HZOOXNS, 1RAH0IS UAJHON. INTERVIEW IHD2X CARDS Houston, Sam* Tiob«r tttallng Xntro&crs BooBura Optaings Old Oklahoma Op«nlng» Chtrotot Strip
r liiggins, Francis Larion. Into-view, - 8 - BIOGRAPHY FORM WOlfeS PROGIffiSS ADMINISTRATION Indian-Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma Form MS-149) Fie Id Worker s name E the 1 B T acki 11 This report made on (date) M ay Ig th 193 7 Lone wolf Oklahoma. Nsuie Francis Marion Hisreins Fost Office Address Lone Y?olf Okl a. 3. Hesidence address (or location) One Block South of kain St 4. DATE OF BIRTH: Month October Day 9th Year Place of birth Doniphan Co» Kansas. Then a TerifQry 6. Name of Father John Wesley Hisrgjngjqace of birth not given Other information about father, tsorn 1832 Union soldier. 7. Na.se of kotherkhz abeth jane riouston Pl9Ce of birth Indiana. Ot..er information about mother Was a relative of General S am Houston of Texas fame. Notes or complete narrative by the field worker dealing, with the life and story of the person interviewed. Refer to Lanual for suggested Subjects 'md questions. Continue on blank sheets if necessary and attach firmly to' :hi3 fjnn. Number of sheets attached 3 (three)
BXOQXNS, FRANCIS MAKION. IWTHRVl W 31G IHTKRVIEB WI'iH FRAKCIS MARIOH HIOOINS Lone Wolf, Oklahoma Bthel B. Tackttt, Field Worker May 12 1 1937 I was born on. October 9, 1858, in Doniphen County, Kangae, then a Territory, near wh<-t is now Honeywell* % father wae John Wesley Higgins and my mother was Slizeboth Jane Houston Higgina, a relative of General Sam Houston of Texas* Ky early cisroory isf cf the BtoiTiay day* just befio&e the CiTil Sar end troubles of tfao locality during following the War* IV father joined the Union reaosmber the Price 1 a raid* Our home vrac a fana not far from t he line of the Ixflian Territory and X,with my brothers, herded our oattle dom there much of the time for the grass W^B fine and nobody objected* We also hauled wood and posts from there for use on our farm, Oocaeionally ve would a band of Indians out hunting but 1fcey nerer bothered us, nor did we bothsr thorn* They ware Eaoatly Osages» of the time the hot winds burned up our crops, and getting food was often a problem* We could frill gene bat asnonltion was not plentiful* Mother made our clothes and we Managed.
HXOQINS, HttNCIS MARION. INTERVIEW " ' 217 We were touch in sympathy with Captain David L* Payne and his efforts to open the Territory for white settlement* So whon the proclamation was made that toe ' country should be opened, we felt sure that we could nettle on the claims we & & pi ok eel out, as we had known *., the country all our lives* So on the zooming of April 22, 1889, I, wtthny brothers, Sam E*, Leonard H., and John W* Higgina, stood on the lias, all in a gdod wagon * t and with a good team of horses* We had agreed that we would drive through and each one &as to drop off the wagon when we came to hid claim. The lest ont was to keep th«vagon and team* When the gun was fired at twelve o'clock tsoon, wtf struck out. One of the boys looking behind said, "Look we are ahead", wfceh we got on top of a rise* But one of the othersboys said, "Juwt look ahe^d, it looks like the world is full of people*" There «aa a Ugger crowd almad then there we» behind* We droto dear through the opened country aid never found a single spot tbot was not covered* T&tre were people plowing 9 digging wells, digging post holes and most everything you could think of* but we bed learned something* Be went back hoa»
HXOOXHS, FRANCIS MARION. 2X8 The next opening, September 22, 1891, when the Iowa, Sec and Fox, Pottawatomie and Shawnee Beservatlons opened, we four again made the run* This time we got the fastest horses we could afford and we made tfce run in earnest* We stood in line from about ten o'clock one morning until twelve o'clock next day* fte had a man with a chuck-wagon end feed and water for ouft horses* I rode a bay race horse* This time I got a fins location near the present town of Blaokwell in Kay County and my brother, John W*, got a claim just across the line from me* My brother, Sam, got a claim but Leonard EU ftiit sot* I made a home on this place but my wife had died, leaving me with four small children* These my parents and my bxother Leonard *are raising for me so I had them come down and live on the farm and 1 relinquished-my claim to my brother Leonard and my father v and I went out to work at my trade, which is brick masonry* I have erected many of the buildings in Enid, Blaokwell and other towns of Oklahoma* Soon after the Kiowa country opened in 1901, I came to Lone Wolf and erected the first brick building in the town, for my brother, John W #, who put in a General Mercantile Store, among 1he fi»st in the town*
219 X wee eighty yisri old the ninth day of 1A it * A tho»e eighty yseira har«bwm spent In and yomd Ok&afccae I» ttet tjla» * hav* «««n it pees from «wi d«rn«ts to its prtmnt hl«nly developed state* I hare weeted bttildiact, laid peteu«nt 9 farratd, bought and gold both grain and cotton and am leaving five son* and four daughters, ilth a host of grend-ohildrea to earry on in Oklahoiai*