Indian Reservation Cantonment Oklahoma
/My grandmother Eva Kirkpatrick and her twin Reva Badgley, were born in 1900 I believe in Ohio. Their father was a farmer there and got hurt somehow and had to quit farming. It was a far different occupation then with horse drawn and had driven machinery and people got hurt often due to no safely rules.
So he began teaching and ended up first north of Topeka Kansas on the Indian Reservation there. I will tell more about that as I get the Book Of Ruth out and reread it. This is a book that their much older sister wrote and has many good family facts as to where and when. She was raised by the time the twins came along so gives a good reading to us.
At some point, they moved to Cantonment Oklahoma to the school there and they lived among the Indian people and got to know them well. Many were their close friends and they doted on the two little blonde headed girls from the Kirkpatrick house.
My grandmother and Reva sat and told us of going to the Indiam Pow Wow one weekend across the Canadian River. It seems the river was high and running which made quite an impact on these small girls. They told of the tom tom drums rolling long into the night and joining in the dances around a huge bonfire.
Many of the Indians on the reservation were old enough to had been in the Indian Wars and some talked of being at the Little big Horn but were afraid still of retribution. So little was said. And these were Northern Cheyenne who had broken out of the reservation and headed north up through Western Kansas causing quite a stir before finally being caught and sent to Canton at the military post there.
One man was named Big John. He was so large that when he died they had to bury him in a piano shipping box. I found a picture and will post it when I can locate it.
Grandmother retold this to Kellee and Kody one day and I have that on DVD. I am trying to find out how to put that online but don't know how yet. If you have any skills that way, please let me know.
School at Cantonment Oklahoma