| Minson, I.
Field Worker: John F. Daugherty
Date: March 18, 1938
Interview # 10240
Address: Sulphur, OK
Born: August 30, 1855
Place of Birth: Illinois
Father: Abraham Minson, born in Illinois
Mother: Sarah Jane Taylor, born in Tennessee
My parents were Abraham Minson, born in Illinois and Sarah
Jane Taylor Minson, born in Tennessee. Father was a
farmer. I was born in Illinois, August 30, 1855 and came from
Arkansas to the Indian Territory in 1892. We came through
Dardanelle, Arkansas, and crossed the Arkansas River on the only
pontoon bridge west of the Mississippi. This was made of two
flat boats fastened together reaching from one bank to the other.
They were fastened on each bank so they could not float away.
We settled at Palmer four miles northwest of Sulphur in
the Chickasaw Nation and built a log house. We bought our
groceries from Stonewall and Davis. The country
was sparsely settled but it was a fine poor man's country for the
creeks were full of fish and wild game was abundant.
I belonged to the Agricultural Wheel in Arkansas.
This was an organization similar to the Farmer's Alliance in
the Territory. It was organized among the farmers to better
their living conditions and command better prices for their
products. There was an organization in the Territory also,
but the Farmers' Alliance was large, so in the early 90's the two
organizations were consolidated and became known as the Farmers'
Alliance. There were stores throughout the Territory known
as Farmers' Alliance stores where the members of this organization
could sell their products and buy on the credit plan, paying yearly.
About 1895, we organized an Anti-Horse Thief Association
known as the Farmer's Protective Association. The
purpose of this organization was to apprehend and punish horse and
cattle thieves, which were numerous throughout the Territory.
Transcribed by Brenda Choate & Dennis
Muncrief, June 2001.
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