THE BEGINNING
My grandfather was among the first to file for a homestead in the new Oklahoma Territory.
My grandfather's homestead in "Old Greer County" was surrounded by Texas on two sides and rattle-snakes on all sides. My grandfather always joked that "if his horse had gone lame before he crossed the Red River to homestead in Oklahoma Territory, we would be Texans today". "Old Greer County" was originally claimed by both Texas and the United States, but Greer was adjudged by the U.S. Supreme Court to be part of Oklahoma Territory in 1896 and was soon attached and opened for settlement.
The original house built by my grandfather when he homesteaded in Oklahoma Territory. Their first born baby born in the new territory died soon after birth and was buried in the Northwest corner of the 140 acres. That was before the requirement for official birth records. I remember my dad keeping the burial place weeded and identifiable when we lived on the farm., but I don't know if baby's grave can be located today. Those were simpler times!
The remains of the original house today.....and an ink drawing by my grand daughter of the original house
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In 1907, Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory were combined and became the State of Oklahoma.
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"Years later, in 1931, I was born on the old homestead during the great depression and dust storms of the 'dirty thirties'. While a small boy I witnessed some of the things described in Steinbeck's novel, "The Grapes of Wrath". I saw sand drifts higher than barbed wire fences, the sun dimmed by blowing sand until headlights were needed to drive during the day, and drifting sand dunes on our linoleum floors that would blow under the doors during the night."
This is not Iraq, it's southwestern Oklahoma in the "dirty thirties".
After years of sand storms and drought, the rains came and the "dust bowl" era ended.
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We lived on the family homestead, so we were never hungry or homeless as many were during that dark period. I even had a horse, a dog, and a battery radio. It was on this old radio that I remember listening to The Grand Ole Opry and Ernest Tubb and wanted to learn to play a guitar. When I was about 14 my dad bought me a guitar and I learned to play it from a Gene Autry song book and by playing along with the radio. I soon modified that old guitar when I bought a Hawaiian steel-nut and a steel bar that made it sound kind of like the steel-guitar that I heard on the radio.
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Me and the horse were both about 11 years old in this picture.
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In this picture it's obvious who my hero was when I was about 12 years old.
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My family moved to town in 1945 (Granite, Oklahoma) where we had electricity for the first time. I sold my 4-H calf to buy a real steel-guitar and amplifier from the Sears & Roebuck catalogue.
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My musical career started out rather slow, but I was only 15 and still in high-school.
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When I started playing with real bands my musical interests changed from the Grand Ole Opry to Bob Wills and Western Swing. By then I had traded my little Sears single neck steel-guitar for this double-neck.
This is one of the bands I worked with until I graduated from high-school in 1949, at the AMERICAN LEGION, Cordel, Oklahoma. I was about 17 and a real fashion statement in my argyle socks and side-zipper shirt.
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ROGERS TWINS
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