Just east, just barely east of Mtn. View, close to a mile away from the stone curved football field of the school, immediately on the north side of the highway, sets this old house, built some time around the beginning of the last century, and all laid out on freshly mown grass, day in, day out, about half abandoned for the last several years. The six foot fence down the property on the highway 9 side and the back, crossing the front and starting to fall at the center.
This was the home of the Mammedaty’s, back in the time of yesteryear, when those around Mtn. View were brought in to the Great Depression, when red dirt blew across the land, and a meal and money were hard to come by.
The house was big at the time, massive it could be said, but oh so miserable hot when the feeling of summer blew its way across the valley, leaving the Kiowa who lived here to deal with the discomfort of the home.
They decided to build a respite, a place of cooling sanctuary, just a ways up the hill, with four sides, very large. Three two by tens, horizontal, laying up the bottom side. Then frame about the size of two by twos were placed all around, and two more two by twelves, around the height of the wall, and a shingled roof on top of that structure. Finally, wire screen was nailed in place around the entire window wall, to keep the bugs from ruining the place for comfort.
Beds were hauled out of the house, feather mattresses, feather pillows and sheets were laid out on them, down one side, then the other. Chairs from the eating room were brought out, and placed together by the door.
Kerosene lamps were hung in the rafters, looking misplaced, but filling the space with light. A water jug was at the back, filled during the day with ice, and a dipper that everyone used, was hanging from a joist .
Kids would play outside, till after dark, the women would split their time from a fire by the outside, to the stove that resides in the kitchen of the house.
There were times that Rainy Mountain Church would hold their arbor meetings there, with beds pushed against the walls, the pastor standing at the front, and the attendees sat across the open floor in kitchen chairs and on beds.
At night, with lanterns glowing and highway 9 just having a car or two drive by, the lanterns would go off, and a nights sleep would overtake them all, until the morning would shake them awake.
The metal screen is gone, the lanterns are lost, the house is boarded up, but the grass is always mown.
Ralph Peck
Photo by Ralph Peck
Mammedaty’s Home
Mountain View Oklahoma
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