Born in Mississippi about 1837, Benson Pikey came to Indian Territory during the time of Chickasaw Removal.

Active in the Chickasaw House of Representatives, he was elected as a representative prior to the Civil War and honorably severed as Speaker of the House. He continued public service as a representative until circa 1890.

Mr. Pikey ran a successful ranch that covered more than 1,000 acres, which was the largest in the Silver City area on the south side of the South Canadian River. He raised cattle, hogs and horses which he trained and traded to the U.S. Cavalry. As a prominent Chickasaw landowner, Mr. Pikey was granted permission by the Chickasaw Nation to help build a 50-mile fence along the South Canadian River. The fence helped protect Chickasaw lands during a time of livestock thefts and other criminal activities on the lands bordering the river.

Mr. Pikey fought during the Civil War as a Confederate Captain of Company G, Shecoe’s Chickasaw Battalion Mounted Volunteers. After the Civil War he established Pikey’s Crossing, one of several important cattle crossings for the Chisholm Trail. With the land run and the establishment of Oklahoma City, Pikey’s Crossing became the main crossing point on the South Canadian River between Chickasha and Oklahoma City until 1932 when highway bridges made the ferry obsolete.

Mr. Pikey was a man of integrity and embodied what it means to be Chickasaw. His obituary in the historic Minco Minstrel newspaper said, “He served his people well throughout his long and useful life. He was an honest man, straight as a line in his dealing with all men and though a man of strong convictions, he kept them for his own conduct and spoke gently of the failings of others.”