Vol. 24 No. 2 Old Navajoe by Edward Everett Dale
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Vol. 24 No. 2 Old Navajoe by Edward Everett Dale --------------------------------------------------- 128 The Nonpartisan League in Oklahoma by Gilbert C. Fite ----------------------------- 146 The American Indian Exposition in Oklahoma by Muriel H. Wright ---------------- 158 The Educational Activities of Distinguished Catholic Missionaries Among the Five Civilized Tribes by Sister Mary Urban Kehoe, C.D.P. --------------------------------- 166 Oklahoma War Memorial – World War II by Muriel H. Wright --------------------- 183 General Benjamin Henry Grierson by Carolyn Thomas Foreman -------------------- 195 Notes and Documents ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 219 Book Review --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 232 Necrologies John Joseph Shea by R.H. Hudson ----------------------------------------------- 234 Thomas Fenlon Shea by R.H. Hudson ------------------------------------------- 235 William Jesse Caudill by Robert L. Williams ---------------------------------- 236 William Flavius Hendricks by Robert L. Williams ---------------------------- 238 William Duwayne Jenkins by Robert L. Williams ----------------------------- 239 Perry Elijah Waid by Robert L. Williams --------------------------------------- 240 Lewis Beal Jackson by Robert L. Williams ------------------------------------- 240 Minutes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 242 Chronicles of OklaAoma OLD NAVAJOE By Edward Everett Date• About ten miles east and three miles north of the 11 ■ 1ey of AlttlS some seven steep mountain peaks rise abruptly from the level plain to a maximum height of about a thousand feet above the surrounding prairie. They extend north and south across the open end of a horseshoe bend made by the North Fork of Red River as it sweeps eastward and then back in a great loop some four or five miles in diameter. These peaks were formerly called the Navajo Mountains because of the tradition that about the middle of the last cenhuy a great battle was fought at their base between a war party of Navajo, who had come east to prey upon the horse herds. of the Comanches, and a band of warriors of the latter tribe, in which the Navajo had been completely destroyed. Perhaps a mile west and slightly north of the highest peak of these mountains, on a low sandy hill, is a little wind-swept cemetery enclosed by a wire fence. No human habitation is near and this grass grown ''God's acre'' contains only a hundred or so graves, most of them marked by very modest stones on which are usually carved only the names and dates of the birth and death of those buried there. Here lie the bodies of more than one man who died '' with his boots on'' before the blazing six gun of an opponent and bf others who died peacefully in bed. Here also lie all that is mortal of little ehildren, and of tired pioneer women who came west with their hus bands seeking a home on the prairie only to find in its bosom that rest which they had so seldom known in life. Half a mile south of this small cemetery are cultivated fields whe:re the plowman often turns up bits of glass and broken china or scraps of rusty and corroded metal and, if he is new to the com munity, he may be deeply puzzled as to their presence here so remote from any dwelling. In such cases inquiry of some old settler may reveal to the curious individual that these fields were once the site of the thriving little town of Navajoe. Nothing remains of Navajoe today. It is one with Nineveh and Tyre, flintlock guns, side saddles, baby golf, and all those other things that lie within the boundaries of the land of Used to Be. Yet, in its time Navajoe was a flourish ing center of commerce with half a dozen stores and other business establishments and the dwellings of a score or more of families. • Member of the Publication Committee and of the Board of Direc.tors of the Oklahoma Historical Society for more than twenty-five years, Dr. Edward Everett Dale. well known Oklahoma historian and author of many historical volumes, is lleaearch Profeseor of History in tbe University of Oklahoma, Norman.-Ed. 014 N(ll}(ljoe 129 Since the nearest railroad point was Vernon, Texas, nearly fifty miles to the south and there was none to the north, east or west for from eighty to a hundred and twenty-five miles, Navajoe had a vast trade territory and was the southern gateway to a huge though thinly peopled empire. In consequence, it was to some extent both a business and social center for an enormous area. To it came set tlers from their prairie claims often many miles away to barter butter and eggs for sugar and coffee or to purchase with their few hard-earned dollars shoes, dry goods, or clothing. Here also at times came the boss of a herd of cattle to the trail running a few miles west of town bringing the chuck wagon to replenish his stock of provisions before entering upon the long stretch of unsettled lands extending north to Kansas. In addition there often came a band of Comanche or Kiowa Indians to pitch their round tepees near the north edge of town. Here they remained for two or three days strolling about from store to store clad in their bright blankets or shawls and moccasins, spending their '' grass money'' for groceries or red calico, selling in contravention of law their annuity issue blankets, coats, trousers, and coarse "squaw shoes" for a price determined by their own needs or wants rather than by the value of the articles sold. Above all the men spent many hours playing monte with the three or four professional gamblers who were permanent residents of the town, dealing out the cards on a blanket spread on the ground inside the tepee while the women looked on or pottered about camp cooking, bringing water from the public well, or busying themselves with other chores. To Navajoe also came at times young people to attend a dance or party given by some citizen of the litt]e town or a box supper or literary society held at the small unpainted school house. Among these would-be merrymakers might be included a long haired, un shaven cowhand from some remote line camp on the nearby Indian reservation. Riding in with his '' good clothes'' in a sack strapped behind his saddle, he usually put up his horse at the little wagon yard and surreptitiously made his way to the store to buy a white shirt and thence to the barber shop hoping against hope that he might not meet one of the girls of town until he had been able to make considerable improvement in his personal appearance. Once in the barber shop, he demanded '' the works'' and emerged an hour later clad in his best raiment with his hair cut, shampooed and '' ton iced'' and his face shaved, bayrummed, and powdered. In fact, he was so transformed that his partner who had remained in the camp on Sandy, East Otter, or Deep Red, sometimes because of a reluctance to come within easy reach of the long arm of the law, would hardly have been able to recognize him either by sight or smell! ! uo CAronicla o/ Oklalunna The foundations of Navajoe were laid about 1886 when two brothers-in-law, W. H. Acers and H. P. Dale, established the first general store, no doubt hoping to get some Indian trade, as well as to provision the outfits of trail herds on the way north, and also to supply the needs of settlers that were by this time beginning to come into the area in considerable numbers. Eventually Acers and Dale applied for the establishment of a post office under the name of "Navajo" but the Post Office Department insisted on adding an "e-" to the name to avoid possible confusion with another Navajo _post office in Arizona so it was officially recorded as N avaj<>e. Undoubtedly, the spot for this store was selected largely be cause of the proximity of the great Kiowa-Comanche Indian reserva tion whose border was only three miles away and of the cattle trail which passed four miles to the west. In addition it was in the midst of fertile lands and the high mountains furnished a picturesque and convenient landmark for. the embryo town. There were in ad dition the promotional activities of the man who was in some re spects the father of Navajoe--the professional booster, J. S. Works. Navajoe lay within the limits of the area bounded by the two Red rivers and the hundredth meridian which was claimed by Texas and had been organized by that state as a county as early as 1860. This claim the government of the United States disputed asserting that the real Red River was the South Fork of that stream and in consequence Greer County was really outside the limits of Texas and so part of the public domain of the United States. Joseph S. Works was a typical pioneer of the promoter type. He was a tall, spare individual who always wore a buckskin shirt and his hair in long curls reaching to his shoulders. Because of his peculiar dress he was commonly known as "Buckskin Joe". Ap parently he became interested in the Greer County lands about 1887 or possibly earlier. At any rate he came to the site of Navajoe about that time and erected for himself and family a small house of the '' half dugout type'' which he asserted cost only thirty-five dollars to build. In addition be built a hotel to accommodate land seekers. Ha was energetic and ambitious, with wide contacts and ample ex perience in land promotion. His enthusiasm for Greer County, par ticularly that part of it lying about Navajoe, was boundless. The recently completed Fort Worth and Denver Railroad extending northwest across Texas was only twelve or fifteen miles south of the Red River.