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Early History of Catesby and Vicinity
EARLY HISTORY OF CATESBY AND VICINTY
By F. P. Rose*
I arrived in Woodward, Oklahoma, the morning of Friday
August 29, 1901. With two other cousins, Charlie Paine and Gilbert
Nixon, we left the Nixon home, near Madison, Wisconsin, early the
morning of July 15 for Oklahoma. It was my twenty-first birthday.
We had a new wagon and each a good young horse. Since there were
no main roads in those days, and people were not well acquainted
beyond their own neighborhoods, we placed a yardstick on a map
of the United States and drew a line from Madison, Wisconsin, to
Woodward, Oklahoma.
This route took us across the Mississippi River at Dubuque, Iowa,
to St. Joseph, Missouri, down the river bottom to Atchinson, Kansas,
at which point we crossed the Missouri River into that state. Thence
through Topeka, Newton, Hutchinson, Kingman, Medicine Lodge to
Hardtner, where we crossed the border into Oklahoma headed for
Alva.
The history of our experiences on this trip would make an in-
teresting story of itself. People along the road would beg us not
to go on but to turn back, telling us it was but a short distance
further to the Indians, outlaws, and the homes of desperadoes. This
idea prevailed through Iowa, Missouri and Kansas even as late as
that year of 1901. However, of course, as we proceeded we passed
fine cities, prosperous farms and peaceable people. I recall as we
passed through Medicine Lodge viewing the effects of Carry Nation's
hatchet on the large mirror behind the bar in their "blind tiger'',
as saloons were referred to in those days.
Leaving Hardtner late in the afternoon we camped our first
night in Oklahoma a few miles south of that little store and post-
office. From there on the houses became farther apart and the
country had the appearance of newer settlement. We forded the
Salt Fork of the Arkansas River and reached Alva about noon. At
* Mr. F. P. Rose, a native of Madison, Wisconsin, attended school at Rochester,
New York, at London, Ontario Province, Canada and at Ann Arbor, Michigan.
He lived at Catesby, Oklahoma, from 1901 to 1924, when he moved his family to
Alva where he was grain buyer for the Alva Roller Mills. He was elected and
served as a member of the House from Ellis County, in the 3rd and in the 4th
State Legislature. In 1935, he moved to Arkansas where is prominently known for
his Guernsey herd on his fine farm near Rogers, Arkansas. He was one of the
organizers of the Arkansas Guernsey Breeders Association, and has been active in
the development of better dairy conditions in Arkansas. Since an eye operation in
1948, he has devoted his time to historical research as a hobby, and has had several
feature stories published that have received recognition in the field of local history.
-Ed.
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