Recently in preparing a family history I read stories that my mother and some of her siblings recorded about their parents, Martha and William Chase. They with their young family in 1900 “broke sod,” homesteading in what then was Indian Territory. Not until 1907 did the land become the State of Oklahoma.  

This is a picture of their “sod house” made of sod bricks. I remember Grandmother Martha telling me that the closest town was 40 miles away and that their nearest neighbors were horse thieves.

Last night I watched the classic western, Winchester ‘73 with James Stewart and Shelly Winters. My ancestors “lived” that same wild west. 

Here is a quote from my uncle Art:

“Another day a man came by our house riding a horse that was near exhaustion. He had been riding hard tracking some stolen horses. He asked Dad if he had seen any horses and he described them. Dad said he had not but it might pay to check down the road about I mile. That was where a gang of horse thieves headquartered. The man came back by later on leading his horses.”