His mother remarried, and Vestal took the legal surname Campbell from his stepfather, James Robert Campbell. About 1889, the Campbell family relocated to Guthrie in the newly established Oklahoma Territory, where he learned Native American customs from his boyhood playmates, knowledge which would later be useful in his writing career.
His mother remarried and took the legal surname Campbell from her stepfather, James Robert Campbell. Around 1889, the Campbell family moved to Guthrie in the newly established Oklahoma Territory, where Vestal gained insight into Native American customs through playmates, knowledge that would later be useful for his writing career.