January 18, 1006

Several Treaty attempts had been made in the 1820's and 1830s to arrive at an equitable the price of the Cherokee land, homes, livestock an other valuables. The leaders of the Cherokee Nation at that time elevated themselves to the authority of deciding and settling on a value of the Cherokee’s property. The Cherokees were being forced to relocate west of the Mississippi River. The leaders at that time accepted an offer that was accepted without regard to what business and manufacturing as well as the mining that was going on at the time.

The Cherokees had been educated religiously and intellectually. They had made a home and were settled in the old nation and their standards for living and were accepted and experienced. Reverend Worcester, a preacher and teacher of the Cherokee Nation had been printing and handing out from his home the new alphabet in the 1837s. Sequoyah was 83 years of age in 1843, when he died and was buried in a cave at San Fernando, Mexico. The new Cherokee alphabet was in use from the 1830s to 1840s, it was widely accepted and simplified the Cherokee learning process.

The Brazos River ridge which was west of the Preston Ridge and over past the area that is now Parker County. The rivers helped the small groups of Indians hide and establish a more permanent village. If you look out to the east from Onega, you see the ridge as they described it and that ridge goes on to where Dallas is now located, but the Brazos ridge is about 40 miles west of Denton and unable to be seen from Onega as the sun sets.

Imagine what it was like to the 3800 Cherokees as they explored the new comfortable and inviting surroundings of this local area with sandy and loamy soil of the cross timbers region. For most of these people the long and painful suffering they endured during their travels made them stronger and stronger. The mothers especially had the difficult task of caring for the loved ones. The mothers cut the wood and sought out the food.

The families felt the suffering of the other families and many times they came to the rescue of the others’ needs in situations of disease or shortage of food.

The mothers were also vigilant in protecting their families. The mothers were always on constant guard duty protecting their families from the Indian Killers.

The community of Aubrey has had several disasters. The fire of 1867 and 1887, the tornado in 1918 and also the fires of 1947. The determined family of close knit people with a background of disasters had added to the determination of these people. The flu epidemic that happed in the years of 1817 and 1818 also sent too many natives to their resting place.

As I mention the disasters that have come our way in the past, one large fire that caused much concern as well as total destruction, was the burning of the Mustain House that had set upon top of the hill in downtown Aubrey. It was the distruction of a historical structure.

The house was built in 1892 by the Rhodes family. It was The home of Judge and Mrs. Bertha Mustain. The Judge died during World War II while their only son, Rhodes Mustain, was in the military. The Judge also served in the Bank and was an active member of the Methodist Church.

His wife Bertha was a music teacher in the Aubrey public school and was active in the Baptist Church.

I wrote about a ten page article of the house when it was destroyed and will share this article in the future. But my Picture is fitting for some of the great disasters that have been a part of Aubrey’s life. I have a good selection of film of the old victorian and will also share them as I am doing this week.

[ Home ]