Local farmer killed in Frederick, 1905

Sent to The Frederick Leader and The Frederick Press, July 11, 2011

Frederick's Grand Avenue

Downtown Frederick was scene of tragic 1905 killing

The part of Oklahoma Territory that would become the western part of Tillman County was opened to settlement in August 1901.

Violent actions were not uncommon in the newly settled Oklahoma Territory. A dispute about funding of a country school led to a tragic killing in downtown Frederick in November 1905.

Sylvester B. Stoneback, a prominent farmer and blacksmith who lived seven miles southwest of Frederick, was shot and killed by Al Douglas, a deputy city marshal. According to a November 9, 1905 article in the Frederick Enterprise (forerunner to The Frederick Press) Stoneback was killed under tragic circumstances:

     “One of the most deplorable tragedies that ever occurred in Oklahoma, took place on the streets of Frederick about 4 o’clock last Saturday afternoon, when Al Douglas, deputy city marshal, shot Sylvester B. Stoneback with a derringer pistol above the left eye, causing his death a little over an hour later.

     “The shooting originated over a difficulty between Jim Brown and other property owners of school district No. 160, about seven miles southwest of town.”

     [NOTE: District 160 was Valley Home School which was located five miles west and two miles south of Frederick. In 1930, the school would become part of Weaver Consolidated #13]

     “Some time ago the patrons of that district decided that they would get fixtures for the school house, but as there was not sufficient money in the treasury it was decided to assess every quarter of land $5.30. Each of the property owners paid this share, except Jim Brown, who owns a fine farm in that community, and two others, who said they would pay if everyone else did.

     “Stoneback, treasurer of the district, W.F. Byrnes, director and Thos. Simmons, clerk, went to Brown, but he refused to pay.

     “Last Saturday [November 4, 1905] Stoneback came to town to act as witness for Andrew J. Lancaster, who proved up on his claim in that locality, before the writer. Mr. Stoneback was in good spirits and joked as he signed the affidavit, which was destined to be his last signature.

     “Later he met Brown and again attempted to get this money. This occurred in front of the Bell store and hot words ensued, but they separated without personal encounter. Some time after this he [Stoneback] went to Kelly’s hardware and borrowed a revolver, stating that he might need it in bluffing some cotton pickers whom he intended rounding up.

     “Later Jim Brown together with Al Douglas, Walter Pulliam, Rogers and Harper walked up the street. In front of Price’s restaurant they passed several men from Dist. 160, and some one began jeering Brown. The latter turned abruptly about, walked into the crowd, exclaiming an oath that if anyone wanted anything out of him he could get it.

     “At this Thos. Simmons struck Brown and forced the latter into the street. At this Brown whipped out his revolver and fired, either accidentally or otherwise. He then struck Simmons on the head with his weapon, knocking him to the ground, where he lay dazed a moment.”

     The Enterprise reported numerous accounts of what happened next, but established that Sylvester Stoneback pulled his revolver and pointed it at Brown. Most witnesses stated that Stoneback was not trying to fire at Brown, but to cover Brown so that he would not shoot again. The written account continued:

     “There seemed to be a preponderance of evidence that Douglas walked up behind Stoneback without saying a word; that the latter was so intent watching Brown, who was southeast of him, that he did not know any one was near, until Douglas knocked down his left arm and thrusting forward his revolver fired the moment Stoneback turned his head.

     “The bullet struck Stoneback above the left eye, and lodged in his head. The latter staggered to the right and fell, with the hand holding the revolver under him.”

     Stoneback’s body fell in the mud of the street. He was taken to a store building and then to the office of Dr. Priestly where he died two hours later without regaining consciousness.

Both Brown and Douglas were placed under arrest.

     On Wednesday, November 8, a preliminary hearing was conducted in a building on South Main Street before Justice of the Peace F.R. Wynn. The building was crowded with spectators to hear testimony from twelve witnesses.

     The case against Brown was dismissed, but Douglas was kept in custody pending consideration of the case during the next term of district court.

     Funeral for Sylvester Stoneback was held at the Stoneback farm home on Tuesday morning, November 7, conducted according to rites of the Modern Woodsmen of America, of which the deceased was a member. Following the funeral, a mile-long funeral procession accompanied the body to Highland Cemetery [the original name of today’s Frederick Memorial Cemetery] for burial.

     The Enterprise reported, “At the grave each neighbor deposited a sprig of evergreen on the lowered casket. With the words, ‘goodbye and farewell, peace, peace to thee, and to thine,’ the ceremony ended, with tears trickling down the cheeks of many of the onlookers.”

     Stoneback had been born in Pennsylvania in 1858, but as a child had moved with his family to Clay County, Kansas. Stoneback’s father had drawn a claim in the August 6, 1901 land lottery, and allowed his son to settle the claim near Frederick.

     A wife and four daughters survived Stoneback.

NOTE: Full text of the November 9, 1905, Frederick Enterprise article follows.

Joe Wynn is a member of the Tillman County Historical Society’s Board of Directors. He can be contacted by email at jawynn@cableone.net.

 _ _ _

The Frederick Enterprise, Thursday, November 9, 1905

STONEBACK SLAIN

Shot down on streets of Frederick last Saturday by Al Douglass – Jim Brown precipitated the trouble – Engaged in a fight with Thos. Simmons and made a gun play – Stoneback came to his friend Simmons aid and is shot without warning.

_ _ _

One of the most deplorable tragedies that ever occurred in Oklahoma, took place on the streets of Frederick about 4 o’clock last Saturday afternoon, when Al Douglas, deputy city marshal, shot Sylvester B. Stoneback with a derringer pistol above the left eye, causing his death a little over an hour later.

ORIGIN OF DIFFICULTY

The shooting originated over a difficulty between Jim Brown and other property owners of school district No. 160, about seven miles southwest of town. Some time ago the patrons of that district decided that they would get fixtures for the school house, but as there was not sufficient money in the treasury it was decided to assess every quarter of land $5.30. Each of the property owners paid this share, except Jim Brown, who owns a fine farm in that community, and who others, who said they would pay if everyone else did.

Stoneback, treasurer of the district, W.F. Byrnes, director and Thos. Simmons, clerk, went to Brown, but he refused to pay.

Last Saturday Stoneback came to town to act as witness for Andrew J. Lancaster, who proved up on his claim in that locality, before the writer. Mr. Stoneback was in good spirits and joked as he signed the affidavit, which was destined to be his last signature.

Later he met Brown and again attempted to get this money. This occurred in front of the Bell store and hot words ensued, but they separated without personal encounter. Some time after this he went to Kelly’s hardware and borrowed a revolver, stating that he might need it in bluffing some cotton pickers whom he intended rounding up.

Later Jim Brown together with Al Douglas, Walter Pulliam, Rogers and Harper walked up the street. In front of Price’s restaurant they passed several men from Dist. 160, and some one began jeering Brown. The latter turned abruptly about, walked into the crowd, exclaiming an oath that if anyone wanted anything out of him he cold get it.

FIGHT BEGINS

At this Simmons struck Brown and forced the latter into the street. At this Brown whipped out his revolver and fired, either accidentally or otherwise. He then struck Simmons on the head with his weapon, knocking him to the ground, where he lay dazed a moment. Upon regaining consciousness he saw that Douglas had shot Stoneback, and fearing that Douglas might shoot him, he says he retreated into Price’s.

The evidence seemed to be practically conclusive at the preliminary yesterday, that Stoneback walked out or was about fifteen feet south of the sidewalk, pointing his revolver at Brown, when the former was first observed. One or two witnesses for the defense stated that at this moment some one said, “Shoot him for he shot me’ and also that Stoneback appeared to be trying to pull the trigger.

DOUGLAS FIRES

The witnesses for the territory practically testified alike to the statement that Stoneback did not appear to try to fire, but that he had Brown covered so the latter could not again shoot. There seemed to be a preponderance of evidence that Douglas walked up behind Stoneback without saying a word; that the latter was so intent watching Brown, who was southeast of him, that he did not know any one was near, until Douglas knocked down his left arm and thrusting forward his revolver fired the moment Stoneback turned his head.

The bullet struck Stoneback above the left eye, and lodged in his head. The latter staggered to the right and fell, with the hand holding the revolver under him.

Douglas walked back to the side walk still holding his pistol. Brown also stood on the sidewalk, looking very pale, pistol in hand, about the time the writer appeared on the scene.

By this time a large crowd had assembled, which Marshal Shive seemed to believe might do some violence. He allowed no one to touch Stoneback’s body until Justice of the Peace F.R. Wynn arrived, who at once asked some of the bystanders to assist him in carrying the body out of the mud.

STONEBACK DIES

The limp form was taken into Wm. Cook’s store and a little later to the old Nicholson store building. A pool of blood marked the spot where he had laid in the street. As he was stretched out on a mattress in this building, his brains could be seen oozing from his wound. His pulse, however, remained strong and it seemed he might live at least for a few hours so that he might again speak, but he never gained consciousness after being shot.

Later he was taken to Dr. Priestley’s where he expired shortly before 6.

DOUGLAS AND BROWN ARRESTED

Douglas and Brown were placed under arrest, the former not being allowed bail. They employed Ahern & Hetzel of this place. Attorneys McElhoes, Blanding, Hudson & Keys, and Stevens, of Lawton, all of whom were present at the preliminary yesterday except Mr. Stevens.

THE TRIAL

Yesterday Al Douglas was given a preliminary before Justice Wynn on the charge of murder in the first degree. The trial was held in a building on South Main which was crowded with spectators who listened to the twelve witnesses for the territory and the six for the defense. At the conclusion, about 5:30 p.m., Judge Wynn bound the defendant over to await the action of the grand jury without bail. The witnesses for the state were: D.J. Weathers, Newt Gillaspy, F.G. Baldwin, E.M. Hedrick, A.D. Winsor, B.R. Prater, E.K, Griffith, F.G. Priestley, Gus Gilson, Sam McDowell, Lee Rhodes, J.C. Whitenburg; for the defense: R. Iimberlin, Walter Putnam, Mat Harper, W.H. Graham, C.C. Shive, and Polk Fry. The testimony was about as outlined above.

The attorneys for the prosecution and defense submitted Brown’s case upon the testimony already introduced in the Douglas case. Argument was waived and the court discharged Brown. The county attorney then discharged the case against Brown for carrying concealed weapons.

All the attorneys from Lawton left for their home today, in company with Marshal Shive who has Al Douglas in custody. Douglas will be placed in county jail until his day comes up at the next term of the district court. His attorneys will attempt to have Judge Gillette let him out on bail.

THE FUNERAL

The deceased has been a member in good standing of the Modern Woodsmen of American since 1891, and at his request during life, he was buried by the local camp. The impressive ceremony of this order occurred at the residence, seven miles southwest of town, shortly after 10 o’clock Tuesday morning, with Venerable Council A.D. Winsor in charge. John Carr was master of ceremonies. The members of the local camp, in carriages, led the procession, from the residence to Highland cemetery The hearse with the remains followed, after which were the relatives and friends, making a procession about a mile in length showing the high regard in which the dead neighbor was held.

At the grave each neighbor deposited a sprig of evergreen on the lowered casket. With the words, “goodbye and farewell, peace, peace to thee, and to thine,” the ceremony ended, with tears trickling down the cheeks of many of the onlookers.

BIOGRAPHY

Sylvester B. Stoneback was born at North Coventry, Pennsylvania, Oct. 4, 1858. Early in life his parents moved to Clay county, Kansas, where he helped his father farm, and later learned the trade of blacksmith. At the time of the opening his father drew a claim here but allowed his son to file on it. The latter moved here with his family about four years ago. His family consists of his wife who is in feeble health, and four daughters: Lula, aged 20, now Mrs. Henry Nicholas; Elva, aged 19; Georgia, aged 16 and Hazel, aged 12. Georgia has been an invalid for the past four years and was not able to accompany the remains of her dear father to their last resting place.

In addition to being a successful farmer, Mr. Stoneback ran a blacksmith shop on his farm. He was an exemplary husband and father, and was highly respected by his neighbors. His tragic death has cemented his many friends in this entire community together, and they are determined that justice shall be meted out. In this they are backed by all law-abiding citizens. The local Woodmen camp will assist in seeing that the case is vigorously prosecuted.

John Stoneback, father of the deceased, luckily was visiting here at the time, and did much to lighten the burdens of the sorrowing family. John Grant, a brother, from Topeka, and Mrs. Laura Petermyer, of Morgansvile, and Mrs. Mary Young, of Clifton, Kansas also arrived and were present at the funeral, as were also Mrs. Mary Tebbe and Albert Eversoll, mother and brother-in-law, respectively, of Mrs. Stoneback. Both are from Morganville, Kansas.

Tornado brought death and destruction

Sent to The Frederick Leader and The Frederick Press, May 3, 2011

Scene from downtown Snyder after the 1905 tornado.

 

1905 Tornado devastated Snyder

Spring of 1905 saw both celebration and tragedy in our area of Oklahoma Territory.

In May 1905, only one month after the area’s citizens greeted President Theodore Roosevelt on his arrival in Frederick for his famous wolf hunt, the town of Snyder was devastated by a massive tornado. The May 10, 1905 tornado claimed at least 97 lives and stands as one of the worst natural disasters in Oklahoma’s history.

In 1963 area historian Hugh D. Corwin, secretary of the Great Plains Historical Association, wrote about the Snyder tornado based primarily on 1905 Lawton newspaper accounts of the disaster.

Following is an excerpt from Corwin’s work:

The history of the south Kiowa County town of Snyder divides itself into two parts, “before cyclone” and “after cyclone.” In order to appreciate the courage and rugged tenacity of the citizens of Snyder, it might be well to first give an account of the great tornado which all but demolished the flourishing town on May 10, 1905.

At this time the population was estimated at about 1,200. The Frisco Railroad had built a round house and shops in the northeast part of the town. A large cotton compress, several gins, numerous lumber yards, feed yard, hotels and more than a hundred business buildings, along with several hundred dwellings made up the rapidly growing town, which was in the center of a good farming area. Snyder had become a railroad center, as two Frisco lines crossed there and freight as well as passenger traffic was heavy.

At 8:45 p.m. May 10, 1905, a great whirling, black, funnel-shaped cloud roared in from the southwest. In a few brief but terrible moments, the town of Snyder was wiped out. “The State Democrat”, a newspaper published at Lawton the next morning, May 11, 1905, carried big black headlines.

TRAIL OF DEATH

DEADLY CYCLONE  WIPES

TOWN OF SNYDER

OFF THE MAP

KILLED & WOUNDED

-- 83 KILLED OUTRIGHT --

WHILE 200 ARE INJURED

MANY IN DYING CONDITION --

SUFFERING TERRIBLE

“A cyclone struck Snyder 33 miles west of here about 9 o’clock last night, leaving death and destruction in its wake. It was undoubtedly the worst storm ever witnessed in this section of the country, and hundreds of citizens of Lawton watched the storm last night.” (the writer, then nine years old, watched the terrifying electrical display, following this cyclone. The display lasted more than four hours. We watched it from the steps of our farm home storm-cellar.).

“The storm played havoc of death with Snyder. Although a distance of over 30 miles lay between Lawton and Snyder, the electrical features of the storm were so furious that it formed a grand but frightful spectacle for the people of Lawton who watched it with breathless awe.”

“Early this morning came a call for medical aid, saying that Snyder had been completely wiped out by a cyclone and that 400 persons had been killed and wounded.” (This proved to be too large an estimate). “Every physician in Lawton that could get away responded to the call and a special train was hurried to the horrible scene of destruction. Later another train pulled out from here with two or three hundred persons aboard, and the regular west-bound passenger train due here at 1:15 p.m. came in loaded with hundreds of persons anxious to get to Snyder, many of them having friends or relatives there.”

“Deputy Clerk of the District Court, A.C. Dolde was on the train, anxious to reach Snyder, where his wife and children were. A Miss Ralston, of Altus, was also on the train, she having received a dispatch from Altus that her father, J.B. Ralston, and her brother, Fred Ralston, were both killed in the storm at Snyder.”

“The Frisco Agent at Snyder, J.M. Egan, together with his entire family were killed, as also were the local manager of the telephone line and the girl employed in the telephone exchange. The telephone and telegraph lines were blown down, and it was impossible to get news direct from Snyder until about noon, when the general manager of the telephone line, telephoned the State Democrat, that, as the result of the cyclone, 82 people were killed outright and 200 injured, many of the latter being in dying condition, and not a building left standing in the town. He further stated that no calls would be received over the line for Snyder, as the company was in no position to handle the business.”

“The State Democrat sent a reporter to Snyder early this morning, who has been there the greater portion of the day, but owing to the inability to get wire service it has been impossible up to this hour to get a report from him.”

LATER

“At 3 p.m. today (May 11) The State Democrat was telephoned from Snyder, that the number killed was 83 and from 150 to 200 injured, many of them fatally.”

Then followed a long list of the dead and injured who had been identified.

“Every building north of the Frisco tracks, including the cotton compress and the round house, were destroyed. A few houses south of the tracks remain standing.”

“Word came here to Lawton this afternoon for bandages and cotton and all the coffins that could be spared. These are being sent as fast as they can be got out. At four o’clock this afternoon there were 97 dead bodies in the improvised morgue at Snyder, a large number of the dead not yet having been identified. Some of them being so mangled that it is impossible to recognize them.”

Another Lawton newspaper, “The Lawton News-Republican,” dated May 11, 1905, carried impressive headlines:

AWFUL CYCLONE!

BIG PROPERTY LOSS!

SNYDER CYCLONE!

This article began with a long list of the dead and injured and then continued:

“The dead and dying were placed in the Hilton Hotel and Prichard saloon, both of which were damaged but not totally destroyed. There are over 100 houses destroyed north of the Frisco tracks. The body of one man was found three miles northeast of the city and brought in.”

“Two hundred and fifty residences were destroyed. Few business houses were left undamaged. Professor Hibbard, principal of the school, his wife and two children were killed, leaving one child.”

 

Joe Wynn is a member of the Tillman County Historical Society’s board of directors. He can be contacted by e-mail at tillmanokhistory@gmail.com.

Roosevelt Visit, April 1905

Sent to The Frederick Leader and The Frederick Press

March 23, 2010

Jack Abernathy (L) with President Theodore Roosevelt during the 1905 Wolf Hunt east of Frederick, O.T.

1905 Roosevelt Wolf Hunt Preceded Statehood

President Theodore Roosevelt arrived in Frederick aboard a private five-car train on Saturday, April 8, 1905. When he departed on April 13, 1905, the President promised to make Oklahoma a state. That is a promise that he kept more than two years later on November 16, 1907, when Oklahoma became the 46th state. Oklahoma was the only state admitted to the Union during Roosevelt’s presidency.

John R. “Jack” Abernathy, who lived west of Frederick with his wife and family, was famous for his wolf catching abilities, most notably for catching them alive. The President, always a sportsman and adventurer, had heard stories of Abernathy’s amazing wolf-catching abilities and planned the hunt in Oklahoma Territory to meet Abernathy and see the amazing skills for himself.

The land surrounding Frederick had been opened to settlement in the land lottery of 1901. The Frederick area was considered part of Comanche County, Oklahoma Territory, until Oklahoma became a state in 1907. Tillman County, which Frederick serves as the county seat, was created at statehood.

The hunt took place in the Big Pasture. The western edge of the Big Pasture, which encompassed 480,000 acres, began several miles east of Frederick and was not opened for settlement until December 1906. The Big Pasture area was therefore unsettled at the time of Roosevelt’s visit in 1905.

The hunting party camped at Panther Springs on the west bank of Deep Red Creek near a natural spring. The site is located some distance south of the current Deep Red Bridge on State Highway 5.

Abernathy captured several wolves during the President’s visit, genuinely impressing the President and beginning a lasting friendship between Roosevelt and the Abernathy family. Soon after the hunt, Roosevelt appointed Abernathy as U.S. Marshal, and Abernathy’s sons Bud and Temple visited Roosevelt during their famous solo trip to Washington, D.C. and New York City in 1910.

Numerous dignitaries accompanied Roosevelt and Abernathy on the hunt, including Comanche Chief Quanah Parker, Texas oil man and rancher Burk Burnett, and rancher Guy Waggoner.

Although Roosevelt had visited Oklahoma City before becoming President, his 1905 hunting trip in the Frederick area was his only visit to Oklahoma Territory (the western part of present-day Oklahoma) during his presidency.

During the days immediately preceding the Frederick visit President Roosevelt had attended a Rough Riders Reunion in San Antonio, Texas. On April 5, 1905, his train had briefly passed through several communities in Indian Territory (now Eastern Oklahoma) enroute to South Texas. Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory were merged to become the State of Oklahoma in 1907.

Roosevelt’s presidency ended in 1909. Following his presidency, in 1912 Roosevelt campaigned in several communities in the central and eastern part of Oklahoma during his failed run for re-election as President as a candidate of the Progressive Bull Moose Party.

--------------

To provide what must surely be one of the most accurate accounts of Roosevelt’s visit, following is a story written on April 14, 1905, (the day after Roosevelt’s departure) by R.H. Wessell for The Frederick Enterprise. The Enterprise was the forerunner to the Frederick Press. Wessel was a Frederick journalist for many decades.

THE FREDERICK ENTERPRISE -- Frederick, Comanche County, Oklahoma Territory. Friday, April 14, 1905.

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT ARRIVED IN FREDERICK LAST SATURDAY (April 8th, 1905) afternoon and welcomed by about 6,000 Oklahomans

IS IN FAVOR OF IMMEDIATE STATEHOOD

Was driven to his Camp in the Big Pasture where he has spent a delightful time hunting Wolves, and other game – seventeen wolves Captured and Abernathy displays his prowess by catching some alive – Gov. Ferguson, Dennis Flynn and Cong. Stevens, here.

When President Roosevelt reached Oklahoma soil last Saturday afternoon he beheld a canopy without a single cloud, a green velvety carpet stretching as far as eye could see and when about twenty minutes later as he talked from the grandstand to the 5,000 to 6,000 eager auditors not even the faintest zephr was in evidence to interfere with his oratorical effort. All nature seemed to be inacced in making an ideal day for this the greatest event that has happened in the history of the new country. Despite the fact that those here who knew of the President’s coming nearly a fortnight before were importuned not to make it public, nevertheless parties were here from as far east as Lawton, to the west as far as Altus, to the North from Hobart, and to the Lone Star state on the South. The hotels and eating houses were crowded, for miles around the farmers left their fields to come to Frederick and get a glimpse of their chief executive.

At a meeting of the citizens, about twenty deputies were employed in addition about half this number of mounted police, with C.C. Shive, as marshal of the day. The crowd was an exceptionally orderly one and the marshals experienced little difficulty in keeping perfect order.

President Roosevelt during the 1905 hunt.

About 100 soldiers who had worn either the blue or the gray in the great war of the Rebellion marched side by side to do honor to their common president and testified more convincingly than volumes of the friendship that exists between all sections of the country. It was a sight long to be remembered to see the smoke from the pilot engine curling up into the azure some miles to the South, while still farther away could be discerned a faint dark smoke from the engine that the expectant throng knew was bringing the president. Five minutes after the pilot engine, the President’s train, consisting of five handsomely equipped coaches, glided to the crossing on Grand Avenue. When the President emerged from the car, dressed in his outing suit, he was met by the reception committee and after he descried the decorated grandstand two blocks up the street, he was glad to address the assembly. He took a seat beside Mayor Kelly, and was driven behind Ed. Carter’s span team to the grandstand. The remaining members of his party were brought in other vehicles which were furnished by the reception committee. Atty. Geo. Ahearn introduced the President, who spoke in part as follows:

“The next time I come to Oklahoma I trust I will come to a State and it won’t be my fault if this is not soon. I greet the veterans of the Civil War, who come here today to greet the President because we are one people and one country, not to be divided forever. I am glad to see Quanah Parker here, who has done so well with his farm. One thing of which I am proud is that I have tried to give a fair deal to every man. Give the red man the same chance as the white. This country is founded on the doctrine of giving each man a fair deal to see what there is in him. I have traveled four days in Texas, and am now in what will soon be a great state of the Union.

“There is nowhere I feel more at home than in a town like this. I have confidence in the character of the men and women who have come here. Ever since the Revolution we have been making new States. Now we are about at the cole of this period. I don’t feel that I have to explain my policies to the Oklahoma people. You like to have the American people play a big part in the world, and then play that part well. I know the western people are with me when I say we must build the Panama Canal. You don’t think I shoud be quiet while the American people are being held up. We want our right not as a favor, but as a right.

“I had a middling busy three and a half years. I have liked my job, I enjoyed it and was thankful to the people for telling me to go on with it. Now I want four days’ play. I hear you have plenty of jack rabbits and coyotes here. I like my citizens, but don’t like them on a coyote hunt. Give me a fair deal to have as much fun as even a President is entitled to. Good-bye and good luck.”

At the close of the speech, he entered Burnett’s carriage and was rapidly driven to the camp, accompanied a portion of the way by members of the mounted police.

It was about dark when the party reached the camp, eighteen miles southeast of here nestled cozily in the timber skirting Deep Red Creek. Sunday morning the President was up early and when he first beheld the beautiful panorama of virgin prairie without a sign of civilization except that of the camp, he said he felt perfectly at home. He did little during the day except to exercise his horse. His doctor, however, took a number of views of the party with their dogs and horses which will be used to illustrate the article which Mr. Roosevelt will write concerning the hunt.

The President killed a huge rattlesnake.

The hunt for which the president has been yearning as anxiously as the pack of dogs chained in camp who made the night hideous with their yelps, was begun Monday morning. From the start the President was invariably in the lead and even the cow boys and veteran troopers from Fort Sill were astonished with the ease with which he kept his seat while going at breakneck speed over ravine and hill. By noon the pack had caught three wolves and the party returned to camp with an appetite which left but little of the picked yearling which had been take out that morning. In the afternoon the President saw John Abernathy catch a wolf which the dogs had harassed.

Once on Monday, after the long chase in the hot sun, the President spied some water in a buffalo wallow, he spurred up his horse and beating the dogs to the spot, leaped from the saddle and lapped up the refreshing liquid in good old-fashioned cowboy style.

“The next day he ran over a six foot rattler, which sprang at him four times before he had dispatched it with his 18 inch quirt.

The President was particularly pleased by the manner in which the public heeded his admonitions regarding a square deal and remained from the pasture. He says this would be impossible in many sections of the country, and this, in addition to the rare sport which he enjoyed in the chase, may cause him to return to the spot at some time when he wants real uninterrupted hunt.

The President concluded his big wolf hunt in the big pasture yesterday at 4 o’clock P.M. (April 13th, 1905) and shortly afterwards started for Frederick with his party. He has become very much attached to John R. Abernathy, the famous wolf hunter, and desired to see his family. When the President discovered that Abernathy, who is but a man of 35 years of age, but has a wife and five children, he declared he was a man of his own heart. Mrs. Abernathy and the children were sent for and the president met them near the pasture gate where he spent a very pleasant half hour.

It was expected that the president would speak in the grand stand in Frederick where he spoke last Saturday. The reception committee were seated in this grand stand while Cong. John H. Stevens, of Texas, was addressing the crowd, as the president and his party mounted on their charges, rode into town.

The President and his party rode past to the train on a gallop but a courier returned to the grand stand and announced that the president would speak from the rear end of the platform. The President dressed in his brown trousers and hunting jacket, appeared like a private citizen out for a hunt. Gov. Thos. B. Ferguson introduced the president who spoke in a happy vein as follows:

“My friends and fellow citizens, I thank you for as pleasant a five days outing as any president ever had; I especially thank the people of Frederick for giving me such a pleasant time and letting the party alone during the hunt. It was the kindness of the people especially of Frederick, and of Oklahoma, and Texas, in general in not disturbing our party; for hunting and crowds don’t go together. One reason I hesitated coming here was because I was doubtful if I could hunt here unmolested.”

“You never had a guest who enjoyed himself better than myself, and I will come to Oklahoma again. I especially thank your citizen John Abernathy, for his hunting ability and the party who entertained me; Also Ed Gillis, Taylor and Billie More, As remarkable an exhibition of pluck and skill as I have ever seen has been shown by your townsmen carrying a wolf five miles in his gloved hands, but he beat it today by getting a wolf which he tied to the back of his saddle, and then after a seven mile chase, getting another which he brought to camp alive. I will come to Oklahoma again when I hope you will be a state with your senators and congressmen. Good night, Good luck and many thanks.”

The president was extremely pleased to meet his old friends, Ex-Delegate Dennis T. Flynn, and Cong. John H. Stevens, and chatted pleasantly with them.

After these gentlemen retired he ate his dinner, and looked at some papers. At 8:25 the train left for Vernon. The President came on the rear platform and smiling to those at the depot, said Goodnight until out of hearing.

Cong. Stevens accompanied the train to Vernon where he resides.

The train left Texline at 8:20 A.M. today and will arrive at Colorado Springs at 7:30 P.M.

John Abernathy and C.B. McHugh, of the hunting party were left at this place where they reside.

Col. Lyon, Sloan Simpson, the Burnetts and the Waggoners will leave it at Vernon, to go to their respective homes.

Joe Wynn serves as a member of the Tillman County Historical Society Board of Directors. He can be contacted by e-mail at jawynn@cableone.net.

Hunt participants were important men

Sent to the Frederick Leader and the Frederick Press

April 13, 2010

The 1905 hunting party. President Roosevelt is standing 2nd from right. Jack Abernathy is standing in center, holding dead wolf. Comanche Chief Quanah Parker is kneeling left of Abernathy.

Men of 1905 Roosevelt hunting party

were wealthy and influential

Last weekend in Frederick (April 10, 2010) we celebrated the 105th anniversary of President Theodore Roosevelt’s visit to Frederick for an Oklahoma Territory wolf hunt. The President’s private train arrived in Frederick on April 8, 1905, and he spent the next five days east of Frederick hunting wolves with Jack Abernathy in the then-unsettled Big Pasture. He departed Frederick on April 13, 1905.

Roosevelt was the most famous man of his time, so his visit to Frederick, than a raw, three-year-old town on the Oklahoma prairie, was a momentous event. Roosevelt did not come alone.

With him as members of the hunting party were some of the richest, most influential, well-connected people of the day.

Following are some basic facts about several members of the hunting party.

Samuel “Burk” Burnett was 56 at the time of the hunt.

He had established the Burnett Ranch in Wichita County of North Texas in 1875, between the Red and Big Wichita Rivers. In 1900, he had bought the “Four Sixes” Ranch which he enlarged to nearly a half million acres in four divisions.

In the early 1890s Burnett became a friend of Comanche Chief Quanah Parker and negotiated leasing rights to more than a million acres of land in the then-unsettled Kiowa and Comanche lands of Oklahoma Territory. This greatly benefitted not only Burnett, but also other large northern Texas ranchers who were able to secure grazing rights to the vast expanses of rich green prairie.

Burnett and Chief Quanah Parker had met with Theodore Roosevelt some years before the wolf hunt.

When the federal government had initially required cattlemen to vacate their leased lands in Oklahoma Territory to prepare the land for settlement, Burk Burnett had traveled with Chief Parker to Washington and convinced President Roosevelt to grant a two-year stay so that the ranchers grazing in the lands could have a more orderly transformation from the loss of their lease interests.

At the time of the hunt, Burk Burnett lived in Fort Worth where he had many business and social connections.

Tom Burnett, Burk’s son, was 34 at the time of the wolf hunt. At 21, he had served as a wagon boss on his father’s herds in the Kiowa and Comanche lands. Chief Parker and Tom became close friends. They worked cattle and hunted together on the Comanche prairies.

Cecil Lyon of Dallas was an enormously rich and powerful man. In 1905, he was the owner of many lumber yards and hardware stores, a bank director, a director in Great Southern Life Insurance Company, and a close personal friend of the President.

He was head of the Texas Republican Party and a member of the Republican National Committee. As chair of the Texas party, Cecil Lyon was responsible for distribution of federal patronage in Texas under Republican Presidents. This was an enormously powerful position.

Lyon remained a major force in Texas politics for many years and was a very loyal friend of Roosevelt, even in future years when Theodore Roosevelt broke with the traditional Republican Party to run again for President as a member of the Bull Moose Party.

It was Lyon who first told Roosevelt about the wolf-hunting abilities of Jack Abernathy.

Sloan Simpson was the Harvard-educated son of an enormously rich, influential Texas ranching and banking family.

He had served in Roosevelt’s regiment of Rough Riders in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. In 1907 Roosevelt appointed Simpson as Dallas postmaster.

William Thomas Waggoner, 54, was owner of the famous Waggoner Ranch. His land holdings and cattle empire were vast and, like Burnett, Waggoner and his son had leased more than a half-million acres from the Comanches.

In 1910, Waggoner’s land holdings were around 1,000 square miles.

By World War I he would be recognized as the “Cattle King of Texas”, with cattle, land, banking and oil interests worth $50 million.

In the 1920s Will Rogers was a frequent ranch guest. He quipped that each cow on Waggoner’s ranch had 40 acres of grass and its own oil well.

At the time of the hunt in 1905, Waggoner lived in Fort Worth.

 “Al” Bivins, 53, was an Amarillo rancher and oilman. By 1920 he would be the largest individual cattle owner in the country and the largest landowner west of the Mississippi River.

He reportedly once rode 90 miles from Dalhart to Amarillo without leaving his property.

General Samuel Baldwin Marks Young, 65, had risen to the rank of general in the Union Army during the Civil War. After the war, he secured a commission in the regular Army as a captain and was posted to the Southwest along the Indian frontier.

In 1898, he was promoted to Brigadier General and served with Roosevelt in Cuba. In 1901 he became the first president of the Army War College, and was appointed in 1903 as Army Chief of Staff. He had retired from that post in 1904.

Dr. Alexander Lambert was the President’s personal physician. He accompanied the President on his travels, which were extensive. Like Roosevelt, Lambert was a prominent citizen of New York. He would later serve as president of the American Medical Association and head of the Medical Research Department of the American Red Cross.

Chief Quanah Parker was in his mid-50s at the time of the hunt.

He was the son of Comanche Chief Pete Nocona and Cynthia Parker, a white girl who was captured in Texas by the Comanches in 1836 when she was nine.

Parker was born around 1850 in the present Texas panhandle. He became a warrior after his father’s death in 1862 or 1863.

General William Tecumseh Sherman ordered Army troops to capture his band of Comanches. In 1871 and 1872 Quanah Parker successfully led raids against and continually escaped from the Army troops. In 1874, though, he led the tribe at the Battle of Adobe Springs. His horse was shot from under him and he was wounded in the side.

In 1875, most Kiowas, Cheyennes and Comanches were forced to surrender and travel to Fort Sill.

In 1878, rancher Charles Goodknight advised Quanah Parker about raising cattle and gave him some cows to start a herd. He was becoming a rancher when he gained his friendships with Burk Burnett and the Waggoners.

For more information about the wolf hunt and about members of the hunting party, the Pioneer Townsite Museum has two books that make for fascinating reading.

Struggles in a New State by Larry Lewis is a hard-bound volume that contains information about the hunt and the Abernathy boys, as well as political and social developments in Oklahoma in the early 19th Century.

Catch ‘em Alive Jack by Ron Ward is a large paper-bound book that tells the story of Jack Abernathy in great detail.

Both books are great reading and would make great gifts for anyone who has an interest in history. For more information about either book, call the Pioneer Townsite Museum in Frederick, 580-335-5844.

Frederick area men depicted the original 1905 hunting party at an April 10, 2010 Tillman County Historical Society celebration at the Pioneer Townsite Museum.

 Joe Wynn is a member of the Tillman County Historical Society Board of Directors. He can be contacted by e-mail at jawynn@cableone.net.