Biography of John R Kerr (k600) - McClain County, Oklahoma Submitted by: RW 7 Aug 2003 Return to McClain County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/mcclain/mcclain.html ========================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ========================================================================== INTERVIEW BIOGRAPHY FORM WORKS PROGRESS ADINISTRATION Indian-Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma Field Worker's name Robert H. Boatman This report made on (date) August 23, 1937 1. Name John R. Kerr 2. Post Office Address Blanchard #2 3. Residence address (or location) Fourteen miles west of Purcell 4. DATE OF BIRTH: Month July Day 26 Year 1862. 5. Place of birth Texas 6. Name of Father Robert Kerr Place of birth Georgia 7. Name of Mother Nancy McGrady Place of birth Georgia BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN R. KERR MCCLAIN COUNTY, OKLAHOMA Practically all my life I have been ranging from west Texas to and including a good portion of the Chickasaw Nation in the Indian Territory. I was born July 26, 1862, in the state of Texas, during the conflict between the North and South. I grew up in the days when cowboys were cowboys. I drove a bunch of cattle across into the Territory in 1889 and settled on Honey Creek, near Foster in the Chickasaw Nation. Foster was a post office and is still located at the same place. My reason for settling at this particular place was that it was a rough country, with plenty of grass and water and was an ideal place for cattle raising and that was about all the business there was here then. There was just open range from Red River to old Whitehead, or at least to the Canadian River. Whitehead was a post office and was named for an Indian Chief by the same name, Chief Whitehead. This place is still located at the same place and is known by the same name today. The country was pretty tough, especially near the Red River boundary. There was a band of Indians along the river that seemed to be very hostile and a cowboy riding range in that section of country had to be at all times on the watch or he was likely to be pierced by a fusillade of arrows and his scalp removed as a prize. The Indians did not seem to fear death at all. However, when a band of them were on a rampage they always had a leader and if their leader was lost they didn't stay very long afterwards, but would run like turkeys and go into some hiding place. Purcell, located on the South Canadian River, was established in 1887, with the coming of the Santa Fe Railroad, which was built the same year; this, was known as the cow town of the Chickasaw Nation. Many thousands of cattle have been shipped to all markets of the world from there, though I guess more cattle have been shipped to Kansas City from Purcell then to any other market known in the '90's. Full train loads of cattle have left Purcell for the eastern markets. Purcell was never as rough as some towns known as cow towns. The boys would go in town about once a month and spend a day or two, have a big dance, pull a few drunks and fist fights, then break up the camp and return to their homes on the range. There were hitching rocks for the horses; these were posts set in the ground with poles stretching from one post to the other, here the horses were hitched. A cowboy didn't know what a hotel was made for. The grass was his bed, the saddle his pillow, and the big open-space was his home. Many a cowboy has slept on his saddle blanket on the grass, right where the business street of Purcell is now located. Over around Whitehead the country was being turned from a grazing country to a farming country. People were building homes of logs or whatever material they could get to build a house, and they began raising cotton and corn. Supplies were hauled long distances, from Denison, Texas, and other places; they were usually hauled overland by teams and wagons. Quite a few ox teams were in use and they travel very slowly, sometimes being as long as a week on a trip of fifty miles. The oxen sometimes became lame from worn hoofs and tender feet and would have to be shod the same as a horse. Mule shoes were used and the steer would be shod the same as a mule or horse except that the show would be cut in two in the center at the parting of the hoof. Sometimes, if a man lost a horse of his team of horses he would just harness up a steer and move along with one horse and one steer. Of course, a steer could be harnessed the same as a horse, except that the collar and harness were used upside down. The days of yore will soon be forgotten and the old cow town of Purcell that was once the pride of the range in the Chickasaw Nation has become a busy city of some 3,000 population, which grew very rapidly with the agricultural development of the country. I continued the raising of cattle and have at this time some 200 head. I also farm some five hundred acres of land. My home is located some fourteen miles west of Purcell, where I have lived for forty years. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to McClain County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/mcclain/mcclain.html