Matilda Hurt was born about 1850 in Missouri. In 1880 she married George Wiley. They lived near the small community of Ione in Logan County, Arkansas for many years and raised a family of six children. Matilda’s brother, Richard Hurt, named the community of Ione after Ione, California, a town he had previously lived in and loved. The community was established about 1870. From this I deduce that Richard Hurt probably participated in the California gold rush of 1849. Richard Hurt also homesteaded land near George and Matilda Wiley. Matilda and George moved to Stigler, Oklahoma, about 1907, and both are buried there.