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Indian Pioneer Papers - Index

Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Date: May 3, 1937
Name: Mr. S. O. Richardson
Post Office: Wynnewood, Oklahoma
Residence Address:  
Date of Birth: 1857
Place of Birth:  Georgia
Father:   M. B. Richardson
Place of Birth:  Georgia
Information on father:
Mother:   
Place of birth:   
Information on mother:
Field Worker:  Maurice R. Anderson
Interview #: 1238 

Story told by Mr. S. O. Richardson, born in 1857, in Georgia

I came to the Indian Territory in 1886. I came horseback, looking for a place to settle. I came through where Wynnewood is now and they were building the right-of-way for the Santa Fe Railroad at that time. There was nothing but a grading crew's camp where Wynnewood is. Old Cherokee Town was about five miles north of there, and I crossed the Washita River at Old Cherokee Town.

I stayed a few days in Pauls Valley where there was one store and a blacksmith shop. What few people there were at Pauls Valley at that time were so excited over the coming of the railroad that they could not talk business with anybody. I didn't like it around Pauls Valley so I went to Caddo, Indian Territory. I went to work there for Mr. McCoy who owned a general store. I worked two years for Mr. McCoy and I have sold flour for one dollar and twenty-five cents for a forty-eight pound sack. Sugar was about five dollars for a hundred pounds. 

I didn't like that part of the country so I came to old Fort Arbuckle. This was on Wild Horse Creek. I didn't own a big ranch but I raised cattle and hogs. I sold mostly milch cows but would keep all the heifer calves. At weaning time I would sell the bull calves for five or six dollars a piece. 

There was lots of wild game on Wild Horse Creek. Plenty of deer and turkey, so you could have fresh meat at every meal if you wanted it. Quail went in droves and there were lots of squirrels and plenty of fish in Wild Horse Creek. There was plenty of wild grapes and plums and in the fall there were lots of pecans and walnuts. People never thought about gathering them, though. I have picked up a sack or two to eat on through the winter. About all we would have to buy would be sugar and coffee and a few other things.

I have been in bad health for several years and I can't remember as I used to. Everything wasn't just a bed of roses as some people think it was in those days. We had hardships just like we do today. There wasn't as much work in those days as there is now and there weren't as many people then as there are today.

Transcribed for OKGenWeb by Brenda Choate.