Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Date: April 29, 1937
Name: Mrs. Sarah C. Griffith (nee Mitchell)
Post Office: Poteau, Oklahoma
Residence Address:
Date of Birth: November 18, 1860
Place of Birth: Lead Hill, Boone County, Arkansas
Father:
Place of Birth:
Information on father:
Mother:
Place of Birth:
Information on mother:
Field Worker: Gomer Gower
Interview # 5575
Mrs. Sarah Griffith was born November 18,
1860, at Lead Hill, Boone County, Arkansas, and moved with her parents to the
Indian Territory in 1875 and settled near what is now known as the village of
Gilmore in Le Flore County.
In August, 1877, she was united in
marriage to John H. DURANT, a Choctaw Indian. Mr. Durant had a good farm upon
which there were three sets of improvements. The land was cultivated by white
tenant farmers. The fact that the locality where she then resided was but a
short distance from the Arkansas State Line, will explain in a large measure
why the customs of the people and their manner of living followed so closely
that of the people of the western counties of the State of Arkansas. So, the
then Mrs. Durant found life in the Indian Territory to be very much the same
as that to which she had been accustomed while she resided in Arkansas. John
H. Durant was a nephew of Cunningham WADE, a fullblood Choctaw Indian, who had
been educated at Cane Hill, Arkansas, and was a cousin of Willis Durant. The
Durant's were of a family which had attained considerable prominence during
the early territorial days. John H. Durant died in 1887 and was buried in what
is now known as the Vaughn Cemetery.
Some time after the death of John H.
Durant, she was married to J. J. PATE and moved with him to Lamar County,
Texas, where Mr. Pate died. She then returned to her old home in the Indian
Territory and later married Noah GRIFFITH, with whom she lived until his death
by drowning, in the Poteau River in 1933.
Reminiscences of Mrs. Sarah C. Griffith
Mrs. Griffith relates that owing to the influx of white settlers into the
eastern borders of the Indian Territory, the Indians, in the main, moved
westward. This condition finally resulted in the eastern part of Sugar Loaf
District - now LeFlore County - being populated mostly by whites and mixed
blood Indians. This condition also created a sort of "No Man’s
land" along this border of the Territory, as the whites were amenable to
the federal laws. It will be readily understood that for these and other
reasons, the matter of law observance was not as good in the border districts
as it was in the inland districts.
She also relates that the Indians were
extremely clannish in their support of, or opposition to, Candidates for the
various tribal offices. On this account, a great deal of ill-feelings was
aroused when, in 1880, Chief Jackson McCurtain was elected, or possibly
re-elected, Chief of the Choctaws. Feeling was so tense that it was deemed
expedient that he have a troop of the Indian Militia to guard his person for a
period of three months following his election. John H. Durant, her then
husband, served as a member of that troop.
She gathered from conversations with
various people who lived in the Indian Territory prior to and during the Civil
War, that the discussions relating to which side of that conflict, if any, the
Choctaw people should take, had left scars and animosities which could be and
were healed only by the death of the principal participants in those
discussions and of their followers. In the meantime many atrocious crimes were
committed. On one occasion, in 1873, a band of outlaws, known as the
"Blue Ribbons" had grown to alarming proportions. It was the custom
of this band to kidnap recruits and under threats of violent death, swear them
to the utmost secrecy concerning it’s movements and activities. After an
interval of stealing and robbing by the band, two men, Duvall TERRELL and
Gilbert THOMPSON, were held in captivity by the band, and after being at the
mercy of the band for some time, one night effected their escape by crawling
away without their horses, while the members of the band were asleep, and they
immediately disclosed the hiding place of the band, which was on the north
side of Cavanal Mountain. Through this disclosure by the former kidnapped men,
seven members of the band were captured by a posse, and such was the feeling
of those forming the posse, that the seven captured members of the band were
lined up and shot without ceremony and they were all buried in one grave.
On another occasion in 1885, two Indians,
Charles WILSON and Robert BENTON, respectively, were opponents contending for
election to the office of representative in the tribal legislature. Each of
the contenders had openly threatened to take the life of the other in the
event of the election of either. However before the date set for the election,
one of the candidates, Charles Wilson, was ambushed and killed at a point now
known as Howe. This occurred very early one morning while Wilson was returning
to the home on horseback, from a trip which he had made to a distant part of
the district. This crime was committed by the assassins without knowing that
it had been witnessed by a small boy, Robert JACKSON, who had been sent by his
father to find his work horses, which had been hobbled and turned out the
previous evening. The boy immediately returned to his home and reported the
occurrence. Such was the fear of the family of the boy, Robert Jackson, of
reprisal on the part of the murderer, that he was placed in jail for
safekeeping until the culprit could be apprehended. The crime, through the
evidence of this boy, was fastened upon a renegade negro named Jack CROW, who
was duly tried and convicted in the federal court at Fort Smith, soon
thereafter. John H. Durant, the then husband of Mrs. Griffith, who was a
deputy sheriff at that time, assisted in taking the body of the murdered man
to his home for burial, and assisted in the capture of his murderer. While
many atrocious crimes were committed during this period, the justifiably stern
hand of Judge Isaac Parker, the then Federal Judge of the court of Fort Smith,
went a long way toward commanding an observance of the federal laws and he, no
doubt, contributed in a large measure to securing a semblance of orderly
society in this border district, where a dual jurisdiction prevailed.
Despite the occurrence of some atrocious
crimes, the spiritual status of the inhabitants was of a comparatively high
standard. Churches were built at convenient points. Religious services were
attended in large numbers and protracted meetings were held periodically.
Schools were supported by popular subscription only, in the case of white
pupils. Indian schools were supported jointly by the various denominational
missions and the tribal authorities. Conversation with some of the older
Indians living at this time will attest that some of them enjoyed
opportunities for learning comparable to those provided students of today.
The marriage customs and regulations were
merely that the contracting parties appear before a Justice of the Peace or a
Minister of the Gospel, respond in the affirmative to prescribed questions and
be pronounced man and wife. No license was required. Certificates of marriage
were issued by those officiating and these were placed on record in any court
of record. It was due to the recording of the certificate of marriage to John
H. Durant, her Indian first - husband, that the now Mrs. Griffith was enabled
to be enrolled as an allottee and was granted her allotment of land by the
Dawes Commission. The people generally farmed in a small way. Not much feed
for live stock was necessary as the prairies provided an abundance of grass
for cattle and horses.
Hogs ran at large and thrived and fattened
on the abundant mast in the fall and winter. Such hogs as were necessary for
the year’s supply of meat and lard would be caught by well trained dogs:
taken to the homes of the owners: penned and fed on corn for a short period,
in order to give the meat the firm quality necessary for curing and also to
destroy the acorn taste of the meat, which it otherwise would have. It was
indeed interesting to take part in one of these hog catching undertakings and
to note the unusual sagacity of the dogs which were an indispensable part of
the job. When shown the particular animal which it was desired should be
caught, usually two dogs, working as a team, would speed upon it and each
would take hold of an ear, and hang on for dear life until their master would
have the animal hogtied and ready to be loaded and hauled to the pen. This
proceeding would be repeated until a sufficient number of hogs were caught.
The dogs were usually of heavy build and
in most instances were a cross of the Collie and Bulldog. This cross combined
sagacity and industry with strength and tenacity. Their actions and
understanding suggested the thought that they fully realized their
responsibilities and that it would be an unpardonable sin to catch any other
animal than the one indicated by their master, or to unduly tear the ears of
the animal caught. A gentle pat on the head and a kind word of encouragement
was appreciated reward for the performance of these grueling duties. It will
thus be seen that the pioneers were indebted to an appreciable degree to their
faithful dogs for the assistance rendered in providing for their wants.
Cattle, horses and hogs would often break
the rail fences with which fields were universally fenced at that time, and if
permitted to stay in the fields would quickly destroy the growing crops. The
ever watchful Shep, Bull, Rover, Tige or Fan, would bound up and, with the
speed of the wind, chase the animals out of the field, and woe to the animal
which did not vacate the field in the shortest possible space of time after
being detected by the dogs. So, the pioneer dogs are entitled to be remembered
as a very material part of the life of those whose history and customs we are
now attempting to portray. Without the dog, the boys could not have enjoyed
that rare experience attendant on the treeing of a rabbit, smoking him out
with a fire made from leaves; then; when suffocated by the rancid smoke, to
have "Brother Rabbit" come tumbling down out of the tree in which he
had taken refuge; the dogs, with every nerve strained with eagerness to catch
the rabbit; sometimes burning their feet and nose in the fire and emitting a
yelp of pain; then when finally the rabbit is caught, to battle the dogs for
possession of the rabbit. What boy of those bygone days who has not with his
dogs treed a rabbit in a hollow tree trunk and with a long straight stick,
brushed at the end, twisted the rabbit out of his hiding place amid the
bounding, yelping and eager dogs. Yes, we must give the faithful and helpful
dog a place in writing the history of this part of Oklahoma.
Fort Smith, Arkansas, was our principal
trading point. However, with plenty of hogs and game for meat; our corn to be
ground for meal; a small patch of cotton to provide funds with which to buy
clothing and shoes, not many trips to "town" were necessary. As I
look back over the years, I yearn for those days as they were years ago with
their simple modes and the more intimate acquaintance of neighbors than we
enjoy today.
Submitted to OKGenWeb by Lola Crane
lcrane@futureone.com December 2000.