We had a good turnout for the Easter Egg hunt for as cold as it was Saturday. Several had pictures made too. Four ladies camping in the Tee Pees out at Roman Nose came during the midst of all that for a tour. I apologized that they had to go through the middle of the people lined up to get pictures made and they said not to worry that they enjoyed seeing the museum.
While we were in the old jail looking for a piece of wood I saw an old newspaper feature in a frame. It was water stained and very dirty. I don’t know how it became water stained because there aren’t any leaks out there. It may have been before it was framed. I brought it in and cleaned it up as well as I could. There’s no date or name of the paper. We’ll find a home for it inside before further deterioration happens. The feature is titled Stage Coach Helped Tie Loose Ends In Wild West and was written by Frank Beneda of Hitchcock. I remember him and his wife. He was our Blaine County historian. The article describes how before the stage coach there wasn’t much communication or contact with the outside world among the army post, settlers, cow towns, or buffalo hunters. The government encouraged the stage coach lines to extend their lines and connect this country through mail, express, and passenger services. There’s a picture of two men with a caption below it that says “two of the cowboys who drove herds of cattle over the Caldwell cattle trail.” They had been identified as a man whose last name was Thomas and his nephew. One of the companies, Southwest Stage Coach Co., operated in the northwest part of Oklahoma. The company was established by Vale, Miner, and Williamson in late 1860s and covered the Texas panhandle, southern Kansas, and western Oklahoma. More to follow.
We will have the Watonga third graders come Tuesday, April 19, 2022, for Frontier Days. It’s the anniversary of the Cheyenne Arapahoe land run thus making Watonga 130 years old on that day. The land run opened up land that covered six counties: Blaine, Custer, Day, Dewey, Washita, and Rogers Mills in Oklahoma Territory. When plated they were named alphabetically with Blaine being “C”. When the time came to choose another name for County C it was between two military heroes “Sheridan “and “Custer”. Right before the voting began the chairman gave a speech proposing Senator Blaine who had recently died and Blaine was chosen. Watonga whose name means “Black Coyote” was named after an Arapahoe Chief. The settlors were given 160 acres and five years to improve the land. Some families still own that land. According to the Oklahoma History Center at the start of the land run, a frame house on a wagon being pulled by six horses was at the starting line and went a few feet over the line and claimed land. The people on foot just went a few feet and struck a claim, while others on horseback, wagons and such went further. I hope I can let these young minds know how important a day April 19, 1892 was.
We welcome anyone that wants to become a member of Friends of Ferguson Home. You don’t have to be a member to volunteer. If you can only help with one program we welcome you.
Hours of operation are Wednesday thru Saturday 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Closed state holidays. We are always happy to open after hours for special tours. Just give us a call at 580- 623-5069 or 580-614-1018 to make arrangements.