Thank you for that short story, It was great reading it. I think I will try out that town that you mentioned! Aloha, Marjie ----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, June 23, 2001 7:56 PM Subject: Re: [ARSHARP] Movements from Sharp Co to Oklahoma Marjie and the list Although I am kin to the Ritchies that moved from Sharp County to Texas in the late 1800's my line did not take that route. We moved from Sharp County to Oklahoma and here is the story as told by my greataunt who was a little girl at the time. The Ritchie Family Trek from Arkansas to Oklahoma The last week of Sep in 1911, Daddy bought a new covered wagon and had an over-jet built onto it. (An over-jet was a handmade wagon bed that was four foot wider than the regular wagon bed? All that week Mommy had made bread, had sorted clothes and dishes and bedding. She'd told us that we wouldn't take any furniture and we'd have to leave some other things, too. Mommy cried. The night before we left for Oklahoma, Grandma Ritchie (Daddy's Mama [Ellen Florence Phillips Ritchie]) and Aunt Maud (Daddy's sister) came to the house and helped Mommy finish packing. Since we were going to spend the last night with Grandma and Grandpa Hackney, we said goodbye to the Grandma Ritchie and she caught hold of the wagon and followed us for a long way, just crying and going on. We never saw her again. We spent the night with Grandma Hackney--their farm was three miles north of Ash Flat--and the next morning, October 1, 1911, we started for Oklahoma. Uncle Sterling Hackney (Mommy's brother) was going with us. Truman rode and slept in Uncle Sterling's wagon. But they ate with us. In the smaller wagon bed, Daddy had put Mommy's trunk, the groceries, our clothes, and a feather mattress. Mamie, me and Virgie slept on that feather mattress. There was a feather mattress in the over-jet and the rest of the family (Daddy, Mommy, Ethyl, and Lester [he was 8 mo old]) slept on this. (Us kids rode on the mattress in the over-jet during the day. Mommy and Daddy rode on the spring-seat of the wagon. When we got to Myatt (this is four miles no of the Hackney farm), Mommy's sister (Eva Lena) and her husband (Sam Bryant) were waiting for us with their wagon packed. Since Grandma Hackney had "pitched a fit" about her baby going off, Aunt Evy (Eva Lena Bryant) hadn't told Grandma they were going to Oklahoma. We drove about 20 to 25 miles a day. Us kids would walk or ride, which ever we wanted. Mommy would have me and Mamie watch Lester and Ethyl (2 years old). When we first woke up in the morning, Mommy would make her "dutch-oven" (a big kettle with a tight-fitting lid) full of biscuits. Poppy would build a fire--then take the coals and cover the dutch-oven to cook the bread. It took about 20 minutes for them to cook. We had oatmeal, butter, bread and jelly for breakfast. (We bought milk, eggs, and butter and sweet potatoes from farmers across the land) For supper, Mommy would make biscuits, gravy, fried ham or salt bacon. We had hominy, canned beans and dried fruit. When we would set up camp at evening, the people who lived nearby, would come and drink coffee with the grownups and talk til the early hours of the morning. One time, the people wanted to take me and Mamie. They had a big two-story house and we thought this was a grand thing, but Poppy said "No". Near the Oklahoma line, another family joined our wagons. It was a Daddy and 4 kids--3 girls and a boy. Their mommy had just died and they were on their way to Porum, OK. We had come across the north part of Arkansas, coming across the line at Stilwell. We were on our way to Talahina. We got to Talahina on the 20th of October and we drove to the creek south of town. On that day the Federal Revenue Agents had come to town, arrested 91 men from the Talahina area for making "moon shine whiskey". Earlier in the fall, a young man had come into the area and picked cotton for many of the farmers. As he worked, he watched and was able to locate the "stills" in the area. The 91 men were taken by train to Ft. Smith for sentencing. The area was "up in arms" looking for the "tipster" and all night long they would look through our tent. By the next morning Poppy was so mad. This made him decide to go to Porum instead. We got to Porum on the 24th of October and I wanted to go back home. ==== ARSHARP Mailing List ==== If you wish to subscribe to or unsubscribe from the Sharp Co., AR list, use [email protected] or [email protected] if you are on the Digest list. To learn more about my world visit http://dwp.bigplanet.com/kburnett Arkansas Cemeteries Volunteer Website http://www.rootsweb.com/~arcemete/arcem.htm ============================== Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp