The collection consists of journals, financial documents, account books, correspondence, photographs and maps that document the professional and personal life of George W. Conover. The bulk of the material dates from the turn of the twentieth century, a time when Oklahoma was transitioning to statehood and the town of Andarko was founded. Conover's interactions with Caddo, Wichita, Delaware, Kiowa, Comanche and Apache Indians are documented in his financial records and journals. The collection also documents the distribution of land when the town of Andarko was founded in 1901. Conover's journals record daily personal and business activity and reflections on the death of his first wife Tomasa. Three printed maps (in broadside storage) depict Indian Territory, the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache Reservation, and the Wichita Reservation
Description:
George W. Conover (1848-1936), a native of Philadelphia, was a merchant, rancher and Indian agent in southwestern Oklahoma. From 1870 to 1873 he worked at the Indian commissary at Fort Sill, after which he moved to the area of Andarko to become a rancher, merchant and farmer. He published an autobiography, Sixty years in Southwest Oklahoma (Anadarko, Oklahoma, N. T. Plummer book and job printer, 1927), in 1927. He was married twice; his first wife Tomasa died in 1900 and he married Laura (née Smith) in 1901. and Materials in English.
Subject (Geographic):
Oklahoma., Andarko (Okla.), Caddo County (Okla.), Indian Territory., Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Indian Reservation (Okla.), Oklahoma, Wichita Reservation (Okla.), and Indian Territory
Subject (Name):
Conover, George W., 1848- and Conover, Tomasa.
Subject (Topic):
Businessmen, Caddo Indians, Comanche Indians, Delaware Indians, Indian agents, Kiowa Indians, Land settlement, Indians of North America, Ranchers, Statehood (American politics), Wichita Indians, Government relations, Land tenure, Indian reservations, Politics and government, and Social life and customs
The second volume of a personal journal of a young lady from Independence, Missouri, who follows her husband, a Santa Fé trader, to the Southwest in the early stages of the Mexican war. She describes people, events regarding the acquisition of the New Mexican territory, caravan trading, Gen. Kearny's conquest of New Mexico, the Mexican War, her experiences of trail and pioneer life, hunting, and encounters with Indians. The first 49 pages of the journal consist of copied and original poetry.
Description:
32 loose pages (1847 June-September) with discreet pagination from front of journal are presented chronologically following p. 206. and Blanks at end (26 p.) not digitized.
Subject (Geographic):
Bent's Fort (Colo.), Chihuahua (Mexico : State)--History, El Paso (Tex.), Fort Macy (N.M.)--Description and travel, Little Arkansas River (Kan.), Pecos (N.M.)--Description and travel, Saltillo (Coahuila, Mexico), Santa Fe (N.M.)--History, Southwest, New--Description and travel, and Taos (N.M.)--History
Subject (Name):
Chavez y Castillo, Mariano, Cushing, Caleb,--1800-1879, Davy, Cornelius, Donaldson, James Lowry,--1814-1885, Doniphan, Alexander William, Gilpin, William,--1815-1894, Gregg, Josiah,--1806-1850, Howard, John Eager,--d. 1862, Hunter, David,--1802-1886, Kearny, Stephen Watts,--1794-1848, Kendall, Geo. Wilkins--(George Wilkins),--1809-1867, Magoffin, James Wiley,--1799-1868, Magoffin, Samuel,--1801-1888, Magoffin, Susan Shelby,--1827-1855, McDowell, Sarah Shelby,--1785-1847, Mexico.--President (1846 : Paredes y Arrillaga), Ortiz, Ramon, Ortiz, Tomas, Owens, Samuel D.,--d. 1847, Peck, William--(William Guy),--1820-1892, Pino, Manuel, Prentice, George D.--(Geroge Denison),--1802-1870, Prentiss, James H.,--1809-1848, Price, Sterling,--1809-1867, Robidou, Antoine,--1794-1860, Santa Anna, Antonio López de,--1794?-1876, Shelby, James,--1784-1848, Shelby, Thomas Hart,--1789-1869, Stanley, John Mix,--1814-1872, Stockton, Robert Field,--1795-1866, Swords, Thomas,--1806-1886, Taylor, Zachary,--1784-1850, Trias, Angel, Urrea, José,--1797-1849, Warner, William Horace, Washington, John Macrae,--1797-1853, Wool, John Ellis,--1784-1869, Worth, William Jenkins,--1794-1849, and Wright, George,--1803-1865
Subject (Topic):
Apache Indians, Comanche Indians, Indians of North America--Social life and customs, Mexican War, 1846-1848, and Navajo Indians
