Saturday, July 24, 2010

Nathaniel Pryor

I atended the Cowboy Days festival at Pryor, Oklahoma, earlier today for a book signing, and I was reminded that a few years ago, at the time of the bicentennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark expedition, I did an article for the Ozarks Mountaineer about Nathaniel Pryor, after whom the town took its name. Pryor was a sergeant and scout on the expedition, and he later settled on a creek near present-day Pryor. Both the stream and the town that grew up nearby came to be known as Pryor Creek. Although the official name of the town, I think, is still Pryor Creek, it has for years been more commonly called "Pryor" without the "Creek" part.
When Nathaniel Pryor died in the early 1830s, he was buried at his trading post about three and half miles southeast of present-day Pryor, but his grave was later moved to Fairview Cemetery at the eastern edge of Pryor and a monument erected there in his honor.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sir, do you have any further knowledge about the re-interrment of Sgt. Pryor's remains in the Fariview Cemetery, aka the Graham Cemetery as its called on the southern side of SH 20? I visted the site this week and was unable to find any worthwhile information the microfilms of the town's paper.

james.nimmo@gmail.com

Unknown said...

Is it possible to get this article?

Larry Wood said...

Unknown, I might still have a copy of the article or the manuscript on which the article was based, if you want to contact me at larryewood@mail.com.

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