Pioneer Days in Wichita Falls Recalled to Wisconsin Woman

Editor, The Times:

I noticed in the Milwaukee Journal that the "Brewers" did not find cowboys and bucking broncos about your town. If they had been there in 1878, when we were, they could have seen both, right where your city now stands. My husband, myself and children in company with his father, David Craig, two brothers, Herbert and James, three sisters and two nephews, moved from Wisconsin in March, 1878, locating in Sherman for a short time. My husband secured some sort of title to one or two lots in Wichita Falls from a Mr. Seely, living in Sherman my husband agreeing to build on the same, which he did, hauling the lumber from Sherman with a team of mules. The house consisted of a living room, bedroom and pantry. Quite a house for that country at that time, I cannot recall the name of the street, it was some avenue. At that time Mr. Craig hauled our lumber, a Mr. Charles Seely also hauled lumber and built a feed store across the street from us. It had no feed in it, however, while we were there. These two buildings were the only two in Wichita Falls at that time, except a little shack without a floor occupied by a Mr. Converse, in which he kept a small stock of goods, it being called a store.

I think we moved into our new house sometime in July. We were eight days moving from Sherman. We were heavily loaded with our household goods and supplies, and the trail was very sticky, as we had five rains on us, and often had to stop and scrape the "waxy" off the wheels. When we arrived at Holliday Creek it was like a raging river, but after some hesitation we finally forded it, the water coming into the wagon and the mules swimming some. Later on one man’s team, wagon and goods were carried down the stream when he tried to ford. The team came near drowning.

We had not been here long when Mr. Craig was taken with chills, and I had what was called "Texas risings" and could not walk for weeks. I became very homesick and in the fall returned to Wisconsin, Mr. Craig coming later. David Craig and family moving into the house we vacated, and lived and died in Texas, only one sister survived, a Mrs. Weaver living at White Flat and the two nephews Will J. Estes of Fort Worth and Arthur Estes of Sherman. One sister (Carrie) married to Mr. Frank Barwise, and one (Eliza) married Mr. Joe Estes.

I think I must tell you of one little incident that occurred. One day we hitched a yoke of oxen onto a wagon to go up the river to get some wood. (The mules had gone back to Sherman) All went well for a time. But finally the oxen espied a herd of cattle standing in a slough and away went our team. Mr. Craig hanging on to them and calling out "Hike!" as he had heard others do. But they would not hike and were in the water. It coming into the wagon. But it was so warm that we did not mind it. It took some time to persuade them that they had better come out of the water and go up the river. We saw plenty of wild turkeys and Mr. Craig sometimes shot them. They made a very nice roast. There were also some very large snakes, scorpions and tarantulas a plenty, one each of the two latter having run through the house.

The range cattle were all about us. Sometime the cowboys would ride up to the store, shooting in real cowboy style, and sometime they would come to the house and get me to make biscuits for them.

There was a sort of ferry across the river so people could cross to the country beyond. We were quite isolated. Henrietta being the nearest village.

I think I must have gotten my fill of the wild, for I have been in several new countries since, but I find that I have no love for pioneer life.

From an old-timer,

Mrs. Alex Craig

Ripon, Wisconsin