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JOSEPH HARRY CARTER
Vol. 3, p. 986-87

Much of the prosperity of the western section of our country has
been due to the great cattle industry, which is still one of the
leading business interests. The care of cattle on the western ranges
has been the duty of a hardy class of men, whose adventurous lives
have often
been the theme of the novelist and excited the interest of audiences
in moving-picture theaters all over the country, and, indeed,
throughout the world. The "cowboy" is one of the most popular and
typical American characters, and it is probable that his fame will
not die out for generations to come, even after modern conditions and
new methods may have changed or modified the nature of his
occupation. A good
representative of this western type of American is Joseph Harry
Carter, of Alva, Oklahoma, who, however, retired from range work
several years ago.

Mr. Carter was born at Kansas City, Missouri, October 25, 1868, a
son of Joseph H. and Mary (HAYDEN) Carter. His paternal grandfather,
also named Joseph H. Carter, 2d, was born in 1810 at Harrisville,
Missouri, and became a well known and picturesque character of the
West. He was educated in the public schools with Cole and Bob Younger
and was well acquainted with the James brothers, being reared with
them. His life-long occupation was that of printer, publisher and
editor. At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in a Confederate
regiment under the command of Gen. Joseph Shelby, and took part in
the border warfare between Missouri and Kansas, being present at the
battle of Westport, now Kansas City. During the war, with others of
his regiment, he went to Mexico and, settling in Monterey, learned
the Spanish language and established a Spanish newspaper. Later he
was manager for the government of an army printing office at Santa
Fe, New Mexico.

After the war he returned to Kansas City, where for some time he
worked at the printer's trade. In 1879 he established the Caldwell
Post, at Caldwell, Kansas, a weekly newspaper devoted to live stock
news on the range. Later Mr. Carter established a paper at Hunnewell,
Kansas, the first paper in that town, afterwards publishing papers at
Protection, Lexington and Ashland, in the same state. He preempted
land in Clark County, Kansas. In 1888, one year prior to the original
opening of Oklahoma, Mr. Carter removed to "No Man's Land, " and was
editor of the Beaver Democrat at Beaver City, also homesteading land,
and thus became a pioneer of that section. After remaining in
Oklahoma until 1909, Mr. Carter returned to Clark County, Kansas,
where he made his home with his son, Grover Cleveland Carter, until
his death, September 18, 1912, his remains being interred at
Protection, Kansas. He was well known throughout the West for his
work as a western newspaperman and for his devotion to friends and
principles.

Joseph H. Carter, 2d, was three times married. His first wife, Mary
HAYDEN Carter, the mother of the subject of this sketch, died in 1871
at Kansas City, Missouri. By her he had two children, Joseph Harry
and Laura. The latter, born May 9, 1870, is unmarried and lives in
St. Louis, Missouri. By his second wife Mr. Carter had no children.
His third wife, whose maiden name was Emma HAMILTON, bore him three
children, Julia, Grover Cleveland and Frances.

Joseph Harry Carter of the present generation, resided in Kansas
City until 1879. At that time, being eleven years old, he removed to
Caldwell, Kansas, and two years later, in 1881, he took up the work
of a cowboy on the range in the old Indian Territory. This occupation
he was engaged in for many years, working on different ranches,
making a number of trips to Texas and driving cattle up the trail to
the open ranges in Indian Territory. He was for seventeen years range
and ranch manager for different large cattle companies. In 1898 he
homesteaded land in Woods County. In 1911 Mr. Carter abandoned range
work and took up his residence in Alva, where he is now a well known
and respected citizen. He is an active member of the Benevolent and
Protective Order of the Elks, being now manager of Lodge No. 1184, of
Alva. Mr. Carter has never married.

Typed for OKGenWeb by: Earline Sparks Barger, December 17, 1998.