Bessie Edwards, 97, of Muldrow, said she has lived in Sequoyah County for a very long time.
“I spent my youth in Middle Ridge and went to school there,” Edwards recalled. “And later, to high school at Central High School.”
Growing up, Edwards said she would help her mother, who worked in fields and helped the elderly. She remembers that a pound of cotton would bring three cents at that time.
She also remembers when her sister, Callie, was staying and living at Sequoyah’s home. Her great-great grandfather, George Blair, had bought it from the widowed Sally many years ago. Edwards would help her sister clean while there, mostly sweeping the floors.
“People from all over the country would come all the time and take pictures of the cabin, and then leave and go see the next thing,” she said.
Her great-great grandparents, George and Nancy Blair, had actually walked The Trail of Tears and are buried in the Blair Cemetery at the Sequoyah home.
As a child, she said she and her friends would play baseball for hours on end. She still holds a love for baseball and has a favorite baseball team, the Cardinals.
“I watch just about every game and pray for them each match, while cheering them on,” she said.
As a child, she said that there wasn’t a lot of money or jobs, but plenty of people would come to her mother for food, and she and her mother would make food for them.
“There was a lot more love back then, a lot more than what there is now,” she said.
Despite her mother being Irish, she still kept up with some of the Cherokee traditions for her 10 children.
Her favorite is Wishi, a traditional Cherokee dish that her mother would make, picking the mushrooms herself.
“We were never hungry,” she said.
Edwards got married at 16 and shortly after, she and her husband moved to New York City for a short time.
During that time, she worked at many places, including a factory that made liquid soap.
After returning to Oklahoma, she and her husband lived in the same home in the mountains for almost 70 years, until 2004.
“Living off the land, just how I liked it,” she said. “However, we eventually had to move due to health reasons. Before moving to Muldrow, I cried. I did not want to leave my home.”
Edwards said she has always loved to garden, but nowadays, she spends her time taking care of her home and yard.
While she may not be able to garden by herself, her family plants peppers and flowers in pots for her to take care of.
One of her favorite things is to watch hummingbirds, so her family will often plant flowers in her windows, ones that attract the birds the most.
Edwards has lived a life full of love and experiences. According to her family, she has a unique perspective on how the world has changed over nearly a century.
From walking the same ground her grandparents walked during The Trail of Tears, to witnessing visitors photograph her family’s historic cabin, Edwards has seen Sequoyah County through generations of change.
Though she may miss her mountain home and the close-knit community of her youth where neighbors helped one another without question, she continues to find joy in the simple things, such as tending her potted peppers, watching hummingbirds flutter at her window, and cheering on the Cardinals.
Her life stands as a testament to resilience, hard work and the enduring Cherokee spirit that her mother passed down through tradition and food, even across cultural lines.
At 97, she remains a living link to a time when, as she said, “There was a lot more love back then,” and her memories preserve a piece of history that might otherwise be forgotten.
