Jackson Co. OK - Jackson County History Submitted by: Jodean Martin jodeanmartin@cox.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jackson County History from 1878-1885 as part of Old Greer County Texas Cowboys, Indians, Ranchers and Homesteaders W4444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444U WESTERN STORIES AND MOVIES ARE A FAVORITE TO MANY OF US AND WE, IN JACKSON COUNTY, CAN TELL ONE OF THE MOST ADVENTURESOME, EXCITING WESTERN TALE THAT WAS EVER RECORDED. LET'S LOOK BACK TO 1878 TO A BLOCK OF LAND NORTH OF RED RIVER THAT TALL, TOUGH TEXAS WAS DETERMINED TO MAKE HER POSSESSION. GREER COUNTY, TEXAS LAY BETWEEN THE ONE HUNDREDTH MERIDIAN AND NORTH FORK AND WAS NAMED AS EARLY AS 1860. THE INDIANS WANTED THE TERRITORY BUT THEIR TREATIES DID NOT LET THEM CLAIM IT AS PART OF INDIAN TERRITORY. BY 1878 THE INDIANS HAD BEEN REMOVED FROM THIS AREA ONTO THE RESERVATIONS. THE GOVERNMENT HAD ALLOWED THE BUFFALO TO BE KILLED IN ORDER TO FORCE THEM TO SURRENDER OR STARVE. TO SURVIVE THEY SURRENDERED BUT THEIR SPIRITS WERE NEVER CONQUERED. THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, WAS TO BUSY WITH "BIGGER FISH TO FRY" TO BOTHER WITH A FEW ACRES HALF WAY ACROSS THE NATION FROM WASHINGTON D.C.--SHE THOUGHT. THE STORY I WANT TO TELL HAPPENED IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS BETWEEN 1878-1885. WHERE AND WHEN DID JACKSON COUNTY REALLY BEGIN? YOU CAN'T TELL THE HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY WITHOUT TELLING THE HISTORY OF GREER, HARMON, BECKHAM AND JACKSON COUNTY TOGETHER, FOR "IN THE BEGINNING" WE WERE ONE COUNTY. HISTORICAL RESEARCH IS MUCH LIKE A GOOD MYSTERY NOVEL. YOU FOLLOW EVERY CLUE TO REACH THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM. TO SHOW YOU HOW THESE CLUES WERE FOUND I MUST GO BACK TO 1986 WHEN MY HUSBAND WAS VERY SICK AND WE SPENT MANY HOURS AT THE BAPTIST HOSPITAL IN THE CITY. I HAD LIVED AT THAT HOSPITAL FOR SIX WEEKS AND AFTER HE BEGAN TO RECOVER, THE NURSING STAFF VERY TACTFULLY SUGGESTED THAT I GET OUT OF THEIR HAIR. SO, TO ACCOMODATE THIER WISHES I DROVE OVER TO THE HISTORICAL MUSEUM TO HAVE A LOOK AT OUR HISTORY. IN THE INDIAN ARCHIVES I CASUALLY WALKED UP TO THE COUNTER, EXPECTING TO FIND ALL KINDS OF GOODIES THERE, AND ASKED, "MAY I PLEASE, SEE WHAT YOU HAVE ON GREER COUNTY." THE CLERK DISAPPEARED FOR SEVERAL MINUTES AND I EAGERLY ANTICIPATED THIS TO MEAN THAT SHE WAS FINDING LOTS OF RECORDS FOR ME. SHE APPEARED AND LAID ONE SMALL SHOE BOX ON THE COUNTER, LOOKED AT ME AS IF TO APOLIGIZE FOR THE SIZE OF THE GREER COUNTY ARCHIVES. MY DISAPPOINTMENT WAS VERY EVIDENT FROM MY FACE I AM SURE FOR SHE VANISHED WITHOUT ANY EXPLANATION. GREER COUNTY WAS 100 YEARS OLD AND WE HAD A SMALL SHOE BOX OF HISTORY IN THE OKLAHOMA ARCHIVES. I WAS VERY DISAPPOINTED. BUT, MY MOTHER DIDN'T RAISE NO FOOL. SHE ALWAYS SAID, MAKE THE BEST OF THE SITUATION AND SEE WHERE IT LEADS." SO WITH THAT IN MIND I LIFTED THE TOP OFF THE SHOE BOX. WELL!!!!THAT OPENED UP A WHOLE NEW CAN OF WORMS. LYING ON THE TOP OF THE PILE WAS A LETTER FROM LEM TITTLE OF MANGUM, HE SAID, "DATED 1945, I AM THE LAST LIVING MEMBER OF THE OLD GREER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AND I AM TAKING THESE GREER COUNTY, TEXAS BOOKS OF 1886 AND HISTORICAL PAPERS TO THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY IN OKLAHOMA CITY FOR SAFE KEEPING. FROM THE WAY THEY LOOK, THEY WILL BE THROWN OUT IT THEY ARE LEFT IN THE CITY HALL." I RAN BACK TO THE LITTLE LADY HELPER AND SHOWED HER THE LETTER AND SAID, "YOU MUST HAVE SOMETHING ELSE, LEM SAYS HE IS LEAVING SOME GREER COUNTY, TEXAS BOOKS WITH YOU." SHE TUCKED HER CHIN A LITTLE, LOOKED OVER THOSE LITTLE HALF GLASSES AND SAID "I'VE NEVER SEEN ANY BOOKS ON GREER COUNTY," NOTHING WAS GOING TO STAND IN THE WAY OF ME FINDING THOSE BOOKS. IN MY NEXT BREATHE I SAID, "MAY I COME LOOK FOR THEM" AND WAS HALF WAY AROUND THE COUNTER WHEN SHE STEPPED IN FRONT OF MY ADVANCE AND WALKED ME SLOWLY BACKWARD TO MY SIDE OF THE COUNTER. VERY STERNLY LOOKED AT ME AND SHE, "I'LL GO LOOK FOR THEM." AND SHE DISAPPEARED. FOR LONG MOMENTS I STOOD THERE WAITING. I COULD HEAR HER SHUFFLING BOXES AND BOOKS, BUT NEVER A PEAK DID I GET. SHE REAPPEARED, CARRYING A RED LEATHER BOOK, BEARING THE TITLE, "GREER COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BOOK NO.I, 1886." I KNOW I SHOULDN'T HAVE BUT I SCREAMED, "WE'VE BEEN HUNTING THIS BOOK FOR FIFTY YEARS, WHAT ELSE IS BACK THERE." HER EYES BUGGED OUT ON STEMS. I DONT THINK SHE WAS USED TO SUCH ENTHUSIASM OVER THE OLD RECORDS. SHE BACKED AWAY FROM THE COUNTER WHERE I COULD NOT REACH HER AND ASSURED ME SHE WOULD LOOK TO SEE WHAT WAS LEFT. SHE WENT BACK TO RETRIEVE ABOUT FOUR OF FIVE BOOKS FROM THE PERIOD OF 1880 AND 90'S. HERE WERE THE CLUES WE HAD BEEN NEEDING, FOR WE HAD FOUND NONE OF THE 1886 BOOKS AND THE TEXAS ARCHIVES LOST US A LONG TIME AGO. I OPENED THE YELLOW PAGES OF THE COMMISSIONER'S BOOK AND A CRY IN PAIN SEEMED TO COME FROM THE PAGES OF THE BOOK AS THEY CREAKED AND CRACKED FROM THE PRESSURE THAT WAS ON THE LEATHER AND TWINE THAT HELD THEM TOGETHER. YES, IT HAD BEEN BURNED IN THE 1900 FIRE OF GREER COUNTY, OKLAHOMA TERRITORY. SOME OF THE PAGES WERE BURNED IN THE BACK OF THE BOOK THAT WERE DATED IN 1889. THE RECORDS IN THIS BOOK DOCUMENTED THAT THERE WERE RECORDS IN WHEELER COUNTY, TEXAS FOR OLD GREER CO. WITH THIS CLUE, I BEGAN TO SEARCH. THE FIRST THING I FOUND WERE THE 1881 TAXES AT THE END OF WHEELER COUNTY, TEXAS TAXES. NINETEEN NAMES TOLD ME WHO THE RANCHERS AND COWBOYS WERE THAT HAD BROUGHT THEIR CATTLE OVER ONTO THE FREE GRASS OF GREER COUNTY. BUT WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TOLD THAT OUR JACKSON COUNTY HISTORY BEGAN IN 1885 WITH FRAZIER, TEXAS. HOW COULD THERE BE 1881 TAX LIST OF PEOPLE LIVING IN GREER COUNTY, TEXAS. LET'S GO BACK TO 1877, WHEN A NEW INDUSTRY WAS BORN IN TEXAS. CATTLE TRAILS BEGAN PUSHING THROUGH NORTHERN TEXAS INTO INDIAN TERRITORY. IN 1878, C.F. DOAN BUILT HIS TRADING POST ON THE BANKS OF NORTH FORK TO SERVE THE RANCHERS, COWBOYS AND CATTLE DRIVES THAT WERE COMING THROUGH WHAT WAS TO BE OUR JACKSON COUNTY. DO YOU KNOW WHO THE FIRST BUSINESSMEN IN JACKSON COUNTY WERE? LET ME TELL YOU THIS STORY. EAGLE FLAT, LATER VERNON, WAS ON THE EDGE OF THE WESTERN FRONTIER AND IT WAS ONLY A SHACK. FROM EAGLE FLATS TO KANSAS, THERE WAS ONLY WIND, RAIN, DUST, SNOW, SLEET, INDiANS, FLOODING RIVERS AND MILES OF PRAIRIE GRASS FOR THE COWS TO FEED UPON, AND GREER COUNTY. AS THE WESTERN TRAIL CROSSED THE RED RIVER AT DOAN'S IT FOLLOWING THE NORTH FORK RIVER AROUND THE NAVAJOE MOUNTAINS TO AN OLD CROSSING NORTHEAST OF WARREN. ON THE BANKS OF THE OLD WARREN CROSSING, JOHN PASSMORE AND ANOTHER MAN WHOSE NAME I HAVE LOST, HAD A CRUDE STORE. THIS WAS THE LAST CHANCE TO BUY ANY KIND OF PERSONAL SUPPLIES UNTIL THEY REACHED FT. SUPPLY. THE WARREN STORE SERVED THE COWBOYS, RANCHERS AND THE INDIANS WHO CAME OVER FROM INDIAN TERRITORY TO BUY TOBACCO AND FOOD. THIS WAS BEFORE MANGUM, BEFORE FRAZIER OR BEFORE NAVAJOE WAS FOUNDED. THE WARREN CROSSING WAS A FAVORITE PLACE TO MAKE AN EVENING CAMP. AS THE SUN SANK SLOWLY INTO A MILLION RED GLOWING FIRES ON THE HORIZON AND THE CALM, STILLNESS THAT HAPPENS ONLY A WESTERN NIGHT ALONG THE NORTH FORK ARRIVES, THE COWS ARE BROUGHT TO A STOP FOR THE NIGHT AND THE HUSTLE OF THE DAY IS CLOSED. THE COOK HAS A FIRE AND YOU CAN SMELL THE BOILED COFFEE AS THE AROMA OF THE SUPPER MEAL FILLS THE AIR. AS YOU STAND ON THESE HALLOWED GROUNDS YOU HEAR THE NIGHT TIME COWBOY SINGING AS HE RIDES HIS CIRCLE AROUND THE HERD AND QUIETS THEM FOR THE NIGHT. ACCORDING TO THE RESEARCH THAT I CAN FIND THIS IS THE FIRST BUSINESS IN OLD GREER COUNTY, TEXAS AND IT HAPPENS TO BE IN JACKSON COUNTY, OKLAHOMA TODAY. I THINK THIS IS OUR CLAIM TO FAME. WE HAD THE FIRST BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENT IN THE COUNTY. IT SHOULD HAVE AN HISTORICAL MARKER PROCLAIMING IT TO EVERYONE. THE CROSSING IS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY, BUT WE COULD HAVE A MARKER ON HIGHWAY 62 AND HIGHWAY 283 TELLING THE STORY. THIS IS KNOWN AS TOURISM ATTRACTIONS, AND THERE ARE DOLLARS TO BE MADE IN TOURISM. OUR SECOND CLAIM TO HISTORICAL FAME IS THE WESTERN TRAIL. THE JACKSON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY HAS THE PLANS IN PLACE TO ERECT A MARKER TO TELL THIS STORY. WE WOULD HAVE HAD IT IN THIS YEAR BUT THE AIRFORCE HAS RESTRICED THE AREA WE HAD GIVEN TO US. ARRANGEMENTS ARE BEING FINALIZED TO FINISH THIS PROJECT WITH A BIG GRANITE MARKER TELLING THE STORY AND MARKING THE TRAIL THROUGH JACKSON COUNTY IN A HIGHWAY PULL OFF. WE THINK THIS WILL MAKE AN INTERESTING TOURIST ATTRACTION FOR JACKSON COUNTY. THIS IS THE WILD WEST AT ITS BEST, AND IT HAPPENED IN JACKSON COUNTY. ANOTHER EARLY DAY CLAIM TO FAME IS THE OLD MOBEETIE ROAD THAT WAS STARTED BY THE ARMY IN 1878 AS A MILITARY ROAD TO CARRY SUPPLIES AND MEN FROM THE FEDERAL FORT NEAR HENRIETTA, TEXAS TO FORT ELLIOTT IN WHEELER COUNTY, TEXAS. THIS WAS THE FIRST SURVEYED ROAD TO COME THROUGH JACKSON COUNTY. IT WAS RECORDED AS THE OLD WAGON ROAD ON THE 1870 GOVERNMENT SURVEYS THAT CAN BE FOUND IN OUR COUNTY ASSESSOR'S OFFICE. GO LOOK FOR YOURSELVES. THAT IS BEFORE THE ARMY EVEN NAMED IT THE MOBEETIE ROAD. IT RAN ACROSS AT DOAN'S UP ALONG SALT FORK. THERE WAS A STAGE COACH STAND SOMEWHERE AROUND WHERE FRAZIER WAS FOUNDED. ACCORDING TO THE MAP. FRAZIER WOULD BE STRAIGHT WEST OF FT. SILL FROM THERE THE OLD MOBEETIE ROAD RAN NORTHWARD TO THE EDGE OF THE PRESENT TOWN OF MANGUM. OLD TIMERS SAID, "THE OLD WAGON ROAD CAME BY THE CORNER OF WHERE THE NATIONAL GUARD ARMY STANDS AND RAN BY DRAW SPRINGS, ABOUT A MILE NE OF THE TOWN OF MANGUM, ON UP TO JAYBUCKLE SPRINGS, CROSSED OUT OF THE COUNTY THROUGH THE ROCKING CHAIR RANCH GATE ON NORTH FORK. THERE WAS A STAGE STAND AT STATION CREEK BEFORE IT PASSED OUT OF GREER COUNTY. THE MILLER FAMILY CAME TO THE STAGE STAND IN 1878. RECORDS SAY THAT HE OWNED A PAIR OF GREY MULES THAT HE KEPT IN A HIGH TROT AS HE MADE THE TRIP TO TEXAS TWICE A WEEK. THERE WAS ANOTHER STAGE STAND IN TEXAS NEAR JAY BIRD CREEK, WHICH LATER BECAME TEXOLA, TEXAS. THIS IS OUR THIRD HISTORICAL CLAIM TO FAME, TO HAVE BEEN ON THE FIRST ROAD AND THE FIRST MAIL ROUTE IN JACKSON COUNTY. WE NEED A HISTORICAL MARKER TELLING THIS STORY AND MARKING THIS OLD WAGON ROAD. AGAIN THIS IS TOURISM DOLLARS I'M TALKING ABOUT. OUR FOURTH CLAIM TO HISTORICAL FAME COMES WITH REAL COWBOYS AND RANCHERS IN JACKSON COUNTY. IN THE OLD SHOE BOX FROM THE ARCHIVES, THERE WERE PAPERS FROM THE L.Z. EDDLEMAN "CROSS S" RANCH. HIS CATTLE AND HORSES RANGED FROM RED RIVER TO WHERE ALTUS IS NOW LOCATED. HE SAYS IN LETTERS THAT HE CAME INTO THE COUNTY BY 1881, BUT HE DID NOT GO ON THE TAX LIST UNTIL MUCH LATER. THESE RANCHERS DIDN'T OFFER THEIR TAXES UNLESS THEY WERE CAUGHT BY THE TAX COLLECTOR. L.Z. WAS FORCED OUT OF GREER COUNTY IN A FEW YEARS BY HOMEASTEADERS AND DROVE 4,000 HEAD OF CATTLE TO ALBUQURQUE, N.M. IT TOOK FIVE YEARS OF DRY WEATHER, DRIED UP PASTURES AND MEXICAN RUSTLERS TO DEPLETE THE RANCH AND EDDLEMAN RETURNED TO "CROSS S" TO START OVER. HIS ANCESTORS HAVE MANY ARTIFACTS AND HISTORIC RECORDS FROM HIM. WE NEED A HISTORICAL GRANITE MARKER ON HIGHWAY TELLING THE STORY OF ONE OF THE FIRST RANCHERS IN JACKSON COUNTY. E.F. AND MILTON IKARD WERE RANCHING IN THE WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, AND THE HARRELL BROS. WERE AROUND HARROLD, TEXAS IN 1879 WHEN THEY DECIDED TO MOVE THEIR HERDS WESTWARD. THEY CAME INTO JACKSON COUNTY AT DOAN'S CROSSING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FREE GRASS AND FREE TAXES IN GREER COUNTY, TEXAS. THEY WERE A LONG WAYS FROM THE WHEELER COUNTY TAX ASSESSOR. THEIR CATTLE RANGED UP THE NORTH FORK RIVER, IN THE MOUNTAINS, AND ALONG THE UPPER PRAIRIE BETWEEN SALT FORK AND THE NORTH FORK ON THE OPEN RANGE. THAT'S ROUGH TERRITORY IN PLACES AND THEY HAD THEIR HEADQUARTERS IN THE "COVE" AT GRANITE AT HEADQUARTERS MOUNTAIN. YOU WOULD HAVE TO KNOW WHERE TO LOOK TO FIND ANY OF THE LINE CAMPS IN THIS AREA. THEY FINALLY PUT UP A FENCE AND BUILT A LINE CAMP AT JAYBUCKLE SPRINGS DOWN TO SALT FORK, DOWN TO TURKEY CREEK AND THE LAST WAS ON RED RIVER. ON THEIR EASTERN BORDER THEY PUT UP A FENCE AND BUILT LINE CAMPS ON RED RIVER, AT NAVAJOE MT., AT THE OLD WARREN STORE CROSSING, AT COMANCHE SPRINGS AND THE LAST ONE AT THE HEAD OF NORTH FORK ON THE TEXAS LINE. BY 1882 THEY WERE RUNNING 53,000 HEAD OF COWS IN OLD GREER COUNTY, TEXAS. OVER HALF OF THIS RANGE WAS IN JACKSON COUNTY. IKERD AND HARRELL BROS. WERE THE BIGGEST RANCHERS IN GREER COUNTY. THE STORY OF THEIR SUCCESS AS RANCHERS IS TOLD IN THE BOOK, "FRANKLIN LAND COMPANY". IN 1884 IKERD AND HARROLD SOLD OUT TO B.B. GROOM AND THE FRANKLIN LAND COMPANY. THIS WAS A MILLION DOLLAR CATTLE DEAL AND WAS THE BIGGEST DOLLAR DEAL THAT EVER WAS RECORDED IN THE COUNTY. IT TOOK TWO YEARS FOR GROOM TO CULL AND MOVE THE HERD OF COWS TO MARKET. OUR FIFTH CLAIM TO HISTORICAL FAME IS TO ERECT A MARKER TELLING THE STORY OF THIS MILLION DOLLAR CATTLE DEAL AND MARK JACKSON COUNTY AS PART OF THE BIGGEST RANCHING BUSINESS IN OLD GREER COUNTY, TEXAS. I AM PROUD TO HAVE SPENT MY LIFE TIME IN JACKSON COUNTY. I TAKE GREAT PRIDE IN OUR HISTORY AND THE PIONEERS WHO WROTE IT IN SWEAT, BLOOD AND TEARS. IN 1994 HISTORY IS BEING MADE AGAIN. WE ARE IN THE COURT HOUSE AT MANGUM MICROFILMING THESE OLD RECORDS. THERE ARE OTHER BURNED BOOKS OF THE 1886 AREA THAT WE HAVE FOUND ALONG WITH THE BRAND BOOKS, THE OLD COURT RECORDS AND THE LAND DEEDS. WE ALSO FOUND AN OLD BEDROOM ON THE FOURTH FLOOR THAT STILL HAS THE IRON BEDS STANDING IN IT. MANY OTHER ARTIFACTS HAVE BEEN UNCOVERED. WE HAVE 87 ROLLS TO DATE AND THERE IS THREE MONTHS MORE WORK TO DO. THERE WILL BE OVER 125 ROLLS WORTH $25.000 TO BE PLACED IN THE MANGUM CITY LIBRARY IN THE GENEALOGY SECTION. HOW SHALL WE MARK OUR TIME THAT WE HAVE SPENT IN JACKSON COUNTY HISTORY? PLEASE CONSIDER IT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO TELL IT, SAVE IT, WRITE IT DOWN AND PRINT IT OUT. SOMEONE OUT THERE IS INTERESTED.