ON TO OKLAHOMA
The Sparks family moved onward, between 1883-1895 to what was then Indian Territory. The area just north of the Red River was a part of the Chickasaw Nation, and Rev. William C. Sparks along with several members of his family moved up to the small township of Springer in what would become Carter County - then called Pickens county.
We can only speculate that William C. was possibly able to move into Indian Territory in order to bring religion to this part country, as preachers were sometimes given permission to move into the Indian Territory. Another possibility is that William C. was able to lease land from a member of the Chickasaw tribe and that he began farming and raising cattle there as a tenant on the land.
Everyday cowboy life included herding cattle, riding a favorite horse, and surviving the rigors encountered by everyone on the western range - tornadoes, rattlesnakes, cold and snow, outlaws, and hard work.
On the Northern border of Oklahoma, settlers were constantly attempting to move into the Oklahoma Territory and Oklahoma Country to take land, but the government continually forced them back out. It was in the late 1800's when the Indian lands were reduced to specific areas, and the remaining unassigned lands were thrown open to settlers in the Land Rush of 1889. The government decided to open the western parts of the territory to settlers by holding a total of six land runs between 1889 and 1895.
Between 1881 and 1895 the William C. Sparks family moved north from Texas into the Chickasaw Nation in Indian Territory. There, Reverend William C. Sparks and his wife, Sarah, settled in Springer, (township 13 North, Range 1 West) in what was then known as Pickens county. Select the link to the 1890 map of Indian Territory to view the divisions owned by the tribes, and to follow the Sparks family through Indian Territory and Oklahoma.
It was not until November 16, 1907 that Oklahoma became the 46th state when Oklahoma Territory was joined with Indian Territory. By that date, Robert Donnell Sparks, the youngest child of William C. Sparks, had already moved his family westward to what would become Caddo county in the Cheyenne-Arapaho Lands.
Oklahoma Township Map (from GenWeb)
Moving across Oklahoma Counties
Opening the Lands of Caddo County