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MRS. FRANCES HAMPTON |
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Frances Hampton My parents were Anthony Bohanon and Lizzie Robertson, both born in the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory. There were three children in our family. Father was a farmer and stockman. I was born near Hugo in the Choctaw Nation on June 21, 1870. I attended the Choctaw Girls School at Goodland. Mother cooked on the fireplace in the winter and out of doors on a campfire in the summer. We had a wooden tub which we took to the creek and washed in. Mother washed with a wooden paddle, laying the clothes on an old tree stump to beat them. This removed the dirt. We did not boil them. We washed in cold creek water and made lye soap. The clothees were hung on bushes to dry. Father had a made wagon which was pulled by a yoke of oxen. the wheels of this wagon were made of tree trunks. A hole was bored through the center and a wooden axle was used. the wheels were about six inches wide. the old wagon moaned and groaned as we rode along. Father hauled our supplies from Denison, Texas in this old wagon. About once a month, the neighbors met and appointed a man to go to market for the entire neighborhood. Later, father got a team of horses. The horse collars were made of shucks and covered with canvas duck. Father made his own lines out of raw hide. He buried the hide in ashes and water until the hair slipped. Then he slipped the hair by scraping it with a knife. It was then he put it back in the ashes for a few more days. Then it was soaked in the water which had been boiled in oak bark. the hide was now cut into desired strips and these were stretched between trees and worked with the hands until dry and soft. Father drove his cattle to the cane breaks in the Arkansas River bottom for the winter. I can see him yet as he got upon a stump in the woods and began calling his cattle. They came wondering in from every direction. He drove them into a lot and cut out the ones he wanted to keep and to milk and drove the others away. They would come out in the spring in splendid condition. Mother made our clothes. We picked the seed from the cotton by hand. She spun the thread, dyed it with bois 'd arc and copperas and wove the cloth. She then made our clothes by hand. One day we saw an old buffalo coming with the cows. He stayed with them for about a year and disappeared as suddenly as he came. He became as gentle as our cattle. Brother and I had a blow gun to kill birds. It was made with a piece of cane about 2 feet long. The pith was blown out leaving it hollow. A piece of tin was tied to the end of a broom weed. This was placed inside the cane and we blew it at the birds. When it struck a bird, it always killed it. ?This was a favorite pastime of the Indian children. Wild pigeons and parrots were numerous. The parrots were very destructive to our wild fruit. They even ate cockleburs. I have seen them pick up a cocklebur and fly to the top of a tree with it, pull the cockleburs off and dig out the kernel. This was the part they ate. The Indians buried their dead in hewed timber coffins in the following manner. A grave was dug, walnut or cypress trees were cut down and flat boards about two inches thick or more were hewed. One was placed in the bottom of the grave, one at each end and another to cover the box. The body of the dead Indian was wrapped in a sheet and lowered into this box. All of his belongings were placed in with him. The Indians didn't want any of a dear relatives possessions kept. His money was buried also. This hewed board was put on top and dirt was filled in over this. It was tramped in by one of the grave diggers. A year after this when his birthday occurred, they held a memorial service at his grave. After deer became scarce, the Indians would find their 'licks', climb a tree near and wait for their prey. When the deer came out to the lick and began licking salt, they were shot. I married Isaac Hampton, a Choctaw and we have three children. Transcribed by Barbara Giddens and Dennis Muncrief, September, 2000.
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