Document text
'nuthier•-held-n
i-npelore.
art nt
Auberry A Akin„66,11,1tinp, nt 301 itemphill
Let Fort ts-Orth Tome was bo
Sebastian o• Ark. nib fa
and engaged in the cattle
ltvelibeed* Anberry les
and handle cattle at an
his range career at the
to his father's cattle.
he worked at cattle dray
Zaps, qis next or was on
ranch. At the age era
U0S* Deputy Marakall,
airsbal1 he came in coats*
the desperate characters
Among them were took Isl
Bill,James Starr and Boll
Yeb,4,1872„in
rvi*J*Akinamemed
siness for his
te ride a horse
are. He stnrted
'of 10 attending
the age of 14 he
from Okla,te
be Mar X Bar
mme apeeinted
his t-rm as
pith some of
those days,'
lick, Cherokee
err*
is story of range life follows:
"I was born in Sebastian Zo„Ark,"ebs24,1h72 on a farm which
mg father owned* The PITA was one and a half :Ale frem the
airrokos Uhtion of the tadian ferrets* (now part of Okla).
47 fnther fraled rind delt in cattle*
was reared along hr.ssses,
cozi tnd Indians* Xy mnther dted whoegI WM 18 dayr irld while
41-
1 WAD an infant an Indian equals tookliare of me until IwrIn old
enolvh be looked after by father*. learned to talk the
CherOoe lapeuage fluently and ,pent play dage slinging kid
gamma with IudIan.children.
I learned to ride a hose early ife ,Ind when five years
old cobld ride a gentle hose* At the_ege of ten I o Id handle
a hose sufficiently to be used as a co d.
father and I vorked topether
tto eevhande, ?et torpht
_mo to ride,rope ,,qnd do -the Nelrious Am* c-nnected A.th hnndling
a herd* In fnct,he fAlpr,not r .1:14 teacher, I never
attended a school L. mj Afe. I reue2.ed mg schooling from
4authior•Abelden
.ancelore.
arrant Goollist,oz-7
Page 11'2
FC 1;40
father and it was a fair education at that. tile I was a young.
led fcther tutored me regularly in the. three VS.
"Cu the farmeshich as fenced with split rails as all farms
were ihe 0 dafs„we raised cotton and corn. Cur cattle•ranged on
the open ranye,if we ha:: a herd tee large for a pasture. However,
we.generally kept our herd sold down to a lot' nufaber.excepting
dur:ng the Winter months.
"Father's cattle dealing consisted in buying and selling. le
was vat vas termed a cattle gatherer. There were dr:covers who
cf.me through buying cattle to make-up a driving herd and fother
always sLd hir stook to_the0,41rovere. Therefore, we at tmee.
would have etoi-t 600 head of critters and at other times pemetie-
ally•none._
"Uost of the folks in our section of Ark we in the cattle
businees to come extent and there .were some fair else comcasip
The range was eApn'and free except the territory controlled by
the Cherokee ind7ans. To range cattleon the indian'a lands' or
was compelled to obtain oremiseion from the.Cherekeese officals.
Arrangements generally ere node by pajment of a stinulated
sum of money. The amount charged,ac a rule, ,:ns based -n the
number of cattle to be grased•
-hither used. the Cherokee range untill the Indians raised the
price above lb.' is head permannth and then father'consiflered the.
'rice too high. 40 then used cotton fields nftr the cotton vas
gflth,-red.. hose cattle woald.live on the grass rov7. cotton stalks
in the fields an4 a little c'!,ttin seed we ,fed to the animals.
t'eme cattle we placed in the switch one jelde of the bottom
Ganthierw*heldon 10.
,Rungelore.
Tarrlit Co„Dist,.Y7
ANN, :;':3
Fe 240
lands. In those fields the oattle faired uell wittrlut any eupple.
mentary folding.
'lath the cattle grasing in holds fenced tith s lit rails,
all we had to do was to avh for sick critters and once in a
while lo k the fencn over. he re'l fence tAl not bsekkg easily
so the illnces fIV*0 us practically ne trouble. he had nothine
mush to do with tho cattle except till= drover boupht some. of
the animals. a sale.tao mrdo .ce than would htme to 4•:t out
the I-rade s 140,.
I was 14 years old 1 vent o v-ork for a drover named D
Damson. A crew f us waddle's tent to the ranches of thom he
haJ bought cattle and gathered the stook. At the concl%rien
of the stock gathering we then started the drift.- usually the
herd ccysisted of about 3000 head.
"The examinati-n one had to noes In rder to qualify for a
3ob with the Dawson outfitonn other ranchers in our seetion,uae
to ride a pitchinf: hoes,:ionerally tv:e oltchinr hoe w-lt one that
would pive a parka stiff examination.
"1 6en't think Dawson thought I could be a cowhand and didn't
think I o-uld qualify,nr hn w uld not have given mo a chance to
take the examination. However, he told the trail bons to bring
out the profeseer,but winked while speaking. I mounted the
animal and rode the professor to the surnreee of all the bands.
Datoon could do other than accept me a hfqad after mg ride and
he t ok me on an a regular hand*
"The driving crew consisted of 13 ,hand' tesides th- cooky and
Qauthier.aheldea 141,
-engelere.'
s.Zarrtiat4.44,Iste.ti
Base if4
?C 1A0
hose ormpler.
"I worked as a pointer and twilit my turn night riding alone
with the old rawhides* lemPron dreve the cattle to Zansoand the
-Chreokee btrip country and placed the animay on the range for
:,enditionine before he cold the ,critters for beef stock.
"ho distance of the drives was not far. e generally
con toted the drives in 30 or 40 dais.'
"I t-rked a year for.masson anti dnrins the ntire year we had
no serious trouble on the drives. I worked with severn). drives
when we did not leeeeet single, critter. de had many :tamredes.but
n no of the runs were hard t: handle. Most of the critters were
out of small herds and were use to being handled and becitme, of
this fact the animals were not ccarea so easily and would
respond to handling.
'he worst stqApede 1 helped No top we a herd of SCO crit4fe
we tore holdinr while gathering crit-ers for a drive.,14, vmre
oidine tho herd outside of a little place called Sochett, Ark.
There was a picnic being h 14 in town to which all the v444j
attended except Dick -lob/neon and 1. A st-rmesith heavy lie ing
and thunder.etarted about 3 A.U. A few -inntes after the eta
started the herd sent on he run. Thrilo beini a 17 tvo of c4
'o handle the run put us in a quandayyttbecause we knew tuchmen
could not do much in the -ai of etc ping the herd. Is kept' riding
and making a wide circle ;e sere liasky to have the leadilr
critters take to follewi,r the hoss-s and by riding, in 8,411de
we let the animals run until the animals -ere tuitkered
out. Our hooves were also tuckered,but the b rd did not
Gauthier•bheldem 'age 15
,iangelore. ee 240
Tarrant 001•Disto.*7
scatter and satisfied their desire to run.
"I believe a scared herd has .their fee11,48 eased by running-.
and we acted wise': k; not trying to step ithe-animals,but lust
led the run.
,"After Sper4ding a year with the Dawson oaCitvdriving and
gat ring cattle ,I went to work for the Bar II Bar ,:lanch. The
rncwaL owned by TaialegOcury ”mid he worked six hands erasing
from 2600 to 30.Ck head of cattle. The randh was located where
tho town of Aartahorn Okla.'s no eitutated.
from
The crew. ae made up mostly If the members ef the family.
Bxtra has*, were.hired.oc:2asionallyacepecially during the ;'ound—
Pp.. Are Moilircury did the cocaine and did her work well. Ihe
rest of us did any kind of r-ork which sae_ necessary
"ae had a coMfortable camp hluse to bunk in and we slept in
our bunks -most *Very nightoircept during the roundups.
"The m.nt tedious tork-was'th night riding which we always
did. The wor was did'by two men on each shift of four hour.
The men working the night ehift.sonbe the first out
tie next night -and by such _rotating of shifts each man secured
sufficient el op.
"The night was did principley to watch for rustlers.
The country was infested with petty rustlers. Besides watching
for rustlers _We kept the /10,4 held to the grassing grounds where
we wanted the animals. A few anilnle weuld drift away -from us.
but those we uould pick up_during the Swine and Fall roundups.
"The genreal'reundups were worked by all tho'mehesre
Oquthier*,-Adon f*
a* galore*
Tarrant Co,Disto 7
f..ge id
Ye 240
co -o• rating* The roundup craws were f rmed by represen4atives
etom the many ranches running cattle in tb *Um,
";41y experiences during the early days of life was one 7.hich
to
.only e few men have bad* That• was living close/the the SheroRee
.nation and being able to see tho Indian inu his native element,
and dealing with the redmeno
"I learned that the Indian -Ay nature, utts ni honest and tomtit
koep 'is word.
"During the early part of my life the Ohara**e atie'n maintain*.
ed tiler own tribal court which tried and pronounced nunishmint
f r violator, of the tribal lets* The tribal court was disoentinn.,
ed when the U*S*Government set up itsiceurts to maintain law
and order in the Cherokee lotion*
":40Dat or the Indians get into trouble w ila full of fire -water
(liquor)* ahooting was the penalty for mart.- and occasionally
andindian tould be sentenced to be shot* r know ef-several enentehces
were
and the executienhiet a furture date* The custom u s to .give
the condemned man time to arrange his pre-Inal and family affairs*
The condemned W4,3 allowed to gl about at his own will unon a
;Tornio* to return on the date set for his execution* 4hen the
day arrived for the execution the condemned Periou rould be on
hand*
"I hav in mind one IndianonamedjaVer Ss gym. she was deor*pit*
The date el his execution was set to take place 60 days after his
OfeWirten* On the date specified James came riding in on his
hose* He was assisted from his mount and the Indian Limped to
Gnuthier.4hold n
11.pelere.
Tarrant Cov.pleto.f?
e
PC '-t40
over to the spot indicated tn h*M0 He lava him blan:st on the
grounddand thowseated.himself on the blanket. '110 -sat on the
llanketetelidly waiting for the fatal shot.
"naturally'rthere was a tr-wd gathefed to vatch the execution.
1:hem people had the pleasure of seeing James keep. his word and
the executioner keeping his word. with Jame The execntIener
stepped into position t I. fire the shot He raised his gun and
took aim. All the while demos eat moricalets and never changed.
his expression. The ohetmas fired and James toppled over dead.'
"I know nf another incident which stop amuseing and Wo*th the
telling. An yew Indian wandered ff of the Sation's territory
and took on to much fireiTater*, le was arrested4found frailty of
being drunkained ordered jailed until the fine was paid.
de had no nor and when sake& if he could pot he maw at home
he anoweredolcan no know'. The officers turned him loose nnd told
him to see 1 he could get '010 money. 414, rl'ficers didn't'exeeet
the lad to return. In fact; did not want to pat the boy in jail
and turned him. lose hepaag that he world stny ava7 from towno
raw beg returned in three dais and had walked to his home nnd
back a distance of GC miles atd ronotted to the court saying,
'me no goes
"To further Illustrate Indian character. I shall mention another
incident. During the early part of 1900 I was abked,by a co matte
which were ,trranging fo.. a July docelebretion to secure an
Indian ball game to be played at the picnic. I called en John
Tonaker,an Indian whom I ,new to be one of the Indian players.
The ball game- the Indians played was similar to the pipe of 10Crdee.
Gaut).4eres,beldon 14. 'age
:langelere. FC 240
:arrant CelpAste,f7
Tb-j used a stick which had a pm:I:Apt arrangement fastan4d to Oho
end in which the ball was osught and from Which the ball OMB
the gone
thrown. ihen I spoke to John 54neker about ObtongiOng,he told as
that he that be hid been sentenced to be shotsby the trlbel
court,f(Ir soting a man. 2WIt-tho date of the sentence was set
on a data three .months hence and he would be leased to nla7 in
ore more ball game before he paid the penalty*
"Ns arranged the bail game and plojed an e.celleA cisme. now.
ever Sohn was n ver executed. tribal lourt.wes &Writhed
before the date of jobnis execution. He la W.111 alive unlass
'he has died during the last throe .years.
he Cherokees had their political -)rganizations within the
'at ion -116 the rivalry between to two parties was priest at times*
"One party was called -the Buzzards and the other catcalled
the A4gles. fteive prior to the tribal election there viers many
hot arguemonts nd on on occasion a political dispute ended
in a killing.
"I one .or114 on the BitorMi Jar at the time the dispute rind
illtn took ,Aace. It happened in a shanty o few miles from tile
ranch. A joune Indian stopped a* the'ranch,and saids'i septet
Jo Al Hokoletuby 1/11°. He told us whr,se the man wee and sereral
-f ub rode to the shack. ';.4 fund that the young Indian's
sueolcion.was eelleftended. BOOPlotaby's body bad 19 bullet
holes :n it. C;ne bullet had entered his head nt he front and
another at the side,tvms quartering hie skull.
"I quit the 3ar N. Bar mach in 1893 and took 's petition with
the department of the U.S. 14rehisll an, .morkod out of the Fort
..11Lith,Ark office. I was what We called a pasemono MY atft
Gauthier. ”heide
.:angelore.
Tarrant Co„Diet,
4:7
rge t
240
to hunt out and bring in the perecm mted. selary Is
_
3. pc:r daj and exposes.vlich lias better than c330. por month.
as a c-.wher.d.
"Itii4G that vork I camo in contact .,;.ith itty theavecorobbers„
ctie ruetlers, and killere. indinns,for :th-• eartormOaers
-414 Generally e. vUte -man wEeil bohin6 thr
"Uonry tarr,a mixed brood Indian,,Ind his wife tell 6tarr were
notorious Indians;but were cattle and •hose rustlers and not killers.
Cherebbeeill r,ao another.Mlm?d-breed Indian vho was n-:torious and
he vas a killer. ne dis'urblw el.emont of white and Indians
oerated both within nA outoVe of the Cherokee iiation and r!eve
Considerable trouble.
•I shall tell of a few exptirienceo 1 hid dealinc vAth thktllere
and rustlers to indicate the eonditon and how pole lived in the
Ter*tory and its ,adjacent section ti-ce days.
"One dajetho'U.S.arshall ordered a.nnmeer of us deputies to.
exf.114d an election which:was laJin held in the Cherokee ilatieb.
This day it happen that eutlav4c,one of whom wns named Lee Taylor
a fact I learned later„ .had ar:aneed with a cattle byger to eo
wlth thou to the bottoms and look at or catt they had stated
were there' and Or sale. alhe buyer VQ8 to t0 th,1 pl;rchase money
with •him and if th6 catt:!.e wore satisfatpry to himothe buyer tns
to may•IThr the herd on tho slot so th• sellere could be 7,.n their.
way. The eutlavu were fnr the buyer,tho had gone after
the money,when the Matee wa2 roeorted to 'le. It-nns a Oheroee
Indien the reported the mntter.to me nn1 111,thet there were no
enttta in no bWom Thnt ceAltion indicated the mon wcY...6
bent n robbine the buy,r.
Gauthier.aheldon
_Angelo*.
Ta2.rant cooDist4,47
Page
FC 24C
11(i woe going to kill we inside of 30 days.
"Lee Saylor was a killer mad Of I had talked up to him ,the
previous weekoand tried to airest !Am he would have plugged mew
lioak Island gack v -as a notorious train robber and killeroand
a t ugh character. I caught and took him in,bst did not know
it at the timetowbo he was
"Tom Simpson, n nev poseman, owl I went .to pet a fellow on a
iisdemeenor charge and while e t,Ire en cur way a settler reported
that his house had been robbed of a fluitfeatherbed *ad 'ax, and that
the thicvee had taken to voperty to the bottoms where they were
staying in a shanty. The settlher went with the two of us deputies
and we su:rounded the house and matched it until last befo.*
daylight. ,41 entered the house quidtly an found the men sleeping
on the fdaar usin the featherbed a 'rest. '4here were two
rifles laying at their -side. I reached under the featherbedVNI
tym six-guns. After we had possession of the guns t poked the
mon in their et r:Ith my pun. The men opened their eyes and
Lxtently reached for their si7-guns and then warted to cuss.
"I had no handcuffs rith me and had to use rawhide string
for tie ng purpose. e tied their hands behind their backs and
cclipelled the pen t mount a hose. e th n mounted behind the
men and started to town.
"That evenng late,we same to the *par ilaef Greek and.fowv
the creek 1688 up. The fellow ridi7:g in front of me proteeted
aaout fording the creek with his hands tied. I had him siOad up
as oils not to be trusted and fig:irked I may as well drown him as
to,shoot him fr trying to get away. I spared mai mount and it
dashed into the water. I knew my hose was a pood swimmer
Gauthlerebhnlaon A.
;.12.ngelores
Tarrant Co,Dists.;-7
Page ;tar
PC 240
and would make the fordobaring andidedient The fellori. in front
of me let out a bunch of cuss words sben my boss hit the TAUT.
Me gelled ,'You 2 eir.-Jek you are trying to drown met. He called
ma everything the human tonrue has invented to heap on a man,
vhil‘ croveing,thet stream*but we cross d the creek without being
harmed.exoept the %etting of our clothes.
"we had to stay at a eettl ris 2ihantj the ni?ht 1;hore was
,no chance for bed,bocaueo there' uere no beds. t'ilee,Ine on the
floor was thn beet we could expoot and I was thankful fnr the
priviledge the settler prantod us.
"I told the. prisoners thst If they Would se' decent I wnuld
allow them to remove their clothing and dry their garments. Zech
What.
of them promised to be g,od,but their later action. eh-wed/they
ment was that tO4k; tould be decent uniss they found a chance to
oe othervise. ilowever, I untied thcitr hands sr, they could ,lamove
their clothing.
"Simpson was a'new man on th, fem.e tied not learned to 1:ear
hi, eun at the side of his belt. He had it stuck in front part of
the bolt. I told himpto move thn pun to the side there it could
not be so easily grabbed. I, did not want to shoot a man and that
I would have to do if one of them got their handl', on a gun.
Bimpion st,ffed at the idea of anyone getting his pun and left it
in the front of him.
"It %a only a few minutes after we released the nrisonorelhande
until one of them made dive for dimpeones gun and got it. Luckily,
I wee standing close by and happened to ca*ch the move as the man
thier,§heiden "As it13
elore.. IC 240
'Tarrant k;lo,Plet„,#7'
etart'd hie bolt for the gun. -I lumped with the fellow and had
gun againet.hic head tho instnnOtt his hands on I peon's gun,
bumped y rrn aft:1mA his skull nnd ordered him to dron :Ampson's
revolver, Because the pnrty pulled his act i retied the prisoner
hNnde and compelled them ti sleep in their wet clothing.
"i4.1bn we arrived at ,ziort 8mith, the post office tspector took
Aa look at the men and pointinr to the man on my toss said„9thda
man is .--4Pek Island Buck wanted for a number of lost office robberies,
%ock Island Beek vas repcted to be among -the ;orst filers and
it wen the (-,,inlon of all officers that he would never be taken
%ithout s.Illing blood. I just played mg cards in luck without
knowine it.
"The only rtvl trill Indian intiWe parts during my days there
was Cherokee Bill. ae was a -mixed breed of Indian and negrO blood.
-of
e had robbed and killed until there -,as a combination. rewards,
-.fferad by the i,iovernment,reilronde and exress comPanles,toteling
0.0„DOC for tie couture. Thit ro ard was tho larrost of all re.ards.
o ferod for.any man in the t4mtlon country,
horokee 8111 won eaTItured by Iloe-rodpers, 3111 and Bodpers
were friendly end were in a shanty. Bill etoopli over to pick no
4ill was
a live cosl'out of the fireplace, .1211e/in the stooped ;)osition
_edgers picked up a.iron qoker and blasted 3111 over the head,
odors then tied,aill's hqnde nrici fe-t fici put hi 111 a=fJPOIR
f tivAr trip to tovalohero he turned 411 over to the .ershall.
-cod,rere motive for turning 3111 over to the 148•Marshall was to
cotlLt,
the remora.
,authier*-.;;heldon 'age •,r14
..angelore* Fc
Tarrant (1),Dist„..#7
"Ike -edgers never collected the reward,' ,nile he Air returning
home after delivered hie captive„Cherokeee brother empetind a
charge of buckshot into Ike's hood"
he next chapter in Cherokee's lifo took place while he vas
in jail* Cherokee Jill -was big as a houee and every inch of him
was tough* V;hile ho zee in jail,his daughter slipped him a
46 revolver* e had tow of the jailors with therr hands renchinp
for the sky and the third twat in a quandary about Sill's demand Co
.,)(1 turned looseethreatenine to kill the two j Hors If hie demand
&A complied with*
"At the time Indian *arise -6tarr was in jail on -a charge of'
mrdor for killing V•d*Zarshall •Floyd. Ullson*• Starr prorosPd- to
the jailf:re that J. they_lv'uld turn him out of his cell,he- w.18
.go into Chreokeete cell and pet the pun 3111 had. The jailor
turned larr out ±4 he walked over to tiell'eHellynnlocked
tha'door .3nd walked in, ilth a gun in his hand, piven to tim
ki the jailer, atarr Jallad up to L;herokee and reached for
-311112 gun. Cherokee hesitated a moment,but handed his pun to
.Aarr Aon dtarr said, 'I've come ,tr:, ta:r6 your -un'.
"dtarr was in h,-7 murdorout 1144U npt killer* le was -Axed
in hooki ructlito- with other ruslersi. slo and his wife occiO4e#
tho:lunii which- waL iormely owned oj the -Younger brothers,the
&Aerially outlaws of the eon-; days* The ;Aarre place wee used
at a paiture rustled homes* The metiers brought the stolen
stook tho farmend z;to r would do tho
"When Starr shot 611son he was wanted on a é mpleint for some
hose deal* -liaison etarted to serve papPre on °tar? and Starr
Gauthier.bheldonV Page #16
apngelore• FC 240-
Tarrent CovList„f7
not realising alv-r1 had started for himorode amayo tillson open
fire on Starr Lind 4tarr spured his hoes to get ay eap the
fire/opt:el at thr2 same time amine hlo putl back of him Ofing it.
-The shot r e a chance shot and a center hit. It hit cllson
hatween the eyes. The cz-,ndltions einder )4hich the shottine ae
s known to many people --.4ho.:1 lore there at the time*
"Because 3, the aot otarr preformed in to nr the gun away
from 'Zilerekae 3111,ftarr was pardoned by tho then President
Orover 0.evelamlowhich wao recomended by many officiate and ethers•
Votil
"-ater4ames Btarr,with a gang, robbing a bank and az
killed darlW the rob4ory•
"*0 indicate Starr's nature i shall mention the request ho
mode of.ble palo,after he wbo shot ai:Ad was dgi Ris pals
zaated to fight bock,but litarr told them not. kill anyone,but
to ride away.
"Bell 3tarr continued to op rats the hose paeture after her
,13.nd': do th ut r4aa finally killed In her ow p stirs by
tlar. She b,camo Involved In a awpnenient over a settle -ant
a hose deal.
"'Safer° Bell :iitalv led •4141 after her huskr4id's defAhoshe
pt on a sige.cofich holdup net for an entertainment at a July 4,
celebration held in LeAlseter,klao, and she put on t4, pood apt.
"-.1t11 the death od Bell lAarr,there was anly one :Aarr loft
engaged in the rustl np bisinessiaccordinp to what ranchmen caid.
hio tarr was Eong atarr,sone of 4ams0,0 BO 046 served noVee
by a c.::mettee of vigilantes to leave the :auntry lh throe dags,
tuld ho gave them -back two of thp tags.
,;raut-inroz;holden
211colore.
age f16
24C
"T.ho vlgllanteeouaintained thnt Bony wee rnetlinp cattle.
liewoveretney may hove been misthken,nkich they sometimee were.
There never ens an charge filed agninst 1?-nyi. He finally.
settled in 'Zeman and h.& been n goad'citianethat is from
what I learn. Ito has never ha been mixed na in an.77 denr-dations
and to a respected citizen by thorn who knew hini.
"1 cult the Marshall's offiee in 19-0 qnd returned to tho cattle
business as a Over and seller. After a fey yeare,I mitered the
realestat Walesa end hnve foiled the realeetate business
since.