Editorials 213 Fort Mcculloch W
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Chronicles of Oklahoma Volume 4, No. 3 September, 1926 Editorials 213 Fort McCulloch W. B. Morrison 216 Hillside Mission Floyd E. Miller 223 Governor Cole V. M. Locke, Jr. 229 Letter from Mrs. Frank Korn 232 Some Notes of Interest Concerning Early-Day Operations in Indian Territory J. Y. Bryce 233 Letter Mrs. G. B. Hester 241 Some of the Pioneers of Pottawatomie County Mrs. J. W. Drake 242 The Keetoowah Society J. W. Duncan 251 The Indian Territory in 1878 Col. William Penn Adair 255 Historical Sketch of Col. Samuel Checote, Once Chief of the Creek Indians O. A. Lambert 275 Proposed Amendments to Constitution 281 Oklahoma’s Only Daughter of the American Revolution Mrs. A. J. Arnote 283 Biography of Captain William Graham Baird Mrs. Logan G. Hysmith 286 Judge Overton Love 288 Necrology 291 An Early-Day Baptist Missionary Baxter Taylor 296 Kiowa Chapter, No. 650 E. S. Mary M. Rogers 298 Book Reviews 302 EDITORIALS Page 213 Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. This is true in the fullest sense as it applies to our country, the State of Oklahoma, and to those of the present day no statement comes with more terrific force. We have seen the passing of a number of civilization’s essentials, things that were absolutely necessary to the conveniences of the days in which our fathers lived. Things without which happiness and prosperity would have been unknown; but now they are looked upon with curiosity, mingled with amazement. It was necessary then to have in every home, and on every farm some of the crudest implements of which we can conceive. Yet these crude instruments were the source of profit and pleasure. While we laugh at their crudeness to-day, those who lived before us, used them, to make possible the good things of to-day. These days make demands of us that were not made in the days in which our ancestors strove with the forces and elements of nature, and while we laugh at their accomplishments, in its crudeness, we must remember they gave to us all we have that is really worthwhile. Those coming after us, will in like manner, look with more or less amusement on our accomplishments and wonder how we managed to survive. The old spinning wheel, the loom, the cotton and wool cards, all of which were used with all the dexterity known to man; the bull tongue plow, the old frow, along with the ox cart, all of which were very important factors in making this country habitable in the days gone by. These things are only seen on exhibition among the curiosities of a past civilization; but they are the evidences of a civilization that combatted obstacles with which we will never have to contend. These things with the past civilizations of this country have gone into the rubbish heap, worthless, abandoned and all but for- Page 214 gotten, cherished only as they remind us of former days, whose generation blazed for us a pathway leading to heights to which they never attained. J. Y. BRYCE. In discussing "Publication Activities of a State Historical Society," Mr. Benj. F. Shambaugh declared that publication was the goal of State historical society work, since the dissemination of State and local history depends largely upon the printed page. The publications of such a society should be carefully planned and systematically issued in series. Among the standard series are: the monthly magazine, the quarterly, the archives series, the biographical series, the economic history series, the social history series, the political history series, and the bulletins of information. Since the purpose of all such publications is the preservation as well as the dissemination of history, attention should be given to the quality of the paper and the character of the binding, as well as the format. ETHYL E. MARTIN, Executive Secretary, The State Historical Society of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa. To one who has grown from infancy to mature life in this country, nothing is more significant than the mode of conveyance. When we remember that our only way of getting over the country years ago was the lumber wagon, sometimes drawn by horses, of an inferior grade, more often by oxen, over roads that were almost impassable, and absolutely so, during high water, which necessitated a week’s travel and an unusual supply of patience to make a journey of one hundred miles, all of which staggers our belief when we step into an automobile and make the distance in less than half a day. The writer’s first farm activities were with a yoke of oxen hooked to a sixteen inch plow with a span of Texas ponies hitched in front, with the writer on the lead horse; by this method we succeeded in turning the first twenty acres of land Page 215 on the farm opened up by father, near Kiowa, in what is now Pittsburg County. The year of statehood, the writer of this article had the pleasure of addressing the members of the Federated Commercial Clubs in Oklahoma City, when we made this statement, "It will soon be possible for one to take breakfast in Oklahoma City, lunch in Chicago and back home for the evening meal"; at that time this statement was taken as a huge joke, and much merriment was had, apparently at the speaker’s expense, but now it is possible, and we have not yet fully come into our own. Our present mode of conveyance has practically dispensed with time and distance, the road is shortened, and the time is lessened. What will be our possibilities when we have acquired the habit of using electricity as a means of our locomotion? There are hidden forces lying dormant in the earth and above, if by accident discovered, before we have become sufficiently skilled to properly apply it to our use, to blow the world into atoms. Among the startling inventions and discoveries of the future, none are to be more significant than our method of propelling. J. Y. B. FORT McCULLOCH. W. B. Morrison Page 216 One of the interesting bits of historic remains in Bryan County is still to be found near old Nail’s Crossing on Blue about ten miles north of Durant. On the south side of the river, and about two hundred yards from its banks, the visitor may find to-day the well- marked outline of the redoubts and bastions built there in the summer of 1862 by troops of Confederates from Texas, Arkansas and Indian Territory, under the direction of General Albert Pike, at that time in command of all the forces of the Confederacy in the Department of the Indian Territory. While now overgrown with trees, and with not a vestige of the headquarters, or temporary buildings remaining, the works still make an impressive showing to the visitor, and are well worth going to see. Some hundred yards or more to the right and left of the main fortifications may be found remains of the arsenal pits, where ammunition was stored. It is hard to realize after spending a day among the peaceful scenes along the river and near the fort and crossing, that this was once a place teeming with life and throbbing with activity. Nail’s Crossing was on the military road that ran from Fort Gibson via Perryville (near present site of McAlester), Boggy Depot, Fort Washita, into Texas and the Southwest. From 1850 on this was a much-traveled road, and thousands of adventurers, bound for homes in Texas, or for the gold fields of California crossed the Blue at Nail’s as they pushed on to the unknown West. Remains of a dam are still to be seen, and bits of the cable of the ferry-boat, used in times of high water, and by those who preferred not to risk the ford, or the crude wooden bridge which generally spanned the stream at this point. General Pike was placed in command of Confederate troops in the Territory in November, 1861. His first official act was to establish elaborate headquarters, and construct a fort just one mile north of Bacone College, on the banks of the Arkansas near Muskogee. This he named Cantonment Davis in honor of the president of the Confederacy. Pike was always something of a visionary, and while the preliminary esti- Page 217 mate of the cost of this plant was moderate, it is said that nearly a million dollars was expended on buildings and defences before they were completed. From the very first, Pike was at variance with his military superiors, charging them with an entire disregard of the treaties with the Indians, made by Pike the previous summer. According to these treaties, the Indian Territory was to be defended against invasion, his Indian allies furnished with weapons arid supplies by the Confederacy, and the Indian troops not to be taken out of the Territory for military service. However, either through lack of ability to furnish the supplies, or through a disregard for the claims of the Indians—or probably both—the Confederate authorities paid little attention to Pike’s complaints or to the terms of the treaties. With the advance of the Federals into Arkansas in the early spring of 1862, Pike was ordered to send all his forces into that state to the support of Van Dorn. He left Cantonment Davis, on which he had expended so much money and labor, never to return. His Indian troops fought well at the important battle of Pea Ridge in northwest Arkansas, but discouraged by the Confederate defeat and the lack of interest on the part of his superiors, General Pike at once returned to the Territory, placed Colonel D.