Country Lifestyles
Lute & Granny Jackson
By Judy Wade
Much has been written about Lute and Granny Jackson and their part in the history of southern Oklahoma while it was still Indian Territory. Lute was once summoned to “hanging” in Judge Parker’s court in Fort Smith, Ark., accused of killing a sheep herder and his sheep. His mother, Amanda, accompanied him to plead his case and met and exchanged recipes with the infamous Belle Starr. Lute was acquitted.
However, the mother-son duo had quite a history in Texas before moving to Indian Territory.
Amanda (Granny) Jackson was born in 1819 near what is now Plantersville, Miss. She married William A. Jackson in 1843 and they had five daughters and three sons. Lucian Boneparte (called Lute by his family) was born in 1857 in Genoa, Ark., and was six years old when the family moved to Illinois Bend in Montague, Texas, just south of the Red River and the Choctaw-Chickasaw Nation in Indian Territory.
In 1862, William Jackson was returning to Mississippi to retrieve some of the family’s belongings when he was killed near what is now Idabel, Okla. He was found dead, lying in the bed of his abandoned wagon. It was assumed he was killed and robbed by thieves who took his horses, supplies and about $40 in gold coins, considered a large sum in those days.
Shortly after his death, the Jackson homestead was raided by Indians and his barns and hay were burned. Interested only in stealing the horses, the Indians circled the house several times, shooting arrows into the log walls and rode north across the river.
The children pulled out the arrows and kept them for several years.
Shortly after that raid in 1868, a company of soldiers was camped near Illinois Bend to patrol the border between Indian Territory and Texas to prevent Indian raids in the area. One Sunday afternoon as the soldiers were playing baseball, the soldiers themselves were attacked by the same band of Indians that had raided the Jackson homestead.
To read more pick up a copy of the September 2018 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Lacey Vilhauer
Ingredients:
1 whole lemon, seeded and roughly chopped
2 cups sugar
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons
¼ cup water
Directions:
Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor and pulse until combined. Transfer to a large bowl. Puree the strawberries in a food processor and add to the lemon mixture along with juice of one lemon and water. Taste and add more juice as desired.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Nicholas Waters
As winter plods along – come Spring and gopher mounds – homeowners and farmers find themselves playing a familiar song – fiddling while Rome is burning.
Let’s make a mountain out of a molehill. Those mounds on your lawn and pasture could be moles, but they’re more than likely gophers; Plains Pocket Gophers to be pragmatic – Geomys bursarius to be scientific.
These rodents dig and chew, and the damage they can do goes beyond the mounds we mow over. Iowa State University cited a study in Nebraska showing a 35 percent loss in irrigated alfalfa fields due to the presence of pocket gophers; the number jumped to 46 percent in decreased production of non-irrigated alfalfa fields.
The internet is replete with academic research from coast-to-coast on how to curtail gopher populations, or at least control them. Kansas State University – then called Kansas State Agricultural College – also published a book [Bulletin 152] in February 1908 focused exclusively on the pocket gopher.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Annette Bridges
Everyone needs a room with a view that makes their heart happy. My honest favorite panorama would be either the mountains or the ocean. I have yet to convince my hubby to make permanent moves to either, although he does enjoy the visits as much as I do.
The location of our house on our ranch does not provide the expansive field of vision of our land that I would enjoy. So, I have created a room decorated and furnished in a way that gives me smiles, giggles, and a wonderful peace-filled feeling when I am hanging out in it. I am in that place right now writing this column. I am in a lounging position with my computer in my lap on the chaise that was once my sweet mama’s. I had it reupholstered this year to give it a fresh look.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
-
Country Lifestyles1 year agoScott & Stacey Schumacher: A Growth Mindset
-
Equine7 months agoThe Will to Win
-
Country Lifestyles7 years agoStyle Your Profile – What your style cowboy hat says about you and new trends in 2017
-
Country Lifestyles4 years agoAmber Crawford, Breakaway Roper
-
HOME7 years agoGrazing North Texas – Wilman Lovegrass
-
Country Lifestyles7 years agoDecember 2016 Profile, Rusty Riddle – The Riddle Way
-
Country Lifestyles8 years agoJune 2016 Profile – The man behind the mic: Bob Tallman
-
Outdoor9 years agoButtercup or Primrose?