Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Tingler of Mooreland, Woodward-co., Oklahoma, arrived in this county on Thursday of last week on a visit with their daughter, Mrs. Gus Metzger, and family. Mr. Tingler spent a few days in town during the past week and while here met a number of old time friends whom he knew in this county 35 years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Tingler moved from Bloomington, Ill., to this county in the fall of 1881, soon after the county had begun to be settled, and located on a claim a few miles from the old town site of Avilla. There they continued to live until about the year 1890, when they moved to Woodward-co., Oklahoma, where they have since continued to make their home.While in conversation with a Western Star reporter on Monday, Mr. Tingler talked freely of his early day experiences here. He says that he had a hard time making a living, as during the six years he lived in the county, he raised only two or three good crops, and even then his products brought very low prices - as low as 12 cents for corn and 10 cents for wheat. He says that for two years or more the principal source of his income was from the sale of old bones, which he gathered from the prairies and sold at from $6 to $8 per ton. It usually required five or six days to gather up and haul to market a ton of the bones. In this connection Mr. Tingler tells of the finding of over 30 years ago, by Peter Metzger, father of Gus Metzger, of the bones of a mastodon, an extinct and very large animal, in the canyons in the eastern part of Avilla-tp. Nearly all of the bones of the skeleton were found and were eventually disposed of to the University of Kansas for about $15. It is probable that the skeleton is till on exhibition in the museum at K. U.
Mr. Tingler is a native of Prussia, having been born in that country nearly 79 years ago. At the age of 17 he came with the family to America. landing in Quebec, and later moving to Illinois. It required just 30 days for them to make the trip across the Atlantic. Mr. Tingler says that it seems strange how the old towns of Avilla, Nescatunga and Comanche City have entirely vanished since the time when he was a citizen of our county. He thinks, however, that our county has made a fine growth and was surprised to see so many indications of continued development and improvement here.
Also see:
James W. Dappert: Reminiscences of Early Days in Comanche-co.
The Western Star, January 15, 1926.
Thanks to Shirley Brier for finding, transcribing and contributing the above news article to this web site!
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