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Indian Pioneer Papers - Index

Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Date: July 19 1937
Interview: Tissie Jane Bannister
Post Office: Sentinel Oklahoma
Date of Birth: April 11, 1872
Place of Birth: Cedar Town, Georgia
Father: George Fennel
Place of Birth: Alabama
Other information about father: Farmer
Mother: Nannie Mobley 
Place of Birth: Georgia
Other information about mother: Housewife
Interviewed by: Ruby Wolfenbarger 
Interview #

I came to Oklahoma in 1912, from Arkansas. We drove through in a covered wagon. We were on the road about six days. It was in December and was very cold and bad. The first two nights we made camp in Arkansas, then the next night we camped in Oklahoma. We had a very bad sand storm which turned into a blizzard and snow before morning. We had to go to a near-by house to spend the night. 

We located at Port, which is about ten miles from Sentinel. We rented one hundred and sixty acres from an old man who had been here for several years. We had a very poor place to live, our house was very small; it had been used to keep feed in. We had three small rooms.

I didn't have much furniture, just enough to get by on. I didn't have any rugs or many dishes to speak of. 

We had a cistern, where we got our drinking water, but we had to haul our water for our stock from the creek. 

We had just enough stock to farm with. We had two cows. I had lots of chickens and turkeys. I sold eggs at Sentinel. Sometimes I got a good price for them and then sometimes I didn't get anything for them.

There wasn't much wild game in this country then; it was well settled at that time. There was lots of houses and the country was on the road to prosperity. 

We made good crops the first years that we were in Oklahoma. We planted cotton and wheat also food stuffs. I always raised a garden and canned enough vegetables for winter. I brought enough fruit, such as apples, peaches, to last me two years. I also brought a quantity of jelly. 

I sent my children to a small country school at Port. It was a small school; only had three rooms and two teachers. 

We had some picnics then, not very many; these were held at Lucas Grove. We didn't have any picture shows in that day. Cars were just beginning to come out. 

We went to church at Port; we had to go in the wagon or buggy.

I lived on the farm for years until my husband passed away, then I sold my stock and farm implements and moved to Sentinel where I bought a home and am still living there.

Transcribed for OKGenWeb and submitted by Kelsey Banister, December 2001.