Volume 6 , Issue 21

Orion, Oklahoma Stories & The Bowers...

"I was recently surfing around trying to find information about my great-grandfather, his family and I found your site. My family is from Major County in the community of Orion.

My great-grandfather homesteaded south and east of where the old Orion store is (or was). My great-grandfather's name was Walter Bowers -- he came from Kansas, was an area blacksmith. He used to shoe the horses of the Arapahos & Cheyenne that lived on the reservation near where Cantonment was. Supposedly, Chief Powderface himself rode to my great-grandfather's to have his horses shoed. I was able to find 1910 census records that listed him, my great-grandmother and their children. My granddad wasn't listed because he was born in 1912. My grandfather's name was Dawson Bowers.

In fact he and one of my cousins tore down the old Orion store and according to my dad, he worked there for awhile. I'm not sure when he worked there, though. I can remember when I was very young (probably 3 or 4) of going to the store when it was still opened and my dad bought me some candy there.

My grandparents lived in the house with the garage that is directly in between where the store sat and the church. On the west side of that house down the hill used to sit a log house. My dad was raised in that house. Later my grandfather helped tear down a grain elevator (I'm not sure where) and built the house that has the garage. My father was born on the homestead that my great-grandfather settled south of Orion.

I also saw your (OakiePics) Webshots site and saw a caption under the picture of the house that sits in the wooded pasture next to where the store was. The caption said, 9-09-01 Is this An Old Homestead. From what my dad told me, it's not the actual homestead. The actual homestead is at the top of that hill above the house. It was a log house of some sort (I've never actually seen it). The house in the picture was owned and lived in by the owners of the store, the Paintons. Mr. Painton made his homestead there and had that whole section. He and his wife lived in the upstairs part of the store. At some point the house in your picture was moved onto the site. When he passed away, his wife moved into the house and his son and his wife ran the store. I believe his son still lives in the area.

Actually, I talked to my dad about it some more and the real story is that when Mr. William or "Billy" Painton died, his son, Ivan had the house moved in from somewhere else. It wasn't actually built there. Mrs. Painton moved into it then. I also found out that they built another house around the original log house homestead. Like I said before, I haven't actually seen what's left of the log homestead and I'm not sure if it's still there.

My father and all of his siblings went to Liberty school house. They attended 1st grade through 6th grade and then went to Fairview. My father's name is Leon Bowers. There are other stories I can remember of the area that my grandfather told me.

My grandfather attended school there until 6th grade when he quit school for good. He wasn't paying attention in class and the teacher gave him a hard time about it in front of his classmates. He then went home and informed his dad that he wasn't going to school anymore. My great-grandfather told him that was fine and that he could stay home and help him with the farm. So that's what he did. My great-grandfather taught my grandfather the blacksmith trade. I can also recall my grandfather saying that when he was a boy Tivoli was a thriving town.

Supposedly they had a racetrack there that people used to visit from miles around.

Also, you have a picture of some steps and you wanted to know where they lead. I'm not sure where exactly those steps are located, in relationship to the school house, but if you let me know I can ask my dad and find out. I downloaded the scanned images of the Townships of Major County and was able to find my great-grandfather's property. My great great-uncle's property is catty-cornered to the south. His last name was Hooker. They are both in Section 23 just North of Tivoli.

My grandfather came down from Kansas first -- set his claim somewhere near Blackwell. Apparently, there was violence in that part of Oklahoma -- people were committing over claims. His brother-in-law, Mr. Hooker, became afraid and they went back to Kansas. They then made the Run of the Cherokee Strip and settled near Tivoli. My grandfather was supposedly the only blacksmith for miles around and the State used to bring their team-drawn grader blades to him for sharpening. One of his brothers settled out near Vici and another settled north of where Applegrove is. I don't know if you're aware of where Applegrove is, but it's located about 6 or 7 miles west of Fairview on Highway 60 as your going to Orion or Chester.

I also clarified some information with my dad about the Indians who visited my great-grandfather and grandfather from the Cheyenne-Arapaho reservation down by Cantonment. According to my dad there were seven brothers and they all fought in The Little Bighorn. My dad can remember only a few of their names: Powderface, Little Mouse, and Bobfinger. My dad is 66 and vaguely remembers them coming to their house to have their horses shoed when he was 2 or 3 years old.

Bobfinger was at the age of 114 when he died. The Indians would never pay any money for their horses to be shoed; they always brought things to trade. One time they traded a Union flag that was captured during the Battle of Little Bighorn. I have seen this flag and took it to school when I was in the 7th grade to show to my history class. The flag had some tears, holes, blood stains on it, and it of course did not have all of the 50 stars.

My grandmother, Ruby Bowers, passed away earlier this year, and my dad made an inquiry about the flag then. My aunts told him that it was in very bad shape now and they did not know where it had gone. My dad said that the Indians would visit once or twice a year. On another occasion when they visited, they did not bring anything to trade. Powderface was wearing a full length green wool army jacket that my dad thinks might have dated back to the Spanish-American war. He told my great-grandfather that he had nothing to trade so my great-grandfather grabbed the jacket off of him and told him that he would take the jacket until he could pay. Powderface told my great-grandfather that he would freeze, but my great-grandfather still took the jacket. My dad said that when he was a boy, my grandmother cut the jacket up in squares and made quilts out of it.

My dad has another story about when he was a kid they used to go down to the South Canadian River a few miles south, east of where the homestead was. Near there was a tree that had an Indian's spear or lance shaft lodged into it. The shaft was through the tree in a downward degree. The spear end had been broken off, but the shaft stuck out of the tree on both sides a couple of inches. My dad said that they used to find several bullets, arrowheads in this field. He said according to "old timers" this field was known as "Sheridan's Roost" and was supposed to be known as the Last Great Indian battle of Oklahoma.

According to what I've read at Oklahoma Historical Society's - Chronicles of Oklahoma, Cantonment was nicknamed "Sheridan's Roost." I wanted to know if you have heard anything about this battlefield. My dad said that it is across the river from Cantonment. It's probably in the vicinity of Longdale.

I've also been told of a story about some area outlaws in that area. I was told that there was a gang in that area called the Black-Yeager gang or as my grandfather used to refer to them, "Black & Yeager." The story I was told was that supposedly after they were killed (I've heard they were killed by the Anti-Horse Thief Association and here is a link to the minutes held by a meeting of the Anti-Horse Thief Association. Consequently the Treasurer of this meeting is named Henry Bowers.

I asked my dad about Henry and he said he's never heard of him, so I'm doubtful if we're related to him). My great-grandfather used to go to the 101 Ranch to buy cattle and supposedly saw one of them.

Now according to Okeene, Oklahoma: Proud Past - Bright Future, they were both killed... and so the legend states. He also said that Black & Yeager ate dinner at his house. Their hideout was supposedly north of the Cedar Springs Church. In case you do not know, the Cedar Springs Church is south and west of Fairview on Highway 60 going to Orion and Chester. It is also due north of Longdale -- which matches the last couple of paragraphs that was on the last link I mentioned. You can also see a small bit of information at Watonga, Oklahoma - Blaine County Historical Background about the Black-Yeager gang.

I also found a 1910 census record for Major County. I found my great-grandfather, great-grandmother, and their 5 children. My grandfather wasn't listed because he wasn't born until 1912. On the census it lists their township as "part of Bishop." I asked my dad about Bishop and he said he had never heard of it. I wanted to know if you know about the Bishop Township and if you do, where it was located. I am also attaching a picture of my great-grandfather. Please feel free to post it as well. As far as your question asking to post my family's stories, please feel free." -- J. L. Bowers - Email: jlbowers@twotall.net   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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