OKGenWeb Notice: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Presentation here does not extend any permissions to the public. This material may not be included in any compilation, publication, collection, or other reproduction for profit without permission.
The creator copyrights ALL files on this site. The files may be linked to but may not be reproduced on another site without specific permission from the OKGenWeb Coordinator, [okgenweb@cox.net], and their creator. Although public information is not in and of itself copyrightable, the format in which they are presented, the notes and comments, etc. are. It is, however, permissible to print or save the files to a personal computer for personal use ONLY.


Indian Pioneer Papers - Index

Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Date: March 25, 1938
Name: Mrs. Dudley Roach
Post Office: Greenfield, Rural Route. Six miles west of Greenfield
Date of Birth: September 2, 1883
Place of Birth: Lincoln, Nebraska
Father: Alex Crawford
Place of Birth: 
Information on father: Father was a farmer, stockman
Mother: Cody Crawford
Place of Birth: 
Information on mother: 
Field Worker: Augusta H. Custer
Interview # 10346

I came from Nebraska to Oklahoma with my folks in a covered wagon. We stayed only two weeks at that time. We came again and went back, and the last time we made the trip we stayed. We came the first time in July after the Cheyenne and Arapaho country opened in April.

I remember that we carried water to drink in a barrel on the outside of the wagon. There was no place to get water fit to drink except at the railroad section houses. They were always willing to give us water. It seemed to me that the road ran right along the railroad tracks most of the way. One time we were stopped by a young cowboy who asked for a drink. We noticed that he did not drink as if he were very thirsty. We always drank from a tin can, which we had hung on a wire beside the barrel. He kept looking at us over the edge of the can, and did not ask for more water. Several days later we heard of the robbing of a bank at Coffeyville, Kansas, and we recognized the picture of this cowboy as one who was shot.

Our home was at Lincoln, Nebraska. When we decided to get a place and stay here, Father bought a relinquishment. We camped in our wagon and a tent near where the Palace Hotel was being built, where Watonga is built today. Father got a rough house built on the claim and we moved out there.

My folds have always made some money from raising cattle and it has always seemed natural for me to ride a horse. I ride some place almost every day now. I don't ride for pleasure, I ride for business.

(Mrs. Roach is supposed to be a granddaughter of William Cody, better known as "Buffalo Bill". She has some cousins, known as the Dalton Brothers).

Transcribed for OKGenWeb by Lola Crane coolbreze@cybertrails.com   November 2001.