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R.B. Holder |
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| Holder, R.B.
Field Worker: John F. Daugherty Date: October 26, 1937 My parents were John P. Holder, born in Missouri, and Elizabeth Shields Holder, born in Sherman, Texas. Father was a farmer. There were two children in our family. I was born in Texas, August 15, 1869. I first came to the Territory in 1885, when Brother and I brought five hundred head of hogs to 'mast feed' through the Winter. We forded Red River and stopped on Mudd Creek, west of Ardmore in the Chickasaw Nation. We had a chuck wagon and tent and camped through the Winter, herding the hogs so they would not stray too far. In February we began butchering the hogs and in March we freighted all the meat to Texas and sold it. In 1888, I returned to Ardmore to see an uncle. He persuaded me to help him put in a ranch. We put in the Gillespie Ranch on Blue River that year. I later handled a ranch for Bill Perry on Pennington. It consisted of twelve sections. If anybody rode up and wanted something to eat, we fed him and he was welcome to stay as long as he wished, but we asked him no questions and we answered none. In those days all horses were barefooted. If we discovered a horse's track which showed that the horse was shod, we knew a United States Marshal was in the neighborhood. The word was spread abroad so that those for whom the marshal was looking could hide or run away. My uncle traded a gilt for three lots in Ardmore. Property was not worth much in those days. The brand of each ranchman was registered in Kansas City and St. Louis and when a stray beef was shipped, the owner received the money for it. One day when I was loading some cattle I accidentally loaded a neighbor ranchman's steer. He missed the steer and I told him that I had shipped him. Then he prosecuted me. But he received his money from Kansas City and that freed me. I went to the Choctaw Nation after a bunch of cattle and I noticed signs printed with black paint on boards nailed to trees along the M.K. & T. right-of-way on the west side of the railroad, which said, "Mr. United States Deputy Marshal, this is the dead line. When you cross this line you take your life in your own hands." These signs were placed here by outlaws and desperados to keep the United States Marshals from invading their territory, but the marshals paid no attention to these warnings. About the only recreation the cowboys had was to go to a dance hall at Sulphur which we called 'The Seven Sisters."; This was a dance hall built over the old Gum Springs at Sulphur. We would work all day, come in and eat supper, get a fresh horse and ride over to "The Seven Sisters." It was a gathering place for cowboys from all directions. We danced with our boots, spurs and chaps on. We danced the square dance. That was the only kind of dance which the cowboys knew. There were always plenty of girls to dance with us. I am a bachelor and I live with my brother and his family near Mill Creek. Transcribed by Brenda Choate and Dennis Muncrief, May 2001.
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