. . tfOODALfr, f/ILLIAM Q. INTERVIEW; • • ,-•«* Nb. 2191 Chauacey 0* Moojee, Supervisor ' . . ~ 80

Indi ah-Pioneer/History,- S-149 ApriA l 3, 1937 James R* Caraelowey ' • •:" Research Field Worker* * . •* ' ' Interview: Wra'^ Q. Woodall ., • ' Vinita, Oklahoma • '-'..•.:' • " . ' * \ B. F. D; #3

My name is William C. Woodall. I was born in Nation, Indian Terri-

Delaware District, on April 20, 1870. I received my education in ths na- tional school of the Cherokee lotion and was married on June 10, 1892 to .Sarah KLlen Marker, a half-breed Delaware Indian. «Ve are the parents of six children as follows': • , ' -.'_*•••

A * - . Lydia •. . '" "i. - . . " • Stand «Vatie. • A ^ '>- _ Vera Marguer>te -. • 'f " Charles Washington Hazel • ' i < •.

• A Alma Rothie.. , ^ « ly grandfather was George CaraiLWoodall, a. white man, who married Ellen Moore, a full-blood Cherokee, in December, 1827. He was born April 27, 18C4 asd died at

Spavinaw, .June 1, 1880.. " , ' l • * * '

* My,grandmother, Ellen Ltoore, was born in 18.07 and died in 4875. Both of my * * ' * * " grandparents were buried in the old Spavinaw Cemetery, where lake Spavinaw is now located. These graves were removed westward to make room for the lake/which -f i was built by the 'cit* y of "Tulsa Charle. Thesy Woodallere the, parentwho marries of:d Susannah Watie. , a ', . daughter of , a noted Cherokee general in *he Civil W Annie WWoodalll , who marrieidd JJame s DDuncan f Elizabeth Woodall, married Benjamin Landrum . • v F/illiam Coffee Woodall,. married Targuerite A Rpose t ana I^irguerite Spradlin, • - -'James Tuck Woodall, married Elizabeth Perdue ., - ' Thomas Jefferson Woodall, never married _ - "" • John Peter ^Woodall, married 1/ary Thorn and ^ Mava M, Cecil, nee Sandors * • ," • t . „. Jtouisa Woodall, married Isaac Shouse Nannie Woodall, never married, died a"t the age of 18 ' •• • • . * • .- - X\^T •- / "' George Washicgton/Woodall, married Susannah Muskrat Stand Watie (Pony) Woodall, never married. , .tjfltLIAM C. INTERVIEW. . *' '. ' . *

'" , " '-3- .. No, 2191 (ConVd) - • . All,,of the aboye, of^my uncles aid aunts, are deceased, • p. ,. • My story will center on my father, William Coffee Wooda-11, and two of his . brothers, James Tuck Woodali ana John Peter Woodall, whose lives were so close- ly interwoyen that they could scarcely be separated. All three were school teachers and known as great educators and were also active in tke politics of the and held many offices of honor. Lured by Gold. Rush In 18.58, George, C, Woodall,, my grandfather," lured by the tales of gold found •x in California, sold his slaves and cattle, mustered a wagon train and took his family and near relatives and started on the long trek west. There were twenty- f . r r : four wagons in the train, most of which carried provisions and feed. Horses were used on five wagons, six head of oxen were used on each of the other wagons and Jhey took extra, oxen for those that might play out • The wagons with the horses could make,so much better time thanthe ox teams that they always went ahead and f ' * ' ., would inaka camp and prepare the meals while the ox teams were catching up, ' James Coffee and Tom walked every step of the way and droy'e. the lead ox •fcsanis* Twelve to fourteen miles was a big days drive and often they would be compelled' to tarry for several days at a time to rest the horses and oxen. They also took twenty head of milk cows to furnish milk on the way and for a start when they got to California, but only got through with twelve S§bd, All but two of the horses made the trip through. Several of the oxen died on the way and before they got through several of the milk cows were used in the place 'of oxen, . . • *••• Encounters Wild Tribes They were always on the lookout for the wild tribes of' Indians of the west. One morning when, they were about" the middle of Kansas, they saw an Indian peering over a mound, not far from the read, and soon he showed himself and came down the ; slope to the oamp~, talked a few minutes fagr $he sign language,"when they asked P'[him,t. ...o" eat,, asr the• y• were jus" t eajln' g breakfast/ , "•••."which he did an• d then' left them* t, WILLIAM C. .' INTERVIEW. •

~2- . * No. 2191 (Cont»d) ~ By sun-up the wagon train was on the^oad again and' all day long they could see a roan on a horse a long way ahead*> That night, just after they had irade camp and were eating their supper, four big braves came riding into camp. Of course all were scared and the womgaL grabbed their children and made fgr the wagons* and the men quickly gathered into groups about the camp but the fright had been for*"nothing a,s the Indians by much sign language and grunts.let j;hem know they were friends* They were gjLven their supper and treated" with great respect and were also given some sugar and cured meat** The next morning .the sane Indians

Jk. came back and brought a lot of fresh meat end gave it to the wagon train and- so \ - was, all the way to California. An Indian would ride ahead to tell the wild* tribes not to bother'the train-as they were and. were friendly* These" Indian runners rode in relays, all the way across the plains. They fed. a lqt of the wild Indians but it paid in the long run for it made, -them safe; I One old Indian, after he had eaten all he could hold, pointed at one of the ,, little children, then away, off, bade at the bean pot, then stuck his finger down

\ his throat, and in that way he toM them that his little papoose was hontp?y» He \ couldn't see anything to put the'beans' in, so he took off his moccasins and filled [ than with beans, then he took all the "biscuits he could carry in the other arm"

\ - • • - • Land away he weat* The women folks didn't like this as they had to cook the bre^d i • • • * - • on Dutch Ovens and would prepare enough at one time to last through the day. >*v Makes Shoes for Oxen 'I ' . The ox teams became, so lame from pulling through the sand that their feet wouM get so sore tfrey had to stop for days.and rest* They finally discovered

• • • /' • . * '' that they could help them by making boots by cutting off the tops of their boots* and making shoes for the oxen. This proved so successful that every boot top in crowd was used.before tiiey reached their journey^s end. My Uncle, J* Peter Woodall, was a blacksmith by trade 'and it fell his duty Jo "WOODAIfc, WILLIAM C. -IKTERVXlEV/." • / % • : - No. S191- {Cbnt»d.) • keep the horses ohod and the wagons repaired while enribute. «."• -/ | •" Indian sees first'churn % mother was churning in camp one day when an Indian came up and stood the whole time*she was churning, laughing to see her work the dash up and down. Fi- nally when the butter began to come, he wiped hie finger across tjhe top of her - , ' - A . * chum and tasted the Jbutter and grunted, %-g-h", good. She threatened to hit him with a stick and be just laughed^the harder. / Reaches Journey*s end They arrived high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in northern' California, near where the town of Susans^ille now stands, family fatigued, stock given out and

. . • « / they could g> no fartner. It hajd required six months and four days to make this trip and it was beginning to get cold. They set about building houses for the"' winter. They landed at a lumber camp and lumber was'easy to get. •:••• California in 1858 Our party went to California for the' sole purpose of prospecting for gold and the first thing they did after getting established was to set out prospect- ing. They found a little gold but not enough to pay much. They were « little too far north for the main gold field. The state was yet unsettled and where we were up in the mountains was a regular wilderness. A huge lumber camp ------There.was a huge lumber camp where they stopped that had not been there lone- They were in the midst of the densest forest they every behe3d. The Giant Red »ood was the kind of trees they were sawing. They were between 18 and E4 feet -51 through and the mill would not fool with anything smaller, at that time. The mill men offered to hire the bunch as soon as they set camp but they had their hearts set on gold and did not go to work for some time but after they discovered

. • ••' • the gold was not in paying ^antitieB they all went to work in the lumber camp, ex- w cept Uncle Teto, who was only sixteen years old.. Ha kept on hunting gold for a* after a while he gave it up and opened up a blade smith shop, in which * V/OODALL, WILLIAM,C. " ?

. ' *5- . • No. 2191" (ContM) ' be did well. Their mules and ox teams were "in demand as it took a whole train of them to move one of those big logs." The stumps were to large that my father built him a house on the stump of ^one of the larger^tirees. Later-on when the

thflir wcmen folks to the camp, they held dances on those large * ' stumps. Upright saws were used in^sawing the lumber and the tree had to be circled, while sawing it down.. These sews were;rery dakgerous to work around

i ai^L our bunch did not work in the mill but cut logs out in the timber. My father

- . • a • saw a xnan slip and fall into the saw, at the mill, and it cut. his head off and he^fell out to one side and flopued around just like a chicken with- its head*cut off. It made the crew so nervous that the mill dosed down until after the fu- * neral.. His coffin was made right there at the mill from the Red Wood they were sawing and my father said it was the prettiest coffin he ever saw.

The huge logs were rolled down the mountain to the foot of the hill and huge wheels made of logs were made into trucks on which they were loaded with teams and hauled to the mill» When one of those trucks mired in the mud, they were hard to get out*

No stores in Camp

There were no stores in the mount sins and long-trains of wagons would come** and bring provisions and 1jake back loads of lumber. It'was three years after our party arrived until the-first store was established. Very few of the lumber men brought their wives to the camp and our women folks made good money cooking and g doing their washing and mending. Our men folks were making money so fast . that they forgot all about their gold field. Peter,'the youngest of my unclesT^- who kept on prospecting uncovered a small pocket of goM and followed it out for some distance when it began to play out. Some man cams along and offered him a gold watch-for his claim and -he sold* The man went right off in another di- rection and found plenty of gold* JSy uncle called that "just Indian luck". He quit prospecting then ana went JUito'. the blacksmith business with his father. •-. WO0DAU,,' WILLIAMVC.,' . " " -6- . No, 2191 (ConVd)

' ' ' • ' • l" * : ' Big Bear Hunt Staged • ...

There were plenty of gome of all kinds In the mountains and meat was pleati-

ful«- to party had killed "about, every kind of game but a bear# So -they* organ-

ized a party of about twenty,men one day and went out,to bag a b3ar» They haeV*'

become a nuisance around the camp* They would slip into camp and if no one was

home they would go right into the^house and help themselves to anything /bhqy

found to eat# They carried off calves^and pigs and it was agreed that they were

going to kill off -tSie bears in that neck of the The first day they were out,, they found a bear# W£ were marching single P f r • . file through the brush, when My Uncle Pete walked right face into one* He wheeled;

to run when the bear grabbed him by his belt but the belt broke and my uncle es-

caped but it left the bear right in ray Uncle Tom Moore's face and it grabbed him

by the top of the. head and almost scalped him* It gf-abbed him in the side with

the other paw but by this time, my grandfather, George iVoodall, who was a dead

shot wijbh a rifle had recovered sifficiently to aim at the bearTs heart and fired' 1 The bear keeled over dead and our party had th,eir fiicst bear meat.

•In California; Ten Years

My father and'his party hadbeen in California ten years and were well satis- fiedwith the country.^,. The Civil War bad been foughtt was over and the slaves cet free and they Icnew little about it. HJvery thing was peaceful in tihe mountains* -f Homeward Boxuad .

Sty grandfather, George C, Woodall, had taken all of his children to California wi15i him but one daughter, Elizabeth, th.e wife of Benjamin Franklin Landrunu In

1868, she wrote her fattier that there was much talk of allotting all the land in the Indian Territory about 1870 and that if they expeoted to share in the allot- ment they would have, to come home at once. Land could have been had in Calif or- 4 4* • nia t&ose days by 'homestandiiig,but no one was taking advantage of it and there was scarcely any one there yet aa& my father aaid^ "Foolsthat we were"^ began to INTERVIEW. • • • «?*., , .Jib, .2191 (Cont'd) V They fitted up just enough wagons and teams to bring the pa^ty Jiack and thia time they didn't bring any ax teams and made a groat deal more progress in their trip back home. Agmy. posts had been established over tbe Santa Fe, Trail, all* the way back, just about far enough.epart to .make in^a day, so they did not have to take eaough provisions for the whole trip as fhey dlddoing. They did^not en-

counter an Indian all the way back. The government had dealt with the Indianst white they were gone, and they didn't bother u«T. Lilce our first trip, we left one sister behind, in California. She had married Isaac Shouse, they were well/- located and decided to stay but before the land was finally allotted here they came .and allotted th-eir land In Craig County, near Welch• We reached tbe Indian Territory in August 1868 and settled in Delaware Dis- • trict'on Duck'Creek, near where the sister lived we had left here. The first thing that happened after we got here, James,Tuck ft'6odall was mar- riocKw Elizabeth Perdue, a Chtrokeo girl. .Three of the boysj Coffee, Tuck and Pete of.cured schools and began teaching that fall. Country Badly_Torn__ " • <> When our party arrived ba~ek7 here in 1868, they were surprised to find ths country badly torn and divided against itself. The Civil War had torn them to pieces, freed the slaves, of which the Cherokees owned many, and left many of than in bankruptcy*. My grandfather, George C» Woodall, had just so3d 40 slaves before going to California end in this he considered himself lucky, the Eastern, and Western Cherokees were at daggers, points, over the selection" of their chiefs and the Fin Indians were killing and robbing people by the whole- sale. Many of tne peace loving citizens had fled in haste to Texas for safety* In 1875, my father. William Coffee WoodeH. entered the race for councilman from Delaware Distri ct. Three full^bloods heard of it and told some of tthe neighbors they were going to kill.him because he was running on an opposite party from them. The neighbor told my father about it and he was prepared for Bun«

oral.of hiS brothers and neighbors stationed behind shrubbery in the front yard when thefy rode^up* My father stayed in the house and when the Indians dalled him to the front door &> khopt him, ten men with rifles arose from their hiding places and with pointed rifles, never, said a W)rd, jind neither did the Indians* They rode away btit cafe© back the next day without guns$ to talk it over with my father* "He was a preacher and talked Cherokee fluently. Ho gave them such a' talking to that they arose, shook hands' and, told him they would support him. He was elected aixi never, lad any more trouble with, the full-bloods*

. iVoodalls in Politics. "' 4 In 1871, i.-illiam Coffee woodall, was elected as District Judge and again in - 1873* Ee was elected to the council in 1875 and again in 1877* • Hi s~ brother, Jan»eo Tuck «ood.all, succeeded Mm as councilman in 1379. My father had secured son© kind of work ,at the National'Council and moved to* Tahlequah where he lived

until statehood. A * '. . - . . e' ' ' .My oldest brother* James Bonaparte" iVoodall. ji&s elected to the national Co^n- \ oil'1 in* 1893 and. again in 1901* *He was elected solicitor of ^Delaware District in 1891. In 1897 he was elected;as District Judge of Delaware District*, William Coffee floodalL was elected to tiie senate in 1385. William Coffee ^oodall and I»larguerite Reece woodall were the parents of five children as followst ' ,- - " . '. James Bonaparte . ~ Lucy • ' - • . . William C- * /* " " . Susanna ^ - Stand Watie ' '- * . - COlivIEOTS t . This is the story of the Woodall f «bily. as decendents of George Caruth woodall is concerned and while I have* jivjen the credit of the interview to » C* tvoodall, Yinitag. R« R* ^3, I gatherbd many of the facets from other members of the tv&Xteft, AXX of fho fir at And seoo'^d generation^ ere dead but many of the