House Is Relic of Rugged Times Page: 1 of 1
This text is part of the collection entitled: William A. McGalliard Historical Collection and was provided to The Gateway to Oklahoma History by the Ardmore Public Library.
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Love County
[3?
Marietta
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are filled with
bullet-resistant
BILL
WASHINGTON
HOME
(private)
fn
Washington
...........»wT"WW'w'«wir-fW'MHS«3
home . . . gun slits in basement walls.
(No. 13 in a series of profiles on
sites of importance in Oklahoma
history and culture. Listing in the
National Register of Historic Places
is being sought.)
illll
was almost assured of success.
Marriage to a Chickasaw woman
gave him access to Indian land —
this in the expanding post-Civil War
years. At the height of his career he
ran thousands of cattle over much of
what is today Love County.
He raised enough cotton to main-
tain his own scale house, hired
enough hands (100 and more much of
the time) to maintain a commissary
and several stores, issue his own
coins and scrip money.
By 1888 he felt successful enough to
build himself a suitable Victorian
mansion. Two years later the $50,000
chore was completed. And it was no
mean feat for what was then largely
undeveloped Indian country.
Imported artisans took a year to
hand-peg the beautifully inlaid hard-
wood floors. Especially noteworthy is
the precision-block work in the for-
mal entry way.
Throughout the house are excellent
examples of paneled walls and wains-
coating, inlaid stair banisters, deli-
cately carved hardwood portieres
over doorways and bay windows, and
intricately designed and crafted fire-
place mantels.
<2/7^
Uncle Billy’s empire began to
crumble after 1889 with the arrival of-
barb wire.
About 1920.he finally sold out anc
moved to New Mexico. He died in the
1930s — “a rather tragic figure who
had outlived his era,” according to
"The Oklahoma Cowman.”
The William E. Washington house,
carefully preserved, is now privately
owned and not open to the public.
HO’
By Kent Ruth
Nowadays they just don't build
| many houses like that of William E.
g ("Uncle Billy”) Washington, some
| four miles southwest of Marietta.
For one thing, its basement
I
■
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For one thing, its
equipped with gun slits.
For another, its outside walls —
: of a man who
House Is Relic of Rugged Times
might have neighbors with un-neigh-
borly inch rt’ons —
six inches of fine
gravel.
Which brings up yet another point
— that they just don’t make many
men like "Uncle Billy” nowadays, ei-
ther.
He was made of the stuff from
which legends are fabricated — a
shrewd, resourceful, at times ruth-
less man. (He killed his brother in an
argument over a piece of land.)
And on a raw frontier that put a
premium on such character traits, he
WINDOW!
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lol
“s a - x g
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$ ("Uncle Billy”) Washington
J
ss well above the height
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Ruth, Kent. House Is Relic of Rugged Times, text, 1971; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1626981/m1/1/: accessed May 7, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Ardmore Public Library.