JUST UP THE ROAD - HISTORY OF ELKMONT, PART 6

Submitted by Gary Compton


The soldiers from Fort Hampton arrived one day with bad news. Mr. Simms and his family were told they would have to move because it had been determined that the Chickasaw Boundary was being violated by him and other settlers that had moved in the Elk River area . The orders stated they must leave within the next two days. This was a great blow to Levi as well to his family. Gretchen was not feeling well and was sick almost every day. Levi was very worried about her. He could not figure out her illness.

Levi paid a visit to the local land office trying to figure out what he needed to do to maintain ownership to this land. The Land was part of Mississippi territory and it was determined the he needed to move back East for about three miles. Here it was in the early part of winter with no shelter and no place to go.

Levi’s next step was to go and talk to the post commander at Fort Hampton. He knew that abandoning his homestead in the dead of winter would place his whole family in danger of freezing or starving to death. Levi arrived at the fort late that same day. Guards halted him at the fort entrance. He was commanded to state his name, where he was from and the purpose of his visit. One of the guards went to the commander's quarters and shortly returned with a message. “ The commander is busy getting his daily report from the field officers and it may be an hour or so before he would be able to see you”. This didn't set well with Levi because he needed to head back to his family as soon as he could. One of the soldiers recognized Levi and offered him some fatback and coffee. Levi accepted the offer and they begin to talk. The soldier found out Levi was from the same part of the country as he. Soon they found out they both knew some of the same people from back East. This put Levi at ease. The Colonial came out to meet Levi with a good hardy handshake. He invited him into his office and closed the door. “What can I do for you Mr. Simms ?” he asked. Levi explained his dilemma, expressing his concerns for his wife and children. The Commander begin to explain what was about to happen in the area where he was homesteading. “ The Government is in the process of purchasing the land from the Chickasaw and Cherokee Nations. The Indians have already been moved across the river and it is just a matter of time before it is all settled. Then, all this land will go up for sale. You will have to purchase it or lose it." Levi explained he had already invested a lot in making it livable. 

The Commander thought for a few minutes and realized he had a great asset in Levi. “Mr. Simms, Would you consider working for the Government?” Levi didn’t know what to say. “The only thing I ever done was farm and trap”.  The commander said, "Well, I need someone that knows that area where you are living."  Levi thought hard.  "Well, I would be obliged to take your offer but that don’t help me and my family right now cause I got to move somewhere and don’t have a place to go."  The commander told Levi to go back to his homestead and "don’t move until you hear from me. I have some details to try and work out. Here is a letter that allows you to stay there in case one of my patrols try making you move."  The Colonial summoned an officer to escort Mr. Simms to the quartermaster. He also give the officer a paper with this list. With a hand shake ,they departed. The quartermaster looked surprised when he saw what was written on the paper. He begin to pull out wool blankets ( four to be exact); Two slabs of salt fatback, one heavy parka and a dozen pairs of foot wraps. The officer handed the items to Levi. Levi said, “these things are nice and are needed but I have no means to pay you so I can’t accept.” The officer told Levi, “ If the commander sees fit to give this to you, you need to take it with you because I never seen the colonial this generous before”.  Reluctantly, Levi took the goods and loaded them on Old Bully, thanked the officer and rode away.