Clarence Robbins Memoirs
As told to his daughter and
son...
Bromide
Springs, Indian Territory - 8 miles west of Waupanucka on October 24, 1893, on
Meriah Mosley's place on the Little Delaware. Nearby was a Chickasaw Indian
Girls' School. There were 18 Indian girls there. In the summertime, my mother
would cook for the girls and look after them while school was out. Those girls
would eat a beef (600 pounds) a month.
When
I was 1 year old, my mother and father moved back to Whitewright, Texas to
Mother's father's and mother's home. Jerome and Gertrude were born September
15, 1895, there.
The
next year - 1896 - we were back to I.T. and leased a farm in the timber. My
father cleared the land, made the timber into cordwood and put the land into
cultivation. This land was leased from James Culbertson, a U.S. Marshall and
Chickasaw Indian. He worked with 'Good-Eye" Johnson (he lost one of his
eyes rum-running on the English Channel). They had to take prisoners to
government prison at Paris, Texas. When they were in this country looking for
law violators, they would board and room with us.
My
father was born August 16, 1872, at Greenville, Mississippi on a cotton
plantation. He left there when about 14 years old. He grew up and married at
Whitewright, Texas. He married Jennie Dee (15 years old) in 1892.
Later
we bought 37 acres of Freedman Land - then 62 acres from dead Indian heirs. I
grew up there and kept the rest of the children on the farm after my mother and
father died. Mother died on the Culbertson lease - February 6, 1906. She had
pneumonia and one abscess on her side where a cow kicked her burst. Father died
from typhoid fever.
I
went to DeQueen, Arkansas May 15, 1911 and went to work for Kansas City
Southern Railroad. I was in the roundhouse on track labor. Later went to
firing.
In
1913 (fall), I went to the Ozarks and made stands.
In 1914, went back to farm and built a levee around
160 acres of land to keep water from overflowing.
Then
I went to Lawton, Oklahoma and bought a small hotel. Kept it 2 weeks. On Sunday
morning, they brought a family in from a farm nearby, man, wife and 3 children.
All their heads were cut off and all the animals on the farm had heads cut off.
They never did find who did it.
I
turned the hotel over to my uncle and my aunt in the Fall of 1914 and went to
Oklahoma City. Went to work in the roundhouse as a stationery fireman,
machinist helper, and started firing on the road in Summer, 1916.
Fired
engines for MKT until promoted to engineer in 1937. Ran engines until retired
April 20, 1949. Lost sight of right eye after several attacks of iritis. Moved
to Tucson in 1944. Went back to Oklahoma City and worked 5 years.
Five
brothers had 29 boys and 9 girls. They lived close together. Anytime there was
3 bunches together, they fought all day. We used to break wild steers, broncs
and jenny mules - anything we could catch off the range and ride. We'd work all
week sawing wheels out of an ash tree log and making a wagon. We'd hook a 2
year old steer up to it and tear it up in 5 minutes and then work another week
to build another.
I
remember one time when I was about 14, we set a steel trap with a dead animal
and caught a turkey buzzard. The Negroes were holding a camp meeting in a brush
arbor. We took the buzzard and went down about 100 yards below the Church - We
rolled up a ball of yarn soaked in kerosene and took a 12' length of bailing
wire. We tied the yarn to the buzzards leg - set the ball of yarn afire and
headed him out over the brush arbor. They were having prayer but it soon ended
as they left in a hurry. We thought it was fun but it was a misdemeanor.
That
fall - cool weather - 3 of us got on our riding horses and went up about 5
miles from where we lived. We rode up in front of the church door, reined up
and 3 big, burley Negroes took hold of our reins, had us get down and go
inside. They cleared the front seat and we stayed for services. Afterwards, we
came out and left quietly without causing any damage.
I guess we were mean - we'd steal chickens and
watermelons and eggs from our own families and have eating parties, but we
really didn't do bodily harm.
I
remember another time we fixed up an imitation of a man in overalls and jacket -
stuffed it with hay, hung a lantern on one arm and propped it up with a rope on
it. Then we hid away down the ridge. We set it up in front of Governor
Johnson's house. He was governor of 5 Civilized Tribes of Indians. We called
him out on the front porch. He talked to the dummy awhile, threatened to shoot
him. He hit the prop - the dummy fell and we sure had to hurry to get the dummy
away from there!
We
used to take Domenic roosters in the yard and dye them blue from the neck up
with bluing. He'd fight every rooster in the yard. We had to do this when our
folks were away.
We'd
sprinkle oil of mustard or cayenne pepper where there was dancing. When the
dust started stirring it really broke up a dance in a hurry.
Once
there was an Indian that had an old horse that wouldn't go. They guys had a
quart of 'Highlife". He trickled it down the horse's back and he really
went in a hurry.
Frank
Shego and Joel - they had about 15 rabbit dogs. Joel would come out in the
morning with all the dogs and go down in the river bottom. He'd come back with
a toe-sack full of rabbits and they'd have 'Tom Fuller' to eat. Then they
started collecting Indian annuity money. They'd just put all the money in a
satchel and bury it. They'd buy whiskey and bury it in the seed pen. When we
knew the money came in, we'd ride a bunch of horses over, spur them up on the
porch, and the Indians would scatter. They we'd steal their whiskey and drink
it - but we didn't dare ever touch any of their money!
Another
time, we went to a little log school house church. We went out and got a
hornets' nest. This door had a little hole to put a chain there and lock. We
put the hole of the hornets' nest up to the hole of the door. When the hornets
got warm, the church cleared out. Those bald-faced hornets would hit you from
behind and knock you down. Negro congregation came out the doors, windows, and
all. As the preacher ran by me, he said, "Damn a church with one
door!"
We'd
hunt rattlesnakes. We'd take a forked stick and hold him down. Then we could
grab the venom sack and pull it out with pliers.
Clarence Robbins Family
Memoirs
Stephen Alva Van Cleave
Memoirs
Tales of the Van
Cleave Elders