Enos Wilson

My story begins with me digging through my grandmother's cedar chest. I came across a picture of a young Native American man in a military suit. "Who is he?" I thought to myself. I showed my grandmother the picture and asked her "who is it?" She stopped and stared with a wondering gaze as she tried to recall names at ninety two years old. She smiled and hummed questionably "that would be your"..."let's see"..."your great granduncle"..."my uncle!", she said. Enos Wilson, Mvskoke (Creek) Full blood. Born May 16th, 1902 Indian Territory. It just so happened to be the time when Véronique came to Oklahoma to host an outreach for relatives of Native American WWI Veterans meeting at the College of The Muscogee Nation. I was attending college to obtain my Associates in Native American Studies and aspire to learn the Mvskoke (Creek) language. Correspondingly, I brought the picture to ask her about it. I had no clue about Enos apart from the picture. That is where Véronique and Robert J. Laplander helped me identify Enos in WWI attire at Kemper Military Academy. I was intrigued with this new information on my family member. What else could I find out about him? He attended county school at eight years old, from 1910 through 1915 with a third grade education. Enos's mother died at a young age, as a result his father George Wilson remarried to a non-native that did not like his children. Consequently, Enos and Annie Wilson were left as orphans and sent to boarding schools at thirteen years old. In 1915, he was sent to Carlisle Indian Boarding School but the school only accepted fourteen years old and up. So Enos was sent to Mercerburg Academy, Mercerburg PA., a boarding school in relation with Carlisle. I found letters from Mercerburg Academy stating that when Enos began school, he was able to speak only two English words “to” and “the”. This was a forced change to the Mvskoke Creek identity as the United States attempted assimilation. Enos was a very intelligent young man. He exelled at the new teachings of the Anglo-American culture, befallen from his heritage. After graduating from Mercerburg Academy in 1918, he joined the military at seventeen years old, training as Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Cadet at Kemper Military School (Nicknamed "Westpoint of the West"). He was assigned to the US Army Transportation Service Company "M" 140th Infantry Rank: Private Service #: 2,221,576 Ship: Aeneas Thereafter, surviving all that hardship, life finally paid off. His Guardian Ed Heart (a banker) invested in oil for him from the original allotted land given to Enos through Creek treaties with the U.S. At age twenty one, he was a millionaire. He was the "World's Richest Indian" at one time. His hobbies were amateur photography, hunting, and fishing. He was described as quiet, reserved, and disliked publicity. He resided in Bald Hill about fifteen miles from Okmulgee, Oklahoma which is now known as Twin Hills, OK. Marveled by all this, it makes me cry thinking about my ancestor as I struggle to learn the Mvskoke Creek language. I believe our language is a part of our identity. Reading that letter from the Mercersburg Academy, it was the exact time we lost our language. Afterlight, he passed away May 29th, 1937 at thirty five years old. He survived the abuse of boarding schools, war, only to parish of typhoid fever, that he caught during a fishing trip. Yet, I smiled as I read the statement from the Superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes Indian Agency: “He was the personification of all that is good in the Indian race", he said. Enos Wilson is my great granduncle. I am very honored to be a descendant. The fighting and determination he went through gives me strength to overcome all barriers in life. I hang his picture by my bed to inspire me everyday. I would not be here if it was not for the endurance of our Mvskoke people. Mvto!" Source: Britteny Ann Cuevas, great grand niece. Could we help her identify the 2 other gentlemen on her picture? Mvskoke Veterans The Muscogee Creek Nation, Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian #NNAVM Sequoyah National Research Center National WWI Museum and Memorial World War One Centennial Commission College of the Muscogee Nation Kemper Military School and College Alumni Association Mercersburg Alumni