It’s been very quiet at the Ferguson Home Museum because of below freezing temperatures.
In Mrs. Ferguson's book They Carried the Torch she describes their trip and the beginnings in Watonga. She describes coming from Kingfisher to Watonga saying, “It was a two day trip because there was merely a trail to follow in a wagon.” They rented a small wooden building, thrown together as a hotel, for the newspaper office for $10.00 a month. It was located where the Noble House is now. They used the largest room for the office and lived in the other three rooms. She said, “Sheets of heavy cardboard were carefully nailed over the top of the type to keep the type from jolting out and becoming mixed.” They were then placed on the bottom of the wagon. Mr. Ferguson drove the wagon with newspaper equipment. A light wagon with bedding and camp equipment was driven by Mrs. Ferguson. She held a baby boy in her lap and a small boy rode beside her. It was after nightfall when they arrived and the street was a muddy mess. On arrival she noted, “The town was brilliantly lit from the open doors of the saloons. Drunken revelry from those places made me shudder.” She then resolved, “to not rear her boys in such a wild place and they would start back to Kansas in the morning.” She lamented that, “The homesickness of that night was enough to make any woman regret the thought of becoming a pioneer and the lofty ambition of wanting to be a state builder.” She went on to say she wondered if the danger from the liquor menace was as big a problem for her sons as what her grandson faced in high school with the pocket flasks filled with deadly bootleg stuff. She said, “It took considerable persuasion on the part of my husband, who assured her that things would look brighter in the morning, to prevent my being a quitter before becoming fairly started.” She said she stuck like a soldier ready for anything.
The next morning while cooking breakfast with the camp outfit, she said, “I was startled by a grunt of greeting and there within a few feet was a blanketed and painted Cheyenne Indian. I gave out a yell that brought my husband from his work to my side. The Indian stalked off muttering to himself, “Ugh, white squaw heap fraid.” The Indian had heard of the new venture in journalism and was merely making a friendly call and later became one of our best Indian friends. In fact this Indian Chief became so attached to the blue-eyed baby of the family that he once insisted upon trading his dearest possession, a beautiful spotted pony for my "white papoose.” Years later, when this boy in the uniform of his country was brought home for burial with military honors, this old Indian Chief and many members of his tribe were among the sincere mourners.”
There is a glider rocker upstairs. The date embossed on the frame says May 28, 88. So that would have been 1888. It has beautiful embroidered red flowers on the seat with a background of dark brown or gray. It possibly was brown and has faded to the gray it is now after 134 years. I put the museum approved wax on the six Jenny Lind dining room chairs. The dry wood just was so happy to be waxed it soaked it right in and so I applied two coats.
The Chicken Noodle Dinner is Friday, March 18, 2022, 5:00 to 7:00 pm, at the Watonga Christian Church. You can get it to go, order to be delivered, or dine in. If you want it delivered please call the museum and leave a message before 3:00 pm that day. Be sure and leave your name and call back number because we don’t have caller ID.
Sandra Maddox will be giving a program for us on card making, April 2, 2022, 10:00 am at the Watonga Library.
We are still looking for the right person for the position as Site Director. It’s 20 hours a week, Wednesday thru Saturday, 10 am to 3 pm. We will be doing interviews soon; if you are interested come by the museum to get an application and schedule an interview. You can call 580-623-5069 or 580- 614-1018 for more information.