Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Date: December 16, 1937
Name:
E. E. Duff
Post Office: Maramec, Oklahoma
Date of Birth: 1881
Place of Birth: Illinois
Father: James Duff
Place of Birth: Born at Prince Edward Island. Came to America when
a small boy.
Information on father:
Mother: Emma Redding
Place of birth: Illinois
Information on mother:
Field Worker: Charles H. Holt
Interview #:
E. E. Duff was born in Illinois, but his parents moved to Lynn County, Kansas, when he was one year old and in the year 1895 the father made a trip to the Indian Territory, as he had heard so much of the new country, and, finding it above his expectation, decided to come to the Territory to live. The next year, 1896, he moved and settled near Maramec on a hundred and sixty acre farm which was purchased from Tom WHIBARK who had staked the land when the Run was made.
The trip from Kansas was made in three covered wagons and a buggy. Four teams of horses were brought and household goods and farming tools. The trip was made in the first part of 1896, so there was snow, sleet and rain, which made the roads very muddy. The half frozen mud and snow would roll up on the wagon wheels so much that the party would have to stop and rake it off, which made the trip slow and disagreeable.
The snow and mud was their only trouble, to speak of, until they reached the Arkansas River at Stouts Ford near Cleveland. There they were told before crossing the river that it was full of quicksand and possibly holes had been washed out in the sand, but by driving as fast as possible, and not stopping while in the river bed, they could probably get across without any trouble. Even though following instructions as best they could, all the teams and wagons were stuck in the sand and water. One team had to be unharnessed before the horses could be gotten out and a great deal of work was done before getting every team and wagon across the river safely without any loss.
The farm which they bought was not far from old Crystal, which was the name of the town before it was moved a short distance and changed to Maramec. In starting farming at Maramec, a greater part of the farming land had been broken and a small three room house, a half dug-out, was on it; also a small barn. A fine crop of corn, cotton and kaffir corn was raised the first year. There was a fair market at Pawnee by that time, also schools and churches had been built. So the family prospered from the beginning. The father died several years ago and the heirs still own the farm and E. E. Duff is farming it at present.
He has in his possession an anchor which he prizes very highly. The anchor was given to him by Joe BARNES, who is now dead. Barnes had lived in the Osage Nation near the mouth of Sycamore Creek where it empties into the Arkansas River. Barnes and his wife saw something that looked like metal showing above the sand in the Arkansas River near the mouth of Sycamore Creek. They dug it out and found it to be a large anchor. It is about three feet or more in length and about the same width and weighs about seventy pounds and has the numbers 66 on it.
Barnes wondered as to its being there and talked to numerous people about the anchor and one very old Osage Indian told him that soon after the Osages came from Kansas to the Territory, that the Osages seized a boat anchored there, loaded with supplies and provisions, and killed the occupants. The Indians claimed that the boat was destroyed, also, and that this anchor was the anchor that was used on the destroyed boat. The old Indian said the boat that they destroyed was of the flat type.
Submitted to OKGenWeb by
Donald L. Sullivan <donald.l.sullivan@lmco.com>
07-2000.