President T.B. Ferguson Home
We had five visitors come this week. Three of them were children who were home schooled and they came for a field trip. All were very attentive when I told the history of the Ferguson’s. The youngest boy told me this is very interesting as we were leaving the dining room. It’s a good feeling when I can make it interesting for the children. I started taking my oldest great grandson to museums when he was three years old and he is now sixteen and wants to be a history teacher.
We have an old dental chair out in the jail. I found a picture of a man in a suit standing beside one that looks like the one we have. At the bottom of the picture is written “This chair was used by Dr. J.B. Leisure”. The chair used to be out in the “relay station” log cabin so I’m not sure if the picture and chair belong together but most likely so. I tried to find a Dr. Leisure but all I could find were present day Dr’s.
In the book They Carried the Torch, written by Mrs. Ferguson, she tells about Mr. Ferguson getting a letter saying his father was very ill and if he wanted to see him again he needed to come as quickly as possible. He decided going by train from El Reno, Oklahoma Territory was the best route. She packed food and blankets in the wagon and the Fergusons including the two sons headed off. On the way back one of the horses was ill so she had to go slowly. On the way they passed the Cheyenne and Arapahoe having a pow wow celebration. She drove within a mile of it and had to stop because of the horse being ill. She fed her sons and put them to bed. The boys slept but she didn’t because of the drum beat from the pow wow. She put a blanket over the front opening of the wagon to keep out the light from the campfire and to lessen the noise from the drums. She was startled when the blanket was jerked open and a Cheyenne Indian looked in. To her joy it was the man they had made friends with before. He had recognized the horses and had been sitting in his wagon not far for several hours keeping watch. He told her he would remain until daylight. The next morning he fed the horses corn from his wagon and helped her get started for home. The horse had recovered enough to get them safely home. When she got back she wrote the late news and set the paper to print by hand. Such things were so common at that time she forgot to tell Mr. Ferguson about it until a few days after he returned. The Fergusons were able to repay him in a small way for his friendship a few months later. They were good friends until the Indian man’s death many years later.
Anyone that wants to volunteer or become a member of Friends of Ferguson Home is welcome. We welcome all the help we can get.
Hours of operation are Wednesday thru Saturday 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Closed city and state holidays. Give us a call at 580-623-5069 or 580-614-1018 to make arrangements for after hour tour.