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| Statue of the Abernathy Boys stands on Tillman County Courthouse Square in Frederick. |
Story of the Abernathys
Those of us who are associated with the Tillman County Historical Society and the Pioneer Townsite Museum often find ourselves telling the remarkable story of the Abernathy family to folks who have never heard it.For folks who do not know the story, it follows. Links are to related past posts in "Tillman County Chronicles".
The Remarkable Abernathys
This
brief account of the adventures of Jack Abernathy and sons Bud and Temple
includes references to “Tillman County Chronicles” entries that tell sections
of the story in detail with photographs.
As you read, click on the links for more detailed information.
As you read, click on the links for more detailed information.
Crossroads Ranch
The area
that is now the western part of Tillman County, Oklahoma, was opened to
settlement by land lottery on August 1, 1901.
One of
the men who secured land in this newly settled part of Oklahoma Territory was a
man named John “Jack” Abernathy. Jack Abernathy had grown up in Texas and had
an adventurous upbringing. As a very young boy he had worked as a cowboy and
during his growing-up years he even worked for a while as a saloon piano
player.
Jack
Abernathy and his wife Jessie Pearl had homesteaded their ranch west of
Frederick in the Tesca and White Lake community in 1901 (the nearest early post
office at the time was Tesca. The nearby school was White Lake). Their first
“residence” there was a piano box, followed soon after by a dug-out, and later
a house. The couple had six children: Kittie, Golda, Louie (Bud), Johnnie,
Temple, and Jessie Pearl.
In the
new territory, Jack Abernathy was renowned for being able to capture wolves
alive… with his bare hands.
His
ability was so remarkable and so unique that President Theodore Roosevelt,
himself a great adventurer, heard about Jack Abernathy and wanted to see
Abernathy’s feats for himself.
On April
8, 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt came to Frederick for a five-day wolf hunt
with Jack Abernathy.
The Wolf Hunt
After
the hunt, President Roosevelt and the hunting party departed from Frederick on April
13, 1905.
The
President had a wonderful time. On his return to Washington, D.C. he wrote an
article for Scribner’s Magazine called “Wolf Hunt in Oklahoma” in which he
described day-by-day the adventures of the hunt.
The wolf
hunt forged a friendship between the Roosevelt and Jack Abernathy that lasted
for the rest of their lives.
Less
than one month after the hunt, Roosevelt appointed Abernathy as Deputy U.S.
Marshall for Oklahoma Territory. He would be sworn is as full U.S. Marshal on
March 8, 1906.
The
Abernathy family moved to Guthrie, the territorial capital, although they kept
the family ranch west of Frederick and returned there often. Abernathy
relatives remained on the ranch.
The
family’s happiness in Guthrie would be short lived.
Jack’s
wife, Jessie Pearl Abernathy, died in Guthrie in May 1907. Her reported cause
of death was Bright’s Disease.
Certainly,
Mrs. Abernathy’s death coupled with Jack Abernathy’s adventurous upbringing
combined to allow the remarkable adventures of sons Bud and Temple that came
just a few years later.
THE
ABERNATHY BOYS, Bud and Temple
In 1909
when Bud and Temple were just five and nine, Jack Abernathy took a trip to New
Mexico Territory. When he arrived home, he told the boys about his trip and
they begged to go, too. So… He let them go, alone on horseback, to New Mexico
Territory. The boys survived the trip well and made it home safely.
The next
year, in 1910, a huge celebration was planned in New York City to welcome then
former President Roosevelt home from a year that he had spent abroad in Africa
collecting specimens for the National Museum in Washington, D.C.
Jack
Abernathy had planned to attend the celebration, travelling there by train.
Bud and
Temple, then ages six and 10, begged their dad to let them go, too – on their
horses.
In 1910
when the boys were ages six and 10, they rode their horses alone from the family
ranch west of Frederick to New York City to greet the former President. Along
the way the "little cowboys from Oklahoma" (as the 1910 news media called
them) became celebrities of the day and met many important people of the time,
including President William Howard Taft, his Cabinet officials, and one of the
Wright brothers.
Their father
was in New York City to meet them on their arrival, having travelled there by
train. Also on hand to greet them were huge crowds of people.
In New
York City they were part of a giant celebration and tickertape parade that
welcomed former President Theodore Roosevelt back to the United States after
his long trip abroad. The boys were treated like celebrities in the big city.
When it
came time for the trip back to Oklahoma, though, they convinced their father to
abandon their plan to travel home on the train. They shipped their faithful
horses home by train. The boys drove
home – in a brand new bright red 1910 Brush Runabout.
The
Brush Runabout… and the Trip
The
boys’ trip back to Oklahoma was remarkable and received extensive coverage in newspapers
of the day. What’s more, the famous Abernathy Boys were used in Brush
advertising.
The boys
went on to have other great adventures in coming years, including a
coast-to-coast horseback ride from New York City to San Francisco and a
cross-country trip on an Indian motorcycle in 1913.
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