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The Indian Pioneer Papers Collection

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Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Date: June2, 1937
Name: Willie I. Fine
Post Office: Aledo, Oklahoma
Residence Address:
Date of Birth: November 1, 1864
Place of Birth: Washington County, Arkansas
Father: Henry Fine
Place of Birth: Arkansas
Information on father:
Mother: Cyntha Barcley Fine
Place of birth: Arkansas
Information on mother: Father was a soldier in R. war
Field Worker: Ethel E. Palmer

I was born in Washington Co., Arkansas, in 1864, and came from Texas to Oklahoma, in 1899. I moved my family here in a covered wagon, and filed on the place that I am now living.

The first thing that I did was to build me a half dugout. Our furniture was one wooden bedstead that I made of old rough lumber, a hand-made table, and a long bench. I sawed blocks of trees for our chairs.

We would have left Oklahoma that winter, but one of our horses died, and we couldn't. However this little eighty acres of land has kept me going and I had a large family. I made a living for them on this eighty acres.

We did our trading at Osceola, our first post office. We had to go eight miles to Osceola. We had to go forty miles to Weatherford, our nearest railroad town.

We have an old trunk that we brought to Oklahoma with us, some knives and forks also. We have two teacups that belonged to our first set of dishes given to us when we were married. I have two mattresses that we picked the cotton and Mrs. Fine made them when we were first married. This was made in Texas. All these things we brought to Oklahoma with us.

Transcribed and contributed by Lola Crane <coolbreze@cybertrails.com> Sept. 6, 2003