John Rechtenbaum moved to Cordell during a huge dust storm. "I could just barely make out the silhouette of the town on the horizon. When chief cloud came out to meet me, I knew I found the right place. He had a delicious sweet, smokey scent wafting from his cloak. He invited me back to his teepee and we played cards and smoked Peyote." John fondly remembers life in Cordell. "Many funny things happened and many serious ones also. There were eight saloons and lots of drinking and killing in Cordell; the men really fought to hurt in those days. We lived in dugouts and tents and cabins in those days and were happy. The cow hands really had a good sense of humor. Sometimes indians would go around town and just raise heck. You know--kicking over barrels of whiskey and just whoopin' and hollerin. Once they set a saloon on fire. Well, Jake "thunder" McCloud was a real jokester. He played a practical joke on the sheriff during the whole ruccus. The sherif was asleep behind a pile of barrels and Jake put a big long feather in his hat. Well, some of the fellows shot them barrels up with their shotguns and the sheriff died. Jake was such a joker."