All minds were centered on the opening of the Cherokee Strip. This land was to be opened by a race. Since Father [J. C. McFarland] had been over this land many times and had crossed it on his way to Kingman County, Kan., and back again into Old Oklahoma, he and his group had picked out the place where they hoped to locate.

As the church was always first in the minds of Father and the group of Covenanters who were with him, they hoped to get a large group of people of the same belief to make the race together, and to locate near each other so that a congregation might be organized. Word was sent to the church paper about the run, and invitations were sent to any who might desire to come along, saying that Father’s group would furnish horses for them.

A number answered this appeal. At the time of the race, those in Father’s group who hoped to locate together were Matthew, Nathan, and Melville Chestnut; Armour and Oscar Henderson; David Matthews; George McFarland; John Cannon; James, Calvin, and John Young; and Father. This group gathered along the south side of the line on a hill about two miles west of the present town of Orlando, Okla. They were spread out far enough to cover about three quarters of a mile. From the hill on which they stood, there were people in both directions as far as they could look, all waiting for the starting gun which was to give them their start at noon on Sept. 16, 1893.

Father and his group had prepared for this race with the same painstaking care that trainers give their horses today when they are going to run a race. For four weeks prior to the race, the horses were taken out and run for several miles each day so that when the day for the race came they were in tip-top shape. One of the horses, Old Queen, the pony on which my father rode, was to set the pace for the others. Every man who was to try for a claim was to follow at the same rate of speed, and they were all to head for one place. Wagons, with provisions, were to come along later.

While they were standing, every nerve tense, every man ready to go, hoping and praying that he might be successful in securing a home, they looked to the west and saw the whole line moving forward, starting north, their horses at a dead gallop. Though they had heard no gun, they took this as the signal to go, and the race was on.

As Father’s group had about 30 miles to go to reach the place where they hoped to locate, this meant a very hard run. A number of them were leading an extra horse to make it possible to exchange if the horses they were riding showed signs of tiring. Father was riding Old Queen, a sorrel Indian pony, and leading Puss, a large white horse. Queen was Father’s favorite, being the first horse he ever owned and the one which all of us boys rode many a time.

It was quite an object in the race to get the lead, for at certain places they would have to bunch up in order to get through or across streams and down steep banks and such. The one in the lead had a distinct advantage at these places, for he would be in the clear.

Calvin Young was most familiar with the territory and did the guiding of the group over ravines and along the shortest route to the location they were all trying to reach. Their destination was along Red Rock Creek, about four miles southeast of the present town of Billings, Okla.

There had been an understanding with the group before starting as to how they were to all get together following the race. Certain flags had been given them: one kind of flag was to show the location of the tract of land, so that when the wagon with the provisions came to the location, it would be identified; and the other was for staking out the claim.

The race was made in 2 hours and 10 minutes. As it was just about the center of the strip, they had hardly reached the place when others began coming in from the other direction. In the race, the horse on which Oscar Henderson was riding gave out, and he had to ride the rest of the way on a horse that had been led by Calvin Young. One of the stirrups broke on Matthew Chestnut’s saddle, and he had to ride the rest of the way with one stirrup. The horses as they gave out were simply dropped off and left behind, with the hope that those in the wagon might see them and pick them up, or that they might be found later. Fortunately, those in the wagon did find the horse that was dropped off by Father’s group.

Keeping God’s Law Loses One Claim, Gains a Better

All of the company succeeded in securing a claim in close proximity to each other on Red Rock Creek, just about where they had hoped to locate. The race was on a Saturday, and by the time they succeeded in finding the markings at the different corners of the claims they had staked, it was so late that they decided the only thing they could do was make camp until Monday morning. Father’s group believed that the fourth commandment taught that the Sabbath Day was to be kept holy, so they did not break camp until midnight Sabbath night when they started for Perry, Okla., the county seat of Noble County.

Perry, as yet, was just a town of tents; even the “filing place” was only a tent. In order to file, there had to be a group of 10 filing together. When Father’s 10 got their co-number to file, the number was 36,000. If we multiply this by 10 we can get some idea of how far back Father and his group were. All Sabbath Day people had been numbering, and Father and his group were thus put far in the rear.

This meant a long lapse of time before their filing could be recorded, and it was a whole month they had to wait. During that time, Father and his group anxiously watched the papers to see if their numbers had been filed on. One by one the records came out, showing that this one and that one had lost his claim by late filing. Only two of the entire group, Matthew Chestnut and Oscar Henderson, succeeded in keeping their original claim.

There were two things those who lost their claims could do. They could either contest the filing of the other party, and run the risk of losing the contest and losing the chance for a claim at all, or go and file on “upland” claims. They chose the latter. They had seen the results of contested claims in Old Oklahoma and knew that prior filing on a claim was equal to about nine-tenths of the law. They decided it wasn’t worthwhile to try, though they knew they had reached the homesteads first.

Four of the group, James Young, Calvin Young, George McFarland, and Father, secured “upland” claims. Dave Matthews and John McKnight did not make a second try. Armour Henderson secured a claim by happening to be in the office of a real estate man when a man came in wanting to give up his claim, offering it to the real estate office for $100. Mr. Henderson went and filed on the claim, and since his filing was never contested, he got it. This farm was right beside his brother Oscar’s land. This made a group of seven families located in fairly close proximity to each other, and the nucleus for the organization of a congregation. James Young, Calvin Young, George McFarland, and Father were all within a mile of each other, and the other three were only four miles away.

Father’s upland claim proved better than one he might have secured on Red Rock Creek because the town of Billings was laid out right at his door. James Young, who adjoined Father on the east, sold 40 acres of his quarter section. Along with another 40 bought from another party, this property became the site of the new town. Father later became the owner of Grandfather’s property, thus Father’s property lay right beside the town and became a much more valuable piece of property than one many miles away.

All of the advantages of better school facilities, nearness to market, the savings in time in a hurried trip to town, were Father’s. Then the railroad came through the town, and Father was close to a railroad. Later another 40 acres were sold to make more room for the town to grow, and the town moved still closer. All in all, it proved a very valuable change, though it was God’s doing and not Father’s.

Billings RPC Organized

This group of seven families began to meet regularly every Sabbath Day for services of worship. These meetings were held at first in the homes of the different members. A Sabbath school was organized, and much interest was shown in the work by the people of the community. Word was sent to the church paper what they were trying to do, and Dr. W. W. Carithers was sent by the presbytery to see what might be done to organize a congregation.

They continued to meet in the homes in the winter. In the summer a thatched roof shade was built, and they had their meetings in the open air. Fine interest was being shown, and the work was making splendid progress. A schoolhouse known as District 4 was built, and they were invited to hold their meetings in it, which they did. The Rev. G. R. McBurney came and conducted services for the group for a little more than a year.

The congregation was organized in fall 1900 with John Young, Calvin Young, and Matthew Chestnut as elders, and Armour Henderson, Mr. Dunn, and Father as deacons. Father was appointed treasurer of the congregation, an office he held for over 20 years during his entire stay in the congregation. In the spring of 1901, the Rev. W. C. Paden came and ministered to the congregation and was stated supply for 9 years. In 1902, the congregation was greatly encouraged by the addition of the Isaac Caskey family who moved into the community from Clarinda, Iowa.

The church was built in 1904 at a cost of nearly $1,600. With a pastor and a fine new church building and an interested growing congregation, things looked well for a prosperous future in the church at Billings. But this was not to be. The old demon of jealousy could not be kept out. It started to work among the young people and soon found its way into the adult group, and from there into the session and into the congregational life generally. “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” and the Billings congregation, which apparently promised so much for the future, began to show signs of tottering. There was decay at the roots.

Yet, through it all, Father did his best by the church, the pastor, and his family. To his credit, his family yet honors the church. Prayers for the church many and many a time in tears were experienced in our home in family worship during those troublous times. Those prayers had their effect upon the growing family of children, and though the church is today no longer a reality at Billings, for the congregation was broken up several years ago, Father’s entire family is yet within the fold, holding forth in other places, and there by God’s grace we shall remain.