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'iita L. Orewford, Georg. 8. Brown,
Oarrizozo„ N. Mex.
Oarrizoso,
MUIR Mgt
Words 1281
AUG 2-1935
e4 n L)
have limed in 10inaoln Gouaty fiftywfour years. I came
hero from Cedar Talley Missouri when I was six years old.
There were Wan* one wagons in our train when we left Ofrdar
Talley for Mesa Arises', in April 1884. My father Thomas M.
Brown, my mother and four ohildren traveled in tour covered
wagons, drawn by horses. My mother's lather and Mother, Mr.
and la**. David O. May, drove ems wagon drawn by two whit* oxen.
The rest or the orowd in the train were all moles and aunts
and cousins. Thar had their own aovered wagons, drawn by mules.
George Murray and his wife May were relatives of my mother)
drove a one hors* buggy all the way through to Oklahoma, where
they deelded to loaato. There were times when we were on our
way that there would he as many as fifty wagons in our train.
We would overtake soma of thou and some would overtake us and
we would all go along together for awhile and %has thee* other
wagons would drift oft on their own way, lasting us twenty -ono
again. We had two hundred head at stook cattle with us.
My father and grandfather owned twenty-five of them. Bach fam-
ily had their owe cheek box and cooking utensils, and at night
when we made camp each family would build his own fire to cook
on. We used buffalo and cow chips for wood on the plains.
We made our own candles. Grandma May had a mould that you
could maks four candles at a tine. She used any kind of tallow
that she could get ahold of, and twine string.
It rained on us a lot on the first part of our trip but was aw-
ful dry on the plains in Texas. At night when we camped the
With I. Crawford, S. Works 12,1
Carrizono, N. Max*
men would form a carols with the wagons and put the families end
work stook inside the circle and the men folks would stand guard
over the cattle. we had to travel awful slow on account of our
stock and ox teams* when we came to a river where we oould fish
we would stay over for several days and rest. The women folks
would do their family washing and all the children that were big
enough would go out and other wild strawberries, raspberriee,
blackberries and wild plums and our mothers would make preserves
out of them* The men folks kept us is fresh meat most of the
time by killing antelope and deer. We SW a few buffalo but they
were so wild that the men could not get near enough to kill any
of them. It reined most all the time on us while we were Gross-
ing through Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas. I remember when we
crossed the rivers we would have to be towed across on ferry boats
and it would take two and three days to get all the wagons and
stook across, It ems very herd to set the stook onto the terry
boats. We were *lamp on the look out for Indians but were never
molested by them. We saw our first Indians when we passed through
the Cherokee Strip in the Indian Territory. Our cattle were quer..
antined on the line bate,* Oklahoma and Kamm, because they were
covered with smell ticks whidh they cleaned would cause a disease
Oslled bloody murrain, so my father and the rest of the men decid-
ed to sell all the cattle as they did not want to return for the
cattle liter on and they sold then at quite a loss* We went
through Dodge City Kensas and crossed the line into Texas at Garden
City Kansas. We passed through very few towns on our way out hers
and when we did come to a town we would always atop and buy gro-
caries. All of our water buckets, kegs, wash tube, dish pens
zuxua
Carrizomot r. Mex.
ir•
and one flour barrell were mode by my Notherts Uncle ;sok Bow-
man, out of red cedar that came from our farm in Missouri and
were hand :tede. Re used copper bends to hold them together.
we were six months on the road. I remember that we crossed the
Canadian River at Taseesa Texas. It was running bank full when
we got there and we had to stay a meek before we oould get
across, as there were no ferry boats to arose on. It was quite
a nettle country and there were lots of eaw boys around. They
had e donee one night while we were there and invited us all to
00038. Grandmother May aad Nether end several of the other la.
dies had never seen any wee dance before so they decided to go
and see whet it was like. The first dance was a welts and when
the eouples got up and the MA put their arms around the women
and started to dance Grandfather May came over to Grandmother
and mad *Letts get out of here, for this is no place for us,*
so they all got up and left. The river was still pretty high
when we left Tommie, no the owe boys tied ropes to the wagon
tongues end helped us to cross. One of the small mule teens
fell down in the middle of the river and the family that was in
the wagon came pretty near getting drowsed, but there were about
twenty cow boys who helped us across so that there was not very
much danger of anybody getting drowsed. We came through the
I ?pasture whisk was on the staked plains in the western part
of Texas. we sew lots or antelope and cattle in this pasture.
The next town that we came to WAD Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
when we erossed the Pesos River it was up, but we had met up
with Oliver V. Lee end his half brother, (I can't remember his
name) some where in Texas and they helped us to cross the river.
They were coming to New Mexico with a herd of about three hundred
With L. Crawford, 4. Words 1291
Carri%ozo, N. ilex.
horses. They left our wagon train after emceeing the Pecos river
end we did not see than again until years later. We came on to
white Oaks, New Vaxico and camped at the Manchester Rock Fuse,
about three miles from the town at White Oaks. Father decided to
stay in White Oaks for awhile as he liked the country end old
Geronimo was on the war path and was somewhere between New Mexioo
and Arizona, and Father was afraid to take a chaaoe of going on
into Arizona. rather began to haul freight from Socorro, New
Mexico to White Oaks, for the *Lines. NC hauled the first mining
machinery that was brought into Obits Oaks, for a man by the name
of Glass who put in a stamp mill there. We lived at White Oaks
for about two months and then rather bought a place on Tbrtolit0
Canyon,. (Turtle Dove) which is about ten miles southeast of Car-
rizozo, New Mexico, and et the foot otiose.' Peek. we moved there
in October 1884. We farmed some and rather freighted for Liman,
Fort Stanton, Nogal and White Oaks. Hi bought two big schooner
wagons and twenty heed of oxen. Ne could haul a oar load of flour
in the two schooners end that is why he had to use that many oxen
to pull the loads. The house on the Tortolito pleat: was a three
room house built out of pickets and mud, end one adobe room built
about six feet from the picket house. We older boys out wood from
the mountain side end Father hauled it to Port Stanton and sold it
for us.
NARRATOR* George S. Brown, Aged 60 years. Oarrizozo, New Maxie*.