My father, W.A. Wheat, journeyed to Kansas in 1886 by immigrant train.
  The family experienced the severe railroad strike in Kansas City, Kansas.
  The settlers were not allowed off the train, nor was livestock allowed
  unloaded for feed and water for three days.
     He made the Cherokee Strip run in 1889, staking a claim on Eagle Chief
  Creek. Grass fires set by Indian in protest and illness due to poor
  drinking water discouraged him from filing his claim in Alva, Oklahoma.
  Hitching his team to the wagon, loading up his meager camping supplies,
  he returned to Barber County. In 1902 he homesteaded a quarter section in
  Eagle Township; married Emma Olson on January 5, 1908; and lived his entire
  life on the ranch. He was saddened by Mother's passing in 1971.
     I was ushered into this world on November 15, 1908 by a young physician,
  Dr. Hardin Gilbert, and was his first baby to deliver in Medicine Lodge.
     I lived with my father at the ranch except during the school terms,
  graduating with the high school class of 1927 in Medicine Lodge, then
  attending college. Then the Depression of the early thirties became a
  reality. I taught my first term of school in District 80 near my home in
  1931-1932.
     Transportation to school during good weather was a Model A Ford, but
  riding on horseback during bad weather was more reliable.
     The relationship between students and teacher was very close in the
  rural schools. I have many happy memories of my students.
                 
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 198 
     Submitted by: Helen Wheat Gordon