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Indian Pioneer Papers - Index

Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Date: September 1, 1937
Name: Mr. John Carlton
Residence: Pauls Valley, Oklahoma
Date of Birth: August 29, 1863
Place of Birth: Arkansas
Father: J. Carlton, born in Tennessee
Mother: Anna D. Davis, born in North Carolina
Field Worker: Maurice R. Anderson
Interview #8348 

I was born August 29, 1863, in Arkansas.

I came to the Indian Territory in 1896. There were three men traveling in wagons with their families; Tom Farmer, Mrs. Adams and myself. We were headed for the Creek Nation, as Tom Farmer had lived in there in the early days. When we got to a little place called Here, there was a post office and store. Mr. Farmer had told us there was plenty of work at this place. When we got there I had no money and very few groceries.

We all camped at J. W. Edward's place. There was no work to do, but Mr. Edward put me to work on his farm at fifty cents a day. He was a large cattle owner and farmer. I worked that winter for him.

In the spring of 1897, I moved to a little place called Paoli, on the Santa Fe Railroad about seven miles north of Pauls Valley. I had a good team so I thought I would try farming. I rented some land and farmed that year. I raised lots of corn but it was only worth fifteen cents a bushel hauled to Pauls Valley.

One day, while I was at Pauls Valley with a load of corn, I met a man by the name of Frank Low who ran the Pauls Valley Milling Company and he gave me a job at $1.50 a day. This was big money then so I quit farming and went to work for him.

People hauled corn here and piled it in log piles like wood. I have heard men say that they had burned corn for wood in the winter time. Fat hogs were worth about two cents a pound dressed.

Pauls Valley was a small place, but it was a trading point from miles around. It had a free school when I came . The only taxed levied was a small tax on town property. When I came here Zack Gardner owned a gin and grist mill east of Pauls Valley on the river. There was another gin at the north end of town. This was a round bale gin, the first one I saw in the Indian Territory where I had been.

Submitted to OKGenWeb by Brenda Choate.