My grandfather, Luther Williams, rode up to the stomp dance near Wewoka, Okla. late in the night. Folks had been drinking and singing for hours. As he arrived, a couple of Sac and Fox men with a long history of being involved with the same woman had a good fight and the crowd was laughing, taking bets. Luther was there to meet Isaac Payne, who had arrived from Mexico. The Paynes were one of the families that rode with Wildcat and John Horse back in the 1840s. Some of the Mascogos, the Seminole Blacks, had come back to Oklahoma after the Civil War, knowing they no longer would be hounded by runaway slave hunters. Many stayed in Mexico, however.
Luther's wife, Maynie, was the daughter of the trader who sold Seminole products to wider markets, and catered to their needs. Her father, Harry Brown, had been adopted by the Seminoles for his years of fair and honest dealings. Her mother's closest friend was the unrelated Alice Brown, the leader of the tribe at the time. Maynie's grandfather, Boston missionary John Lilley, had assisted the Seminole John Bemo -- who was educated in Boston after being a cabin boy on a trading vessel -- in establishing a school. The home church in Boston funded the school, which helped the just transplanted ex-Floridians develop skills in reading, writing, arithmetic and "righting" -- religious instruction in a private family story.
Luther tied his horse to a wagon wheel belonging to Charlie Wilson, one of the local Anglo ranchers who had married to a Seminole woman. He looked around for Isaac Payne. Part of the Payne family in Oklahoma had sent word to Fort Clark that one of matriarchs was dying. Isaac was one of the patriarchs of the Mascogos along the Mexican border. He had won a Medal of Honor saving Capt. Bullis' life after Col. Ranald Mackenzie hired many of the Mascogos to serve as scouts. Nowadays, some of the members of the Black Seminole Scouts (both active and retired) served as a dispatch service between ranchers, bankers, army officials and law enforcement. A nephew of Isaac, John, would become a renowned fighter in the exhaustive Villa years.
Luther was with a local Payne family member. The Paynes had been economically tied to Osceola's people back in Florida, and had prospered, having many children, who all came to Oklahoma and eventually far beyond. Samson Payne finished tying his horse and touched Luther's shoulder and pointedly glanced at a lean figure in a Seminole turban leaning up against a blackjack oak at the edge of the clearing. Half a dozen elder men and women were gathered there.
Samson pointed with his chin at some women cooking at some pots. Both filled up bowls and found a place to sit to watch the dancing and the rest of the going-ons. His mother-in-law wanted to see Isaac. The Mexican government was moving the Mascogo people from Nascimento to near Musquiz. Families had been raised in Nascimento, and many of their people were buried there. The Catholic Church even had built a chapel there, for future encouragement in replacing the peoples Gullah (African) mystical dreamweaving with a veneer of Christian indoctrination. People were contemplating moving to Oklahoma, upset their land had been taken away from them yet again. His mother-in-law wanted to hear how many might be coming, so she could ask her husband to buy enough supplies in case they arrived destitute.
Charlie Wilson dropped by, saying Bull Shannon of San Angelo was getting ready to go to Kansas City and start dickering for the highest price for a herd Charlie had wintered for him. Luther had a few head thrown in with Wilson and helped him keep an eye on the herd all winter, and soon would accompany the herd to the KC stockyards. Wilson agreed to give him some money so Maynie could come on the next passenger train after he left. It might be the best chance for a truly special honeymoon-like trip. They had been married a couple of years. Maynie had been a big help, riding her big horse, Ben, who would not let anybody else ride him. Being in love and having no babies taking his best girl away from him had been the happiest time of Luther's life. Things were about to change. Maynie had told him she was pregnant. The sale of Luther's cattle would allow them to add on to their house.
The stomp dance ended at daybreak. People headed home, back to milking cows, cutting wood, back to the everyday routine. Folks would move slow all day, all tuckered out, but for the most part it had been a great time. Folks from up and down Gar Creek and a half dozen valleys in every direction had exchanged news and socialized. After the sun had cleared the trees, Luther and Isaac were about the only ones left. Alice Brown rode up in a surrey (Luther had been the surrey driver for a Seminole woman with an Anglo husband when he was a young teenager.) Both men tightened the cinch on their saddles and slipped bridles on their horses, and swung up to follow, after exchanging brief polite greetings with Ms. Brown.
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