ES, JOIC-J 'JHOLuio. 6G62

Transcription

1 ES, JOIC-J 'JHOLuio. 6G62 V

2 - 8 ~ I nd iau-pjjwws^ r n i s USTBS, JOHN THOMAS. INTERVIEW Field Worker «Trus report made on (date) Bradley i^ollnger. July 15, Verne John i'homas Sstes. Pxst -.ff ice Address Wilbur to a. uklahoma. Residenco address {;r location) General ^teliverv t ^ iri. DAT7, *?- ^THHi: ' nth mavch Day 19 Year place of birth. Tupelo. Mississippi, in Lee County 5. f Father Ch»r1^s Estes of birti Alabama. Other informali -1 noil f-if- ;?r 67 years of aga at death. 17 ' Other i of birth Alabama. at the age of 72. b \il r.^tho-.h fflt.y r ouried in in Mississippi. "ot«s or complete nnrrati",: by the field vjorker dealing with the life and story of i..e perr-or. interviewed. Refer t: Manual for. suggested subjects and quriptirnn. Continue on blank sheets if necessary and attach firr.ly to this form. Number of sheets - attached g. % *

3 f JOHN THOMAS. INTERVIEW Bradley tfolinger, *ield Worker, July 15, An Interview'rtith John Thomas Estes, banner and general trader of this County. An Early -Uay S e t t l e r. 248 My father, Charley Istes, was born in the state of Alabama, and was sixty-seven years of age when he died.. tie was buried in the Spring Hill Cemetery in the state of Mississippi. My mother, Martha isullard Bates, was born in the state of Alabama and died at the age of seventy-two. t$e was buried at the side of my father in the Spring Hill Cemetery in the state of Mississippi. *. JL was twenty-one years of age when 1 came to the Indian Territory to what was named by the Uhoctaw tribe as ^aine8 County, i was single and just traveling around to see some of the mdian uountry. very few white settlers* When 1 came to this county there were l met miss Helen Bowers, a white woman, and she and J- were married. Along about that'time therp was three McCurtain brothers living in this county, l do not remember much of th*> two older brothers but JL was personally acquainted with Urpen J^cCurtain, thf> last governor of the ohoctaw tribe.

4 SSTBS, JOHN THOMAS. INTERVIEW Ther was a plan on then to allot all this Indian land to the ohoctaw tribe. Many of the ^hoctaws did not want this to happen, they wanted the land to remain just like they found it when they came from the South. i had a place that was located six miles west and one mile south of where wilburton is now. That place was some of the outside land that was in this country then. The Choctaws along about this time held an ^lection trying to decide how many of the.indians wanted this land allotment,and were in favor of the Territory being accepted in statehood, There was lots of unrest here then, "xhe more illiterate t;hoctaws were against allotment, federal Judge barker of *ort i>mith had to send 160 soldiers all over the country in ord^r to stop a lot of fighting and killing among the taockaw tribe. However, the progressive clan won the Indian election^ that called for the land alloftapnt and Tor statehood, -oil the records of these Indian elections were written in the Dhoctaw language. In this early day there was only one definitely marked road in this country. This was an old stage road that ran from JTort *nith to the Texas border. There were two main

5 250 JOHN THOMAS. IMRVIEW stops in Raines bounty. One was near where *ed oak located and' another on a large mountain, called Mountain Station. it' consisted of water and feed for the stage team and food for any passenger who might need it. The Indians used the top of this mountain as a burying place, it is used at present as a burying place for the white people who later settled around there. rfhen 1 first came to this country,when any number of the Indian family took sick and died, they^just put their graves near the family cabin and then built a little log house over each grave, iuost of these places have rotted away and many of the graves you can not even find because most of them have been put in farm land and have be^n "plowed* over for many years. When this country was accepted for statehood, this county was renamed for a man by the name, cf J. ^. i-attimer. Ue still lives in this county now. This man^j. >. Lattimer, was one of the first representatives to be spnt to the state capital after statehood was accepted. ihe capitol in those days was located at uuthrie.

6 251 KSTES, JOHN THOMAS. INTERVIEW Xou could buy land in this country then that was conto sidered surplus land and was not allotted / any Indian. 1 bought sixty acres of this land at a price of vll.00 per acre. When the Uhoctaw, Oklahoma and Oulf riailroad came through this county and an abundance of coal was located there, many white.people came to this county and settled. t