I was born in 1877 in Tobucksy County,
Choctaw Nation. My father had come from Mississippi many years before. He made
the trip in wagons drawn by ox teams. At the time of my birth my father ran a
ferry across the South Canadian at a point known as Rock Ford where the old
Texas Trail crossed the river. I think you will find that the Missouri, Kansas
and Texas line through Oklahoma follows pretty much the route of the old Texas
Trail as it was in territorial days.
Andy EDMISTON, my grandfather on my mother’s
side, was the first bridge watcher for the Missouri, Kansas and Texas line in
this part of the country, at Eufaula. The firebox of a train in those days was
so loosely constructed that there was danger of live coals dropping from it
and setting a bridge on fire. My grandfather’s duty was to prevent bridges
from burning.
My boyhood was quite like that of other
boys of that time. I went to school as did others in a shirt that reached
below the knees. The length of it did away with the need of trousers to go
over it. When I was about ten years of age, our family was at dinner one day;
we heard someone hail us from our yard. We went to the door. There on horses
that had fancy saddles with trimmings, dressed very neat and nice, sat Jesse
and Frank JAMES and the YOUNGER boys. They needed corn. Father asked 50 cents
a bushel. The South Canadian ferry happened to be out at that time; the stream
was quite swollen, however, this didn’t slow the outlaws down any. They
plunged their mounts into the stream and swam them across.
New town Eufaula was built when the Katy
Railroad came through and one of the first buildings to go up was the Masonic
Lodge Building. It stands today housing the oldest lodge of this order in the
state of Oklahoma.
The "Indian Journal" is reported
to be the oldest newspaper in the state. It was founded in 1776; at one time
it was edited by Alexander POSEY, the most famous writer of the Five Civilized
Tribes. The "Indian Journal" is today the official paper of Eufaula
and McIntosh County. "Old town" Eufaula is the oldest town in
Oklahoma except Fort Gibson.
Submitted to OKGenWeb by Lola Crane
lcrane@futureone.com December 2000.