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.