J. S. Tyson
Residence: Pauls Valley, Oklahoma
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth: Love
Father:
Place
Mother:
Place
Mr. J.S. Tyson, born
My father, Jim Tyson, and his mother came to this country from
I was about three years old when my parents settled about three-quarters of a
mile east of where
There was only one store at
The first store I knew of in Pauls Valley was Miller and Green.
C.J. Grant was one of their clerks and when they moved away, Mr. C.J.
Grant took it over and was successful. He and Mr. Garvin; and I used
to herd cattle for Mr. C.J. Grant.
Mr. Noah Lael, Matt Woff, J.W. Gardner, McNiniman, were men I knew. I
knew Mr. Jack
Mr. J.W. Long helped to develop this country. I knew lots of the old
settlers who first began to settle this country and make
I used to push baby buggies upon the hill where the old Paul rock house is now.
I used to like to feed and curry two horses he had there. Mr. Paul had two
grandchildren who stayed with him and went to school. Their names were Joe
and Tamsey Paul. When they came in from school, Joe would want me to wrestle
with him, on the rockiest place in the yard. He would always throw me, then give
me twenty-five cents, but it was well earned on those rocks.
I have seen corn ricked on the ground from fifty to one hundred yards long, as
barns and cribs could not hold it.
I remember all freight and goods, such as groceries were hauled by ox teams.
Three and four yoke of steers to the wagon and sometimes ten to twelve wagons,
which they called the ox train. It would take them several days to make the
trip, as they hauled to different towns and to
This country was first plowed up with steers, and men farmed and raised good
crops with steers. They used to go on the prairies or in the bottoms and run off
their rows, plant cotton, or corn, then break out the middle while the crops
were coming up. They would do this on raw land and make plenty.
We had plenty of deer and turkey and wild hogs. All of these dry branches and
creeks now were running streams, and you could catch big fish out of any of
them, more than you catch out of the river today.
I have seen over a hundred Indians riding in a long line coming up the trail,
yelping and singing. Sometimes some stockman would give them a beef and shoot it
down, and they would all get on it with their knives, peel the hide off, and
begin cutting off strips of meat and eating it raw. Some would even drink the
blood.
They traveled in large groups, and as for bad men, there was lots of them in
this country. The nearest officers had then were in