FLOYD E. MILLER.
An old one-time palatial structure, built in 1886, that stands on a hillside four miles north of Skiatook, a large addition to this building and a common burial ground in which are buried prominent Cherokees—these are the remnants of a once-flourishing pioneer school where remarkable men and women were educated in the wilds of what is now Tulsa County and what is to-day known by the name of "Hillside Mission."
The story of the building of this Mission and the efforts of the Friends Society of Philadelphia in establishing a school for the Indians in the then wilderness of the Indian Territory is one of the most interesting of all the long struggles of the white man in his attempts to educate and civilize the Red Man.
No story of the Mission would be complete without a reference to the good men and women who managed the Mission and who taught the boys and girls who came there in search of knowledge. And during all these years there was one man who had an interest in the Mission and who to-day owns the grounds and the buildings, Mr. Simon M. Abbott.
Mr. Abbott came to Oklahoma in 1880. He settled on Tiner Creek about five miles north of what later came to be the Mission. He engaged in farming and the cattle business. He loved the woods and the streams, having been reared by a father who had been captured by the Delawares and who was adopted by the tribe and who spent seven years among them. In later life he became an Indian trader. With his carry-all, pulled by four horses, he traded goods to the Indians for furs. He spoke several Indian dialects. On one occasion, Mr. Abbott remembers that his father returned from an Indian trading trip with a trunk full of gold. The trunk was nine inches long, four inches wide and six inches deep. Mr. Abbott also has a bullet moulder that was given him by the Indians. This mould is in the shape of a mule hoof; it is five inches wide on the under side, three inches on the upper, two inches wide and one and one-half inches thick. The hole in which the bullets were moulded is still plainly visible. These relics
are treasured by Mr. Abbott who keeps them in a desk, over a century old, in one of the musty rooms in the oldest section of this ancient, roomy structure, the shrine of many pilgrims, —"Hillside Mission:"
John Murdock was the pioneer founder of Hillside Mission. In 1882, this traveling missionary was sent here by the Friends Association of Philadelphia. Like William Penn, he held meetings in the groves and immediately had considerable success. There were few white people here at that time; but all the mixed-bloods and most of the full-bloods understood and talked some English.
Murdock proposed to build a permanent church. The few who first gathered to hear him agreed to aid him The forest was the only source of building material; he shouldered his broad-ax and marched like a hero into the primeval forest, followed closely by his faithful, fightless followers. They felled the trees and Murdock hewed the logs. A fine set was soon hewed, ready to haul out and raise. This work was soon done. Then they felled a great oak, rived clapboards and covered the church. In this rough structure, without doors or floors, they worshipped. After a time they split puncheons and made a door and laid a floor.
This structure answered well for the summer time, but as winter drew near these devout worshippers found it necessary to chink the cracks. A log-rolling was held and on the logs a kiln of lime was burned. With this lime, sand was mixed, and the cracks were plastered with the mixture. This building was raised on what is known as the Vance place, on Bird Creek.
When the church was completed, the Friends, under Murdock’s leadership, proceeded to build a parsonage. They erected it in much the same way as they had the church, but did not build it alongside the church, as is done so often to-day.
We would suppose that all the troubles had been passed, but not so. Every wilderness enterprise has its vicissitudes and opposition. The location of the church proved unhealthful. The region was 