Interview with William! L. Cowart 1002 S. Haskell Stwt, Tulsa, Oklahoma». T. Holland Interviewer Ootober 21, 1937.

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1 C0WAH3V 175

2 C«M\ jftujalf L. ' / IUTEH7IBW,' ' 7901 ' ' Interview with William! L. Cowart 1002 S. Haskell Stwt, Tulsa, Oklahoma». T. Holland Interviewer Ootober 21, During the Civil fler period there was great strife and confusion among the various members of the fir* Civilized Tribes and there was division even in the Cherokee O?rib«as to which side they favored in the Civil Mr. Some Joined the forces of the Confederacy, while ac-ne went with th'e Union side; this led to strife and bloodshed among the Indians, and even among neighbors. So, in 1968 ; in the Flint District of the Cherokee tfation,wh«a?»ray parents lived the Onion forces, or tile sympathizers of that side,got the upper hand to suoh an extent that it beeaice unsafe for Confederates to remain thereat least my father thought so, So he moved over into Arkansas where the Confederate forces were under control, where he thought the family would 4 be. more securt, J

3 COflART,.TILLIAM L.. INTERVIEW 7«01 ' 177 Father was in the Confederate Army and the trouble waa dot caused by the regular forces of the Union Army but by the ^Bushwhackers" among the Cherokee. Ttoey took out their spite on the helpless nbn-eotnbatnnte \ robbed and burned &&d committed crimes, as thwre were no civil officers and no law in the Cherokee Nation at that time, and the Bushwhackers operated unmolested, where and when they pleased. I was born in Arkansas, October 25th, 186S, my parent8 being refugees from this Cherokee Nation. \ My father came home on a furlough, the last part of January, Our home in Arkansas was out in the open some distance from the timber. On the day my father was to return to the trmy, he looked out and saw a bunch of men in the edge of the timber and thinking they were after him, he took his rifle and blankets and some provisions and slipped out of cabin opposite these men* He had been gone long enough to be safely away, ay mother thought, when

4 COWART, WILLIAM L.' INTERVIEW * ' 7901 he returned* My mo&er setd she never knew why he returned, but just as he reached the house, a bunch of Bushwhackers closed In fraa the other side of the house, unseen by my parents,and captured my father. Before the Bushwhackers lef$t the community, they had taken seven men, either Confederate soldier? or sympathizers. These men, of whom my father was one,, were lined up and shot* These feandlts *ei» not regular Union soldiers but were Cherokee Indian who favored the Union. I have heard my mother and others say that at * times they had to hide any provisions they night have and even went so far ets to bury their china. These outlaws would take feather beds out of the home, rip open the ticks and scatter the feathers to the four winds. These men knew my father and knew where he moved to and why he came to Arkansas. After my father was killed^my mother went to N. B. Twtas and remained there until 1864, when she returned to our

5 COWART* WIIXIAM L.. INTEHTTKW?90I 5 ~. \ old home in fflint Distri'ct, one mile west of the present town of Stillwell. Thife district was where my parents lived before they escaped into Arkansas. I grew up therejmy mother remarried in We lived near the "Old" Flint Post Office, whioli was five -dies north of the Old Flint Courthouse. From 186*) to later yeara^j. Henry Oannenberg fas tho postmaster at Old Flint and bad a general store in connection. 2his postoffioe was on a Star Route from Jvanaville^Arkansss^to. Tahlequah and oeme by Flint* The distance from Evensvilie to Tnhlequeh was about thirty miles, one trip one way, aas made dailyy the carrier who traveled on horseback spen^t one night in Kvanaville the next in Itehlequah. t carried the mail route for a year, when I and was sixteen years old ; in 1878,^ was paid eight dollars per month but was boarded end my horses furnished and feed. All I had to do was just

6 ' WART, ntluml L. / INTBRVTRW 7901 to carry tine mail which at-that time was not i / First class mail constituted the bulk of if* the mail and registered raail^a g od part of that. There were a few weekly papers. I have cut hay *ith a mowing blade over the land whtre Stillwell now stands. The cemetery outside of Stillwe-ll^and used by the people there, dates back several years prior to the Civil War. people buried there were the Adairs. The first later on a church was built near the cemetery and given the name of New Hope, so the country took that name from then at first ft was known &s the. Adair burial ground. Sorae of the early preacheic of the period imnedia^ely following the wer were Reverend Mr. John Herold Mr. / and Reverend jawing, both Methodist Circuit rid&rs. Our preaching services were held at Muddy Spring^ School near the place where we lived. The locaypreachera a among the Cherokeea were the Beverend^r. Hogshooter and John Sheel, both full blood Ctferokees and both / Baptist preachers.

7 j I» V COWART/fllLLIAMhi INtaTIBW 7901 I, My first schooling in 186? was at Muddy Springs 'in a log school house and W. H. Davie was my teacher. Our school ran from six to eight months and was provided for by our Cherokee National Government. i After the Civil War when things got settled again, ' i we lived quietly and! very pleasantly* We farmed and raia^rfd everything we needed. It was easy to raise cattle and hogs, as (they grew up on foe range without much feed or. attention. Wild game } too, was plentiful. i i My mother made ail our clothes by hand, and e goodly part of the cloth was woven at home.. Our social life, and that of the community t v was different from today. Almost all rail fences had been either torn down or burned and the houses burned. So the neighbors would get together and build fences-,. put up log houses and barns for each other, and of course the

8 003ART, WILLIAM-L. j ISTEBVUW / 7901 / women folks went along and provided a good dinner which made it all the more pleasant. / A lot of people moved away durimg the war and their farms went to reck, Brlarsy and bushes grew up and they virtually had to be cleared again* In 1874^ a widow made a trade with two-vfoite families from Dutch Mills, Arkansas to come on her farm a Mr. and clean it-up. Their names were Mat Bryant and/adams. These were the first whites to come into our district; they were given the first year's rent on all the ground which they cleaned off* this caused their crop to be lete, no it was better, that was the dry year wheji practically no crops were made. These men, having fresh soil and planting late, made several hundred bushels of corn and this WAS the only core in the community. -* The Indians were really in Aeed ; especially foiv corn to make bread, andjjjhad to buy from Bryant and Adams, * / / who knew the scarcity of corn and took advantage of it.

9 COWAHT, WILLIAM L. IBTKRVXBW. 8 An Indian would drive a good steer up to the bouse of Mr. JJryant or Mr* Adams and get only, two bushels of corn for i t* Thls^ weapon until Mr* Adams and Mr* Bryant had accumulated a good herd of cattle and dis- v posed of their corn, when one night a bunoh of Indians banded together and rode by their houses firing Into the air and letting out war-whoops* These Indians did not hurt anyone, and didn't intend to, but they did resent Hie way they had been treated just because the white men had them where they could take advantage of thenu However* they didn't have any white neighbors long, for as soon as It was light enough the next day Mr. Adams and Mr* Bryant were on their way bade to Arkansas with their cattle and belongings* Outlaws who infested the Territory during ray early life never bothered us* i X knew Louis "owning, the founder of the Downing party and its head and leader for years*

10 COWART, WILLIAM L... INTERVIEW I also knew John Roae, who was leader of the Republican or National Party. I knew a number of the. Cherokee Chiefs; Chief Buahyheed, Colonel Harris, Joel B. Mayes and Sam a,, Under the Cherokee laws, the locel pesce officer we a sheriff end he hed deputies, but there were no. constables as we now hare. The United States Government provided the Indian Police, a uniformed force which looked after whisky law violaters mostly, I think. I remember Sam Sixkiller was a member of the Indian police. Et, Hatters, Dr. Lit tie John and Dr,FergU3oa were the doctors in the Flint District during my early days and- like the circuit'riders^ were greet factors in the building up of the territory and state. Dr. Watters attended my grandfather who was shot from ambush a few years after th# war. Grandfather / had gone out to Investigate a noise he had heard. He

11 COIilT, WILLIiM L. IHTffitVIBW. '7901 * 10 really thought come one wae stealing bis males, but It «fts a man or man in hie crib stealing corn and he gofneer, they shot him and escaped. Orand- Itether lired a year, btit waa never well after that.