to Indian Pioneer Interviews! BROOKS, SAM INTERVIEW # 9490 December 25, 1937 Name: Mr. Sam BROOKS Post office address: Chickasha, Oklahoma Residence address: Chickasha, R. 1 Date of birth: January 25, 1884 Place of birth: Indian Territory Name of father: William H. BROOKS Place of birth: Canada Name of mother: Ellen FITZPATRICK Place of birth: Indian Territory Jasper H. MEAD Investigator December 25, 1937 An Interview with Mr. Sam BROOKS Chickasha, Oklahoma My name is Sam BROOKS; I was born January 25, 1884, on Roaring Creek southeast of Alex, fifty-four years ago. I lived on Roaring Creek until I was sixteen years old; Alex, forty-five years ago was a very small place. It had a post office, grocery store, blacksmith shop, and a small school house; the grocery store and post office conducted by a man by the name of Red ALEXANDER; the people took the first part of his last name and called the place Alex and that’s how it got its name. There were no railroads in Alex, forty-five years ago; it was just a very small island place. There were a few Indians around Alex but they never did give any trouble, they were just like other people. The main water supply came from dug wells, springs and the Washita River. The river was used mostly for stock to drink out of; the Texas cowboys were always glad when they reached the Washita River because they knew they would get plenty of water. In those days we had what they called the wooden pumps; they were made out of hollow logs and worked something like the iron pumps of today. "Red" ALEXANDER, the man whom the town was named after also had a big ranch; it was covered with tall grass and lots of cattle. The last herd of cattle I helped drive up the old Chisholm Trail to Kansas City was thirty-seven years ago. I have ridden the trail several times and have had some good times and some bad ones. The kind of laws we had were United States marshals; their names were Uncle Tom BURK, HOOVER, and John SWAIN. John SWAIN was killed by a man named VENSON in Purcell. There were plenty of deer, antelope, turkey and prairie chickens between Chickasha and the place where I was born. I have seen the time when you could drive from where I was born to Chickasha and not have to open but two gates. I have lived in and around Chickasha for twenty years; I am a common laborer by trade, own my property and am employed at the Prairie Cotton Oil Mill at the present time. Submitted by Sandi CARTER First cousin twice removed If you have questions, you can email Sandi. These graphics were done by Backgrounds by Marie and are her property. If you would like to see other work by her, click on the link below. I would appreciate if you would keep in mind, while visiting this web site and others, that the information found within each page is not to be copied in any manner, or used for profit or public use. The information on this page is the property of the webmistress. This page was last updated on December 5, 2001