Interview #6016895
Field Worker: Maurice R. Anderson
Date: March 23, 1937
Name: Mr. Robert G. Flanagan
Residence: Pauls Valley, Oklahoma
Date of Birth: October 28, 1862
Place of Birth: Tennessee
Father: T. G. Flanagan, born in Tennessee
Mother: Nancy Bolling, born in Tennessee
I came to the Indian Territory in 1879. I was a young man, seventeen years old. I came
from CADDO, to PAULS VALLEY on the stage coach. It cost me ten dollars to ride from CADDO
to PAULS VALLEY. The stage was drawn by four horses and the driver sat on top of the
coach.
PAULS VALLEY was a wild-looking place. SMITH PAUL owned or leased nearly all of the
valley. He was a big cattle dealer. I went to work for him helping with the cattle as soon
as I got here. We drove cattle and hogs from PAULS VALLEY to RUSH SPRINGS on a regular
cattle and hog trail, called the NORTHWESTERN TRAIL. At RUSH SPRINGS this trail joined the
CHISHOLM TRAIL and we drove over the CHISHOLM TRAIL to KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. There were
times when there would be eight to ten cowboys on the drive and we drove as many as two
thousand head of cattle at one time. MR. PAUL'S ability to stop a stampede of the cattle
was marvelous and he always went with us on the drives.
In those days lots of people thought MR. PAUL was a tough man; he was in a way, but I
have seen him stop his horse and pick up a rabbit that the cattle had stepped on and pet
it and then turn it loose. MR. PAUL was a fine man but if anyone was making trouble he did
not hesitate to take his part in the affair. I have known him to carry thirty to forty
thousand dollars in a sack tied to his saddle lots of times when he was making cattle
deals. All the area from PAULS VALLEY around the WASHITA RIVER and across by BEEF CREAK
(now MAYSVILLE) past GARVIN SPRINGS, through to the WASHITA RIVER; west of WYNNEWOOD and
around the river to PAULS VALLEY was called "THE SMITH PAULS RESERVATION."
There was a band of INDIANS and MEXICANS, settled on the WASHITA RIVER southeast of
PAULS VALLEY. The cowboys spoke of it as the MEXICAN RENDE-VOUZ.* There was a log shack
and several tents at this place. I never was there but I have heard people talk about
these MEXICANS and INDIANS. They said that SMITH PAUL was the leader of the band, but they
were careful never to make that statement in MR. PAUL'S presence. In the talk I heard
about the band, it appeared that they were bringing gold sand in here on burros and
washing it out in the river.
I saw MR. PAUL buy one thousand head of cattle at one time and he paid for them in gold
coins. I have seen the time when this river bottom land around PAULS VALLEY yielded one
hundred to one hundred and fifty bushels of corn per acre. The prairie land around PAULS
VALLEY yielded fifty to sixty bushels of corn an acre. It was no trouble at all to make
money when I came to this valley.
I have helped bury lots of men in the old PAULS VALLEY CEMETERY who died "with
their boots on" and no one knew them or knew where they came from. About a mile
northwest of where PAULS VALLEY is now, there was a log house that was a saloon and
gambling place. I believe SMITH PAUL owned this place, anyway that was the general
impression. About a mile or two west of this saloon was a creek next to the river known as
"DEAD MAN'S HOLLOW". This was where most of those men whom I helped bury were
killed. It was dangerous to go into the saloon and gambling den, get drunk and flash your
money around. If you did it was just the same as suicide. MEXICANS, INDIANS and cowboys
made the saloon their regular hangout. I never drank much nor gambled either but I have
been there several times and witnessed shooting and killing scrapes. Once a cowboy from
the WILLIAMS RANCH twenty miles west of PAULS VALLEY got into an argument with three
MEXICANS over a card game. He was about my age, wore a large white hat, high-heeled boots
and two pistols. It seemed that these three men were trying to cheat him out of his
winnings in the game. He jumped up, kicked the table over and began shooting with his
guns. When the smoke cleared away, there were three dead MEXICANS on the floor. I don't
know what they did with the dead men but I couldn't help admiring the way that young man
handled his guns.
I paid five dollars for a permit to live in the INDIAN TERRITORY to a CHOCTAW INDIAN
MILITIA. I stayed at PAULS VALLEY about three years, then I went to RUSH SPRINGS. RUSH
SPRINGS was a rough place then. I stayed around there a short while then got a job helping
drive a bunch of steers to KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. When we arrived in KANSAS CITY, I sold
my horse and saddle to a man at the stockyards for sixty dollars, then I left for COLORADO
where I stayed for several years. That did not suit me so I went back to TENNESSEE where
my father and mother lived. I lived there until 1907 and came back to PAULS VALLEY where I
have lived since.
There surely had been a great change at PAULS VALLEY. Where I had herded cattle and
seen droves of wild turkeys and grass waist-high, I now saw brick build-ings, fine
residences, and beautiful lawns and flower gardens.
Transcribed and submitted by David M. Willis
from Indian Pioneer Interviews, V30, #6016895
* Probably Cherokee Town, about 2 miles south and 4 miles east of Pauls Valley, DMW.
