Background

Almeda Florence Johnston was my paternal grandmother. She was born and raised in Pike County in eastern Missouri. Her husband-to-be, Charles Johnston, was born in southeastern Ohio. Luckily, Charles' Uncle Andrew, who was also from Ohio, relocated to Missouri, and, although it is not documented, I suspect Uncle Andrew gave fate a hand in drawing my Grandfather Charles to Missouri and introducing him to Grandmother Almeda.

Charles, like so many others during this age of rapid western expansion, was a carpenter and painter by trade, and a farmer by avocation. His Uncle George lived in Minneapolis, and, through stories about how good the farmland was, he persuaded Charles and his family to move to Minnesota in the middle 1890s. But regardless of how good the farmland was, the cold winters seemed to cancel out the appeal. It didn't take long for Charles to conclude that he was better fitted for a warmer climate. So he told Uncle George good-bye and moved his family back to Missouri, bringing with them a new son…Charles Lester (my father), the only child born outside of Missouri.

On to Indian Territory

By 1899, government lands in Indian Territory (what is now Oklahoma) had been opened to settlement and several "land runs" had occurred. Charles, with visions of a new farm, got his family ready and set out from Gazette, a little town in Pike County that no longer exists. They left on May 24, 1899 in a wagon pulled by a team of horses, heading west. If traveled today, their trip would probably take about one day by auto on modern highways. But in 1899, it took them 30 days.

Almeda's level of education was probably no more than 8th grade, if that. Nevertheless, she had always loved music and writing and she chose to keep a travel journal on the trip There are a week of entries (June 13-19) missing from the collection. Though I do not know why, I imagine they were lost by the time the collection fell into my hands.

It is not documented in Almeda's writings that Charles had a fixed destination in mind at the start of the trip. Reading between the lines, I sense this fact was a source of insecurity for Almeda. Whether Charles was just going where the road took him or he actually had a stopping place in mind, it was evident Almeda wished she knew what the plans were. As they neared the end of their trip, her mood began to deteriorate to the point where she confesses she is "mad yet and cross as a bear."

Why Grandpa was so tight-lipped regarding his plans poses a big question mark for me. From everything I have heard about him, he loved her dearly, and was always thoughtful to her. Of course, there is no one available to ask about it now, so I guess it will have to remain a mystery.

The trip ended June 22, 1899 at Pawhuska, Indian Territory, where Almeda's sister, Mary L. (Trower) McWhirt, lived.