Pre-History of Jackson County, Oklahoma (2)

Among the most important pioneers in what is now Jackson County, Oklahoma, were the family of John and Susan McClearen. In 1885, the McClearens, along with their two daughters and two sons-in-law--the J. B. Walkers and P. H. Holts--moved from Grayson County to Greer County, Texas (present-day southwest Oklahoma). At first, they lived in tents, a half dug-out, and a log cabin about three miles south and east of present-day Altus. Soon, they were joined by the family of Tom Eaton.[1]

Frazer, the fledgling town they began, took its name from the nearby Frazer River, known today as the Salt Fork of the Red River. In February 1886, John McClearen established a post office at Frazer. That spring, he began farming. Cowboys driving cattle along the Western Trail would sometimes venture over to Frazer to pick up mail and drink some of the McClearen's fresh buttermilk, kept cold in a well. The cowboys called the place "Buttermilk Station."[2]

Notes

[1] Cecil R. Chesser, Across the Lonely Years: The Story of Jackson County (Altus, OK: Altus Printing Company, 1971), 137-38.

[2] Ibid., 138; George H. Shirk, Oklahoma Place Names, 2nd ed. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1974), 95.