold them.

Their crops were planted with the hot . They would dig a

hole, drop the c o n and cover i t with the hoe. Cultivation was

continued with the hoe*

They conceived the Idea of grinding the i r corn with what

we s t i l l oa l l a mortar and pest le* They would take a log about ....


197

5

four feet long, diah. It out on one end and stand i t on end ,.

with the dish up and with the pestla or ram they could crush

th« corn that was placed in the mortar.

Their clothing was of skins and furs*

Their food was game, fish, berries and wild fruit*

Their weapons was the bow and arrow. The bow was usually

made from Boia De Aro and the string from a squirrel skin or

deer sinew. The arrows were usually made of swamp Dogwood.

The arrows were sharpened at one end so they would easily

pierce and stick into any animal that they struck.r

Missionaries came with the Creeks and labored among them,

teaching and preaching to them but i t was hard for them to

preach the gospel because the most of them thought that hell

oould have been no worse than they had experiencode The Miss-

ionaries' ever trying efforts succeeded in the erection of

Churches or Missions, and-in these Missions was preached the-

faith of God. These Mils ion a ires were of Baptist, Methodist,

and Presbyterian fai ths. The English language was tau^vt in

the missions and schools.

Roads were being traveled to the States. The Texas road \

from Fort îbson, Indian Territory to Texas. The old Military

road into Kansas and Missouri to Fort Gibson. The California

road to California starting from Fort Smith, Arkansas.

SIMMON, JAKE. INTERVIEW.. >- "

• . , * .*- , ' 198

. 6

The Arbuokle road from Fort §ibson, Indian Territory to Port *

The mil i tary posts were bu i l t in which soldiers were

garrisoned. Fort Coffee down on the Red River. Fort Wayn*

up in the Spavinaw h i l l s , now Delaware County, Oklahoma.

Fort Washita in the iirbuckle Mountains. You. remember I

told you I was born there . Fort Gibson now B'ort Gibson,

Oklahoma. There were other forts but I oannot

at this time.''

LIFE AND CUSTOMS BEFORE THB CIVIL WAR

Twenty-five yeers rolled around and the grusome times of

immigration and settlement were only related to the younger

generation and the older ones were becoming more reconciled.'

They had acquired, c a t t l e , horses, oxen, hogs, 'and some sheep,

a l l of which were raised on the open range. They had smell

v - •" ^ • •

fields of corn, wheat and cot ton . There were slave owners who i

had slaves l ike the s ta tes of the oouth. Many of the colored

race as well as the whites had married into the Creek t r i b e ,

and many of these mixed-bloods had large farms and stock ranches. ,

People were beooming educated in the Missions and by private

tutors and when they had finished here, many of them were sent

to Kansas, and back East to complete the i r education of higher

learning.

Most of the people lived in log cabins of one and two rooms

with a large f i r e place in each room. If they were two-room

SIMMONS, JAKE. IMTSBVIEW.\ '

* v. . . 199

7 " ' '

cabins^ these f i re places were usually bui l t of native stone,

sons had puncheon f lpors , others d i r t f loors, shake shingle /.

roofs, shutt le windows, and the be t te r to-flo people had frame

or brick* that was carted down from Kansas by mule and ox team.,

The people lived a simple l i f e , rais ing the i r food and maklx

their clothing*- They ki l led and 'cured t h e i r own meat, ground

'their own corn, atftton was raised for home use. ' Being no gins ,

the seeds were picked out of the cotton by hand. They had

their spinning wheel, reels and looms. Cotton was corded, spun,

bolted, and woven. My wife can t e l l you more abût th i s than

I can for she and the women folks-did most of t h i s work. Our

clothing was dyed with barks boiled to a l iquid and the thread

dyed before i t was woven. Some of the barks used for t h i s

purp/se was Sycamore, Red Oak, Sumac to which was added a l i t t l e N

b^t of ooperas, the copperas would.keep the color fr&m fading

too badly. Coperas and Indigo was purchased i t a trading post.

With Indigo could be made any and a l l shades of b lue .

The people enjoyed, sports and would f i sh , hunt, dance,

horse race, ba l l games, rabbit chases, and foot races .

As. a whole the people were of nospitable nature and de-

lighted in v i s i t ing friends and neighbors, going to p a r t i e s ,

barbecues, camp meetings, *£nd should a neighbor be sick they

would a l l meet and gather his l i t t l e crop, build him a hou»e

SIAttSONS, JAKE. INTERVIEW. *

* 200

'a '

and do for eaoh other.

The population jjever grew so extenaively but whftt most of

the country was in i ts original condition. Wild game of a l l

kinds were always plentiful, namely buffalo, deer, bear,

squirrel., rabbit, turkeys, wild pigeons, .raocoon, O'poaaum,

skiinks, mink, muskrats, coyotes, fox, etc. You will see from

the different variety of game that there was plenty of wild

game for food as well as for furs. Skins and furs were slmost

a medium of exchange for household necessities and. food. Fur

buyers and peddlers would make i t to the trading post, and go

through the country and buy or exchange ijbsir wares for furs

and hides.

The atrearas continued full of al l specie of soft water

fish.

In Autumn, there was plenty of nuts, namely pecans,

hiokory nuts,, walnuts, and chinquapins.

Wild fruit and berries were also plentiful, namely:

blackberries, dewberries, strawberries, huckleberries, cherries,

plums, and mulberries. The culture of fruit-trees was l i t t l e

known on account of so many wild berries and frui ts .

Mission schools increased,êducation improved and Bible

societies were organized.

I know that my people were civilized and i t stands to

SIMMONS, JAKE.'. INTERVIEW.r r •

' ' 201r

$C r 9

reason that if they were, the res t of the Greeks mu3t have

been and there was no comparison between them and the wild

Indiana wfaioh I came-in contact with in my l i fe t ime.

t

The beginning of the Civil War found the Greek Indians

in a very comfortable condition. Many white and colored

people had married into the t r i be and became c i t izens oT the

t r ibe . All the Greeks having come from the 3euth and many

being slave owners at tbe^tirae of the removal, natural ly

pursued the same l ines in the i r new lands. Slavery led to

the outbreak of the Civil War between the s ta tes of the North

and the s ta tes of the South, but the Greeks perferred to not

take sides with e i the r , remembering well how they lived and strived

in the years past to climb to the top to acquire what they pos-

sessed and the peace that reigned among them. The Government

of the Confederacy and that of the Inion sought to make t r e a t i e s

with the Creeks to f ight ei ther on t h i s aide or t h a t . The

Creek8 did not end absolutely was not persuaded, , They wanted

to have nothing to do with i t but as time passed on, some of

them yielded one way or the other . Most of the Chiefs or

agents of the t r ibe were southern men and through Albert Pik«0

Confederate Commissioner, made a t rea ty with one faction of

the Greeks to fight with the ^

SI&MONS, JAKE. INTERVIEW.. *(*g'

202

^ 1 0 • . - .

' . ' • ' • ,

My father was one of t h i s faction to Join the Southern

Army and my folks moved to Fort Vfeshita where

There was another faction of the Creeks under the leadership

of an old Creek Chief named Opothle Yahola who refused to be

abound by'the t rea ty and started tq take refuge in Kansas. 'c * •

This very much angered Albert Pike and the Confederacy, be-

cause they thought Vt was this fac t ion ' s intentions to join

the Union Army but in fact they did not rea l ly want to fight

for e i ther s ide . These Creeks got a l l their earthly poss-

essions together, it* was along in the la te f a l l of the year,

I believe i t was in November 1861, and they started the i r

journey to Kansas. They did not have weapons to defend them-

selves in anything l ike comparison with those of the so ld ie r s .

They followed the old Buffalo t r a i l a few miles west of the

present towns of kufaula, Checotah, Muskogee, tVagoner, and

Pryor, Oklahoma, into ôffeevi l le , Kansas. Confederate Oolonels4

D. E. Cooper, and «f.' M. MclntoBh, pursued and attaoked them*

They suffered Moss untold end finished thei r t r i p into Kansas

in the dead of the. winter in a t e r r i b l e storm, s ick, dying,

and des t i tu te . After reaching therein they had to Join the

Union Army and they were will ing for they were much angered at

the Confederacy because they attacked them. Some of my people

were among these Creeks and tha t explains why some of my

, JAKE.

1 1 •

relat ives of today are Republican and some are Democrat.

la 1862, in July, some of the Creeks Joined th«

Union ^rmy and regiments were formed under General Jaraea

Blunt and oooupied Fort Gibson and they remained under the

Union troops throughout the War. Likewise, some of the

* Greeks, and most of them for that matter, were with the

Confederate, Regiments were organized and stationed at

Fort Washita along with other troops of whites out of

Texas, and other Forts in the Choctaw and Ghiokasaw th t ion.

Raiding par t ies from both sides scoured the country, burning

houses, end cabins, driving off horse's and ca t t l e and in

fact destroying and demolishing everything they could find*

There were, only a few ba t t l e s fought in the Indian

Territory, that was in the Greek Nation. Near the present

town of Wainwright, Oklahoma, on Elk ^reek, was oaraped 'che

Confederate Army. I would aay i t was about half way between

Wainwright and Oktaha, Oklahoma, *'he Union rmy stationed at

Fort Gibson sent spies and located them* Bube flhilders was

the principal one of the spies and he returned to Fort Gibson

and gave the information to General Blunt and the Union Army

proceeded to close in on them* The Confederate Army was under

General ffilliam >->teele and General Doug Cooper. The Union

rmy had maneuvered to within range of the at tack and on tha t


; '204

12

.July morning, general Blunt mounted on his fiery steed, at

the break of day, viewed the two armies now arrayed in posi t ion

for battle1 . I t was a c lear bracing day, mellow with the r ion-

ness of mid-summer. All at once a smoke .rose, a thunder shook

the ground, and a ohorus of shouts, and groans yelled along in

the twil ight a i r . Thus i t was a l l day long wherever Oeneral

Blunt went there followed viotory and at lfcot toward the se t -

ting of the sun the c r i s i s of the conflict came., the two armies,

that of the Union and that of the Confederates, gave the i r very

a l l to crush the i r opponents. The Confederates were forced to

retreat Southward across the Canadian River into the darkness

of the wilderness, thus a viotory for General Blunt commanding

the Union Army.

Later on during the war, the Confederate surprised a Union

Army wagon t ra in of supplies on the Military t r a i l out of,Kansas

near Grand river at about the present town of Pensacola, Oklahoma,

they captured the wagon t ra in of over three hundred wagons and

a large number of pr isoners . This surprise attack was pulled

»by Ge^rSl otand Watie of the Confederate A^my.

There was a Confederate Fort called Fort Davis west of Ft .

Gibson on the north bank of the Arkansas r i v e r . Generals btand

Watie, Cooper, and Gano ocoupied t h i s Fort*

* I don't reoal l much tha t I hav« been told about Fort Davis

SIMMONS, JAKE.

1 205 \

13

but I believe I t was in the summer of 1862, I t was burned by

General Blunt Army of the Oaton Forces. You see that was • '•

another encounter In the Creek Nation. I t seems tha t the

Creek Nation had a l l the b a t t l e s and natural ly suffered

greater losses than did the other Nations. „' '.

-I do r eca l l my father t e l l i n g me that on account of

unsanitary condit ions, both armies suffered immensely from

diseases of smallpox, cholera, and other epidemics.

Ike Civil flar was on in. whioh the Creek Indians and I

guess the o13ier t r i bes would have not par t ic ipated for they

were not concerned but were, subjects of persuasion. I t was

disasterous to them from s t a r t to f in ish , for t he i r property

was destroyed and many of them l o s t t h e i r l ives and in the end

much of the i r land was taken from them. Their slaves were set

free whioh was of l i t t l e loss compar/ed with..the other losses J

I hsve told you about• - *

RECONSTRXTION AFTLR CIVIL WAB AND OTHER TRIBES MOVED TO THE TERRITORY

The closing of the war found the Creek nation in a mor«

pitiable condition than the r e s t of the Nation of the Five Tribe*

due, as I have said, t o the most a c t i v i t i e s of the war being

centered in the Creek Nation. Homes des t r yed, horses , oxen,

and ca t t l e k i l l ed or driven off, and besides adjusting dif-


1 4*

ferenoes with the Cherokee and ôminoles, a peace oonferenoe

was held at "Fort Smith, Arkansas, in the Fall of 1865. I ~

believe i t was in September thajt year* All tribes were pre-

sent and they finally agreed with the Government that unused

lands that had been theirs would he made into reservations

for Indians of Kansas, Nebraska, and other plaoes and that

the negro slaves should be citizens of the tr ibes , right-

of-ways granted for railroads and tribal Governments set

up under the United States* supervision. When the lands

were given to other Indiana i t naturally reduoed the aoer-

age and the negro also acquired ownership in the land as— -— /%

much as the Creeks themselves end enjoyed part of the tribal

funds. Bach tribe hg4--certain understandings as to what

the slave negrcrsafould get. After the Fort Smith meeting

it was taken to flashing on and was disoussed pro and con for

a long time before i t was a l l thrashed out*

For ten yea^s or mors afterc" the war people was very*

busy building cabins and re-establishing themselves. Rail-

roads started uilding and the peonle as a whole were be-

ginning to recuperate from the losses sustained by the Civil

War.

Tribes of what we called wild Indians begin to move in

to the Indian Territory. The Sac and Fox oame to the Creek

SBOONS, /AKE, INTERVIEW, ' . ,;•-T#. •

207

15

Nation* The Delaware a, Shawneea, Osages, Quapaws, Kaws,

Pawnees, and Seneoas in the Cherokee Nation and in faot a l l

"the Nations of the five Tribes eat their part of the different

Indians from whence they came. The Delaware and Shawnee

' Indian eventually became citizena of the Cherokee Nation and

were friendly and peaceable among the Cherokees who adopted

them, and this was also true of the Sac and Fox Indian _i i the

Cr8ek Nation. There was more or less trouble a l l of the time

between the Kiowas, Comanohes, 0sages, Sheyennos, Arapahoes,

and other wild Indians and i t became necessary for the Gov-

ernment to rehabilitate their forts and maintain soldiers

to suppress the uprisings arx? lawlessness, which not only d i s -

turbed them but kept a l l of the other people in fear. Some

of these Forts were Fort Cobb down in present Caddo County,

Fort b i l l near our present town of Fort S i l l , Oklahoma, Fort

Gibson at Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, and I believe there was a

Fort at the present town of Fort Dodge, Kansas, that took

care of the Indians along the Kansas line* Armies were also

stationed at other points in the Territory that I cannot re-

oall at this time*

The soldiers at last subdued and confined them to res-

ervations and l i t t l e trouble was experienced thereafter and

SBMONS, JAKE. INTERVIEW,

• \ . 4 "~ " • 208

et t h i s time people started driving, o a t t l e from Texas through

the Country to market them in Kansas, Missouri, and other

state8 .

CATTLE TRADE BETWEEN TEXAS AND NORTHERN MARKETS,

I have from the time I was a l i t t l e boy been interested

in the oat t l e business and I have studied i t from every angle

from i t s beginning to i t s present day, I x&er did muoh farm-

ing in my l i f e ; that i s # ex tens ive ly ns *I have always worked

on the range and ranches and am s t i l l today engaged in the

raising of oa t t l e on my miniature ranoh of eleven hundred acres ,

oomparied with the ranches in my ear ly manhood*

.After the war, o a t t l e were very expensive on the north-

ern markets and were scarce in those parts , while in T©xas>

catt le covered' the p la in and pra ir ie by myriads. Thera'Srere

no f a c i l i t i e s to market these c a t t l e , other than to drive theg

through, and t h i s they tr ied by grazing them through the Ter-

rltory to points in Kansas. They suffered great l o s s e s with

their herd and more so when the Texas o a t t l e dame in to Kansas

and spread what they c a l l e d the Texas fever among the nat ive

oattle of that S t a t e . The farmers along the t r a i l objected

seriously t o t h i s method and went about in a way unlawful t o

stop i t* They would seomtimes tako the cow punchers and hangr

them, and would cause the oattle to stampede in order to break


209

17

up this practice. The oattle were kept moving at f irst

with l i t t l e halt , through the territory- and those that did

get through were very thin, foot sore and weary, and were

anything but ready for the market-

Having failed in this system they took to the idea

of -'razing them a lowly through, taking possibly eight or

nine months. There was plenty of Blue stem grass, sage

grass, and buffalo grass, and by slowly grazing them they

would be'rolling fat when they arrived in Kansas and they

would be f i t for the market. This proved much more prao-

tioable, the oattle would gradually become more acclimated

and be in the pink of condition. I have seen thousands and

thousands of these oattle on the plains and prairies being

grazed and driven through the land to market to Wichita,

Kansas and Abilene, Kansas, where the railroads would handle

them* It was during these days that a tra i l was blazed by at

half-breed tyierokee who had refugoed in Kansas t,nd started

selling goods and supplies that he hauled in,wagons to the

Wild Indians on the plains between Wichita, Kansas, and the

Washita River, His name was Jess Chisholm and they called

the route he traveled the Chisholm tra i l and this became

notorious to a l l the oattle men because they followed prac-

tically this tra i l from Texas to Kansas. I used to travel

this trail soxQS and would oome into i t at what i s now known


210

18

as Cleveland, Oklahoma. This method of marketing oatt.l«

oeased in about 1875 and ranches were se t up on the p la ins

on unasslgned land, I mean by unasaignod l ands , lands

which had not been assigned and was known and ca l l ed Gov-

ernment land. -

oTARTINO'OF OKLAHOMA CATTLE RANCHES

With the subduing of the wild Indians, buffalo herds

disappearing and the r a i l road opera t ing , oat t i e were shipped

from texas to the Indian Ter r i to ry and by 1880 ranohes of a l l

s izes and. descr ip t ion were in p rogress , i'hese Texas c a t t l e

were of a l l s izes and oo lo r s , long*homs, Nexioan types , e tc*

Some were wild and ha l f -wi ld and many of them ware branded

before a r r i v a l in the t e r r i t o r y which necess i t a ted each ranch

maintaining a brand record. Each ranch had i t s p a r t i c u l a r

range and some of these ranges over- lapped, l i k e the Lazy S

w.quld over-lap the F. S. and so on. I w i l l t e l l you of these

and other ranches l a t e r on»"• . ^

On each new ranch were a number of bu i ld ings which con-

sls ted of the superintendent or forman's house, oook shacks,

bund houses, sheds and c o r r a l s . Most of these bu i ld ings were

bu i l t of log and co r ra l of e p l i t r a i l , I know of one ranch

where lumber was hauled from Kansas to bu i ld .a house for the \

owner so tha t he could have, for himself a plank house. Th«

i , $ . INTERVIEW.

/ ' 211

19

lumber was hauled by ox team to the ranch.

Employees on the ranoh consisted of superintendent or

Foreman, oow punohers, horse wranglers, oooks, and sa l t boys

who kept up the sa l t l icks* The number of employees varied

in accordance with the size of the ranch.

We would have our spring and f a l l roundup and the

catt le driven to their home range th^t did not belong to us»

Ae c uld t e l l the way branded to whom they belonged. On

these roundups we would always take the chuck waôa along and

would be gone from home some two or three weeks at a time.

We cooked and ate at no par t icular spot, being Just th© time

ifaere we were caught and at night we would ro l l . up in our

blankets and sleep on the ground. Got up at break of day,

get out chuck, in the saddle and s t a r t riding again. All

calves would be branded and we knew ours from the res t be-

cause they would be following the i r mothers that were"in

our brand. Those that were not following the mothers of ourx • '

brand but of other brands would be driven along with the"ir

mothers to thei r home rang*./-.

The range hands, al]/ of them, were jo l ly good f e l loes ./

They dressed picturesquely with large brim hats with high/

t

crowns, a large handkerchief around their necks, high heel

boots, shirts usually/of some bright color and shape overv

SIMMONo, JAKE. INTERVIEW.

212

20

their trousers. This was the oonfortable dress for the cow/

punoher8 and each had i t s particular part in a cowboy's l i f e .

The hats were used to protect them from th^.rays of the sun

and they were benefioial in heading off a cow or starting a

bucking bronco. The handkerchief which they wore about their

necks were often used in oaring for their wounds and those

of the Doggies, the high heel boots kept their feet from

slipping through the stirrup on their saddle and the shapa

protected their trousers and legs from the whipping-of the

high grass whioh at times was half high to the sides of a

horse and the heavy shirts not only protected them from the

sun but from insects bites of al l kinds. Little education

and refinement was among them. They loved to play pranka

on* eaoh other and, not because X was a cow puncher myself,-it

I am compelled to say that they were brave men, hated a

thief and a coward and despised lawlessness in any form*

The cattlemen formed an organization up at Caldwell,

Kandas along in 1881 and I favored i t very muoh because I

knew that soon the Cherokee Strip and the Oklahoma Country

would be opened to white set t lers , due to muoh talk and we

cattlemen bitterly, opposed i t because we knew i t would tear

up our ranches and bring the oat tie industry to another d«gree

of dissatisfaction, making i t unprofitable.


21

I remember when only a mere boy of my f irst job on th«

ranch and for this job I waa paid six dollars a month; later

on, I received ten dollars a month and so on until I begin tof

know my ca t t l e and became a buyer and bought thousands of ' v

head for the ranoh where I was employed and by th i s means1 and

my allotment, e t c . , I myself'engaged in the c a t t l e business .

I w i l l t e l l you more of that l a t e r . >

OPENING OF OKLAHOMA COUNTRY IN 1889

In what i s now Oklahoma County and a number of other

oo a t i e s surrounding was a number of large ranohes. People

came into t h i s part of the Oklahoma Country because they

called i t Government land and uuaesigned and 'said they could

homestead i t* The Government troops had the i r hands f u l l

moving them off for a period of about f ive years and then in«

1889 i t was opened to white s e t t l e r s . I never participated in

this run of 1889 or other runs at l a t e r ds tes beoause I was

a c i t izen and l i k e other c i t i z e n s of the tr ibe 1 objected ee

well as the cattlemen* I t was opened by Congress on April 22 ,

1889, designated as the day i t would be opened and people ©lane

from far and near with covered wagons, ponies , buck-boards,

buggies and by train (the Santa Fe railroad had b u i l t through

the Oklahoma Country in about the year 1886 and t h i s accounts

for those coming by t ra in . ) They had a l l kinds of conveyances

SIMMONS, JAKE. INTERVIEW...

22

and contraptions and camped along the l ine waiting for the

designated hour to come. The soldiers fired the oaruion, which

wes the signal for the race to s t a r t . Eaoh s e t t l e r knew that

the f i r e t one to a certain point and drove h is stake, i t would

be his claim end he could homestead i t and l ive there and own

i t . I t was a t e r r ib le race , in some cases, At'was pathet ic

and in others i t was laughable. There wer^ oook stoves,

ohairs, bedsteads, bedding and clothing,scat tered a l l over the

prairie as well as .pieces of wagons, miggy wheels and harness.

Their household effects were bounce/ out of the wagon as they

sped across the r r a i r i e and the wagons and buggies and.harness

were torn up by runaway teams and horses . By n ight fa l l of tha t/ *

day, there seemed to be someone who claimed every hundred and

sixty acres in that vaat t r a c t .

They soon star ted plowing, planting corn end gardens,

digging wells and building log cabins and in some instances sod

houses took the Dlace of the i r t ^n ta . Tent City sprang up,

then frame buildings and i t was only a short time un t i l Guthrie

was the la-gest, town in the Oklahoma Terri tory and eventually

became .the Capitol* The Government soon established lend of** ' *

fioes at GVthrie and Kingfisher to s e t t l e disputes of the/ '

settlers/

SIMMONS, JAKE,

23 ' % *%-\

NEED OF GOVERNMENT FOR THK SETTLER -

In all the excitement and arguments in congress of open-

ing up this lan^ to settlers and the settlers making the rao«,

they learned quickly that the laws for the Indians did not fit•v5,1'

into t U r l i f e . The people as a whole were o rde r ly and law

abiding but they needed laws, r.nd Congress forgot t h a t . The

towns sought to e l e c t Mayors, Pol ice and c i t y Council* .

Eleotions were held and o f f i c e r s were e l e c t e d . I could t e l l

a lo t of funny th ings about these e l e c t i o n s because they were

quite d i f f e r en t in those days compared to what they are a t t he

present time. At any rate, they elected their officers and

knew well that there were no statutes to back i t up like

they had in the states froiu which they came. The next year,

1890, Congress finally placed into effect what was known as

the Organic laws; such as, other territories had lived under

until the5 were admitted as a state. The Organic lav gave

them three branches of government, Executive, Legislative,

and Judicial. The President of tke United States appointed

at first a Secretary to the Territory, three Supreme Court

Judges, a Legislative council and representative a l l to be

elected for two years. During these next two years many things

happened with the Government secretaries resigned, Supremo

Court J.udges increased as.w|ll as other officials and at last.


the Nebraska law was adopted* The white settlers had troubles

all their own. Some could not make a living on the places

and had to r,ive it up; others would send some member of their«

family baok home from where they came to work and gei a grub

stake for those here in the t e r r i t o r y . Their menu consisted

mainly of corn bread, sa l t pork) beans and molasses. Schools

had to be s t a r t ed , Churches erected, wells dug and i t wa& many

miles to a store or trading post , and if they got any mail

one© a month i t was sure luck* But as time rol led on, they

progressed slowly but surely and of course made i t what i t

is today, ,

DIVISION OF OKLAHOMA TERRITORY

I t was provided by the Organio lew that the Indian Ter-

r i tory would be divided and in ab-mt 1891,, i t was divided and

al l the land East of about tho center l ine of th« t e r r i t o r y

drawn from north to south was called Indian, Territory* and a l l

west of th i s l ine was o e l ^ d Oklahoma Ter r i to ry , Of course,

the Five Tribes including the Usages, Sac, Fox, ûapaws, and

other l i t t l e t r i be s were in the Indian Ter r i to ry . Oklahoma

Territory now had i t s own off icers separate from the Indiaa

Territory and some of t h e i r Oovornors as I reaieniber wore

George Steele , Charley Barnes, A. J . Seay, and o thers , before

SIMMONS, JAKE. INTERVIEW

25 ,

statehood, the Oapltol was at Guthrle and the Capitol for

the Indian Territory was at Tahlequah. The Indian Territory

s t i l l had i t a Indiana laws but the Organic law provided for

Federal Court at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and the Judge of that

Court was Judge Parker* I be l ieve there was a lso a Federal

court at Wichita, Kansas* I t was in 1893, Congress provided

for a commission, to treat with the Five Tribes to give up

Tribal Government and not hold the ir lands as common prop-

erty but to aooept allotments of lend and become c i t i zens

of the United S ta te s , instead of Cit izens of each t r i b e .

This commission was known as the Dawes Commission and Henry

Dawes was the f i r s t Commissioner or rather the f i r s t Chairman

of the Commission* I t took some time for t h i s Commission to

begin to funct ion. Surveyors came into the t err i tory and be-

gin to lay townships, towns and v i l l a g e s , e t c . «iuite a l i t t l e

while, \ would say f iv» yearjf^.jaftei1 the Dawes Commission

went into e f f e c t before allotments were made, I enrolled. I

believe in 1898 and f i l ed for my hundred and s i x t y acres ir.

1899. Eaoh one of my children did l ikewise . I , nor any of

them, experienced any d i f f i c u l t y in proving up as we were a l l

born here and everybody knew we were c i t i z e n s . I enrolled at

Okmulegee, Indian Terr i t ory*


21826

CHEROKEE STRIP OPENING IK 1893

The Cherokee 3 t r ip was opened to white s e t t l e r s ip. 1893

and was handled in about the same manner as I have told you

about the opening of the Oklahoma Country. The people were

eager then to se t t l e as they were in 1889. The Cherokee

Strip covered the land which is known at present as Key,

Grant, Woods, ffiodard, Garfield, Noble and Pawnee. Now

that makes seven counties doesn't i t ? . If i t does, I think

that was what comprised the land with the Cherokee J t r i p . .

Conflicting claims, quarrels , disputes, and lawsuits were

seemingly more notioeable to me in the Cherokee Str ip run

than that of 1889 but may be i t was because I got a news-

paper ^fte'iti* then to read about i t»

The people in the Cherokee Str ip did not experience &

the need of statute laws in order for them to set up their

local governments, for Congress had provided for same*

These settlers had their trouble, too. Like the

others, they had to build houses, start farming, building

schools and churohes, digging wells, etc . Their buildinga

.were log, frame and sometime a the walls were of sod»

STATEHOOD

The people j u s t could not ge t s a t i s f i e d with the t e r »

r i to ry laws. The^ chose to e l e c t t h e i r own o f f i c e r s to r u l .

instead of the t e r r i t o r y laws , Paopie out of the Ter-

\SIASdONS, JAKE. INT!iRVIEWf

219

£7

ritory were Gent in by the. Government to rule and did not know

or have any idea of the conditions that existed in the Territory*

As far hack as 1891, people"hegan. to want the Oklahoma Ter-

ritory and the Indian Territory taken in as one great state .

T>ey quarreled and fussed and fumed around for a length of

time and some wanted just Oklahoma Territory as a state and

leave the Indian Territory as i t was. The people continued to

argue not only here in the Territory but also at Washington.

In 1905, the Tribes called a convention at the Muskogee Indian

Territory(and while I think of i t we used to call Muskogee,/

Arkansas Town),, on August 21, to form a Constitution for a

state oomposed of Indian Territory separate to that of the

Oklahcna_ Territory. Our Creek Chief, Pleasant Porter, a

neighbor of mine foryears and with whom I had been deer hunt-

ing many times, was selected and elected President of that

convention and we had a Creek Poet by the mame of Alex

Posey aho was elected oeoretary. Out of the Five Tribes I

believe a l l sent delegates to the convention, except possibly

one, and I believe that the one absent was the Chickasaw

Tribe. Of course, S*quoyah was a Cherokee and i t was he who

oomposed the Cherokee alphabet and, In order to pay tributa

to,hi% they voted to ca l l the Indian Territory the otate of

' Sequoyah and i t was to have forty-eight counties. The result

SIMONS, JAKE.

220

. 28

of this convention was brought by representatives of the

Five Tribes before Congress but for some reason they never

acted.

Now you see Oklahoma Territory wanted a separate state,the

Indian Territory wanted a separate state and neither one got

what they tried to get. In 1907, a b i l l was passed in .Vash-

ington to include both Territories into one state and that i t

should be celled Oklahoma* Delegates from the Indian Territory

and the Oklahoma Territory met at Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory,

and both Territories did become one state* I have heard people

say that Oklahoma became a state in 1907, but I claim, i t was *

1908 because the of f ic ia l s did not take office until ^January. 1,

1908,

INDIAN 0UST0&6

The Indians food oonsioted of pork, a l l kinds of wild game,

bread and hominy grits* They jdid their oooking in sk i l l e t s

and pots* Sometimes i t was on the open fire outside and some-

times in the fireplace until cook stoves came in.

Their dishes and some of their oooking utensils were made

of day, thftt i s they mdde d a y plates, oups, bowls, and pots.

Out of these dishes they would eat their sand food and in the

pots they could boll food with accuracy*

They made dyes for their clothing, and paints for their

faces and their ponies, by boiling down bark of trees to a


221

£9

liquid for their clothing; and in this liquid they would stir

a certain amount of starch made from corn which made a paste

they they would rub on their faces and ponies as they desired.

I have also seen them use certain rooks with which to make

paint for their faoes. The dyes were usually made from

oak bark, Sycamore bark and various barks together with Indigo

and oopperas.

Indian, medicines were made from roots and herbs. Bone

8et which the Creeks called Angelica was used for a purgative

and likewise button snake root used for the same purpose,

Dogwood root and butterfly root including goldenrod were

used as you would use quin.no to break, a fever. Frost root

and a root they called Doctor Dick root was used as a medicine.

Mythical medicine was used at their stomp dances, and while

it was called "mythioal medicine" it was nothifig more than

medicine used to make them vomit so that their bodies and

souls would be oleansed before they engaged in the eating of

roasting ears and barbecued meats. I will add that they fast-

ed for three days before they were given the medicine which

made them vomit* The stomp danoe which I attended was in

July of each year and was over on the old S. F. Ranch.

The Indians were very artistic and many of them delighted ,

in the work of art. From clay they made pottery of all kinds,

SIMMONS, JAKiT. INTERVIEW.

• • . • : / • • •

222

• • ' . • - 7 • • • •

< •

namely;., p la tes , pots, bowls, miniature statutes bf dog's,

ponies, cows, e t c . They ma,de baskets of a i r kinds, "from the •

barks of trees and sgme of these baskets were nicely colored,,

with dyos made from ba^rks as I have. to let you of before. I

remember well that I made my horse ôbll&ra out of corn sh'uoksby taking a cow hide* tanning it, autting it to the size

desired and stuffing it full of obrn shucks. I have many times," • • • ' " • ' / •when I did not have a oow hide /tanned with which to* make lines

/ " • • • • . :

with which to drive my horses/, âed hickory bark. Of course/

thi's bark would be out into/ s t r ips and p la i ted . Kiddles,,

ladle a or sometimes -oalle^ fanners, were made from the bark

of cane', hiokory, orwhjfte oak t r e e s .

i belong to the Crcepk t r ibe and ' that part of the. t r ibe. o . • / ,

which was known as the Perryman t r ibe , even though my father/ •

was a Cherokee, mo/ther was a Greek and I^4on f t know why, but*I just followed ^y mother's side of the family. I suppose

though i t was beoaiise, wheu father went to war, mo.tb.er took

me to Fort W0shita. You know as well as I that a mother Jiai

more io say about the child and i t s ra is ing, than the fa ther .. / ' - * ' ' : • ' • -

1 at/tended schdol soToae but very H t t l e eUct my education- / ' - - - • . • • . -

is limpedj I mighjt aay,Jaoiteyer, that most of jny learning i s

. practical and not from bpoks. 1 attended the old Asbury Mis-

sion,; l a te r called the fiufaula school. I t stood in the yard


31

of my mother, and my teacher's name was Mrs. Me-Xntosh. Thin

school no longer exists. I also attended tbe Tallahassee

Mission. Mr. Robinson had charge of this school and, after

his death, he was succeeded by Mias Alice &ob4a*ea, who in

later years became Congresswoman'from the state of Oklahoma.

The Black Jack is located at present about seven miles west

and three miles north of the present city of MUakogee. Dr.it

Willip-iaa was a teacher of t h i s school.. Joe Perryman who•a

later b,eoame the Creek Chief of the Cherokee Nation also

attended school in my mother's yard at Eufaula.j. • ,

When we would go on hunting trips it would usually be

for the purpose of hunting wild hogs and to have fun. Our

favorite hunting ground was on the Verdigris river above

Wagoner at whnt we called the Childer's place. Another

favorite place of ours was on the Cimmaron river near whnt

is now the present town of Red Fork, justjOUt of Tulsa a

short ways. - ' " '

My parents told me that before the war they did all of

their trading at Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, as that was

their nearest location but after the war end' peace was de-

clared and the negroes freed, we used to trade at the old

Creek Agency which was located on the *outh side of Fern-^* *

Mountain which is three miles northwest of Muskogee,

SIMMONS, JAKE.

2,24

32

home, and near the present J. Garfield Buell oountry home.

There were, at first, two stores at this agency or trading

post. One was owned by a Mr. Adkinson and the other by a

Mr. Patterson. Later on, two more scores were built, I

cannot recall the owners' names et this time. The Hotel" was

run by a colored woman, whom we called Big Sarah. Big Sarah

fed end slept both white and colored as well as the Indiana*

This was a thriving little village and a number of families

lived tierem some of their names were Peter Stidman and

^Family, Simon Brown and family, Joe Davis and family, Tobe

Mclntosh and family, Nap Wiseman and family, and many otheri

» time

that I cannot recall but at the/1 knew everyone who lived

there., K-

The Creeks, Cherokees, Delawares, Shawnees, Sac & Fox

Indians were al l very friendly, mutual and agreeable among

themselves; but the'Osage and Comanches, we just simply could

n6t get along with them, fte never had any particular trouble

with -them other than that they would gang up and steal our

ponies" and try to take our beBt hunting ground- from us and

when we became awatfe .of tbe fa.pt, we would chase them and .run

them baok to thoir own reservations. Incidentally, the Osage* •

Indians owned some of the best horses that there was'among

any of the Indians in the Territory, They would go to Kansas


225

33

and steal horses and if the opportunity presented i t s e l f ,

they would s teal a s ta l l ion that was highly bred and would '

let them range with the i r horses, the resul t of which would

be some very fine c o l t s .

The Creek Indians received for a while a f te r the war;

money which they called "JHead-Right money." Some of them

called i t "Bre^d payments" and these payments ranged from

four $o twenty dol lars a month. On account of the Araphoe

Country being sett led with white s e t t l e r s , I drew four dol-

lars and eighty bents.

Other payments which I received on account of s e t t l e r s

taking different parts of the Creek Nat ion , principally the ' •

Oklah-jna Country, was in 1890 when.! received)twenty-nine

. dollars and in 1893 I received two payments, one for fourteen

dollars and another in the amount of forty-three do l l a r s .

Other than the allotments made t o myself and family, I do not

recall having received anything else during my lifetime from

the Government.

BRIDGES

On the Texas road at North Ellc Creek which was near

the batt le grounds of Honey Springs during the Civil ffar was

located a t o l l bridge run by /a man by Uie name of John Me-

SIMMONS, JAKE. INTERVIEW. ,

. * . 228

34

Intosh. On South iilJc Greek the toll bridge was run by Mrs.

Li la-Drew. I worked for Mrs. Drew at this t o l l bridge in 1881.

<\ BUFFALO TRAILS

The only buffalo herds of which I knew ranged west and

south of the present town of Fryor, Oklahoma. The t r a i l lead

south from Pryor through Wagoner, Muskogee, Ohecotah, and thence

southwest toward the Texas l i n e . I t may seem strango t o you

but when I was only a boy and was helping around on the ranches ,

I knew the chuck wagons cook oftentimes did not have wood with

which to s t a r t a f i r e and cook the ' ir joeals and they would

gather buffalo chips for t h i s purpose. * ;

RANCHES

The Mose Perryman ranch was about seven or e ight miles

east of the present town of Haskel l , Oklahoma in what i s now

known as" the Choski bottom and operated before the C i v i l War.

Moae Perryman came to t h i s country from Alabama and brought

with him a number of s laves which were d i s t a n t r e l a t i v e s of

mine. He handled before the- War some e igh t or nine hundred

c a t t l e . He branded with a J . P . •

The Rider F ie lds ranch was loca ted in the Concharty

Mountains severa l miles nor th and west of the present town of

Has&ell, Oklnhoma and bandied about one thousand head of c a t t l e

yearly before t he -C iv i l War., He l i k e Mose Perryman had s laves

and came to th i s oo in t ry from Alabama. His brand* was I . X.

SUMMONS, JAKE. INTERVIEW.

• ' 2 2 7

35

Mr.'Field8 was the grandfather of Bluford Miller and in la te

years lote of the people refer to the Bluford Miller ranch,

l i t t l e knowing that i t was the original Rider Fields ranoh*

Mr. Miller oontinued to use the same brand as did his grand-

father. I worked for Mr. Bluford Miller as ear ly as 1880.

The Lewis Bruner ranoh was located near the present .town

of otone Bluff, Oklahoma. This was after the Civil War and

they handled a thousand head of ca t t le yearly and used the

brand "BM.

Una Mclnto&h had.,a small ranch near the present town of

Eufaula, Oklahoma,, and handled about six hundred head yearly*

I do not remember the i r brand. , ' •

Rolla Me Into sh likewise had a small ranoh near the

present town of Eufaula, and handled four or five hundred

head of ca t t le^rear ly , I do not remember the brand.

Before the Civil War Tom McFarland, part Creek, and

from Alabama and known to the populace as "Sow Tom" had a

ranch on the Canadian r iver and. handled four or five hundred

head of ca t t l e yearly and af ter the war he located a ranch

back further north and west on Cane Creek and handled about a

thousand head yearly. I do not remember old Cow Tom's brand.

Before the Civil iVar the Dave Anderson ranch was located,

within the v ic in i ty of the present town of Stone Bluff, Okla-


228

. 36 , ' . .

homa, and handled only three or four hundred head yearly,

riis brand was "An,

The F. S. Ranch was looated about ten miles southwest of

the present town of Haskell, Okluncma, and handled from fif-. .p&t * •

teen to twenty-five thousand head of cat t le , yearly together

with five or six hundred head.of horses. This ranch was owned

by ?., S. Severs. I worked on th i s ranch in: 1873-79 and $0. * „

The foreman of the oevers ranch was named Ld Hart. Ed Hart

was about the l a s t foreman on the oevers ranch and married*

one of Bluford Mil ler ' s daughters and after njarrying, he ao-

quired a part of Bluford Miller ranch and was known as the

Hart ranch. Some of the foreman of the rajxch pr ior to £d

Hart were Shelton Smitk, Red Neck Brown and others . Onlyt

a boy while working on the ranch for Mr. Severs, I was sent

occasionally for the « a i l and i t was necessary for me to

• go to Okmulgee for same. I remember Captain Belcher as being

the postmaster •

1 ' The ~, aulding Ranch was looated west of,the present

town of Muskogee, Gklahcma, and handled seven or eight thou-

sand head of ca t t le ye t r ly . I do not remember the foremen

of this raach, but as I reca l l i t now they branded with a H.P4

The Lazy S r&nch was on Cloud Greek and was owned by,H.

P. Spaulding and they handled from fifteen to twenty thou-

sand head of c a t t l e yearly and branded the i r ca t t l e with a

SIMM0N8, ,JAKB. ^ INTERVIEW. /

' • . ." . ' 229-

37 ' : i

lazy S. There were a number of foremen at "times l ike moat

ranches', X reoall Jim Garret, Jim Spinoer, and Al Todd.

The Spike S. ranch was located on Gedar Greek and handled

about five thousand head yearly. This ranch started in about

1873 and I think closed down. B:' 19Q?5 The owner of thfs ranch

was a whi%e,men named I''ort -Sarigo. -X remember 3ango 4et*y we|£ ;,, ,. T

because his brother killed him over affaire concerning; hirf }'"A\ ',

The Choler Fife ranch was located a few raises west of'tha" . *\

,preaent town of Haskell and uandled seven or eight

head "yearly. Fife was a fullblocd Greek, ,hj.s brand was C.F.

Captain Belcher, white man and qne time postmaster et

Okmulgee, owned a small ranch near Okmulgee and handled four

or five hundred head yearly. His brand was "B*.

Dave Car ranoh was looated on Deep Fork Greek west of

Ckmul?; e and handled a th-usand bead of horses yearly^, Pave

was a fullblopd Greek and his brand was D. C.

Hugh McHjs.nry had a small ranch near the present town of

Keoryetta, Oklahoma and handled^seven or eight head of ca t t l e

yearly. Mr. MoKenry branded with the l e t t e r "H".

A Mr. JicDermott who helped to build the old council house ,

at Gkmul ee and likewise the oevera store e t Okmulgee, married

a 3reek Indian by the name of Norberg and, after his marriage

SIMMONS, JAAB. INTERVIEW.

230

H - •

/ ; 38

to her, moved s&^mil&s east of Okmulgee and started a small

ranch and handled between eight hundred and a thousand head

of oat t le-year ly . His brand Vas M. C.

Judge Moore, alap known as l \ B. Moore, who was at one time

Treasurer of ^he Greek.Nation anal also one time Supreme Judge,

<<J*ned a rano&Vbout three miles solitheast of Haskell and

handled abouâ thoueand head yearlW. Hia right hand man

on r'anjsh was Da^'St&ith. Their .brand was a mule shoe. *'»

.,, The Bi l l i e Brown ranch,.was cabo,ut k mile northeast of the

present town of Haskelfând was owned by. B i l l i e Brown, A

Creek Indian, and handled ab'.ut seven hundred head yearly.

His brand.was "B.B.% .. \& •

Bill Harvestor, a Creek Indian, had a small ranoh some fouri

or five-miles northeast of the preaent town of Hasêll and

handled about seven hundred head year ly . His brand was "H".

He l a t e r became a partner with i«r. Turner-on a ranch on Pecan

Creek, west of Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Oeorge Martin owned a small ranch northeast of Por ter ,

Oklahoma on the Verdigris r i v e r . This was only a 3mall ranch

and I <Jo not know the brand.

The Jeff Uavis ranoh was located near the present'town of -

Bixby, Oklahoma. This was owned by Mr. Davis, and was a s

ranch, I do not remember the brand* / *

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39 ^

George Perryman, a Creek, owned a small ranch on Red Fork

near the present town of Tulaa, Oklahoma. The Foreman of

this ranch was Goog Childers. This was only a small ranoh

and I do not remember the brand.

The. Clarence Turner ranch was located near the present

town of Belend, Oklahoma, on Peoali Creek. He handled between

five and ten thousand head of ca t t l e yearly. His foreman was

Tom Carey. His brand was Three Bears. .

William LeBlanche and Bi l l Gentry owned a ranch west of

the present town of One cot ah and near Council Hil l andhandled

about a thousand head yearly. Their brand was a "G".

John Moore owned a ranch near the present town of Council

Hill and east of Okmulgee and handled two or three thousand

head yearly. The Foreman was Frank Selfridge. Their brand

was a half moon and a mule shoe "X".

The Nip Blacks tone ranch was south and east of the present

town of Muskogee, Oklahoma, on Georgia Fork Creek and handled

several thousand head yearly. Their brand was N. B.

The EdjHalsell ranoh was located on Bird Creek north of the

present town of Tulaa and handled about ten thousand head ysarly.

I do not remember the foreman or the brand.

The Blue' J tar ranch was located near the present town of

Inola, Oklahoma. They handled about eight thousand head yearly

but 1 do not remember the owner or the b,rand.


232

B i l l and J"im Edgwood owned a ranch about midway between

the present towns of Coweta and Wagoner, Oklahoma. They

handled four or f i v e thousand head y e a r l y . I do not r e -

member the name of the owner or the brand.

COW TOWNS

Before the r a i l r o a d s were b u i l t , Cow towns were e s t a b -

l i shed a t the present towns of Coweta, Broken Arrow and

Council h i l l ' , a l l in Oklahoma.

EPIDEMICS

In 1881, there was a smallpox epidemic a t Okmulgee,

Indian T e r r i t o r y , and i t oarae near wiping out the e n t i r e \,

population of t h i s v i l l g g e . They a t t r i b u t e d the epidemic

to the. B i l l . F r y e r fami ly who had moved i n t o the s e t t l e m e n t .

In the eax^y days , heed l i c e end greybaoks were very

annoying and hard t o g e t r i d - o f among a l l the people and

part icu lar ly so aoong the army and troops that .-ere s t a t i o n e d

at the F o r t s . I do not know whether you would c a l l t h i s an

epidemic but you may take i t for what i t ' s worth*

BURIAL GROUNDS *

The Elam cemetery l o c a t e d on Pecan Creek near the l i t t l e

v i l l age of Elam, Oklahoma. There are s e v e r a l o ld g r a v e s . I

remember the Molntosh family as b e i n g buried t h e r e .

The Ferryman cemetery or known as the Vann cemetery over


\ 41

in the Blue Creek bottom is very old and a number of old

timers are buried there. I remember aome of my distant re l -

atives, the Perrymana and the Burgesses, as being buried in• s

this graveyard. * * • v . J v

The Isparheohar graveyard is located three miles vreat and

a quarter of a mile south of the present town of Beggs, Okie-

homa. Chief Isparhechar and his wife are both buried there.

FERRIES

The Min o Ferry crosa the Arkansas river north of the pres-

ent tOTm of Stone Bluff, Oklahoma', was run by a ^reek Indian ^

by the name of Ming©.

The Leacher ferry crossed the Arkansas river west of the

present town of Musk ogee and about one mile below Fern Mountain.

The Hevina Ferry was controlled, owjied, and operated by

a Mo so and Julia Nevins. This ferry crossed the Arkansas

river at about the present location of the Muakogee pump

station. This -ferry was used considerably because i t was on

the main artery of travel to the Nation's capitol at Tahlequah.

I mean the Cherokee National Capitol.

The Childer's ferry was across the Verdigris river about

four miles west of rtagoner, Oklahoma at the present highway

bridge on highway Wagoner to Porter, Oklahoma. s

The Scott Gentty Ferry crossed the Arkansas river about

SIMMONS, JAKE. INTERVIEW. '

• 2M

42

one mile east of the present town of Haskell, Oklahoma.

Incidentally boott and his wife i s buried about one mile east

of where he operated his ferry. ,' ;

The Googy Soogy ferry crossed the Arkansas r iver at about

the preserit highway bridge one mile south of the -resent town

of Coweta, Oklahoma. ' *

The Robert -H'ry ferry crossed the Arkansas rtiver north of

Wealaka or north a short way from the present town of Leonard,

Oklahoma.

What was known as the Bixby Ferry crossed the Arkansas

river north of the present town of Bigby, Oklahoma and was

controlled, owned and operated by a man named Berry.

The Texas ferry* and, I do not know why they called i t t h i s ,

was controlled, owned and operated by oimon Brown. This ferry

crossed the Arkansas r iver northwest of Mu$kogee at about

what is now known as the Spaulding bridge.

The Tobe Drew ferry was up stream from the Simon Brown

ferry about %*o miles and was owned by Tobe Drew, a Greek

Indian. This ferry crossed the Arkansas r i v e r . '

FINANCING

There being no banks in the early days, financing was done

principally by the merchants and in some instances by ranchmen

when ca t t le were involved. If a man cared to borrow money he

SIMMONS, JAKE. INTERVIEW., . . ;

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43 - . . .. ' * t *

would go to his merchant and offer, what he h,ati as security

and if his security was accepted he would not be given the

cash money but was given what was known as aoript , ranging

in amounts from 5 cents to $10.00. This scr ip t was used as

a medium of exchange by a l l the merchants within the im-

mediate v ic in i ty . At a certain time the party who issued the

soript would reca l l i t and pay the oash for i t . 'Aiere was

a great deal of bartering ip. th is scr ipt for oftentimes

parties who had the soript would need the real money when

he was going to Okmulgee or a me other point where the script

would not be recognized and naturally he had to suffer a 1Q-S

to get the .real money by discounting i t .

I remember well Spaulding script as many a time i have

cashed "this soript at? a discount, making in some instances as

much as.a hundred per cent on the transaction. I remember

that if I did not have cash to pay my help at the ranch I

would give to the employee a s t r i p of paper about the size

of a bank check and show thereon the amount I desired to pay

him. Ihis employee would take i t to town and as he purchased

his food, clothing or what not the merchant would write on tha

back thereof his name and the amount purchased and on h i s books

he would charge t h i s to- me. When the amount on the front of >

the paper was taken up, the l a s t merohant would re ta in i t and •

SIMMONS, JAKS. INTERVIEW.

woul& deliver I t to.ffle Showing that i t was fully paid» By

this method i t required considerable bookkeeping, but that

was the only a l te rna te . Other ranch men like F. S. oevers

did as I . '

SHOST TOWNS

The old creek agency located on the so .th side of Fern

Mountain northwest of Muskogee i s one of the many thriving

communities that have passed out of the pic ture . This

village also had a pos toff ice .

North Fork town on the/Texas road near the bank of the

north Canadian rive is no more. There used to be a post-

office here. -

Fisher town on the Texas road south of tha present town

of Checofcah, Cklj.homa-, on the s mth Canadian r iver i s another

thafc is no more.

was located about one mile south and mile

west of the present town of Haskell , Okl&homa and handled a l l

kinds of merchandise with a postoffioe in connection. The

postmaster was E. B. Harris and the man who ran the store was

named Bradford. Later years Mr. Harris acquired both the Btore

and the postmastership. With the building of Midlend Walley

Railroad, -Sowt--Oklahoma, become a ghost town because the town«

of Haskell sprang up on the rai l road at the present town of


237

45

Haskell, Oklahoma.

Th« Choski post was owned by C. .V. Turner and there was

also a post office at thiB looation. Choski post was located

about two miles east from the present to^n of Has e l l , Oklanoma

and east of the Arkansas River. The building of Haskell, also

made this a ghost town.

The town of Lee was looated about three miles nortn of th«

present town of Boynton, Oklahoma. I t was at th is place

where the Creek Court was held in a l i t t l e one-room log Court

House with a black gum t ree standing near by that was used for

a whipping post. The Judge of t he Court was Judge Read, a

negro, and he also operated a ho te l . With the building of

the Frisco Railroad, the present town of Boynton, Oklnhome, : -

sprang up and Lee became a ghost town,.

INDIAN POLICE

We had a number of Indian Police and the Ligtthorseorgan-

ization was of \he most important and I will t e l l you more of

them la ter on. I reca l l John West, John Sixki l le r , Wiley

Molntosh, and Georfet Nolntosh as 6«ing some of the leading

Indian police,

GREEN PEACH SAB '

1 remember the Green Peach flar as if i t were yesterday.

Some say that the reason they called i t the Green Peach Atar .


238

46

was beoause aome of the people could^not aay Iapprhechar but

would say Green Peaohie, and others say t h ' t i t was at the tim«

of the year that there wefe Jresn peache8 on the t r ee s .

Isparhechar's party was what we would ca l l today the Republican

party and the Checotah Party was what we would the democrat

party. An election was held in 1882 and the the resu l t of

that election was that the Cheootah party had beaten the Ispar-

hechar party and the Isparhechar party claimed that i t was a

crooked election and would not consent to Sam Ghecotah taking

office. I had been over to what is now Be.ggs, Oklahoma, to

get a little money that was due êôn the -evers pay off. -

I only had four dollars and eighty cents coining to me and

on my way back I took sick and stopped in at Mr.

home and Mrs. severs had my dinner- fixed for me.

was eating dinner a line of mean at least a mile long was

marching bx headed by Isparheohar going to Pecan Greek to*r%.

enlis t a l l of the colored people that he could to join him.

Mrs. severs aaid to. me, "Jake we are going to have a war

just as sure as the or Id ." After I ate my dinner I mounted

my horse and went to my Uncle John Harrison's who lived over

a£ Choski post which was about two or three miles east of th«

present town of Kaskell , Oklahoma, When I came to whut was

later known as the Gentry Ferry, a number of People was ther«

building raf ts of logs to get the i r household goods and women

SIMMONS, JAKK, INTERVIEW.

239

\

folks across the r i r e r . 1 swampy horse across the r iver

and on to my unole 's . I stayed there un t i l the next day

and i t was necessary for me to go to Muekogoe on a bus-

iness errand and I traveled back across the r iver and thence

southeast coming to the road on which the stage traveled

at Pecan Creek and there was five or s ix hundred of I s -\ >

parheohar men camped there. I was rather iri favor of Ispar-

hechar for I f e l t that they had been robbed of the e lect ion.

There were talking as to whether or not that they should sur-

render and l e t Checotah take office or die , and they decided

that they would rather d i e . I cam on to Sugar "reek that was

down near the, present town of Taft and 1 ran on to the Che-O

ootah *rmy but I did not tarry there nor did they bother me

and I finished my t r p to Muskôgee. The Isparheohar and 2he-

cothh Annies had a ba t t l e on Sugar Creek and af ter t h i s b a t t l e

they came put on the pra i r ie east of what we called Bi l l ie

Grimmet place and had another skirmish. Scouts were sent

back to Cloud r iver on Jake Brown's place and made arrange-

ments or at l eas t came to the conclusion that the Isparhechar

a my would move into the t e r r i t o r y of the Checotah stronghold

at the Creek Agency and proceeded tfo surround Agency Hi l l and

-* were not more than two or three miles apart from each other

after they arrived there . They picked me up then (that i s the

SUAiONS, JAKE* INTERVIEW.

240

48

Isparhechar army) and sent me as a Scout to where the Veteran^

Hospital is now and I got a le t ter and oarried i t back to

Isparheohar and the letter instructed them that they should

disband and scatter or the troops of the United States Govern-

ment would be called in to handle them. Lee Perryman with

the Isparhechar army finally took an oath in behalf of Ispar-

hechar to pot rebel. Henry Reed who was the Judge at Lee

s

took a number of the men and sentenced them to the shipping

post, giving them fifty lashes apiece, and with this the thing

died down considerable but in the lat» winter of 1882 Ispar-

hechar went to Okamlgee and met Sleeping Rabbit and they

again reorganized tihe Isparhechar army and they met the Che-

otah armyjof about ©evea or eight; ^hundred men southwest of

Okmulgee and killed seventeen of Ohecotah's men but Cheootah

captured Sleeping Rabbit and killed Ihim. In December of 1882,

the Isparnechar army retreated to thte Sao & Fox country with\ j

about twelve hundred men under what they called General Will"IRobinson. They were followed ly the Che cot ah army but the Sao

& Fox would not permit them to fight in their territory and

at this point the Isparhechar army retreated to the Cheyenne

country and stayed thero until April, The U. S. Government

stepped in and took charge, captured Isparhechar and his men

and moved them in to Fort Gibson in April 1883 and kept them

SIMMONS, JAKB. INTERVIEW.

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49

aa prisoners of we*. Isparheohar f inal ly gave up and signed

a treaty with the governoant tha t he would cease suoh a o t i v i t i e s .

Sam Ohecotah was f ina l ly seated as Qhief of the Creek Tribe

and remained chief un t i l the next elect ion which was in 1884.

After the Govera'nent had this trouble on the back of my old

horns place on Concharty Mountain they erected a wtach tower\\

end likewise one on the Bluford Miller ranch. The oddity of

these watch towers was thn t we could never find anyone who had

seen the anny vrhen theyrwere bui l t*

THE LIGHT HORSE ORGANIZATION

The Creek Nation was divided into three d i s t r i c t s ,

Musk ogee, Indian Terr i tory known as Arkansas town was d i s t r i c t

number one, the present town of Coweta was d i s t r i c t number two,

and Okmulgee, Indian Terri tory was d i s t r i c t number th ree , The

Light, horsemen consisted of five pol ice , sometimes they would

t r .ve i together and at other times separately , and one of each

five was the Captain of tha t pa r t i cu l a r squad. If an emergency

arose in any one d i s t r i c t to where they would need help they

would summon help from the other d i s t r i c t s .

Their prisoners would be chained as they hf>d no j a i l s in"

whioh to hold them. They would be taken a.t a designated ti.'.a

before Judge #enry Ree*d at Lee where the Court house was

tr ied. For the f i r s t offense they would' receive twenty-five


242

80

lashes at the whipping post administered by the Light Horse-

men, second offense trafl f if ty lashes and the th i rd offense

they were shot.

I remember t*o Judges who served on the bench at i-ee.

They were Judge Henry Reed and Judge 3am LeBlenehe. Some of

tne prosecuting attorneys were Jeffery Smith, Saul Anderson

and flhllaoe Menal.

I have seen them whip Babe McHardy, Cubby Me Into six,

Sunny Grayson, Tom Canard, Button Grew end, o the r s . I

have seen people shot at t h i s post and remember pa r t i cu la r ly

one by the name of Jerry Stidem. The l a s t man whipped a t

this post before i t was abolished vraa Newaion &elley who was

charged with the s tea l ing of a horse. "

INDIfiK MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

About the only time that musical instruments were used

by the Indians were at a stomp dance. They would take bark

and make them a basket a f fa i r oy-r which they would s t re tch aI -

tanned eowhidej and on t h i s they w uld beat as you would a drum*

They called t h i s the i r torn torn. Around t h e i r ankles they would

tie shells and in them they would place t iny rooks so that they

would r a t t l e when they danced. They would s ing, dance, and

beat on the torn torn and for the oddity the cowboys would Join

the Indians in th; i r danoes and enjoyed i t . Most of the

cowboys could ling in Creek as well as the Indian himself.

JAKB. INTERVIEW.

243

51

' .. POLITICS , '

Fol i t ioa l affairs were always et fever heat. The voting

places in the Creek Nation was et Tallahassee, Soweto, Olcmul*

gee and Eufaula.

The ucual method of voting for a longtime would be that

e l l who were eroun'd the voting place would l ine up for the

party whom they wish to vote. The clerks would count the

number ia each l'ine and make a record cf same. Leter on

they.would go into the 31erk give"him their name and t e l l him

for whom they wished to vote and he wuld x&ke a record of that .

Should a young mL.n becoae of lawf .1 age, which was twenty-One,

year?, there would have to be a number of ci t izens of the

tribe who would vouch ,for his being of age before he was

allowed to vote. The f i r s t vo.te cast would be for the

Chief of the t r ibe , second vote Vice Chief, third vote,

treasurer, fourth for the Olerk, f if th vote for Supreme

Judge, sixth vote for the town King, seventy vote for the

Legislature, and the'eighth vote was for the House of War-i

r iors .

FORTS" t

Fort Gibson was located at the present town of Port

Gibson, Fort Washite was looateld in the extreme southern

part of the te r r i to ry on the JaVaite r ive r , Fort S i l l waa

SIUMONS, JAKE. IKTtRVIEW.

38

looated near the present town of F<vt 3 i H , liclohome, Fort

Joffee was located uecr the Arkauaaa r iver about twenty-five

miles up strewn from Fort ->mith, Arkansas, Fort Davis was

located on the north book of the Arkansas r iver a l i t t l e

north and eadt of the present c i ty of Muskogee, Fort Wayne

was looated in the opavinaw h i l l s near the ^ra.id r iver about

ttfe Lve a i lea east of the present town of 7 in i ta , Oklancwsa.ii

I . c a n ' t r e c a l l :>thors a t t n i c , t i m e but there se re ux-herc.

INDIAN MOUNDS

There were and i s on"e -or two or three mounds in the

v i c i n i t y of old Fort Davis nor th of the present to»n of

aiu&kogee, Oklahoma. There are a number of mounds around

the present town ..o f, Baid H i l i , Oklahoma, ûi te a number

of mounds around in the Con chart y Mountains vieut r.nd nor th

of the. present tcwA of Haske l l , Oklahoma. -South of '.iusk-

ogee, Oklahoma i s qui te a lerge" ruound known as Chimney,

Mountain. This might be b e t t e r described as .be ing near the

present town of oummitt, Oklahoma. Around High Springs which

is the present town of Ooujoii H i l l , Oklahoma a l s o there a re

& number of mounds*

•<OAD AMD TRA1L3

I a t one time knew every cow t r a i l in the Creek Nation

but ifc would be impossible for me a t t h i s time t o t e l l you

how they ran , duo t o fences, towns r a i l r o a d a and highways

SIMMONS, JAKE. INTERVIEW. - •

• . 245'

whicn have blottdd them out. ,/<

The Texas road was one of the main arteries through the.

territory and I have traveled portions', of it a number of

iti es and worked at the toll bridge as I have told you on .

Elk Greek run by Mrs. Lile Drew. I have traveled this roadt

from Nevins Ferry which was looated at the present Muskogee

Pump Station in a southwestern direction for about two miles-

being about a quarter of a mile east of the present school

for the Blind at Muskogee and thence south over .the ridge a-

cross north and south Elk Oreek continuing on across tte

North Canadian River through old north Fork Town and on to—

the iSouth Canadian at about the present town of Texana,

Oklahoma. This i s -ae far as I ever tr : viled the Texas road.

I use to t ravel some on the old Ohisholm t r a i l . I

would leave the Bluford Miller ranch and h i t t h i s t r a i l a t

about what i s now Cleveland, Oklahoma and thence s.uth along

what i s now about the present Rock Island Railroad to Fort

flash i t a .

The ArJûckle road ran west from ttxe Kevins Ferry described

above about a half a mile north of the present Lewis Jobe home

and continued west past the old Jreek agency on the south side

of Fern Mountain and thence in a southwestern direct ion to

. Qkmulgee'. ' I do not know which way i t ran from Okmulgee.

SlMMOfiS, JAKE. INTERVIEW. *' ' •

246

The old Stage l ine used to run west oat of Muskogee, •

Indies Terr i tory, to Pecan oreek and thence south for about

two miles and then southwesterly to the -<tage stand on Oane

Creek. Dootor Barnett had charge of the stage l ine horses and

fed ->tage d r ive r s .

I will describe these - t a ;,e l ine routes under the heading

of ~>tage l ines if you want tha t .

STAGE L1NLS

Leaving Muskogee for Fort tznith, Arkansas, you would go

direct ly east from the town of Muskoêe^past what i s now the

School for the Blind and intersect the Texas road and thence

in a northwestrrly direct ion crossing the Kevins ferry near

the present Muskogee Pump s ta t ion and then northwesterly up

the east bank of the Grand r ive r , thence east through Port

Gibson, Indian Terr i tory , ond thence southeasterly over the

Fort Gibson Mountain now knowa as Sraggs Mountain and con-

tinuing over the Gên Leaf tfcnintai'is un t i l you reach the

I l l ino i s r iver at which place you crossed on the Bullet

Foreman Ferry and contintftng along about the same direction

8/& the flow of the -.rkaneas r iver and crossing the Arkansas

river at Fort Smith, Arkansas by fe r ry .

Under the heading of roads and t r a i l s , I told you of

the stage l ine tha t ran as far es Or. Barnett place on Gane

3IMM0NS, JAKE. INTERVIEW.

247"

56

Creek so I will take up thic l ine a t t h i s point . Leaving

the bernett place you would travel due west by John Rertdy's

place who waa a blacksmith and operated a blacksmith shop

for the Creeks. . He waa paid by the Government for his

services and was a Creek hi:nself. Leaving the blacksmith

shop you would go west to six mile creek and continue west

into the town of Okmulgee, Indian Terr i tory. *t Oknulgee,

the horses were ,fed and the passengers and ^taê drivers wert

cared for both east and west to th is point. At Okmulgee,

another -tage line would take the mail end passengers and

continue in a southwestern direct ion into the -ac & Fox

oountry. '„ * ' •

From the village of Lee or Dr. Barnett • tage stand above

mentioned, the sta' e would make,connections there 'or points

of -'am Brown*8 store and -<ealaka. This ~tage l ine ran north-

west from Lee through the Concharty Mountains to,warn Brown's

store where they would ohsjige horses end ei t and continue

on to elaka and cross the Arkansas r iver into the Perryman

settlement west of Coweta.

3ALT

There was a sa l t works located about six miles east of

Pryor, Indian Terr i tory, near the Mayes Ferry. Wells wer»

dr i l l ed 'a t th is point I suppose by the Government whioh flowed

V\

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56

sal t water. The water was placed In large iron ke t t les and

boiled unt i l i t lef t the pure s a l t . In the early days aa l t

was hauled from there by a l l the res t of the people, as well

as the India-n, in the eront there was no sa l t water creeks

in the vicini ty in which they l ived. The people did not only

use the sa l t for themselves but would haul i t and pile i t

at different point3 over the prair ie for ca t t l e l ioks .

^ There was alBO a s a l t works down by Bullet Foreman's

ferry which was-five or s ix miles up stream from the mouth

of the I l l i n o i s r i f e r . I have seen these s r l t works'in

pa3ding over the terry en route to Font Smith, Arkansas,

however, the people in my part of the country always went

to the Mayea ferry for w sa l t .

After the Railroads came through the country carloads

of sal t was shipped in barrels to Sutnmitt, Muakogee, Kufatla,

Ghecotah* Wagoner, Pryor, and Vinita, Indian Terr i tory and

the sa l t boys on the ranches would oart these barrels of s a l t

to the ranch and saw them half into end then place them at

strategetio points on the ranch and these served as ca t t l e

licks in l a te r days*

INTRODUCTION OF MILLS AND GINS INTO TflS INDIAN TERRITORY

From the old mortar and postle used for grinding oorn cam*

the hand grinders, the water mi l l s , tread mills and of course"*


249

5?

today the steam r o l l e r mi l l s for both corn and wheat*

The modern molasses mi l l in Oklahoma has changed but

l i t t l e fo r today the cane is cut and crushed with r o l l e r s

by horse power and the Juice placed in a large tank boi led

and skimmed and thence mol lases .

They a l so claimed tha t the Government had not complied

with a t r e a t y that the Creeks had trade. This a l l s t a r t e d

down on Leep Fork Creek a t Hickory Grove a l i t t l e west of

the present town of Henry e t t a , Oklahoma. I t was more a

graft on the par t of Crazy bnake to make some'money than

i t was anything e l se for he would s o l i c i t funds from h i s

sympathizers, claiming tha t i t took l o t a of money to em-

plcy lawyers to figh*t the case . Sampson Brown and o thers

went to a r r e s t them for misleading the people and a f ight

ea.u'fl tstween them and the o f f i ce r s a t Eufaula, Oklahoma.

Brown and h i s son fought A-ith the of f icers and the son was

shot and f i n a l l y died end the o f f i c e r s k i l l e d a number of

them. Crazy Snake was f i n a l l y a r res t ed but they l e t him-a

go free and back home and that s e t t l e d t h i s up r i s ing .

MARRIAGES

Legal marriage was about the same as it was today.

License was secured from the Federal Judge at Fort Smith,

Arkansas and was completed by a minister back in the Nation.

SBWONS, JAKE. INTERVIEW.

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Sisny people never aeoured a l i cense but took auto themaelvea

a man o r a woman t h a t they chose for t h o i r husband or wife

and l i r e d with them and acknowledged them to everybody as

husband and wife and^thia was considered as l ega l and lawful

in tbfe c o u r t s as o therwise . This was known as a common law

marriage.

To get a divorce i t was necessary to go before the Greek

court and show cause and i f the Court deemed i t advisable

and j u s t , he would grant the d i v o r c e . Divorce proceedings

were usua l ly brought before Judge Alex Sanger a t the 3reek

Nat ion 's oap i to l s t Okmulgee, Indian T e r r i t o r y ,

PERMITS GRANTED NON-CSTIZENS

In order to employ people who were not c i t i z e n s of the

t r i b e , the employer was oompelled to pey twd d o l l a r s a month

for eaoh employee for a long time and f i n a l l y i t was re.-

duced to one d o l l a r a month**and~at l a s t no th ing . B i l l Robi-

son who now l i v e s over a t Musko,_ee, Oklahoma use to be the

Creek Col lec to r of these pe rmi t s . I have paid many a d o l l a r

for people who were employed by me. My mother had to ld me

that a molasses m i l l was operated in about the l i k e manner

on the'Mosa Perry man p l a n t a t i o n in the present Choski bottom

several miles eas t of the present town of Haske l l , Oklahoma,

before the C i v i l War.


251«

59

From s i t t i ng around the f i re a t night ploking out cotton

seed by hand came the old horac power end water power gin

and then the gins that we have today.

MISSIONS

The Tallahassee Mission was located at the present town

of Tallahassee, Oklahoma, and was made from brick which were

made by hand. The father of Alice Robertson was f i r s t in

charge of th is mission and when he died his dau -htor, Alice,

r/as in charge end Miss Alice lr.tor was elected Gongro as woman

fron Oklahoma.

The Asbury Mission was a t Eufauly, Indian Terri to-y, andr

the Superintendent was Joe Perryman. I t was of plank con-

struction. The Weelaka Mission was located near the present

town of Leonard, Oklahoma and was of Brick construction. I

remenber Legas Perryman, D. Hodge and Pleas Porter rere in

charge of Wealaka.

The Pecan Creek Mission was located on pecan creok

ebout seven miles west of the present town of MusVogee, Okla-

homa and was under the supervision of Buzz Eawkins,

The Creek Sohoo) at the present town of Sapulpa, Oklahoma

was in charge of Jim and S i l l Sopulpa.

The Creek Orphanage was located abût a mile north eas t

of Okmulgee,Indian Terr i tory. Thi» was or iginal ly c nsfcructed


GO

of plank but w&e destroyed p a r t i a l l y by f i r e and r e b u i l t

of b r i ck which were m8de by hand.

THE CRAZY SNAKE REBELLION

This l i t t l e f l a r e up was in recent years end was kYiown

as the Crazy Snake r e b e l l i o n of 1908. Ch i t to Hnrjo waa

known RS Crazy Snake and he did not want the Creftk Nation

to becone e .stnte Rnd he l i k e Iaparhechar went nbout the

country e n l i s t i n g raen to support h i s cause .

UNITED STATES MARSHALS

Some of the old time U. S. Marshals were Bud Ledbet ter ,

Bazz Reed, Heck Thonas, Grant Thomas, John "ea t , Tohn Six-

k i l l e r , Henry S i x - k i l l e r , George Drew, Ike Rogers, and John

Nevina. In 1898, Ike Rogers was k i l l e d on the dennt p l a t -

form a t Fort Gibson by en outlaw. -George Drew was k i l l e d by

> \he rekee Indinn nt Mu.'koeee, Indinn T e r r i t o r y .

OUTLAWS

every outlaw in 'Oklahoma from the James boys' down

to F r e t w Boy Floyd. The James boys, i t was rumorec! around

the r a n c h e \ , had bur i ed money over on Ash Creek and a l l the

cow punchejrsNnuld go over t h e r e and d ig bu t t h e y f a j ^ t i t o

over find t h e money. Cherokee B i l l was wel l known t o me and

cro^êd and rs -c roûed the ranches on which I was working

numbers of t i :nes . TVe Dal ton Boys were working with me a t

\

SIAWGWS, JiKE. INTERVIEW.

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61

the time that I was working on the F. S. Ranch for 3am êrer«.

I have worked day after day In the eeddle, riding herd with

the Dal tan Boys. I remember r;ell when the Da I t on boye were

f i r s t arrested on a charge concerning liquor 8nd, in my

opinion, they were not guilty, and feeing bnav6:and daring; they

turned to be the worst criminals, eqxsal to the James boys.

Rufus Dnlton—I admired him sn<3 he waB replly a pel of mine

,but of course I hed to change my mind after he had committed

*he cr i res he did.

^here was another g8ng known ns the Buck gang that s tarted

out in crime but they only lr.stod short eleven da/a un t i l th«y

were captured.

I want to t e l l the story about, the f i r s t time I was $ver

held up. I was working' at the Bluford Miller ranch and he

sent me to Sam Brown's store to do none trading. Sam Brown

was treetîTT of the Creek Nation before Judge Moore. Mr.

Miller told me to get some sand with ?&ich to me.;e p las ter

r.nd to bring back a barre l of sa l t and some other grocer ies ,

rfhen I arrived $t the s tore I noticed three well groomed

horses tied^ to the hitch rack nnd in the r i f l e soabborda on

the horses were Winchester r i f l e s . I peid no at tent ion

part icularly to that- as that w^s lust an ordinary cm atom in

those day a, but the horses were r.ot known to me «nd I admired

. SIMMONS, JAKE. . INTERVIEW./ t Y

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62 .

them. 1 tied my team and went on back of the store where

an Indian carpenter woo working and talked to him ft;Jwhile then

1 loaded up some sand went in the store rolled out my barrel

of salt , barrel of syrup, etc. , . and was al l ready .to go. I

did not leave Immediately but went on back again end begin

talking to my Indian friend and we both walked into the

store and as we did, we met a man with a forty-five pistol

who said "you fellows get in l ine." ^here were' ten or

twelve in the store a l l lined up and with their hands up.

These outlaws went through a l l of our pook?ts and wh t they

found there was praotioally nothing and then they ordered

a Mr. Carter to open the safe which he did nnd they got from

the safe about $900.JO, carried off a lot of cowboy boots

and took what jewelry they wanted. After they got what a l l

they wanted, they marched \xs about a mile south of the store

to the foot of the Concharty Mountains%snd le f t us and they

went their way. fell, 1 was only a young man nnd I did not

know what to do, but I mustered up courage enough to go back

and get my team and what I had loaded and started for the

ranch, this being nearly sundown and, believe me, I was sure

a scared human, driving that tra i l home by myself. Just as

I e rived et the ranch, 1 could hear a posse of men riding

SIMMONS, JAXK. INTBRVIEW.

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fast in the distance. I did not know whether i t was the

outlaws or the Light Horses but they finally came up and i t

wns offloors pursning the 'outlaws. They asked if I had

seen anything more of them on the t r a i l and I told them ,

"No.", and I naked them if they knew who they wore «nd they

told me thp.t i t was a part of Cherokee B i l l ' s gang.

ODDITIES OF "HE E/RLY DAYS

The f i r s t cook stove I ever owned wasr In 1884 +*or nhich

I paid sixteen dol lars . My friends and neighbors came for

miles so see my" new stove. I t was a l i t t l e cast iron stove

Rbnwt sixteen inches wide end twer.ty-four inches long,

We Indians used to dam the creek3 and take ei ther buck ,

eyes, preen walnut or devil shoestring end crash then and

throw them into the water Rind poison the f ish, ê did not

fool with a hook and line or a net and we would cat~h enough

fish at cne time to l a s t us at enmp for a week and give

plenty aw*?y to fill our f r i e r s and -i&i/hbnrs.

•?e use to nake eoap by saving our nshes and in the

cpri.Tg we would pour water over the ashes and throw in the

water old meat scraps and boil down to where se could aake

either soft soap or hard soap.

CHIEFS

The first Creek CLief after the war was a man by the

nan© of Sand and others which I knew were Lojo Harjo,

t JACK. INTERVIEW.

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64

Isparheohar, Sam Ohocotah, Joe Perryman, Legaa Perryman,

Pleasant Porter and Moty Tiger*

RAILROADS

The M. K« fc. T. Railroad b u i l t through the Indian

Territory during the years of 1871-72 and 73. The Santa

7e Railroad bu i l t through the Oklahoma Territory in 1886,

The Kansas City Southern Railroad was b u i l t through the

extreme Eastern part of Oklahoma in 1894. This used to be

called the old s p l i t log road. The St . L & S. F. Railroad

known as the old K k 0 was b u i l t into Vinita, Indian Ter-

ritory, in 1889. What i s not? the Tulsa Branch of the M.

K. k. T. Railroad was b u i l t in 1381 and 1882. The M. V.

Railroad was buil t in 1904. the K. 0 . & G. Railroad bu i l t

south out of Miami, Indian Territory, in 1907.

/CREEK COUNCIL HOUSES

Before the Civ i l War the old Creek Counoil house was

at High Springs which you "would locate today as being

Counoil H i l l , Oklahoma. This Council House was two double

log houses put together with a large gal lery between them.

After the Civil'Tlar the Creek Council house was b u i l t

at the Creek Nation's oapi to l , Okmulgee, Indian Territory.

This Council house was constructed of Stone and s t i l l stands

at the present time in r ight down town Okmulgee* •*%>


' — 257

« ' 6 5 ' % .

COMMENTS . -

Jake Simmons better known to a l l his friends as "Uncle

Jake" is a very interesting man to talk to. He ia not only

faniliar with the happenings of the tines a half a century

or more ago but is right up to the minute at the present

time. There is nothing more he enjoys than to oontact his

boyhood friends and talk over the days when they were boys",

the good times they enjoyed together as well as those,during

the trying times. His education is limited but his prac-

tical knowledge of affairs, together with his limited edu-

cation, has made him a great character, tie loves his home

and has always made a devoted husband and a loving father*

As you will note from this interview, he started lifo in a

very humble way and' his f irst Job was for only six dollars

a month but he forged on, availing himself of every oppor-'

tunity until he jnade himself reasonably confortable in his

retiring days as farâs worldly goods are concerned. Eis

wife, Mrs. Simmons, reiterates that she would love to enjoy

the good things that,she enjoyed. In her early days for she

loved to card, spin, and weave her cloth and made her thread

and that she has located a catalog where sha can purchase an

old spinning "wheel and i t is her intention to pass her idle

hours, living again the h urs she has spent at the old

spinning wheel.

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