REMEMBRANCES OF WILLIAM LESLIE SMEDLEY and
his wife, Ann Smedley
Mr. Smedley was born March 16, 1861, near
what is now Hartford, Sebastian County, Arkansas, and moved with
his parents to what was then known as "Nail Prairie", and now
known as "Smedley Prairie" in what is now LeFlore County,
Oklahoma, in January, 1873. He has been a continuous resident of
this vicinity since that time.
Mrs. Smedley was born October 25, 1859, in
the same community where Mr. Smedley was born and moved with her
parents to the Indian Territory in the fall of 1873, where the
family settled in the same community as the Smedley family. She
and Mr. Smedley were united in marriage on November 7, 1882.
Joseph Smedley, the grandfather of William
Leslie Smedley, was a missionary preacher and teacher among the
Indians and traveled extensively in the prosecution of his work.
In appreciation of his services, the tribal authorities made him
a grant of one hundred and sixty acres of land for the use of
himself and his descendants "as long as grass grows and water
runs." It was upon this tract of land that the Smedleys settled
in 1873, and which afterward became the home of William Leslie
and Ann Smedley. At the time allotment of land was made to the
Indians, the Dawes Commission held that the grant of land held
by the Smedleys was invalid and the home was allotted to a
Choctaw Indian named Willie.
They recall that Morris NAIL, a fullblood
Choctaw Indian, for whom the aforementioned "Nail Prairie" was
called and for whom "Nail Creek" is still called, was held in
high regard, not only by the Choctaw Indians, but also by all
the whites who lived in that community and served as a
representative of his people in their tribal councils. Morris
Nail was assassinated in 1872, one year before the arrival of
the Smedleys in the Indian Territory, by a negro who was known
merely as Reuben and was the son of a negro known only as Buck;
the latter having been a slave in the Nail family. The death of
Morris Nail was mourned by all who knew him. The Smedleys had
learned of the murder of Nail at the time it occurred as their
home in Sebastian County, Arkansas was but a few miles distant
from the Nail home in the Indian Territory.
They also recall that in Territorial Days
the community was regarded as being law abiding, especially so
when it is considered that it was but a short distance to the
Arkansas State Line where the restrictions on the sale of
intoxicants were less rigid than were those in the Territory.
This condition rather encouraged lawlessness, since it was an
easy matter for violators of the law to cross the state line,
commit their acts of lawlessness, and make their escape before
they could be apprehended. These violations consisted
principally of the introduction of intoxicants and sale of same
to residents of the Territory. It was probably this condition
that was the primary cause of the formation of a band of five
young Indian outlaws, who in defiance of Tribal laws, launched
upon a period of outlawry which culminated in their
apprehension, trial, conviction and execution in the fall of
1875. They were tried before a Tribal Court held on "Buck Creek
Prairie" in the summer of that year, and were convicted and
sentenced to be shot sometime later. They were given their
freedom until the date set for their execution without bond of
any sort other than their honor. The band was led by Lewis
TERRELL. In accordance with Tribal custom they each were
permitted to select their executioners, preferably one of their
kinsmen. The place selected for the execution was at the foot of
the west side of Sugar Loaf Mountain. On the date set for the
execution each one of the convicted men appeared, ready to atone
with his life to the offended law. No mercy was asked; no mercy
was given. A small white cloth was pinned to the breast of each
one as he stood for execution. The fatal boom of the guns was
heard as each one slumped in death. Such stoicism is worthy of a
nobler death, than that which befell these unfortunate and
misguided young Indians.
On another occasion, Charles WILSON, an
Indian Agent, who also lived on "Nail Prairie," was engaged in
collecting and receipting for permits granted to residents other
than Indians which was in the amount of Five Dollars per annum
for heads of families. In the discharge of these duties he was
required to cover a large territory on horseback. One night in
the fall of 1882, when he was returning to his home after having
made a trip to a distant part of his district, he was waylaid
and shot off his horse at a point near what is now Howe. His
assailants were not apprehended, nor was the reason for the
crime disclosed; but it was rumored that some of the Indians
were not satisfied with his method of accounting for the funds
which he collected as Agent.
From the accounts given Mr. and Mrs.
Smedley by some of the Indians who were in the "removal," it
appears that the "removal" from Alabama and Mississippi of the
Choctaws began in a small way in the early Eighteen Thirties and
that the larger group was removed later. Those who had come
first and built their cabins were required to provide shelter
and homes for those who came later. Under those conditions,
sometimes three and four families were domiciled in one cabin
until such time as a building site could be located and a home
erected for those who had been thrown upon the hospitality of
their neighbors. It seems, too, that the Choctaws had advanced
considerably in the arts of agriculture and animal husbandry
while they were quartered in the States of Alabama and
Mississippi, they immediately put in "Tom Fuller" patches of
ground on which to raise their subsistence. Game of all kinds
was plentiful. Hogs flourished on the ample supply of mast. The
cane brakes in the Poteau River bottoms afforded cattle and
horses abundant feed and shelter in the winter months, while in
the summer months stock waxed fat in knee high grass on
boundless prairies.
There being no sawmills in the country, and
no lumber available, the houses were constructed of hewn logs,
clapboard roofs and puncheon floors. Door frames were made of
timber, split and cut the desired length and fastened in place
with wooden pegs as nails were not available. All cooking was
done on open fireplaces with which each home was provided. Dutch
ovens were used for baking purposes. Spoons for household
purposes were made of cow horn, which when properly made and
polished, became ornamental as well as useful. In the earlier
period after the removal, deer skins were converted into
containers for bear grease. This was accomplished by exercising
extreme care when skinning the animal to avoid making
unnecessary slits in the skin. After skinning, the hide would be
rubbed briskly at intervals with small oval shaped stones until
it became pliant and soft. The slits would then be securely tied
and the container used for the purpose mentioned. Bear grease
was highly prized for cooking purposes and was so used when
available instead of lard.
The nearest mill was located at a point
about two miles East of what is now the village of Hartford,
Arkansas, and a distance of about twelve miles from the Smedley
home on Nail Prairie. It was at this mill that all the grinding
of meal and flour was done. It was operated by John R. and
Benjamin Smedley, father and uncle of William Leslie Smedley,
respectively, until after the close of the Civil War. They were
both exempt from military duty for the period of the War because
of their operation of the mill which was kept busy at all times
providing meal and flour for the military forces as well as to
noncombatants. Fort Smith, Arkansas, was the principal trading
point before the town of Hartford, Arkansas, was established. To
reach Fort Smith from the Nail Prairie, the old Fort Smith and
Fort Towson military road was used. This road crossed the
Backbone Mountain at a point about nine miles south of Fort
Smith. It was at this point that a toll road was located and
operated from time to time by various individuals and was
finally opened for travel without the payment of a toll.
The burial custom of the Indians was to
bury their dead in the immediate vicinity of their homes, each
home having its own burial plot. For this reason it is difficult
to locate the burial places of those who passed on in earlier
periods. The spot where the prominent Choctaw Indian, Morris
Nail, is buried is now a part of a large field and no trace of
it can be found. Community life of a settlement was all that
could be desired under the circumstances.
Religious services were held from time to
time, as circuit riding ministers would make their calls.
Schools were held periodically, depending entirely upon
individual subscriptions for support. Under these conditions the
Smedleys reared to maturity a family of ten children. They have
passed through all the various changes in governmental affairs
and forms, which have taken place since their entrance in the
Indian Territory in 1873. Thus it is apparent that it would be
indeed difficult to find people, now living, and in possession
of their faculties in a marked degree as these good people are,
who are better fitted to direct our thoughts toward occurrences
of a period fraught with vast and sweeping changes in the mode
of life of those who lived through it.
It is also recalled that at the time of the
election of delegates to the Constitutional Convention, prior to
statehood, the lines were sharply drawn as between the
Republicans and Democrats who aspired to be elected as delegates
from this district. An aspirant named JOHNSON, a former
Democrat, perceiving a possible advantage to himself through
this sharp drawing of the line, announced his own candidacy for
the position as an Independent. The higher lights, seeing the
possible defeat of their Democratic candidate through the notion
of Mr. Johnson, sought and obtained the assistance of the then
Senator Jeff DAVIS of Arkansas in squelching the disloyal
Johnson. On the arrival of Senator Davis in Poteau, he addressed
a large concourse of people and proceeded with his castigation
of Mr. Johnson in language which only the Senator knew how to
use and climaxed his excoriation of the deserting Mr. Johnson by
relating a story of a farmer who resided in his own state
--Arkansas. The farmer was the possessor of several cows and a
male which he kept in a pasture. On one occasion, after the
milking was done in the morning, one of the calves slipped out
of the pen with the mother and the cows. The farmer decided that
he would complete his morning chores before he would try to get
the calf back into the pen. He later proceeded to do this. He
rounded up the cows, the male and the calf and drove them to the
pen. The cows entered the pen, but the male, followed by the
calf, tucked their tails and ran to the uttermost end of the
pasture followed by the farmer, who again drove them up to the
pen. While he was engaged in opening the gate so they could
enter the pen, the male and calf again, with their tails over
their backs, cavorted away in the direction of the back side of
the pasture. This so exasperated the farmer that he shouted at
the top of his voice to the calf, "Go on, dern ye, you’ll come
in when it’s time to suck." The Senator compared Johnson’s
predicament to that of the calf. The story had the desired
effect upon the candidacy of Mr. Johnson.
[NOTE: Submitter's Comments: Mrs.
Smedley is the daughter of John B. Tucker and his wife Margaret
Tucker, (who are double first cousins.) Her name is Matilda Ann
Tucker Smedley. She died September 04, 1947 and her husband
William Leslie died February 16, 1946. They are both buried in
Vaughn Cemetery as are her mother, "Old Aunt Peggy," and her
father, John B, "Jack," Tucker. Her father died almost 6 years
after moving into the Territory, from a prolonged illness he
picked up during the Civil War. He served with the Confederate
Army, enlisting October 20, 1861 at Fort Smith, for a 12 month
term. He served as a Lieutenant in Griffith’s 17 Regiment
Arkansas Infantry, Capt. Adams Co. , Co. B. He then enlisted in
the Union Army, September 22, 1863, at Fort Smith, Arkansas. He
mustered in October 7, 1863 at Springfield, Missouri. This was
the 2nd Regiment Arkansas Cavalry, Company H. He was
promoted to Cpl., December 25, 1863. The term of his enlistment
was for 3 years, or during the war. He was discharged August 17,
1865 at Memphis, Tennessee. Ann’s parents rented land from the
Choctaws starting in the summer of 1873. Some of these permits
are shown on the Choctaw Records. Ann and William had eleven
children, 10 of these lived to adulthood. Their 6th
child, Carrie, born 1891 lived less than 2 years.]