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Indian Pioneer Papers - Index

Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Date:  April 21, 1937
Name:  J.  E. Bounds
Post Office:  Ryan, Oklahoma
Date of Birth:  1872
Place of birth:  Indiana
Name of Father:  H. Bounds
Place of Birth:  Ind.
Field Worker:  Warren D. Morse
We came from Indiana and settled at Red River station.

I got a job helping drive herds to the Kansas market. Then there wasn't anything in Oklahoma, not even a store on the trail.

One time there was a man who drove a herd of cattle up to the river. He had the cattle all in the river and for some reason they "sulled" on him, and he couldn't get them to go on across. Some Comanche Indians were camped on this side of the river and finally after gesturing and making signs, they made the Indians understand they wanted help in getting the cattle across the river. The Indians jumped on their little mustang ponies and yelling and screaming they soon had the herd across. They demanded one of the steers for pay.

Later stores began to be set up along the trail, Bill REED put up a store east of Sugdon about 1866. There was another called Fred's store, at the cross roads. They cross the Chisholm trail here.

The cattle trail was three hundred yards wide. One time the river was up and ten or twelve herds were lined up on both sides of the trail ready to cross. A man drove up with an ox wagon. He had been drinking and didn't realize how deep the water was. There were two on this wagon. He took his whip and whipped the oxen into the river where both went clear under. When the first came up he yelled, "There's old Red, give him the whip". It was funny to watch people cross. We had many hardships then but we enjoyed those days.

Eight or ten miles a day was a good average for a cattle drive. You see we grazed the cattle as we went along so they wouldn't lose weight. In rainy weather it was much slower for we had to pick places to cross the rivers and streams. Some times we had to break a new trail altogether.

The Chisholm trail was named after John CHISHOLM, a white man who ranched in Texas. This trail reached from away down below Houston, Texas, to Kansas. They say he also mapped out loading pens.

I never saw a pen at any time I was ever over the trail. Besides what good would a loading pen do out here when there were no railroads here then. Everything was open then, there were no fences. That was before the Indians came from the east part of the state to get their allotments. Then it was settled very slowly.

Transcribed and submitted by < bellows@mail.hpnc.com > October, 2000.