A few days after their wedding, William and Martha traveled by riverboat up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri and then by train to Woodward, Oklahoma. They bypassed Alva because the land on the west edge of the Oklahoma Territory was known to be a lower cost and hence more affordable for them to purchase. In Woodward, they connected with a land agent who took them in a horse drawn runabout (a light, open, horse-drawn vehicle with four large wheels – much like a buggy) over the open prairie looking for a quarter section of land to establish a home.  Finally after days of traveling, the agent located an available property near Goodwin, Oklahoma Territory.[1]

Goodwin, Oklahoma Territory

The Goodwin area of Oklahoma, once in the realm of Plains Indian peoples, was in the Cherokee Outlet and in turn was part of the Territory of Oklahoma. “The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as the State of Oklahoma.”[2][3][4]  Goodwin is in the very southwest corner of Cherokee Outlet as indicated on the following map.

Purchased Relinquished Claim

The available property was a relinquished claim about 1 mile east of Goodwin and six miles southeast of Shattuck [4] (and about 40 miles from Woodward where they began their search).  They paid Mr. and Mrs. Chris Pshigoda $1300 for the claim, which included the land, a sod house, 2 horses and a colt, 2 cows and a calf, 6 chickens and a wagon.  Everything was included but the homesteader’s personal belongings[5].

William immediately filed a claim[6] and after six years received a land patent[7].

Notes

1. See Appendix: Wilhelm Kirmse – Autobiography
2. “Oklahoma Territory” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_Territory.
3. Oklahoma Territory and the reduced Indian Territory Map. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Okterritory.png “Okterritory“. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
4. Everett, Dianna. “Shattuck,” Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society, June 24, 2015. http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=SH010
5. KIRMSE, WILHELM (WILLIAM) family biography, from “Pioneer Footprints Across Woods County 1893-1975” by the Cherokee Strip Volunteer League,  1976. p.138.
6. See Chapter: Wilhelm Kirmse – Homestead Application
7. See Chapter: Wilhelm Kirmse – Land Patent