Chapter 1

     When I was born I made history and the world has never been the same. There has never been nor will there ever be another Thomasena Martin. I was the first born of my mother and father; I was the first grand child of John and Lula Davis; I was the first baby born at Mercy Hospital and i was the first brown baby born some of the staff had ever seen.

     The hospital in Herington, Kansas was in a disturbance. The nurses were carrying me around showing me off to in and everybody within shouting distance. They said, "I have never seen a brown baby born; I thought they were all white and turned dark afterwards."  I stayed in the oven just right, not too long, not underbaked, just right. My mother, Eleanor Davis Martin was worried; she thought they may drop me or something. I had a head full of black hair and they were so busy combing it, Mother thought they would brush me bald. I had my own baby brush and comb and every time a nurse brought me to Mother, they had it in their hand and brushing away. All I wanted was for them to leave me alone so I could eat and sleep. My daddy, Thomas (Cootsie) Martin was in a state of 'what to do': he just sat there and watched me when they could get me from the nurses. I was a daddy's girl from the very start. My Aunt Hattie Hamilton, Gramdpa John's sister, was there to keep Cootsie calm and to welcome me to the big, wide, wonderful world.

     I weighed all of 6 pounds and 3 ounces at birth and I gained all of 2 pounds in one month. I had a name when I arrived on October 3, 1938. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President, Germany was running rough-shod all over Europe, the March of Dimes was born, Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling in a heavy weight boxing match, Superman first appeared on the screen and Ella Fitsgerald recorded "A Tisket A Tastket".

     My mother and I were in 'confinement' for 20 days. That was plenty of time for me to gain a celebrity following. My Grandfather, Billie Martin, was among my first visitors. Other family members dropped by to visit. My father was the  last of his siblings to marry so all of the family and parents' friends were anxious to see his first born. They brought gifts and my bank account was started right away with 25 cents from my grandfather.

     Some of my first visitors were Elton Hamilton, a cousin, and his sister Lovella; Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Crisp, family friends; Grandmother Lula Davis, Juanita Brown, Billy Jean Fisher, who later became my playmates; Mr. and Mrs. Fred Beiler and the Salvadore Dace family; Mrs. Ida Johnson and Mrs. Sally Pitts.

My first outing was leaving the hospital, November 12. My escort for the big event was Daddy, and Mr. Crisp. My grand parents, Billie and Ellla were waiting at home.

My next outing was to Dunlap, Ka. to visit my other grand mother, Lula Davis. My grandfather, John, had passed on by the time I was born. She wouldn't lay me down. Needless to say, within 36 hours, I was spoiled rotten. Both Mother and Daddy were there too.

     My favorite thing to do was to listen to my daddy's watch tick and listen to the radio. I also like to play with paper. My favorite toy was a pocketbook. I also loved the camera. My first photo session was at 3 and a half months old. I had my own calendar.

     My first Christmas was in Dunlap Ka. at Grandmother Lula's house. I had a stocking to hang by the chimney; it was about 8 inches long. It actually hung by my bassinet. Santa came and filled my stocking. On Christmas morning, there were two pieces of candy, an English walnut, a 1938 new dime, a tiny red apple and a switch about ten inches long. I thought all of it was for me to eat. My dime went in my bank account.I had quite a nest egg by that time. Daddy ate the candy, the switch and the apple dried up. I also got a new blanket, silk stockings, and some pink silk panties.

     My parents and I lived with his parents at 308 Third Street, Herington, Ka. Daddy and Pawpaw worked for the RockIsland Railroad. My father worked at night so our days and nights were switched. Cootsie, my dad, worked in the machine shop. Many evenings, Mother and I walked him to work. I don't remember about the time, but we also went to the roundhouse to have lunch with him. The dogs went too.

     My mother and father met in Dunlap Ka. Dunlap was one of Pap Singleton's towns, located on the border of Morris County. In 1876, Singleton and a group of mulattoes and free Africans from Tennessee bought 7500 acres of land from the government. Each colonist was required to purchase the land they occupied. My grandparents, John W. Davis and Lula Payton, the daughter of a renegade Cheyenne Indian both were born in Tennessee. That is how they became involved with the project organized by Singleton's Tennessee based project.

     Kansas was above the Mason/Dixie line separating the North from the South. It came into the union as a free state. It was described as the Great American desert and considered by white Americans as being only suitable for Indians. It became a safe haven for liberation-seeking African Americans. The plains quickly filled up  with people who could not find peace and freedom in their  home states. The rights guarenteed them by the Emanciapation Procalamation quickly eroded into  the Black Codes and many free African American and free men of color all were classified as slaves and forced to abide by the Codes. There only option was to flee to the North to the "free" states. In addition, Native Indians were long being rounded up, herded on to reservations, slaughtered, starved, and anything else that could be done in the name of 'taming the savage'.

     My great grandfather, Wild Hog, a Northern Cheyenne  was hunted and chased across the central plains. Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Idaho Montana all were breeding grounds to hunt and massacre Native women old men and children. The massacre at Sand Creek was just one of them.

These helpless people were shot down like animals. The real guilty ones were a small band of hot headed young Braves who sought revenge for the things that had happened to their people. Wild Hog, Dull Knife, and Little Wolf were arrested. They and a band of about 300 spent time at El Reno in Oklahoma and at Fort Robinson in Nebraska. It was cold. When they were cornered, they were ordered to go back to Oklahoma with the Southern Cheyenne. They refused. They were locked up and searched on a regular basis. Because they refused to comply with the demands, they were denied rations of wood too. It was january. It was very cold.

     The government couldn't prove their case against them since their main witness did not show up. They ,then, planned to ship Wild Hog to the Reservation in the Dakotas. What was left of more than 300 people, many who were women and old people had been slaughtered with no regard for then as humans. Dull Knife and Little wolf and their small bands, decided to comply and they moved to to the Pine Rige Reservation. Little Wolf returned to the Powder River Country.

     Well, Wild Hog never arrived. Word was he went the other direction and did make it to Montana. That was the last we knew. As a child, my mother told us stories recounting the fights and the times he came in at night. She told us to always remember that America branded my great grandfather a renegade and hunted him like an animal. I guess hearing those stories helped me to develope my attitude about the government.