TX BIOS:  Mrs. Samantha Jane Turney
   Selected and converted.American Memory, Library of Congress.
   
   Washington, 1994.
   
   Preceding element provides place and date of transcription only.
   
   This transcription intended to be 99.95% accurate.
   
   For more information about this text and this American Memory
   collection, refer to accompanying matter.
   
   U.S. Work Projects Administration, Federal Writers' Project (Folklore
   Project, Life Histories, 1936-39); Manuscript Division, Library of
   Congress.Copyright status not determined.
   
   00011
   
   Abilene, Texas
   
   Cowboy Anecdotes, Range Lore
   
   N. J. Avery [??]
   
   Page 1.
   
   No. of words ___.
   
   TEXAS ANECDOTE
   
   (Note: The person interviewed was Mrs. Samantha Jane Turney, aged 85,
   a native of Harrison County, Arkansas, and a resident of Texas since
   1881. Her husband was a doctor, coming into Brown County to take up
   the practice of medicine among the pioneer citizens of that county,
   settling near the little town of Blanket.)
   
   We left Arkansas early in the spring of 1880. I didn't want to leave
   my home, and I had heard so many awful tales of Texas that I just knew
   that it wasn't safe to take three little babies to a place where
   Indians and outlaws ran free. Of course most of the wild tales I had
   heard weren't the truth, but I didn't know that and I tried my best to
   keep the Doctor (her husband) from going. The Doctor thought that the
   pioneer country would have need of a good doctor and he believed that
   it was his duty to go out there and serve those settlers. Nothing I
   could say would cause him to change, so I had to come with him.
   
   I guess I was a baby because when we started (there were six wagons
   making the trip although some were just going to the edge of Texas,
   north of Dallas), I cried like a spoiled child. I didn't get over the
   crying for three days and then there weren't any more tears to fall so
   I had to quit. Starting out really wasn't so bad. There were flowers
   blooming everywhere and all the little creeks and branches were
   running full with clear, pure water. There was a lot of game and the
   men kept us well supplied with fresh meat.
   
   Ten days out we were deep in Indian Territory (Oklahoma) and had
   turned south. I hadn't seen a single Indian and was beginning to be
   ashamed that I had acted the way I did. On the evening of the eleventh
   day a band of seven Indians did ride up to the wagons just as we were
   camping for the night. All of our men folks held their guns ready but
   the Indians were friendly and just wanted to beg some tobacco. At
   least that was what they said they wanted and the Doctor gave each of
   them some of his "home-spun" 0002and they left.
   
   Those Indians didn't look bad, just nasty naked and dirty. My babies
   had been scared pretty badly, not by the Indians but by having to hide
   in the bottom of the wagon. They knew that there was something wrong,
   and that scared them. The Doctor said that those Indians were from a
   friendly tribe, and that they wouldn't bother anything except to steal
   anything that was loose. I couldn't see why they would steal anything
   except food because they wouldn't wear any clothes and they lived in
   tents and scanties and didn't have any use for furniture, and they
   never did work so they didn't need tools or harness.
   
   On the morning of the fifteenth day another band of the Indians rode
   up. This time the wagons were strung out and I thought we would all be
   killed and scalped and my children carried off. Our men hurried to
   meet the Indians and all had their guns ready. I was in the first
   wagon and I loaded an extra gun of the Doctor's and figured on
   protecting my babies.
   
   These were a different kind of Indians, they were just as naked, and
   just as dirty but they sat straighter on [their?] horses and were
   insolent. They didn't ask for anything, they demanded it. They wanted
   food, tobacco, whiskey and some powder. The Doctor talked with them
   for a long time and I sweated like a nigger; afraid that those dirty
   Indians would start a fight and my husband would get killed. After
   what seemed like hours the Doctor gave them some biscuit and some
   tobacco and they rode off.
   
   For the rest of the day we were all jumpy and the [women?] and
   children were scared. The men said there wasn't anything to worry
   about, but they stayed close to the [wagons?] just the [same?] and we
   camped early. For the first time on the trip we made a circle of the
   wagons, but six wagons don't make a big circle and the horses and a
   few cows that we had alone wouldn't fit inside. These were hobbled and
   tied in a little [?] and one [man?] was left [there?] to stand guard.
   All night the men took turns standing watch and I guess the women were
   watching too, because none of us could sleep. I certainly 0003did wish
   that I was back in Arkansas.
   
   About an hour before day the men who had been left with the horses
   came running up and said [that?] he heard Indians off about a quarter
   of a mile. The men slipped down [to?] the draw where [the?] stock was
   tied, but when they got there, there wasn't a single horse left. The
   Indians must have slipped up right close and had some other Indians
   make a noise off [somewhere?]. That was about the only way they could
   have cut the hobbles so quickly and got away. The whole thing didn't
   take more than five minutes.
   
   The men came back and laid under the wagons with their guns loaded and
   ready. Everybody was worried and more than a little scared. Then the
   sun came up and still nothing happened we seemed to get a little
   braver and did manage to cook up some breakfast. It was a sorry meal
   with everyone wondering what we [would?] do without any horses.
   
   Around ten o'clock one Indian came toward the wagons, riding with his
   hand held up high in a peace sign. The Doctor went out to meet him and
   they talked for a few minutes and the Doctor came back. He said that
   the Indian said he knew who had stolen our horses and that he would
   get them back for us for a dollar a head. Our men talked a while but
   there wasn't anything else to do so the Doctor went back and told the
   Indian to bring back the horses.
   
   It didn't take that thieving Indian an hour to bring back those
   horses. He had them staked out in the brush all the time he was
   talking to the Doctor and he probably helped steal them, too. There
   wasn't anything we could do except pay a dollar a head for them and we
   did, although one [of?] the men wanted to shoot the Indian and get the
   money back. The [wagons?] were soon hitched up and we left as quick as
   we could, it seemed good to be leaving that place.
   
   About five in the evening two Indians overtook us from behind and
   asked to talk to the Doctor. One Indian had gotten hurt and they
   wanted someone to cure him. I wouldn't trust them, but the Doctor said
   that if they needed treatment he had to go. He didn't get back until
   midnight, and I cried all the time he was gone because I 0004thought I
   would be left a widow with my three babies and so far from home I
   never would get back. That was once in my life that I was [sorry?] my
   husband was a doctor.
   
   When he did come back there was all the shouting you ever heard; the
   men grabbed up guns and waited for an attack, but the Indians were
   friendly and happy. The Doctor had cured the sick Indian (he had just
   had a bad stomach ache from swallowing tobacco juice) and the whole
   tribe had brought the Doctor to the wagons. Those Indians gave us back
   the money we had paid for the horses; gave us deer hides, antelope
   hides and more presents than you ever saw. They stayed around the
   wagons all the rest of the night, singing and dancing and eating. In
   the morning they helped us load up and harness and then the Chief of
   the tribe had four of the Indians to go with us to help us with the
   camp and to herd the horses at night so no other Indians would steal
   them and sell [them?] back to us. Those Indians stayed with us until
   we got to the Red River and we never did have any more trouble with
   Indians in Indian Territory. I changed my mind about being sorry my
   husband was a doctor and I've been right proud ever since.

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