drifter
Well-known Member
I live in Oklahoma, the former Indian Territory, situated across the lower Red River from Texas and south of the states of Kansas, Nebraska, South and North Dakotas. There are thirty-nine Indian tribes in Oklahoma but only five of them native to the Territory.
The thirty-four other tribes were rounded up and transported to Oklahoma by the US military, that is what was left of them. There is one exception. The Cherokee nation, who was marched from Georgia to Oklahoma under escort of the US military. That walk is know as the Trail of Tears. Many Cherokees died during that migration. The word, Oklahoma in the Choctaw language means ‘red man.’
I have an association with some of them.
After the Civil War or War Between The States as some prefer, A land grant was established along the South side of the Red River. It was located north of Nocona, Texas. The land across the Red River belonged to the Wichita Indians and it was hoped trade between the new settlers and the peoples of the Wichita Indians could and would be established and a friendly environment maintained. And for a while this did indeed happen.
My great grandfather and his family were living in the township of Winchester in Clark County, in Kentucky and were some of the Clark County residents who took advantage of this particular land grant in Texas.
They traveled mostly by covered wagon but there were some who didn’t have or couldn’t afford a covered wagon but instead, loaded what they could carry onto their topless wagon, loaded up the kids and headed west, their hope and spirits uplifted by the promise of free land in the new territory.
A colony was organized, property settled on, and duly recorded, and the new settlers went about the business of planting crops and schooling their children. It was hard work and much bartering look place. It was to their great advantage that game was readily available. The settlement began to thrive. They built cabins and looked forward to their first harvest. Trade with the indians was generally a good thing. They traded what they could do without for hides which could be used for a number of purposes.
Not sure how the trouble started. It has been suggested an Indian tried to steal a gun, a treasured possession of the frontiersmen, was caught and shot. It had previously been established that much petty thievery was carried on by the Indians. However it started, the settlers were not prepared for the attacks that followed. Many settlers were killed, men, women, and children. In several surprise raids the settlers were forced to abandon their homes and the settlers were eventually driven on South and Southwest to a site north of present day Albany, Texas, where a US Fort was being built to protect settlers. A troop of calvary was already in place. It was called Fort Griffin. Outside the fort a community of settlers had gathered seeking protection from Indian raids, mostly Comanches. The families driven from their grants along the Red River moved into this new community known first as the Flats and later took on the name of the Fort and became Fort Griffin. Their land grants of course abandoned. Life was a struggle. Indian raids were common and continued until the US Calvary and armed civilians at last prevailed.
I come from this environment of settlers, these pioneers, moving west seeking a better life. I can draw a direct line to those brave, desperate souls who left their homeland in Ireland and Scotland and trekked however they could to America, seeking a better way and a better life. My wife ’s family was part of the Oklahoma land rush that settled Oklahoma. Her family settled on the north side of the Red River in Southwest Oklahoma, beginning life here living in dirt dugout until they could afford to build a house.
All that remains of the original settlement along the Texas side of the Red River, north of Nocona, Texas is a metal marker. I have been there several times. It tells the story of these settlers of which you have here read.
The thirty-four other tribes were rounded up and transported to Oklahoma by the US military, that is what was left of them. There is one exception. The Cherokee nation, who was marched from Georgia to Oklahoma under escort of the US military. That walk is know as the Trail of Tears. Many Cherokees died during that migration. The word, Oklahoma in the Choctaw language means ‘red man.’
I have an association with some of them.
After the Civil War or War Between The States as some prefer, A land grant was established along the South side of the Red River. It was located north of Nocona, Texas. The land across the Red River belonged to the Wichita Indians and it was hoped trade between the new settlers and the peoples of the Wichita Indians could and would be established and a friendly environment maintained. And for a while this did indeed happen.
My great grandfather and his family were living in the township of Winchester in Clark County, in Kentucky and were some of the Clark County residents who took advantage of this particular land grant in Texas.
They traveled mostly by covered wagon but there were some who didn’t have or couldn’t afford a covered wagon but instead, loaded what they could carry onto their topless wagon, loaded up the kids and headed west, their hope and spirits uplifted by the promise of free land in the new territory.
A colony was organized, property settled on, and duly recorded, and the new settlers went about the business of planting crops and schooling their children. It was hard work and much bartering look place. It was to their great advantage that game was readily available. The settlement began to thrive. They built cabins and looked forward to their first harvest. Trade with the indians was generally a good thing. They traded what they could do without for hides which could be used for a number of purposes.
Not sure how the trouble started. It has been suggested an Indian tried to steal a gun, a treasured possession of the frontiersmen, was caught and shot. It had previously been established that much petty thievery was carried on by the Indians. However it started, the settlers were not prepared for the attacks that followed. Many settlers were killed, men, women, and children. In several surprise raids the settlers were forced to abandon their homes and the settlers were eventually driven on South and Southwest to a site north of present day Albany, Texas, where a US Fort was being built to protect settlers. A troop of calvary was already in place. It was called Fort Griffin. Outside the fort a community of settlers had gathered seeking protection from Indian raids, mostly Comanches. The families driven from their grants along the Red River moved into this new community known first as the Flats and later took on the name of the Fort and became Fort Griffin. Their land grants of course abandoned. Life was a struggle. Indian raids were common and continued until the US Calvary and armed civilians at last prevailed.
I come from this environment of settlers, these pioneers, moving west seeking a better life. I can draw a direct line to those brave, desperate souls who left their homeland in Ireland and Scotland and trekked however they could to America, seeking a better way and a better life. My wife ’s family was part of the Oklahoma land rush that settled Oklahoma. Her family settled on the north side of the Red River in Southwest Oklahoma, beginning life here living in dirt dugout until they could afford to build a house.
All that remains of the original settlement along the Texas side of the Red River, north of Nocona, Texas is a metal marker. I have been there several times. It tells the story of these settlers of which you have here read.