Indian Pioner Papers - B. L. Anderson

Submitted by Brenda Choate  bcchoate@yahoo.com

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                    Garvin County Indian Pioneer Papers
                                      
                                      
                               B.L. Anderson
                                      
     Interview #9967
     Field Worker: Maurice R. Anderson
     Date: February 9, 1938
     Name: Mr. B.L. Anderson
     Residence: Pauls Valley, Oklahoma
     Date of Birth: September 30, 1870
     Place of Birth: Texas
     Father: W.S. Anderson, born in Missouri
     Mother: Jane Enloe (Enloo, Enlee?), born in Missouri
     
     
     I was born  in 1870 in Texas and came to the Indian Territory in
     1889.  I went to work for John Overstreet, a cattle buyer and
     farmer, on the farm seven miles north of Burneyville, for which I
     was paid $20.00 a month and board.
     
     Near where we lived there was a cotton gin owned by Ross and
     Foreman which was the only gin in that part of the country.
     
     Mr. Overstreet's ranch and farm was located along Walnut Bayou
     Creek not far from the gin.  we would have to haul the cotton to
     Gainesville, Texas, to market it as there was no market at
     Burneyville at that time.
     
     We would go into Texas and buy up a bunch of poor cattle and drive
     them back to the ranch and fatten them after which they were taken
     to market at Fort Smith, Arkansas, or at Sherman, Texas.
     
     There was plenty of grass where the Overstreet ranch was and in a
     few months with plenty of grass and water the cattle would be ready
     for the market.
     
     At that time anybody living in the Indian Territory had to pay a
     permit.   I had to pay $2.50 a year.
     
     When I went to work for Mr. Overstreet there were very few schools
     and churches in that part of the country.
     
     All the men carried pistols and United States Marshals were the
     only kind of officers we had then.
     
     There were no saloons in the Indian Territory but there were plenty
     of bootleggers.
     
     Court was held at Fort Smith, Arkansas, at that time.  I only had
     to go to court one time and that was in June, 1890.  There was a
     community picnic held at that time and two men brought some whiskey
     from Gainesville, Texas, to this picnic.   I happened to be
     standing by when they rode up.  Two United States Marshals stopped
     them and wanted to search their saddle bags but the two men drew
     their guns and began shooting.  The marshals killed both of the men
     and one of the horses the bootleggers were riding.  The marshals
     took the names of the men who saw the shooting and I was one of the
     witnesses and made a trip to Fort Smith.  In all the time I stayed
     and worked there, that was the only killing I ever saw.
     
     In the early days people around Burneyville didn't try to farm the
     whole country at one time.  Thirty to forty acres was counted a
     large farm, of course, some farmed larger farms than than but in
     general that was the size of the farms and then they would raise
     more than they could harvest.  I have raised a bale of cotton to
     the acre and from seventy-five to a hundred bushels of corn to the
     acre, but there was no market for corn.  If we raised more than we
     would use in feeding out the cattle and horses we would haul it to
     Gainesville where there was a market for it, but it would only
     bring about 15 cents a bushel.
     
     People didn't have to buy very much in that time.  They raised
     nearly everything they had to have and nearly every farmer would
     have a bunch of cattle.
     
     There was plenty of deer and turkeys and other kinds of wild game.
     
     I worked for Mr. Overstreet three years and saved enough money to
     start in farming and raising cattle for myself.
     
     In later years I moved to Roff and went to work on the railroad and
     I helped build most of the buildings at  Roff.
     
     I now live in Pauls Valley.