Indian Territory

Biography of Judge James M. Shackelford

This eminent soldier and judge was born July 7, 1827, in Lincoln County, Ky., the seventh son of Edmond Shackelford and Susan Thompson, both of Virginia. At the age of twelve years he was placed at Stanford University, Kentucky, for two years, after which he became a pupil of the celebrated teacher, James F. Barber. In 1848, under the last requisition of the government, he was elected by a company in Washington County, Kentucky, as lieutenant, and received a first lieutenant’s commission from the government, in Company I, of the Fourth Kentucky regiment of infantry, which was commanded by John … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John M. Smith

John M. Smith was born December 2, 1834, in New York County, the son of Harvey D. Smith and Miss S. Cook, of the same county. John attended public school until the age of eighteen years, after which he devoted himself to agriculture, until his twentieth year, when he became a frontiersman and spent many years on the Texas border. In 1857 he went to Missouri, and began the nursery business, and in 1866 moved to the Cherokee Nation, settling at Fort Gibson, where he was employed by the government as wagon boss. In 1868 he commenced the nursery business … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Thomas Rogers Knight

The subject of this sketch was born in November 1845, in the Cherokee Nation, oldest son of Joshua Knight and Mary A. Rogers. Thomas was sent to Attleberry Academy, Pennsylvania, in 1852, and there remained three years, after which he went to Neosho and Newtonia, Mo., where he remained until 1858. Returning home he went to the Baptist Mission School, and there studied until the outbreak of the war, when he joined the Confederate army and served until the close. On his return home he embarked in stock-raising and agriculture, and carried on the business until 1884, when he moved … Read more

Biography of Roy C. Hinds

Roy C. Hinds, though yet a young man, holds a responsible position in the financial circles of Locust Grove as cashier of the Security State Bank, of which institution he was one of the organizers. He was born in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, on the 2d of July, 1890, a son of Corder W. and Mary E. (England) Hinds, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Illinois. Their marriage was celebrated in Siloam Springs. For many years the father was engaged in the mercantile business there and in 1898 he removed to Rose Prairie, Indian Territory, where … Read more

Biography of Wiley Hollopeter

Wiley Hollopeter, a progressive agriculturist residing near Dewey, is also devoting considerable attention to teaming and conducts both branches of his business capably and successfully. He was born near Des Moines, Iowa, March 18, 1868, of the marriage of Simon and Maria (Jackson) Hollopeter, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Indiana. They were pioneers of Iowa and removed from that state to Kansas, where they resided until 1873, when they came to Indian Territory. The father homesteaded a tract of one hundred and sixty acres at the mouth of the Walnut River but at the end … Read more

Act of March 1, 1899

30 Stat. L. 939 For salaries of four commissioners, appointed under acts of Congress approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, and March second, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, to negotiate with the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory, twenty thousand dollars: Provided, That the number of said com missioners is hereby fixed at four. For expenses of commissioners and necessary expenses of employees, sixty thousand dollars: And provided further, That three dollars per diem for expenses of a clerk detailed as special disbursing agent by Interior Department, while on duty with the Commission, shall be paid there from; for … Read more

Biography of Anderson Wilson

Anderson Wilson, farmer and contractor, residing two and one-half miles southwest of Delaware, Nowata County, was born on the Verdigris River, Indian Territory, on the 11th of February, 1888, a son of Adam and Amanda (Bascumb) Wilson, natives of Kansas. His father was three-quarters Muncie Indian and the mother was a Delaware. Upon the outbreak of the Civil war, Adam Wilson enlisted in the cavalry, becoming a member of Company Three, Fifteenth Regiment, Kansas Volunteers. He was likewise a scout with Custer. Both parents are deceased. In the acquirement of an education Anderson Wilson attended the schools of Nowata, Oklahoma, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Joseph B. Merrell

Joseph B. Merrell was born June 27, 1863, in Salem County, Missouri, the eldest son of Asa C. Merrell, a leading farmer raised in Georgia, and claiming the rights of a Cherokee citizenship. His mother was a Miss Akers, of Kentucky. After attending public school until his seventeenth year, Joseph entered the Marshall Academy, Marshall, Missouri, and there remained two years. In 1885 he studied law for one year at Lexington, Missouri, and from there went to Carrollton, Georgia, where he read law with his uncle, W. W. Merrell, ex-senator of the State; remaining with him until 1888, Joseph was … Read more

Biography of Neil Baxter Gardner

Since 1915 Neil Baxter Gardner has been Superintendent of the Oklahoma State Home for Orphans at Pryor. He was first appointed to that position of public service by Governor R. L. Williams, and he discharged his duties with such efficiency during that administration, that he was reappointed by Governor Robertson, with a substantial increase in salary. Mr. Gardner is one of Oklahoma’s sons by adoption, for he was born in Independence, Henderson County, Tennessee, on the 12th of October, 1875. His parents were Nathan A. and Frances Leona (Autry) Gardner, both of whom were born in Tennessee. They are now … Read more

Biography of Natt T. Wagner

Natt T. Wagner manager of the bond department of the First National Bank of St. Louis was born in Asheville, North Carolina, June 12, 1883. His father, J. A. Wagner, is a native of Tennessee, while the latter’s father was a native of Virginia. J. A. Wagner became an architect, devoting his active life to the profession, but is now living retired in Asheville, North Carolina. He has been very prominent in community affairs and during the Civil war served as a captain in the Federal army. He married Emma Brown, who was born in Greene county, Tennessee, and has … Read more

Biography of Elias C. Boudinot

The late distinguished lawyer and statesman, E. C. Boudinot, was born August, 1835, near Rome, Ga., and was the son of Kille-kee-nah, a Cherokee descended from a long line of chiefs. Elias was first educated for a civil engineer at Manchester, Vt., but finally concluded to adopt the law as a profession. He was admitted to the bar in 1856, and practiced in the State and Federal Courts. One of his first cases was the defense of Stand Watie, defendant in a murder case, in which it is recorded that young Boudinot made one of the most effective and polished … Read more

The Osage Massacre

Kiowa Calender

When the treaty council with the Osage at Fort Gibson broke up in disagreement on April 2, 1833, three hundred Osage warriors under the leadership of Clermont departed for the west to attack the Kiowa. It was Clermont’s boast that he never made war on the whites and never made peace with his Indian enemies. At the Salt Plains where the Indians obtained their salt, within what is now Woodward County, Oklahoma, they fell upon the trail of a large party of Kiowa warriors going northeast toward the Osage towns above Clermont’s. The Osage immediately adapted their course to that pursued by their enemies following it back to what they knew would be the defenseless village of women, children, and old men left behind by the warriors. The objects of their cruel vengeance were camped at the mouth of Rainy-Mountain Creek, a southern tributary of the Washita, within the present limits of the reservation at Fort Sill.

Biographical Sketch of Thomas Jefferson Archer

The subject of this sketch was born March 17, 1861, the seventh son of Dr. James Archer of South Carolina, a leading physician. His mother was a Miss Key. Thomas attended district school until he was fourteen years of age, when he went to Osage Mission Kansas, where he remained one session. After this he went to Muskogee and there clerked in a hotel until April 1882, when he opened a small store on Verdigris River, twenty-one miles east of Tulsa. When the Fisco was completed to Mingo he removed to that point, and on its completion to Tulsa he … Read more