| Morris, W.A.
Field Worker: John F. Daugherty
Date: March 15, 1938
Interview # 10238
Address: Sulphur, OK
Born: July 23, 1859
Place of Birth: Arkansas
Father: A. F. Morris, born in Tennessee, Farmer
Mother: Betty Doran, born in Tennessee
My parents were A. F. Morris and Betty Doran
Morris, both born in Tennessee. There were four children.
I was born July 23, 1859, in Arkansas, and came to the Indian
Territory with my parents in 1875. We came in a covered wagon,
from Kansas, crossing the state line at Coffeyville.
We came down the Kansas and Indian Territory Trail which followed
the Verdigris River. We came through Muskogee. It has
three small stores built of boards and a small depot on the Katy
Railroad. Here we turned east down the Arkansas River and
settled at Webber Falls in the Cherokee Nation, in the
Canadian District.
There were two stores and a gin in Webbers Falls. The
cotton was carried by baskets to the gin stand. The lint was
blown into a room where it was picked up and carried by hand to the
press. Here it was tramped into the press by a man and the
press was run up by a horse.
Goods were freighted from Muskogee to the stores at Webbers Falls
when the Arkansas River got too low for the boat, the Jennie May,
to run from Fort Smith to Fort Gibson.
Our mail came on the stage from Fort Smith to Muskogee. It
was drawn by four horses and carried mail, freight and passengers.
The driver sat on top with a long whip. Webbers Falls was a
stave stand and the horses were unhitched and the four rested horses
were hitched to the stage in one minute. They changed horses
every ten miles. Bob Blackstone was the postmaster
while we lived there.
In 1876, I attended a fair at old Fort Gibson. People came
for many miles and many were there from Arkansas. J. Oates
ran a wagon factory at Cincinnati, Arkansas. he made wagons
by hand. He brought one of his wagons to this fair to
advertise. It was a beauty. The sideboards were painted
and so shiny, one could use them for mirrors. He sold his
wagon and received orders for others. The wagon was called "The
Arkansas Traveler."
Cobb and Hutton were licensed stock traders in the
Cherokee nation. They became very wealthy and finally moved to
St. Louis, Missouri, where they organized the Hutton Cattle Company.
We had to drive cattle and hogs to Fort Smith or Muskogee for
shipment. I helped Mr. Hutton drive a train load of hogs to
Fort Smith. That was the largest bunch of hogs I ever saw.
After they were loaded, part of them were put on decks above the
others. some of the decks came down before the train started
and many of the hogs were killed.
One incident I remember was the annual trip made by a tall, raw
boned, long whiskered man from Arkansas, through Webbers Falls to
old Oklahoma before the Opening in 1889. He always took his
entire family of several children and his wife and 'boomed'
for several months each year. He drove oxen with shoes on and
on his trip toward Oklahoma, the inscription "Oklahoma or
Bust", was printed on the side of his wagon. he went
through in the Spring and each Fall he returned to Arkansas and each
Fall his wagon would bear the words 'Oklahoma - Busted'. He
made these trips for several years and became know as "Old
Oklahoma" to the inhabitants of the Cherokee Nation.
We moved to Childers Station, Sequoyah District, in 1885.
In 1887 it became Sallisaw. In 1891, Father and I
established a tobacco factory there. It was the only factory
of its kind in the Territory. We manufactured smoking and
chewing tobacco. We got part of our tobacco from the Cherokee
Nation and part of it was shipped from Kentucky.
We secured our license from the United States Revenue man at Fort
Smith, and another Government man came from Kansas to show us how to
place the revenue stamps across the top of the tobacco stacks.
In 1893, we took a wagon load of our product and started west to
peddle it. We sold to all the small stores along our route
from Sallisaw to Stillwater. When we reached Stillwater,
people were gathering and training their horses for the Opening of
the Cherokee Strip, which was to be in a few days. We
decided to remain for this great event.
My uncle was there and we located him. He had a team of wild
Spanish mules with which he intended to make the Run. On
September 16th everybody was excited, for this was the day of the
big Run. people of all descriptions were there. Old,
young, tall, short, fat and lean. Some were in carts, some in
wagons, others on horses and many on foot. I secured a race
horse, and couldn't find a saddle so I rode bareback. Another
young man and I were side by side on the line. Father and
Uncle were in their wagon not far down the line. We were in
the front line. Finally I saw a soldier riding down the line.
He loaded his gun and in a few more paces, he fired. We were
off. We had decided we would try to get to Bear Creek, twelve
miles from Stillwater. I lost sight of Father and Uncle.
The young man next to me hadn't gone far when he wanted to jump off
and stake his claim on the prairie. I told him I was heading
for Bear Creek so he continued with me. When we got
there, Father and Uncle were there ahead of us and had their claim
staked. The mules had become frightened at all the noise and
confusion and had run away with them. As for me, I was so sore
and tired I wasn't even interested in a claim. Each person who
staked a claim paid the Government $2.50 an acre.
We sold all of our tobacco among the people at this Run and
returned to Sallisaw. In 1894 we moved to Tahlequah.
I helped haul the money when the payment was made by the
Government to the Cherokees. The currency and checks were in
a safe and the gold and silver were in meal sacks. The mixed
breeds received currency and checks while the fill bloods would
accept nothing but gold or silver. These payments were made
from the county seats. At each place a tent town sprang up.
Cattle and horses were traded and sold. The Indians camped for
days about the payment grounds.
The only newspaper published in the Indian Territory when we
first came was the Cherokee Advocate, a paper for both
Indians and whites. Part of it was printed in Cherokee and
part of it in English. It has a large circulation. My
brother-in-law, J. S. Holder, of Fort Gibson, bought the
press and it is still in use at Fort Gibson. He is editor of
the Advocate.
I have lived in Murray County for eight years.
Transcribed by Brenda Choate and Dennis Muncrief,
May 2001.
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