arm for them, and this policy was sanctioned by the government. Most of these settlers had families and were glad to take advantage of Murdock’s school, even to the extent of paying board and tuition for their children. Thus the school became a success, both religiously and financially. It was patronized from every point of the compass within a radius of fifty miles or more.
It was John Murdock who conceived the plan of the school and who had carried it out successfully. Murdock re-
sembled Lincoln. His feet were nowise inferior in size, nor was he less angular or ungainly. He was about as tall as Lincoln. He had a large head, a long thin face, prominent jaw, straight aquiline nose, with a prominent wart on one side. Eyes of mild blue, verging on gray, but always carrying an appeal to mercy in them. "Those eyes had more personal magnetism than any I have seen since as a child I gazed into the eyes of Abe Lincoln," says Mr. Abbott. "Like Lincoln, he had perfect control over his temper—he could plow steers among grubs and never swear." Murdock was eloquent in expounding the scriptures, and the Indians believed in him.
After Murdock had built the school, he was ordered west by the Association. He was succeeded by John Watson.
In the year 1886, John Murdock was supplanted by John Watson in missionary affairs at Hillside. He brought his wife, generally known as "Aunt Liza," and two daughters, the elder, known as Miss Eva, and the other, fresh from college, known as Miss Elma. Miss Eva was a real school ma’am.
Shortly after Watson’s advent into the Mission, he decided to enlarge the dormitory. He hauled lumber from Coffeyville, Kansas, and built the west wing of the dormitory at his own expense. This addition is said to have cost $1200.00. About this time the school room became inadequate for the housing of the pupils; hence, Mr. Watson found it necessary to enlarge it by annexing another building of equal dimension. Thus equipped, every part of the system moved along serenely for three years more. The quarters were, however, too small to accommodate the growing settlement. Prominent friends came from the east to visit the school.
About the year 1894, a fund was raised by the eastern committee to erect the north wing, or the last part of the present standing dormitory, which is about 40 by 70 feet and four stories high, counting basement and attic. The attic was finished up in one large room and was used as a gymnasium. This was probably the first gymnasium in Oklahoma. The basement contained two large rooms, one used as a primary department and the other for the boys’ living room, and also as a bath room. The water tank used as a reservoir, together with the bathtub, is preserved intact. Every boy who sat in that living room burned his initials upon the wall
with a red hot poker, as there are yards upon yards of initials of all descriptions and kinds on the wall to this day. The ground floor above the basement is divided into four rooms and a hallway. The central room, with the bay window facing the east, was Uncle John Watson’s private room where he prepared his sermons. The first room on the right of the hall at the entrance was a guest chamber. The room at north end of the hall was reception room, and the northeast room was another guest chamber. On the second floor is a hall the entire length of the structure, with sleeping rooms on either side. This was the girls’ sleeping apartment. The west wing before mentioned and built by John Watson, is about 18 by 50 feet, is two stories high with a cellar beneath. The ground floor contains two rooms, the east room for storage quarters and the west one a dining room. On the south side of the dining room there is a long room, about 20 by 60 feet and two stories high. The ground floor was used for all public occasions, for a conference, a festival, or anything of a public nature that required a large room. On the upper floor are sleeping apartments. Then comes the south wing, built by Murdock, two stories high with the upper floor divided into sleeping apartments, and a parlor and p