Sherman Bi-Centennial Edition
Sherman Democrat

Memories of The Indian Territory in 1887

Brother of mine so far away
Why have I thought of you all day?
Is it because you are not here
For my birthday dinner to add good cheer?
Always you were the lively one
With your ready wit and a wealth of fun.
But the thoughts that have filled my mind all day
Are of long ago and far away.

I remember so well my little chair
As I rocked you to sleep by the old wood fire.
And once in front of that fireplace wide
I rocked us over, but you never cried.
You were so little and it was so cold
I held you so close, I was four years old.
Our brother, Byrd, was only two,
So it was my duty to care for you.

Our mother was working with Father, for they
Were daubing the cracks of the logs with clay.
'Twas a big log house not finished till
The cracks were stopped with homemade fill,
And the red clay mud was all around -
The cheapest fill that could be found.
It was bitter cold, so they had to do
The daubing with something, so I rocked you.

Now you can't remember when we lived there;
then we left Texas and a home so fair
To seek a fortune, our Daddy thought,
In a wild new country, so this he bought.
It was Indian Territory at that time;
Not Oklahoma, which today is fine.
And often I saw the Indians ride
Among the hills; so I hid inside.

And once when we crossed to the Texas side
With Red River rolling so big and wide,
The horses plunged and had to be tied
With a chair to the ferry boat; and on each side
Men stood to push big drifts away.
And you and I were afraid that day -
How we longed for Grandma to hold us tight
Away from the river's terrible sight.

The fields were rough and the crops were poor
And only Indians passed our door.
The harvest field failed and the cotton crop was bad.
Our Mother was sick and often sad
And our grandparents wrote to please come back
To the Texas home where there was no lack
Of room and warmth and work to do.
So we moved home, but I still rocked you.



Poem Relates 1887 Memories
EDITOR'S NOTE: This original poem was written by Mrs. Addie Anderson Miller of 1701 W. Birge and tells the story of frontier times.



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