SP1NCE, JOSEPHINE. ' INTERVIEW. 6932

- • 1 1 - ' For.m D-(S-149)

LEGEND & STORY fORM :105WORKS- 'PROGRESS JUDLBilSTRAI.ION

indian-Pionet r History Project for Oklahoma

3PENCE, JOSEPHINE (MRS.)- . »• INTERVIEW; " #6932.

Field //orkorf.s naiue Nannie Lee Bums

This roporfc made on '(date) July 29 ; 193 7

1. This lcfxrid wasfrom (n'imc) Erk. Josephine Spence

address 120 J ; Kg Miami, Oklahoma .

This person ib (i5?.lc or f^mile) Ivhite, Nop:ro, Indian,

If IndiM,, give tribe

i. Origin jjid,-History of legend or' story

From memory -v 4 „

3. .'."rite out th'j legend or-story, as camiJ^jb^ly- as possible,' . "ohsjts nd cttr.ch firiuly to this-form.' Sumbdr of sheets

attached 1° ' . - , - • . - . - , . .

InterviewBy Nannie

106

Mrs. Josephine SpenceLee Burn's, "Field (Yorker -

July 29, i'937

• - • My father, William iV. Williams, a white man,

was born in Crawford County, Indiana, December 26, 1826.

J.iy-motirer, Mary Jane Dawson^jr&s bor&=>ih'^8ush County,

Indiana,_ August 7, 1833. ' They. Trieti' in..|$nd-iana ana"

came to Iqwa. I was born in Kaokuk County, Iowa-y-V|?sp-

4%ber 7, 1859. ' ' . iV

CIVIL';V- E DAYS.

Father, four brothers and one brother-in-law en-

listed i'n- the* Northern Army from Iowa.

. , ' Farther served in Company I, First Iowa-Cavalry.

He saw much service -on the border of Ivlissouri and. Ark- '

ansasv and was".in the .battle..on .Cabin Jreek, near Pryor '

Creek,-'Oklahoma.'" ~ •. ' '- - ----- V - -- - ' • • - • - • . , - - —

. / 4. small,division of them were traveling- through..

and came near night to Cabin Creek. There was".a .little

bend where they' stopped, protected on one side'ty a cii-ff

•.•with the-river on the other side. These men decided to

U AJ.1-S

prised by an attack from their opponents', so complete was

it that liheiTr mule^ a'nd.artillery v\vefe pushed into the

* * * • " • , .' cree.k and the entire force killed or captured, except my "

i , '• . • t

father'and two or three men, whp escaped. They* walked to

j , "8- ..INTERVIEW. #6932.

. . . " • " ,.. ' 1 0 7

Osage, Kansas, taking three days*to get there and they

did not .have anything to,eat till they reached Osage,

• v-- • ity husband, ./illiam L. Spence, was born east pf - - v

Joplin, Missouri, at Moss Springs. His parents died

when he was quite small, so he went to live v/ithT'a

brother-in-law, Jim Anderson, who. had married his sister-.

He slicped a»ay and joined ^he array when quite young.*

S ' . . . . .

liarly Days. ^ , :

* • fcfy parents, lef t loyreuwhen I was six or seven

.years old and came to Mercer County, Missouri, where'

they stayed only a short time and thegn came on to ILan-• / ' • • - V

• §as >7here they'took a claim nine miles' "west of Colur.i- -bus", in Cherokee County, Kansas. Life 7/a^~hard in

•> * •

those days and many of these brave men and women who

had .tried to start here had grown discouraged and at ~, -* *

* • *

.this time a man by the name or Jay came along and

'bought' many'of their claims for a song. Some had

„ tried to improve and had bui-lt crude houses ar.d small/

''"buildings end had fenced and broke, ao.-.e sod, bu£ others

had only ploughed aaround *$-heir claims. "This'inan hung "#

around till finally some' of the more determined menj •

.noticing the effects.of'his talSr, took up/the matter a£d

ca(lled a meeting and feeling ran so hi^h/th^t they burn-

ed a figure "of him in effigy.' ' ' '/ ^- ' .•', .;

SPENCE, JOSiffHINE, Mrs . ' ' INTERVIEW. #6932. ; ,

' . ' • . ' * > 1 0 8

Here my girlhood days were spent, growing up withi

the new eount.ry and each year the school situation im-

provedJand I-received a fair education as it was consid-

ered in those days. • ^ ,

Marriage. . -

iiarch 17, 1880, I married .,'illian L. Spence, and -

I cane with him", my father and motner .;nd sister to the-

Indian Territory the next day. ^41 of us lived till the

folio wing December in a small three room house of native :m -

lumber, ,/e had one room 14 x 10, a l i t t l e bQd-room and

a very snail kitchen. Tins house was a quarter south-

west of tlie old leor ia school-house on the Javc Peery* t

place. .

"• Before we cane, father had gone to the' Indian , >->..

Agent at Seneca and secured, passes, or rather permits r~

for us to come across the line." ~7it that tine the soldiers

were stationed here and were moving out tho..e ./ho -had^crocsed

and. settled here ar.d who .v/er.e trying to iia s a "home for

themselves on the Indian land. ...vory time tr.ht .ve crossed

ti.c line into'iCansas or ..issouri, or returned ho.ne, v/e had.T^frrm-ff plU^fc^^XyJ

to shoti our passes. The soldiers always .;iet anyone eivther• *

g o i ^ or oominr.. ..'e. v;ere per;oi >,ted to coiae because my

. at". er had rented from an Indian and wasvnot attempting

to settle for himself. .

..SFENCE,'•" JOSEPHINE/w&8. --4- INTERVIEW. ' #6932*

v ' ' " ' • ' - ' ; • . •. • • •.. * "•" 1**9

The Boomer Movement'. , '

Tlie v#iapaws, who had by t r e a t y and'purchase

acquired the' land laying south of,.- the Kansas line',,• • * * . ' > 1 s

• • ' • \ - ' " v ' ' . . . . '

had. not be£n equipped..to make, a living here and ,vere . •' '->.

not permitted to -.sell e-yen a load of wood frbr, thoir

' country. They had found.A% so hard to exist that

Mo.st<-Qf then had lef t thoir hones here and gone to

-live amo2 : the .usages, a nd there were'very few .juapav/s

living here vmen fe came.^,"the country aas covered by

, the'blue stem .grass, in soioe places as^hi.^h as a nan*-s

headi so of course'was coveted by. ths- cattlenen.' Mailer,

Goodner and others had been pa_sturin.-' the ranf;e and wait-

ing for, the-tiirie .to expire when the ,uapaw country accord-

ing to the terms' of .the- t reaty iyouTd be thrown 6 >en for.. J (After. t-]iey'*had vacated the i r lands .for, so-

many.' y e a r s , . i t v/as-to be*opened, for settla>ent_.J

The governmnt also knowing this and'also knowing

•that so mar^of the ^uapaws had-left , had brought both

the'Poncas and the Nez Perces 'here, intending t o ' s e t t l e

"then..here, but the" ^u&paws had objected, so mu'ch that both• • i

' «s - - * *•

tribes'had beerTmoved farther into the s t i t e . Ky father

and brother both helped to r. ve ther . ' l • -' -

'The Nez^erces'were here I think only about six

months > nd_jfcheJgAtfecas v/ere-here

SPENCE, JOSEPHINE, MRS. , - 5 - INTERVIEW. " ' #6938 •

farmed ,some and as the Po'ncas were moved in August,

the ^uapaws got the-corn' thst^they had-planted.

TheN Perces were moved f i r s t and in the month

. . . of September $$& the Poncas the following August. ' 4 , . ,• # . •.- " • • - . _ - " . . . '•, • .. -• :Ziti

• ^ Vfoolard of" Barter Springs, took the contract to "move, them

• and i t was tfnder him that my father end brother helped.

They were moved in wagons, "

There had-^een an Indian c e l e b r a t i o n ' a t Arkansas

City and -most of tlie Kez Perces* w r e the re to a t t end ar.d

- "there ^ere left.a,p home.mostly tho 'o ld p.eople and the

children ^so bh'^e -«as nq;t so mny o£ them to moye, - ^

•POHCAS. . - ' . . " — , " . " " ' • ' . . . . "

"- . 5'he pbEoaswhile here Had l ived in. t e n t s and what-.•-•. • ' • • ' • • . / • • • - ' \

' ever .%^Yvcould st'retch up .so had no. improvements. They ,

_acaf£o

left^tkem exposed^ to ; tife sun, wind, e t c . -"They had a bury-r

ing ground on the-new Abrams Hi l l , where Mr. Abrams af ter-

ward's" W i l t his-ho^e, .In d r iv in^h rough the country you'

-could see t^e scaffolds, as th i s hi l l , was quite 'high bein£ on.• • ft ' * **

the prairie with lio other hi -h ground around it. ^fter he ~.

settled there, he had the bones gathered up andth'ey are" J

now juried on the hill and trees have grown-up over the* - * .

spot.. OiPthe way, a Poaca woman^ dieti and they had .to" stop

jand bury her.. •. • -l -- * . •' •

SPMOE, irO3EHIHJJS, JjES. - 6 - : IBI^kvIE*. 1 ' "#6938.

t

• ' J:t •.

: . .' The Attempted Settlement*, ."?'

After the government had at the insistence of.

the ^uapaws moved these Indians, their next trouble

was with the. white people, who were waiting, f airman ,.*;*•

opportunity to settle'here. , --•- .' -,'-'"

'. Iir the spring of 1879,% the editor of the Baxter

News, whose name I do not remember, published in his

paper that .this ^uapaw country was to be thrown Ot>ei. to

-.settlement, so those who 'had been waiting for it be^an

to move in. Some ploughed a furrow around what they» 4 • *

thought- to be "160 acres; some staked their location;

, and some even- moved, the i r houses, in -with them aiid. seis >

them on* thp location-picked out " by them. TKeytcept"

going farther and farther'from the state line tillsome of them had cro.osetl tha ><»apaw Str ip and

Ttakifig~ahd trying to s e t t l e ^yt l ie Feoria country"

'••

south of the uapav/s. 13ipse\|/ho .staked had a board

nailed to .a stake and, jon the. board was their name.

When this was Reported to the Government, they

sent soldiers "here* at once with .orders to move these •. ,,

people off and they were all.compelled to.leave, most

of them returning to Kansas.'" This condition was* what QQEI-

p>lled my father to have, .t.o secure pewaits for us to corr.e

here after .father had'rented a farm from Iir* Peery* 'The -

'SPENGE, JOSEBHINE, MRS. ' - 7 - INTERVIEW. - #6932.

112

vGovernment Soldiers not only moved fqv caused the squat-

ters to move but would not allow any^'to move here .vithoui-

• ^a permit to enter.

' • ' - • • - ' ' ' •

One' man I remember,'-<irom Gr i f f i t h by name^ Who had. ' - . " . . . • • > . < • • £ , - -

come here, when) ordered to '-£gve, loaded up his folks and

everything he "had and- moved^em and set them over the

l int and he stayecU-in his--,#$gon on^-g^y'side but when the

soldiers caae^he*.wo\ild d_»i$&- over the l i n e . V^owever he

soon, made arrangements with the Agency, and moved to the

Torn Peckhara fa?m near u.3 at Peoria where he stayed several

years. Later he improved the ./at Jennison place, four

miles east of l«Iiami in Ottawa Country. He was a good

neighbor and well -liked- by the -Indians-.- fie wouldfloan -

them .anything," even "g^^ojad pf corn i f ' they needed it,*l>ut

hejnade* them understand,.that, he .expected to have i f back.

l&s -son 51aTeHce--is-o_e of the.^old fcii^era irr th i s county^—_____ . _ __ _ . . ___ . .

< • • » * I -, T h ^ M o d o c s . >• y. ' '• .

• Yes, I remember when the Modocs v/ere moved here.

r were, "brought to Baxter Sprinfas by train and then

' moved in wagons to the Mbdoc Reservation on the state

line'just north and wesf^of Seneca^ Missouri. They wore

citizens clothes tehen brought here, differing from the.

yJS'onaaa, who wore a handkerchief over the head, m&ecasins,

and .skirts and a blanket over thia. '/

. -8- .SPENOE, JOSEPHINE, MRS. . I N T B R V I E W . #6932.

The Modocs uiere homely and so many of them had* * • • *

one eye, and a'face scarred from wounds. In fact most

of the men werj-udisfigured in some way, caused no rdoubt

from the war they had'been in with the soldiers. One

of them was" so badly scarred that"he was called Scar Face

Charlie. Some of them were very young men, almost boys.

There wereaJLso old women and children. The government?-

built them houses, a school house, and a church. «n old

fashioned Friend from Massachusetts was tiieir pastor.'

Mr. Pickering was the Boss Farmer and taught t'ue men how

.to* farm. • - •

Roads. ^ f r "~-r<T;£

iVe 1M f-6w-in fact no,roads except the I^ilitary . .

Road* "Trail", as i t was called. This ce fc south oiti

of Baxter Springs and crossed.JtocJc_Creelc.,jus±_aoutheast

: o2 Lincolnville. Here there was a very large spring-

and many people camped here. , The men held" their herds

of cattle near here while getting ready to load on the

train at Baxter and later at the state line'wiieri the

railroad was built to the state line. From this ford as

well as from tile Peelerfs ferry where i t crossed the ^eo-

shQ southeast-of here, there tfere t ra i ls leading from'these

fords in every direction, which as time went on became

plainer and later were used as,roads. Ghetat,pa> Kansas,

west'and north of here, was the next shipping point and

SPENCE, JOSEPHINEh MS. - 9 - * INTERVIEW.' #6932. •{ *

' 114

tHene was a cattle-trail from the south there but I .

do not think it .came through this county; it came west

of here. Later as travel increased, there was a short* / •

cut by which1 they crossed the Neosho here at Miami and

brought their cattle to Baxter west of the old trail.

This was an advantage because it was not traveled so

much and the grass was better along the way, as these —

men expected to fatten the/ cattle on the grass as they

drove through. From the Peeler's Crossing and Ferry, the

road went south and passe/d just west of new Ifairland.

* ilose Peeler who had the ferry-was a Union-Soldier .--He*

was an Ottawa and when he first cane here he built .a

double log house which afterwards burned down and'the

rock chimney- stood there for' many ye&ivs. He lived for J^

years in a- shanty and then he built his two storyt ha t you roaeabt^-r- Hio horoi^bfryn ia ..here th{

old horse shed for^the stage horses stood. He also had a .* y i ' - r

store near the' ferry. . '

Peace Officers. * *

iaosB Pee-l@i?f al-f-red- d.ea:te-r -and- -some "oftiie "other

,; . old settlers were peace officers. *• . ^ e -

At one time they received word tiiat a man living

near the Abrams Kill had been drinking and shooting around

. and they .vent to arrest him. As they j^e UP> tlie *&&

came, out of the door and one of the ttien shot him "and he

fell backwards? into ,a house where he lay thaiTaay s ^ night-

SPENCE,. JOSEPHINE, MBS. • ' INTERVIEW,

and till the next day, guarded by the officers, before

he was moved but I do not know'why. -

Robbery.

*, Jim Charley, a Peoria Indian, got some money

through his mother and he decided to open a store in

Barter Springs and put 7', P. iMcNaughton in charge of• " '•*?- — '

• ' IV- f"

it. In those days few people used the banks and money

was most often carried on the person. ilcNaughton was

coming south one day and said he was held up and rob-

bed at tho Hock Creek Ford. Later his papers, etc.,

were Tbund scattered around but no money, and on the

.strength of this loss, Jim,, Che.rli.e .was. closed ,out.

. . ' * Home Life. 7^ ' '

~ "'•" In December after we were married we moved to.

the ,/at Jennison place east of i£Lami* IG>-1883 TD$

; husband and Oteorge- Black from Baxter oprings~ra"rmed~"

115

the land, 100 acres,.- at- the vjiapaw Mission. George

Supernaul, who "was the farmer at thfe Mission, with-the

- "iioys farmed ten acres which burnished the school the

• corn and other vegetables they used. ilr. and Vss,

".Thile vnere. in charge of the Llissionvthen.

Our house wqs at first a corn crib and granary. "

Late r they moved from the old^soldier's location one of

the buildings that ilad been used as a "bakery at "the

s, JOSEPHINI<:, ms: • » . ~ i i - - PURVIEW. #6932.

commissary; This was moved up beside where I lived. .-

* .7e moved here in the fall' and .lived here for a

. * year and ,a half and here my se'cond child was bornj Lew,

hfy first, Ada, had b en born at the Jerinison Farm." 7fe

lived a quarter southwest of the Mission Buildings and

used the water from a 'sulphur spring there. This spring

had a big gum in it. •

<x Later years.

3in'6e then, we have lived mostly east of Lliami

among the Ottawas and here our children were born, fouT-

• t teen in all. /.e raised nine of them,and six of them are

yet living.

. Neighbors.

Houses were not very close together in those days

and the people were very friendly and ready to help you*

in any way; in sickness arid death always ready to do every-

/ rthing possible'. The women, when they visited each other,

. ' came and stayed all"day, helped you with your quilting,etc.

Dr. Jim .t'ade.one of the e'arly settlers ,was a favorite

; . doctor and a very good man, and t&sd a nice family. They .

lived on the' Johnnie r/adsworth farm near Peoria. - He was

v six feet tall, very slim and a nose like a mushroom. Ke

• . , < ''

drove two ponies to a topless four wheeled buggy, which had

one seat. • -''

The Indian women would come to our home and we tried, to

•- i

do something, for. them* One day I remember, we were butcherfifg"

SEENCE, JOSEPHINE, MRS. ' -M- INTERVIEW. #6932."*

117

when one came carrying' one baby on her back on a board

and leading one, and my husband asked ras^'to g i f ^ h e r

some moat, which I did, and then she asked me for parts

• that I would not consider1 saving. ' ' '

My husband died in February in 1901 and most of. ,•i

the'stime since then I have lived with some of my chiL. •

dren and a large' part of it has been spent in J.Iiami.