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Indian Pioneer Papers - Index

Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Date: September 15, 1937
Name: John Henry West
Post Office: Vian, Oklahoma
Residence Address:   
Date of Birth:  July 31, 1866
Place of Birth:  Briartown
Father:   John C. West
Place of Birth:  
Information on father:
Mother:  Marurette Elizabeth Hickey West
Place of birth:   
Information on mother:
Field Worker: James S. Buchanan
Interview #7545

I, John H. West, was born July 31, 1866 two miles west of the present site of Briartown, on the Canadian River.

My father was John C. West, the son of John W. West, an Irishman who came with the Cherokees from Tennessee to the Indian Territory in 1832. His wife was a Cherokee by the name of Ruth Fields.

My grandfather, John C. West was considered the most powerful man in the Cherokee tribe. During the prime of his life the Cherokee Council passed a law forbidding him to hit a man with his fists for they were considered deadly weapons.

My mother was Margurette Elizabeth Hickey West. She was part Cherokee, the daughter of J. H. Hickey, a white man who married a Cherokee woman and came to the Territory with the Indians in 1832.

Father obtained his education in a private school and in his early life became interested in the military matters of the Indian Territory. In 1882 he became connected with the Indian Police. He entered the department as a private with the same authority as a United States Marshal, and during his time in the service he was perhaps responsible for breaking up more desperate gangs than any other man in the service. He was made Captain of the Indian Mounted Police in 1902, his authority being confined to the Five Civilized Tribes.

My parents reared eight children, including myself —John H., E. C., R.F. "Dick", Laura, Louellen, Frank, Mary and Nannie.

When I was about three years of age, father established a new claim at the foot of the mountain, three-quarters of a mile southwest of where the town of Porum was later established. It was at this place that I, my brothers and sisters were reared.

The old settlers of that community and neighbors were Tom Starr and his family, Sam Campbell and his family, Charley Lowery and his family, and the John Robertson family.

It has been written by misinformed writers that Tom Starr, during his early life, was a common outlaw and guilty of many crimes, which is untrue. Tom Starr was not guilty of anything except what he was driven to in the defense of his people or himself. I never knew a better man nor had a better neighbor. I knew Tom Starr from my earliest recollections until his death, which occurred when I was about twenty-three years of age.

All of the old settlers in this part of the country in those days were good people because they had to be good if they were able to stay here long enough to be Old Settlers.

For several years Webber Falls was our nearest trading post and post office, until Briartown Post Office was established about 1880. Later, the Porum Post Office was established at the John Marshall place, one mile west of where the town of Porum now stands and adjoining my father’s old home place. Roe Russell, a brother-in-law of John Marshall’s was the first postmaster. Roe Russell was later assassinated by some unknown party between Porum and Webber Falls.

In later years when the Midland Valley Railroad was built, the town of Porum was started at the present site, and the post office was moved to the new location. Porum Post Office was named in honor of Oo-La-Sota, a full-blood Cherokee whose English name was Jefferson Porum Davis. He was born east of the Mississippi River in 1826 and was brought to the Indian Territory in the early immigration of the Cherokees. He was a very prominent citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and active in tribal affairs. He made several trips to Washington in a representative capacity for his people. 

His original claim and old home site was one-half mile east of the little town of Texana, in McIntosh County. Porum Davis rests in the burial plot that he established on his old claim. His grave is marked with a modest granite slab with the following inscription: J. P. Davis, died November 22, 1880. Age 54. A Masonic emblem adorns the top of the slab. Porum Davis in the later years of his life established a claim and built a home in what has been know, ever since my earliest recollections, as Porum Gap. It is about five miles north of my father’s old home place, west of Porum. Porum Davis spent the latter part of his life at that place.

In the early part of my life this was a wonderful country. It was sparsely settled, open range for stock, and the prairies covered with blue stem grass as high as a horse’s back. All kinds of game such as deer, turkey, prairie chicken, etc. were here. Wild fruit and nuts grew in abundance and the Indians and early settlers put forth every effort to protect those natural resources as is indicated by the following laws copied from the Constitution and Laws of the Cherokee Nation.

Article 29, Section 359:
Every person who shall willfully cut down, kill or destroy any pecan, walnut, hickory or other fruit or nut bearing tree, standing and growing upon the public domain of the Cherokee Nation, or shall cut down the same for the nuts or fruit thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, And upon conviction be fined not less than twenty dollars nor more than fifty dollars, or in default of payment of such fine, be imprisoned not less than ten nor exceeding sixty days.

Article 35, Section 371:
It shall be unlawful for any citizen of this Nation to ship or transport, in any manner, beyond the limits of the Cherokee Nation, for the purpose of trade or commerce, any game either dead or alive, such as deer, prairie chicken, quail and ducks; or sell the same to any non-citizen inside the Cherokee Nation.

In 1888 there was a law passed by the Cherokee Council against the destruction of fish. In fact every effort was made to preserve the natural resources, but as the country was settled up all these things were destroyed.

In 1896 I was married to Ophelia Boaz, the daughter of Dr. Albert and Belzy Boaz of Starrville, a little town situated about three miles east of where Porum now stands. Starrrville was established about 1894 when Will L. Ingram built a store there. Later a Cherokee by the name of Jack Thompson also built and ran a store there. The little town passed out of existence shortly after the Midland Valley Railroad was built and the town of Porum was started. Unfortunately, there were no children born to our marriage; but, during our married life we have made a home for and educated eleven homeless children--five Cherokee girls, one Cherokee boy, four white girls, and one white boy and one Negro boy. These children are all living and married except the Negro boy, who married and was living in Des Moines, Iowa where he died in 1934.

I left Porum and came to Vian where I established my home in 1896, eight years after the Missouri Pacific Railroad was built through this country, and the town was started.

When I first came to this place, all the bottom land around Vian was dense cane breaks which made wonderful winter range for our stock; however, as the years passed, all these conditions have passed out of existence. I have seen this country grow from the free and open range country to its present state of development. With the advancement of civilization, gradually has disappeared the liberties and opportunities of the Redman and the Pioneer. 

A Pit Panther
I remember very distinctly when I was about ten years of age, two neighbors by the name of George Griffin and Bill Toonewee, who were Cherokees, killed a large male panther on the side of the mountain west of Porum. Later, George Griffin was out hunting alone and discovered the female panther crawling on a ledge of rock waiting to leap upon him and he shot it. Fearing he had only wounded the animal and not having another load in his gun, he ran home for assistance. 

Griffin, Toonewee and another fellow returned to the place and found the panther dead. On examination of the animal, they saw that she was suckling her young. They made a search and located her den, pried away some rocks and captured two young kittens. They took them home, let them run around in the house at their will and they soon accustomed themselves to their situation and would play about in the house like a couple of housecats. Then Mrs. Toonewee would be knitting by the fireside after the evening meal, the panther kittens would get the balls of yarn out of her work basket and bat them around the room. In their play one evening, the female jumped and fell into the fireplace, and was so severely burned that she died from the effects. The male, after the death of its mate became greatly attached to Mrs. Toonewee’s little daughter Susie, who was about ten years of age. It followed her every step. Tom, as the panther was named, would go with Susie to the spring, which was about two hundred yards from the house. 

Sometimes in their play, Susie would hide from Tom, and if he did not immediately find her, he would give the inimitable scream that only the panther is capable of giving, leaping about among the bushes and trees until he located Susie. Then he would leap and play about her in a fit of glee. This close companionship and play continued until the panther was almost grown. Then the parents of Susie became uneasy for fear that in their play the child would be injured by the animal. As much as they regretted separating this little Indian girl from her companion of the forest, they took Tom to Muskogee and sold him to a show for twenty dollars.

When I was twenty years of age, I went to work for Thomas B. McDaniel, who owned a cattle ranch, eight miles southeast of Muskogee. I remained with that outfit for ten years. The first three years I was with Tom McDaniel I attended the Cherokee Male Seminary at Tahlequah. When each term expired, I would return to the ranch and go to work.

The Brewer Ferry
George Brewer established and operated the first ferry on the Arkansas River before the Civil War, in the vicinity of where Braggs now stands. It was located about one and one-half miles northwest of Braggs. He operated the ferry several years after the war, until he died. His wife operated it a while after his death; then sold the ferry to John J. Patrick, who operated a store on the east bank of the Arkansas River at the ferry. It was operated by him until Patrick moved his store to Braggs in 1888. He then sold the ferry to Janie Smith who operated it until it was discontinued.


West, John Henry - Second Interview #7545-a

Get this manuscript from Mrs. Bronsen’s room and correct the first page to read as this page reads.

Mr. Buchanan received a letter from the man who was interviewed after a copy of the interview had been sent to him and he made some corrections on the first page such as the second paragraph ***Cherokee and Irish **also initials in some of the names.

V. Helm, Stenographer

West, John Henry
Second Interview #7545-a

I, John H. West, was born July 31, 1866 two miles west of the present site of Briartown, on the Canadian River.

My father was John C. West, the son of John W. West who was Cherokee and Irish, who came with the Cherokees from Tennessee to the Indian Territory in 1832. His wife was a Cherokee by the name of Ruth Fields.

My grandfather John W. West was considered the most powerful man in the Cherokee tribe. During the prime of his life, the Cherokee Council passed a law forbidding him to hit a man with his fists for they were considered deadly weapons.

My mother was Marurette Elizabeth Hickey West. She was part Cherokee, the daughter of H. C. Hickey, a white man who married Rachel Fields, a Cherokee woman and came to the Territory with the Indians in 1832.

Father obtained his education in a private school and in his early life became interested in the military matters of the Indian Territory.

Submitted to OKGenWeb by Marylee Jones Boyd, August 2001.