Oklahoma Vignettes (Shawnee, Claremore, Cherokee: lawyer, relocate, trip)

[Goodpasture]

Thought it might be an interesting thread to tell some stories from grand parents and great grandparents and family legends. Often, too many of these stories are lost when the old ones pass.



Grandma was a Cherokee woman who attended Carlisle Indian School with Jim Thorpe (she was a year behind him). Petite and quiet, she never learned to do many of the "modern" things, like balance a checkbook or drive a car. But she could skin a hog or a deer in nothing flat. She raised a dozen kids on her farm east of Claremore. Her maiden name was Starr, and was a decendent of old Tom Starr. Her cousin, Henry Starr was a bank robber and movie maker. One afternoon she walked out to the front of the house and her husband, Oliver, was talking to Henry. Although she asked him to stay for dinner, Henry declined saying he had to get down to Shawnee and talk to Caleb, one of Olivers brothers.

After Henry rode off, Grandma asked Oliver what it was that Henry wanted. Oliver told him he was asked to help Henry Rob a bank over in Arkansas, but he told him that he was running for office now, and that he just didn't have the time. He did suggest going to Shawnee and talking to Caleb, that Caleb hadn't been doing too good lately and that he could use the money. Apparently the robbery went well.....no one got caught.

[peggydavis]

Great story Goodpasture.

[Goodpasture]

Thank you.......


Grandma was a caution.....always quiet, not more than 90 pounds and not more than 5' tall....and ran the home place with an iron hand and a strong sense of personal integrity. I remember when she first got running water in her house. It was from the rural water district, but she still preferred the well water to drink and cook with. Said it not only tasted better, but the spirit in the water was fresher and more alive.

She recalled, as a little girl, carrying baskets of food down to the outlaws that would hide in the woods below the house. She told us they always treated her with respect and consideration, that they would not have hurt her for any reason. The most notorious of the outlaws using that hide out were the Daltons and Doolin Gangs. Doolin died in 1896 and the Daltons in Coffeeville in 1892, but that "hollow" was used well into the 20's by various outlaws. Her husbands cousins, frequently lawyers and law men, knew about the hideout, but they never tried to capture any of the crooks there, out of respect for Grandma and Grandpa.

[TheComputerGuy]

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

Thank you.......


Grandma was a caution.....always quiet, not more than 90 pounds and not more than 5' tall....and ran the home place with an iron hand and a strong sense of personal integrity. I remember when she first got running water in her house. It was from the rural water district, but she still preferred the well water to drink and cook with. Said it not only tasted better, but the spirit in the water was fresher and more alive.

She recalled, as a little girl, carrying baskets of food down to the outlaws that would hide in the woods below the house. She told us they always treated her with respect and consideration, that they would not have hurt her for any reason. The most notorious of the outlaws using that hide out were the Daltons and Doolin Gangs. Doolin died in 1896 and the Daltons in Coffeeville in 1892, but that "hollow" was used well into the 20's by various outlaws. Her husbands cousins, frequently lawyers and law men, knew about the hideout, but they never tried to capture any of the crooks there, out of respect for Grandma and Grandpa.

I like Grandma! She sounds like my kind of folk....
But ask her how much difference there was between the outlaws and the lawyers...
I'd like to hear her take on it.

For those of you who don't know, the Dalton Gang relocated to the next town over from mine some time in the 1900's... No kidding:
The Dalton Gang Shooting Club of NH LLC - Dalton, New Hampshire

M.

[Goodpasture]

She passed about 15 years or so....at 103

[TheComputerGuy]

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

She passed about 15 years or so....at 103

That s*cks.

This country needs a LOT more folk like her.
I'm quite unimpressed with our generation and most of the next...
For the most part at least.

I bet she was pretty proud of you though.

M.

[Goodpasture]

Nah, she thought I was too cranky..........

[TheComputerGuy]

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

Nah, she thought I was too cranky..........

I doubt that!

M.

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by TheComputerGuy

That s*cks.

This country needs a LOT more folk like her.
I'm quite unimpressed with our generation and most of the next...
For the most part at least.

I bet she was pretty proud of you though.

M.

Well, you ought to be mighty proud of your daughter. She sounds like a perfectly nice young lady with great manners.

Well water. I remember it well. We had well water until I was about 12 and it was the best tasting water there was. And COLD, even in the summer!

We also didn't have an indoor toilet until I was around 11 either. We had to traipse out through the pasture and go in an outhouse! Oh, those were the days!

[TheComputerGuy]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

Well, you ought to be mighty proud of your daughter. She sounds like a perfectly nice young lady with great manners.

She IS a blessing... (And I AM thankful.)
(Even if it IS off topic here... Jessaka's gonna yell at us tomorrow morning!)

Originally Posted by Synopsis

Well water. I remember it well. We had well water until I was about 12 and it was the best tasting water there was. And COLD, even in the summer!

My last place had well water... And it WAS good.
I also wouldn't really argue about there being a kind of "spirit" to it.

Originally Posted by Synopsis

We also didn't have an indoor toilet until I was around 11 either. We had to traipse out through the pasture and go in an outhouse! Oh, those were the days!

Dang!
Hope you had a 5-gal. bucket... Because I know I would...
(I suppose I could get used the idea of taking a trip outside at 3am... (And after 40 it does happen occasionally!) But it would take quite a while... Unless I REALLY needed to! See... Our generation HAS gotten lazy!)

Didn't mean to hijack a GOOD thread GP...
Because it's a thread I KNOW I want to read.
I have a LOT more respect for that generation than my own.

Those folk had a wisdom our generation couldn't even begin to understand...
My father grew up on a farm in Quebec... WAY back when, and even he had more of a clue than I ever will....

Sometimes I feel sorry for this generation...
(Myself included...)
We lost a LOT... In spite of our technology...
(And I'm a professional technologist! Go figure?)

I hope you plan to post a LOT more of your Grandma's stories GP...
(Providing an OLD guy like you can remember them.)
(I have NO idea how old GP is, I'm just being a smart-*ss now.)

I REALLY DO want to read them. (Seriously... No smiley here.)

M.