Mrs. Ferguson mentions hardship for the 1892 pioneers of Blaine County. They responded with innovation, a characteristic of Blaine County residents even today. And the solution had a wideranging positive effect around the world in terms of education, journalism and literary works, math, art and musical composition. I speak of the lowly erasable pencil.
Mrs. Ferguson writes “Little could be grown that first year (1892) upon sod and settlers had a hard time in providing for their families. Cutting cedar posts in the gyp hills, hauling them many miles to El Reno and Kingfisher, was resorted to although forbidden by the federal government. Many were fined for the practice, but the courts were lenient because of the extreme conditions and in most cases the fines were remitted. Considerable cedar of high grade from these hills was purchased and shipped to Germany for use in manufacturing lead pencils.” (Pencils were made of a graphite/clay mixture, not lead, though the paint on the outside may have had lead during early days).
The favored timber for pencils was red cedar as it was aromatic and did not splinter when sharpened (“ Pencil” in Wikipedia). The attached eraser was patented in 1858.
Drafts of literary works penciled during the period 1892-1900 may have originated from pencils made with Blaine County cedar. Oscar Wild wrote The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), Bram Stoker Dracula (1896), Kate Chopin The Awakening (1899), and H.G. Wells wrote The Time Machine ( 1895) during this time frame. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in 1892 and L. Frank Baum wrote The Wizard of Oz (1900). I am not saying these were written with pencils made with Blaine County cedar, but these are contemporary items.
Contemporary (18921900) musical compositions include Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa in 1897.
America the Beautiful, a poem penciled by Katharine Lee Bates in 1893 was later set to music. A Bicycle Built for Two was written by Harry Dacre in 1893. The erasable nature of graphite was a key feature that allowed composition, editing and rework.
Recently, the Friends of the Ferguson viewed examples of artists’ pencils used in Native American art by Cheyenne/Arapaho “Ledger Art” by Gordan Yellowman and James Black. Carpenters, draftsmen, artist, musicians, playwrights and newspaper columnists continue to use the lowly erasable pencil.
While most pencils are now made in China, Germany (Faber-Castell and Staedtler) and Tennessee continue to produce quality pencils. Now the wood is often Incense-cedar from California and Oregon. However, in 1892, Blaine County cedar made significant contributions to education, the arts, and journalism.
And I can attest that Blaine County cedar continues to be shaped into fencing, timbers, posts, planters and furniture.