Marshall County History: Culture comes to MC

Prior to 1820, the land that we now know as Pettijohn Springs was “open range” land, owned by no man. It was however inhabited by the Kiowa and Comanche Indian Tribes.

In 1820, the Choctaw Nation and the United States Government entered into the Treaty of Doak’s Stand which granted this land to the Choctaw Nation as their reservation. Then, pursuant to the Treaty of Doaksville in 1837, the Chickasaw Nation was granted the rights to lease the western half of the Choctaw Nation, thus making what is now Pettijohn Springs a part of the Chickasaw Nation.

In 1856, the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations separated, and the western half of the Choctaw Nation was granted to the Chickasaw Nation. Therefore, Pettijohn Springs was now part of the Chickasaw Nation For 50 years and likely longer, the common belief about how Pettijohn Springs, and now Pettijohn Springs ChristianCamp,wasnamed, was that it was named for a ChickasawIndianChiefwith the name Pettijohn.

The most common story told is that Chief Pettijohn settled with his followers in the area in the mid-1800s. They chose the area because of the natural springs that flowed from the ground in greatabundanceandbecause thewaterswerenecessaryfor the Chief and his followers to grow their crops, feed and water their livestock, and for them to flourish.

To further this history in 1968 an article appeared in the Madill Record that stated that, “the spring was named for a Chickasaw Indian Chief who settled his followers near the spring in the mid-1880s. The Indians picked the area for its abundant spring water and good hunting and grazing areas. Chief Pettijohn and several descendants are buried in the cemetery near the spring.”

Another account, that is reported in a Marshall County history book, states that the land was allotted to Chief Pettijohn under the General Allotment Act of 1887, also known as the Dawes Act. As that story is told, the land was allotted to Chief Pettijohn in 1906.

While this story is charming and romantic, it is false.

The first public record of “Pettijohn Springs” occurred on September 16, 1915. At that time, it was called Pettijohn’s Spring, instead of Pettijohn Springs.

An article in the Madill Recordin1923saidthisabout Pettijohn Springs: “Down in the valley, thru which a little creek winds its way towards the Washita, an everlasting spring gushes forth thru an iron pipe offering its sustaining coolness to the traveler and the camper. Beneath the shades of huge oaks, casual picnickers have found an inviting spread for their out-of-doors appetites, while campers have stopped their wagons and cars and found rest in a sleep with a star decked canopy showing thru the openings of the treetops.”

The truth is, Pettijohn Springs was not named for a ChickasawChieforanyother Native American. And there was never a 'Chief Pettijohn' in the Chickasaw Nation or any other Indian Nation.

The area was named for a white woman of Irish descent who was born in Texas. Her name was Nancy (Nannie) Lucretia McShan, aka Nannie James, aka Nannie Pettijohn.

Nancy Lucretia McShan was born on February 10, 1876, in Honey Grove, Fannin County, Texas to Francis Littleton McShan and Mary E. Daniel McShan. Francis Littleton McShan and Mary E. Danial McShan were both born in Mississippi where they were married in 1866. Following their marriage, they moved to Texas sometime before 1876. Nancy Mc-Shan had one sister, Laura.

Sometimeinthelate1880s or early 1890s, the McShan family moved to Southwest Arkansas near the border with Indian Territory. It was there that Nannie McShan met Charles “Charlie” W. James. Mr. James was 7/8 Choctaw Indian.

On April 26, 1893, after a short period of courting, Nannie and Charlie married in Eagle County, Choctaw Nation. Eagle County was one of the original 19 counties in the Choctaw Nation. The County Seat of Eagle County was Eagletown, a small town east of Broken Bow.

Eagle County's boundaries were established and designated according to easily recognizable natural landmarks, as were the boundaries of all Choctaw Nation counties. Little River formed its southern boundary, and Arkansas was its eastern boundary. A line drawn from one section of Little River to the next formed its western boundary, and a line drawn from Little River to the Arkansas state line formed its northern boundary, whose western terminus was anchored by a group of formidable peaks known as the Seven Devils.

For the next two years, Nannie and Charlie lived as husband and wife in Eagle County. Almost exactly one year after their marriage, Nannie and Charlie welcomed into this world their first and only child, Jessie Albert James. Jesse was born on April 23rd, 1894.

About a year after Jesse wasborn,Charlieabandoned Nannie and Jesse. Thereafter, Nannie took Jesse and moved back to Arkansas to live with her parents. Then after about six months, in early to mid 1896, Nannie moved back to Indian Territory. This time, she moved to Ardmore, in the Chickasaw Nation.

On the 2nd day of August 1897,NannieMcShanJames filed an application with the Dawes Commission for enrollment in the Choctaw Nation as an 'intermarried' citizen. According to the Dawes Act, spouses of Native Americans were permitted to apply for and to be enrolled as Intermarried Tribal Members. Because Nannie had been married to Charles James, she was entitled to be considered for enrollment as a Choctaw citizen. She also made an application for enrollment of her son, Jessie Albert James, who was roughly 1/2 Choctaw Indian.

After making her application for enrollment as an Intermarried Citizen of the ChoctawNation,Nanniefiled for and received a divorce from Charlie James alleging abandonmentasthegrounds for the divorce. The divorce was granted sometime in late 1897 or early 1898 in Ardmore.

It was in Ardmore that Nannie met a gentleman by the name of Newton Morehouse Pettijohn. Newton was a non-Indian, white man. He was born on May 2, 1864, in Kingston, Ohio. Newton’s father was originally from Delaware, and his mother was from Ohio.

Sometime after 1890, Newton Pettijohn and all his brothers ended up in Ardmore, Indian Territory. It is unknown what brought Newton to Indian Territory however it is likely that he and his brothers moved to Indian Territory in search of an Indian wife. Being married to a Native American woman would allow white men to become enrolled as citizens of a tribe, and then entitle them to land allotments. A practice that was widespread throughout Indian Territory and in other locations in what would become Oklahoma, as has been recently recounted in the wildly popular book and movie, Killers of the Flower Moon.

Newton Pettijohn and Nannie McShan James met and then married in Ardmore. They were married on December 22, 1898, in Ardmore, Indian Territory.

Nannie’s application for enrollment as a Choctaw Indian by intermarriage took a few years to resolve. In 1900, the Choctaw Nation filed an objection to Nannie’s application and request for enrollment due mainly to the fact that she was no longer married to a Choctaw citizen, and at the time of her application, she had been separated from her Choctaw husband for over five years.

Due to the objection by the Choctaw Nation, two separate trials were conducted. One in Muskogee on April 2, 1902, and the second in McAlester on December 23, 1902.

On October 15, 1904, the Dawes Commission, over the objections of the Choctaw Nation, ruled in favor of Nannie McShan James Pettijohn, granting her petition for enrollment asaChoctawIndian by intermarriage. Nannie Pettijohn was now a citizen of the Choctaw Nation.

By the time she was granted citizenship in the Choctaw Nation, Nannie and Newton were living in the Randolph area of what is now Marshall and Johnston Counties.

Just before ruling granting her request for citizenship in the Choctaw Nation, Nannie began filing applications with the Department of Interior for Choctaw/Chickasaw Allotmentland.Nanniemade multiple applications for different parcels of land, all in and around the area comprising what we now know as the Pettijohn Springs area.

In addition to Nannie, three other full-blood Choctaw Nation citizens filed for applications for land in the area in question. All were at the time, juveniles. One was a Willie Chubbee, and the second was his sister Pink Chubbee, both full-blood MississippiChoctawIndians. The third was a newborn child named Rebecca Louise Rierdon. Rebecca was 1/64th Chickasaw.

At the time of the filing of her application for allotment, Nannie Pettijohn claimed that she had erected two houses on the property and had fenced the pasture and farmland.

In February 1906, the Commission of the Five Civilized Tribes ruled in favor of Nannie Pettijohn, granting her request for the allotment land for which she applied and denying the objections and applications of Willie and Pink Chubbee. All told, Nannie received about 160 acres of land in various parcels in the Randolph area of Marshall and Johnston Counties, including the land now known as Pettijohn Springs.

Nannie and Newton Pettijohn went on to have four daughters and two sons. They built two houses and fenced large sections of the area. Nannie, Newton, and their four children lived on the land for several years.

During these years, the Pettijohns began experiencing financial troubles. In addition to their allotment lands, it appears that Nannie and Newton had also purchased other tracts of land in the area and the area of Oakland. Thenbetween1911and 1924, various parcels of that land were listed for sale for delinquent taxes. They were also delinquent in payment of personal property taxes on farmingequipment.Theland encompassingthespringwas not placed on the delinquent tax rolls as it was Indian allotment land. And because it was allotment land, it could not be seized for payment of debts But it would at some point become an opportunity for financial relief for Nannie and Newton.

After selling her allotment lands several years later, she and her family first moved to Oakland, and then later to Cache, Oklahoma. Eventually, Nannie and Newton moved to Texas where they owned land and farmed. Newton died on November 2, 1937, in Texas. He was buried in La Feria, Cameron County, Texas.

NannieremainedinTexas for many more years then moved to Miami, Florida to live out her years with one of her daughters. Nannie then died on September 29, 1975, in Miami. Her earthly remains were returned to Oklahoma and she is buried in Cache, Oklahoma.

Nannie’s first husband, CharlieJameswasmurdered on December 1, 1911, in Mc-Curtain County, Oklahoma. According to a story in the McCurtain Gazette, Charlie, along with another Indian, Jimmie LeFlore and another fellow named Mack McFee traveled from Eagletown to Idabel to pick up a batch of moonshine.Ontheirtripback toEagletown,theyconsumed a large quantity of the liquor and when they arrived at the home of Jimmie LeFlore, some sort of “general row” occurred where Charlie James was killed and the other two were seriously injured. Charlie is buried in Eagletown.

Nannie and Charlie’s only child, Jesse Albert James died in McCurtain County on December 12, 1927. He too is buried in Eagletown. Jesse was married to Irene Lucille Mills. They had two children, Sam A. James born in 1924, and Burnett Charlie James born in 1925.

Nannie Pettijohn’s first child, Jesse A. James was a highly decorated soldier during WWI. Jesse attained the rank of Sergeant and he served in Company “L”, Fourth Infantry Division (3rd “Rock of the Marne” Division.)

The President of the United States awarded Jesse the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second-highest military decoration, just below the Medal of Honor.

Jesse received the award for extraordinary heroism in action near Les Evaux, France, on July 13, 1918. After many attempts to get patrols across the Marne River had failed, Sergeant James alone swam the river, taking with him a wire, by which a boat containing three of his comrades. After reaching the enemy side of the Marne, James and his fellow soldiers captured a German soldier and took him back across the river so that he could be interrogated. There was an impending enemy offensive planned and the information the prisoner possessed was essential. This led to the defeat of the German forces, and it was the decisive turning point of WWI.

After the war, Jesse returned to Oklahoma where he met and married Irene Lucille Mills. They had two children, Sam A. James born in 1924, and Burnett Charlie James born in 1925. They madetheirhomeinEagleton, Oklahoma. When oil was discovered on Jesse’s land, heandIrenebecamewealthy.

Sadly, in 1927, Jesse was also murdered. He was killed for money. He was found in a creek near Eagleton with two bullet holes in the back of his head.

Jesse Albert James died in McCurtain County on December 12, 1927.

In the end, Pettijohn Springs was not named for a noble Chickasaw Indian Chief. It was named for a white, non-Indian woman who took the name Pettijohn fromanon-Indianwhiteman from Ohio. To add insult to injury, Nannie McShan JamesPettijohn,beatouttwo full-blood Choctaw Indians and one full-blood Chickasaw Indian for the allotment of the Pettijohn Springs. That’s not to say that Nannie Pettijohn did anything wrong. To the contrary, she availed herself of a system that was designed to do exactly what occurred; get Indian land out of the hands of Indian people and into the hands of non-Indians.

Next week, Part II.