A notably successful career is that of W. S. Moore, a prominent stockman of Dewey, who has devoted practically all of his life to the cattle business, in which he has become recognized as a leading operator, not only in Oklahoma but through the United States. He was born in Putnam county, Illinois, December 6, 1865, being a son of Mr. and, Mrs. J. B. Moore, who were natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively. He was reared in Burlington, Iowa, and in 1884, when a young man of nineteen years, he accompanied his parents on their removal to Oklahoma.
His family settled on a farm on Wolf creek, near Menapah, where for twenty years they continued to make their home, the father passing away on that place. Subsequently the mother removed to the Cherokee strip, taking up a claim near Alva, and for seven years. She lived on that property, disposing of it in order to establish her residence in Coffeyville, Kansas. She later returned to Alva, Oklahoma, and there her demise occurred in 1906, her remains being interred at Coffeyville, beside those of her husband.
As a young man W. S. Moore was employed by J. S. Todd, who was one of the largest stockmen in Oklahoma, his ranch being situated in the Creek country, south of Muskogee. He remained with Mr. Todd for fourteen years, during which period he acquired a comprehensive knowledge of the business, and he then embarked in cattle raising on his own account, but at the end of three years formed a partnership with Mr. Todd a relationship which still exists.
While conducting his interests independently, he established what is now known as the Horseshoe L ranch, which consists of nearly thirty sections of land and extends from Coon creek, in Washington county, to the town of Delaware, in Nowata country, all of the buildings on his ranch being country, all which his wife received as her allotment from the government. There is also a lake on the ranch, which is known throughout the county as Moore’s lake and is a popular swimming resort of the youth of the vicinity during the summer months. Mr. Moore and Mr. Todd have under lease a large ranch near Big Lake, Texas, and in 1920 they transferred five thousand head of cattle from that section to his farms in Washington and Osage counties.
Mr. Todd and H. M. Brent are associated with him in the ownership of the Osage county ranch and he also has large acreage near Vinita, in Craig county, this state. He is one of the largest stockmen in the country, the three partners now having over twenty thousand head of cattle, and he also has other interests, being a director of the First National Bank of Dewey. He is essentially a member of the class of doers, gifted with initiative and quick resolve, and his determination and executive ability enable him to carry forward to a successful termination whatever he undertakes.
On October 26, 1898, Mr. Moore was united in marriage to Miss Emma Scudder, a daughter of W. H. H. and Margaret (Germany) Scudder, both of whom were natives of Georgia, the former born near Atlanta and the latter in the vicinity of La Fayette. Her father, who was of Cherokee extraction, passed away in 1913. Her mother is now living at Chelsea, in Rogers county, Oklahoma, at the age of seventy-three years, and is enjoying excellent health. In October, 1921, she attended the Old Settlers’ Reunion held at Chickamauga, Georgia. Mrs. Moore was born in that city on the 25th of June, 1874, and came with her parents to Indian Territory. Mr. and Mrs. Moore reside in a beautiful home on Cherokee Street, in Dewey, and they have become the parents of three children: Marie, who married William Murdock Payne of Long Beach, California, and has a daughter, Mary Louise; and Sherman Monsieur and Clarke Scudder, aged, respectively, eighteen and fifteen years, both of whom are attending school. Mrs. Moore has carefully preserved all of her husband’s round-up equipment, including a chuck box, Dutch oven and iron pots and kettles, as souvenirs of the early days.
Mr. Moore is preeminently a man of large affairs, whose name is inseparably associated with the development of the stock raising industry in Oklahoma. His life has been well spent, characterized by a conservation of his forces, by a correct understanding of life’s values and purposes and by the utilization of opportunity, and Oklahoma numbers him among her foremost citizens.
