Duchess of Weaselskin

Bayfield, Colorado - For the last few days, since early Saturday morning and all through Sunday and Monday, we have accumulated approximately 9-inches or more of the fine, powdery snow at the elevation 7784 ft., in the San Juan mountains, near Bayfield, Colorado.

It is beginning to look a lot like Winter and Christmas in the mountains around here, especially with the "decking of the halls" going on around these neck of the woods and forest.

What about those Oklahoma State University football players that secured a win over Oklahoma University this Saturday (44-10)! I have to say I do not agree with the Bowl picks of LSU v. Alabama! I know I am not the only one out there that would rather watch LSU v. OSU. You know what happened the last time LSU played Alabama (boring game), don't you? Oklahoma had a 5.6 earthquake!

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On This Day In History (December 5)

America - On this date in history, 5 December 1933, the headlines in The New York Times read: Lindberghs At Sea On Brazil Flight; "O.K." She Reports and Prohibition Repeal Is Ratified At 5:32PM; Roosevelt Asks Nation To Bar the Saloon; New York Celebrates With Quiet Restraint.

On 5 Dec. 1933, national Prohibition came to an end as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment. Go to article.

On 5 Dec. 1901, Walt Disney, the pioneer of animated cartoon films and founder of the Disney theme parks, was born. Following his death on 15 Dec. 1966, his obituary appeared in The Times. Go to obituary.

On This Date - 5 December . . .

• 1776 - The first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
• 1782 - Martin Van Buren, the eighth U.S. president and the first to be born after the country was formed, was born in Kinderhook, N.Y.
• 1791 - Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna at age 35.
• 1792 - George Washington was re-elected president and John Adams was re-elected vice president.
• 1831 - Former President John Quincy Adams took his seat as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
• 1848 - President James K. Polk triggered the Gold Rush of '49 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California.
• 1901 - Movie producer Walt Disney was born in Chicago.
• 1955 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to form the AFL-CIO.

NW Okie's Corner

Bayfield, Colorado - I shuffle through some old GUINN/GWIN photos that I had scanned a few years back and ran across my father, Gene M McGill's, Great Grandmother, Ellen Dever Guinn (born 18 Jan. 1834, Highland, Virginia - died Oct. 1896, Highland Virginia).

I do not know if you can see the brooch (red) in the photo since it is in sepia coloring. The background on the red brooch legacy goes something like this as it was written on the back of the photo by my father: "The Red Brooch was given to this woman (Ellen Dever) by her father (John Dever (1798-1862)) on her 16th birthday (1850). I show John Dever married Elizabeth Gilmore (1802-1882), in Rockingham, Virginia.

My 2nd-Great Grandmother, Ellen Dever married 12 Oct. 1854, in Highland, Virginia, to Samuel Gwin (1825-1871) and had the following children: Walter P. Gwin (1856-?), Reuhama "Hami" Gwin (1857-?), and Signora Belle "Sigga B" Gwin (1860-1934).

Speaking of GWIN ancestry . . . we have heard from a descendant of the GWINN family Calf Pasture, Virginia this last week. Lillian (Email: lillian.densley@gmail.com) says, "I was delighted to find your web site about the Gwinn family of Calf Pasture, VA. I am searching for information about James Gwinn who settled in the Greenbrier Area of Summers, Monroe Co, WV (West Virginia).

Lillian says, "My ancestor is Jenny (a.k.a. Jean, Jane) GGWYN/GWINN who married Joseph Alford and named her first son, James Alford. After studying information about the Gwinn family, I believe my ancestor Jean (Jane) is the daughter of James Gwinn, who with his brother Samuel, being sons of Robert of Calf Pasture, Virginia, came to Greenbrier River and settled in the area of Monroe, Summers County."

Lillian goes on to tell us, "Jenny (Jean, Jane) Gwinn married Joseph Alford in 1792 in Greenbrier Co, VA (Virginia) and named her oldest son James, who married Margaret Carlisle. Thank you for posting your family research. Any new information you may have about James Gwinn, son of Robert, that you can share would appreciated. Thank you!"

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Cherokees Hold National Council At Talequah - 7 Nov. 1883

Talequah, Oklahoma - On this date, Wednesday, 7 November 7, 1883, in The Sun (New York), page 2, there was a short mention of the Cherokee Native Americans holding their National Council (or Legislature) at Talequah, which was their capital.

The short article reads: "This week the Cherokees are holding their National Council or Legislature, at Talequah, their capital. Chief Bushyhead has been re-elected, but he finds a vigorous opposition party in the Council. Probably nowhere is native Americanism more rampant than among the Cherokees. There are negroes and whites in the nation, but their complexions are, perhaps rather at a discount where copper is the favorite color.

"Nevertheless, as the adopted citizens have votes, they are carefully cultivated about election time. The truth is that these race distinctions in favor of the red man rest on a solid basis, for Congress recently voted $300,000 for land bought of the nation, and it has been divided among full-blood Cherokees only." View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Native American Legends - Chief Redbird

America - We received an email from Doug Brackett, in New Hampshire, who brought to my attention a portrait of a young Native American that could be welcomed as a cherished portrait for the Cherokee (especially the Keetoowah Nighthawk Society). Doug said it belonged to the mother of his business partner, the late Denley Willis Emerson (1918-2008).

Doug goes on to say, "To confirm the visual likeness between the portrait and photos of Chief Redbird Smith, I created the attached composite JPG image titled "Native American Redbird." For the comparison I using a well known photo of Chief Robert Redbird Smith overlaid onto my portrait artifact. To further clarify their likeness, I graphed the horizontal lines between the location of their facial features. The composite demonstrates the position of their facial features precisely match."

Doug says as to the background of the portrait, "The portrait of this handsome man was tucked away in a folder with the estate ephemera of Marian 'Richards' Emerson. Young Miss Richards grew up first in Milton, Massachusetts and then, as a married woman, on Fisher Hill Avenue, Brookline, Massachusetts. Marian was involved with the Boston Universal Unitarian movement to help restore Native American dignity. Marian became a civic leader and secretary of the Massachusetts Indian Society (circa early 1900s to her death in 1949). The attached Owl-Emerson PDF file provides a mid-timeline reference to verify Marian Emerson's association with members of the Cherokee movement. The text states she was Secretary of the Massachusetts Indian Society in 1942."

As to the PDF file, it is an old news announcement of the marriage of George Allen Owl to Miss Brunsteter that we (OkieLegacy) had transcribed back in The OkieLegacy Ezine, Vol. 5, Iss. 7, NW OK Marriages 1942-43 (which are DOC files).

Doug Brackett also tells us, "As can be understood from the text, Mrs. Emerson had a long time close association with Della Brunsteter, the newly married Mrs. Owl who's husband, George Allen Owl, was Cherokee. Mrs. Emerson is noted as being associated with Mrs. Owl's linguistic research. Mr. and Mrs. Owl were well known at the time in North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Washington DC for their collaborative language translation of Cherokee-to-English." Doug also mentions that the supporting evidence indicates tyne image above on the left is likely that of Chief Robert Redbird Smith because of the Native American portrait, research and the Emerson family."

"This portrait may be a welcomed addition to Native American history because there are few if any "youth" images available publicly of the Robert, 'Chief Redbird Smith.' This portrait may now be helpful to other researchers looking into the Cherokee Movement and the life of Robert Redbird Smith."

"Your comments are welcome. You may forward my message to colleagues. I'm also interested in comments from Smith Cherokee family members." View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

1911 - Niagara Falls Freezes Over

Niagara Falls, - Raymer Ellis sent us this old photo taken during the winter of 1911 when Niagara Falls was completely frozen. Have you ever seen of heard about this photo or the story behind the freezing of Niagara Falls where people could walk across the Falls? How cold and how long was it that cold? Almost 100 years ago . . . Can you imagine walking on Niagara Falls?

There were report that a woman had a cousin living in Niagara Falls the year of 1911. She told the family that she and her neighbors woke up in the night feeling something was wrong. It took a while but they finally realized that it was the lack of noise. You see, they had all become used to the roar of the falls that the silence was unusual enough to alert their senses. In 1911, nearly all the houses were near the falls. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Highland Recorder - 17 September 1909

Highland County, Virginia - In the Highland Recorder (Monterey, Highland County, Virginia), 17 September 1909, page 1, we find the following advertisement mention concerning a Greenbrier Presbyterial School Military School For Boys, in Lewisburg, West Virginia. I am wondering if this Greenbrier Presbyterial School that was a Military School for Boys is the same Greenbrier school for young ladies in the 1960's? Back in 1909, September 17, H. B. Moore, A.M., was the principal of this military school for boys. The article stated that young men were prepared for any University or Professional school. It goes on to read, "Thorough instruction, Christian influence, Military Discipline home life. New buildings, steam heat, water on every floor, healthful location; no serious sickness in history of school. Up to-date athletics; good football, baseball, and tennis teams." Enrollment increased from 23 to 81 students in two years. Seven teachers in Faculty. Every room taken during past year. Additional barracks for 30 boys and gymnasium under construction. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Cherokee Outlet & Local Ranch History Subject of New Book

Cherokee Outlet, Oklahoma - by Sandie Olson (Email: sandie.olson@gmail.com) -- Descendants and friends of Cherokee Strip cowpunchers will be interested in a new book, The Vanished Herd, the History of the Cherokee Strip Cowpunchers' Association and the Cattlemen and Drovers of Early-Day Oklahoma, by Jim Fulbright and Albert Stehno.

It is a full-sized, 8 ½ by 11 inch, hardbound book with over 532 pages, index, and thousands of photos, maps and illustrations featuring stories on the cattlemen, trails, towns and events related to early-day Indian Territory and Oklahoma.

Among the many biographies in the book are stories and photographs of individual cowboys who settled in Woods County after the opening of the Cherokee Outlet for settlement. The book is very well indexed. See ordering information below.

On Labor Day weekend ninety-one years ago, a group of former cowboys gathered in a buffalo pasture at the 101 Ranch south of Ponca City. A few years earlier, many of those men had followed the marching armies of longhorn cattle that trailed north from Texas through Indian Territory, and others had been herders on the range of the Cherokee Outlet; cowboys in Oklahoma's unsurpassed cattle country with its sea of grass stretching for over 200 miles along the Indian Territory border with Kansas. In their prime, they were young adventurers, most looking for a livelihood and the freedom of the open range, but their ranks also included far-sighted entrepreneurs who developed ranches and fortunes in the cattle trade, which, beginning in 1867, dominated much of the West for nearly thirty years.

By 1920 most of those old cowboys were family men in their forties and fifties, some even older. They met at the 101 Ranch that year to renew old acquaintances and briefly relive their cowboy days, and as it turned out, the twenty-five to fifty former range riders who attended the reunion enjoyed it so much that they decided to meet annually. They elected a slate of officers who promised to contact even more "old-timers" for the next year's reunion, and before they left the 101 Ranch that weekend, they chose a name for their new group: "The Cherokee Strip Cowpunchers Association."

In 1921 over 160 "cowpunchers" showed up for the second annual meeting, and during the next ten years, the number increased to nearly 600. By 1926 they had moved the reunion location to a little rise on the south bank of the Salt Fork River in the corner of the buffalo pasture. They dubbed it, "Cowboy Hill," and a small building and other improvements were placed there for their Labor Day meetings. Initially, CSCPA membership required having previously worked in the Cherokee Strip, or "Outlet," of Indian Territory, a requisite that was soon expanded to include those engaged in the cattle business in other parts of Oklahoma.

In the 1800s, these early-day range riders had arrived in Indian Territory from many states and countries and from all walks of life. The majority were born in Missouri, Illinois, or Texas, while several came from Kansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and even Canada. Only nine states or territories in existence at the time were not represented by a CSCPA member.

During the years Oklahoma was opened for settlement, most of these men left the cattle range and claimed homesteads, while others either returned to their home states or looked for new ventures elsewhere. Far and away the largest number of them remained in Oklahoma their entire lives, and many descendants of the old cowpunchers live in the state today.

The last of the original Cherokee Strip cowboys died in the 1960s but today their memory and the days of ranching in the Outlet live on in the recently released book The Vanished Herd by Jim Fulbright & Albert Stehno. Thirty-five years ago, Stehno, a Billings rancher, began collecting materials about the Cherokee Strip Cowpunchers when his great-grandmother gave him a membership ribbon worn by her stepfather Cal Rosecrants. Stehno spent his spare time combing the countryside, locating and interviewing other descendants of the CSCPA. Many of them supplied photos and other memorabilia, which became part of a large collection of CSCPA material, portions of it now on display at the Marland Grand Home in Ponca City.

After three decades of collecting, Stehno began thinking about ways to share the collection, and fours years ago he began collaborating with Jim Fulbright, a native Oklahoman who has authored several books on Oklahoma history. The result is a new full sized, hardbound book entitled The Vanished Herd. It contains over 500 pages and 1,000 plus photographs.

The book's title, according to Stehno, is derived from an incident in the 1930s when Zack Miller of the 101 Ranch donated a buffalo hide to the CSCPA on which the names of the men associated with the organization were burned like brands. The hide also contained colorful paintings by artists Emil Lenders and Roger Glenn Taylor, and Miller entitled his gift, "The Vanishing Herd." The hide was presented to the Oklahoma Historical Society in 1936, and is now at Enid's Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center Museum. "With all the original cowboys now gone," said Stehno, "we decided to tell their story and times on the range, calling our book 'The Vanished Herd.' "

Stehno and Fulbright say that one of the challenges in preparing the work has been deciding what accurately constitutes an official role of CSCPA membership. There have been several lists over the years, from the buffalo hide itself to the names inscribed on the Jesse Chisholm Trail Memorial. To be as accurate as possible, the authors decided that the original ledger book, dutifully kept up-to-date by several CSCPA secretaries down through the years, and now archived in the Gilcrease Museum at Tulsa, Oklahoma, should serve as the official record of membership. To the extent possible, they have used that old fading ledger to reconstruct the cowpunchers' work record, the ranch or cattleman they served, and provide a biographical sketch of each member's life. The Vanished Herd also contains biographies of other area ranchers, and cattlemen, as well as incidents and stories about town building in the Cherokee Outlet following the 1893 land run.

The book is available at the Waynoka Museum Gift Shop at the Harvey House or by mail order. Cost is $60.00 per book, plus 9% tax and $6.50 Priority Mail shipping. To order, please send your name and address, along with a check or money order, to Waynoka Historical Society, PO Box 193, Waynoka OK 73860. Credit card orders are accepted. For further information, call 580-824-1886. The authors visited Waynoka during the research phase of the book. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe