Name: John
Thompson
Post Office: Okemah, Oklahoma
Date of Birth: 1844
Place of Birth: Choctaw Nation
Father: Nelson Thompson
Mother: Hanna Thompson
I was born in 1844 in the Choctaw Nation on the South side of Red River. My
parents were Nelson and Hanna Thompson who were brought here to
I do not remember the name of the owner of the slaves; but, I do remember that
in some way, my father was killed near Red River when I was very young and my
grandfather, William Thompson, who lived in the vicinity of Fort Gibson, brought
my mother and me to his place near Green Leaf Court House about ten miles east
of Fort Gibson where I was reared.
In 1866 I was married to Emma Battles and to this union five children were born.
Later we were separated.
We had much more to eat in those days than we have now. If you did not own a
cow, your neighbors had plenty of cows and calves running loose on the range and
they would let you milk as many cows as you needed for your family. First, they
would have to find out which calf belonged to the cow you selected by driving a
few calves towards your home; their own mothers would follow. The calves were
kept in a rail pen and their mothers did not wander so far out on the range.
Getting our first start of cattle was done by making posts, rails, clapboards
and cook wood in the winter for the cattlemen and taking our pay in cows and
horses which were very cheap in those days. Ten dollars was the average price
for a cow and calf.
In the spring of the year, first came the wild onions and polk greens which were
plentiful along the creek bottoms. Next, came the wild strawberries. Next, the
dewberries and the blackberries; and huckleberries ripened at oat cutting time.
In the fall of the year we would fill our smokehouse full of meat which
consisted of two kinds. At hog killing time, besides killing a hog or two, we
would go out and kill about four large fat deer which were dressed, cut in
quarters and hung and smoked the same as the pork. Smoked venison would keep for
over a year and never get strong; but, would be so hard that you would have to
cut the meat with a saw. It was then soaked in warm water for several hours when
it became very tender and ready to cook in various ways.
CATTLE COUNTRY
The country that is now within twenty miles of Muskogee in Muskogee County,
Oklahoma, and all down towards the southern and southwestern vicinity of
Boynton, Oklahoma, and then back southeastward towards the present Checotah,
Oklahoma was once covered by large herds of longhorn cattle. And, in other
words, this was a cattle country and cattle range.
It was not only cattle that roamed this country for there were the cattlemen
from the Cherokee Nation and men from south and southwestern
There were the stockmen who came from
The cowboys that came and frequented the range were not only cowboys in the
saddle; but there were men noted as bronco busters, ropers, gamblers and of
other types.
This range was also of interest to those men who took delight in horse racing.
There was the whooping of cowboys and all the other noises that go along with a
busy ranch life. Day after day there was firing of guns to quiet down the
stampedes. Still, around and on the range there lurked suspicious characters who
were watched day and night.
There was one man named Charles Caldwell who owned the ranch known as the Half
Diamond Eye and the brand which he used on his herds was /.\. This ranch was
about twenty miles west of
Clarence Turner, another ranch owner had for his brand, the C A Bar. While P. O.
Porter’s brand was One Hundred Eleven, 111.
Southwest of Boynton was another ranch whose owner was known as Barbecue
Campbell and for his brand he used Bar M Bar –M-.
All these men had their herds anywhere on the vast range in the locality. They
were noted for their success as cattlemen; although their herds did mix they
could separate their property from their respective brands on the cattle.
These men claimed that they had the best cowboys in the country that could ride
and break broncos that had never been ridden.
Sundays were not the "dead days" as some people thought. The real
showdown for the cowboy came then for a man to show himself, to see if he was as
good, as he thought he was, as a cowboy. There were two good cowboys that came
from the Bar M Bar Ranch who were John Moore and Napoleon Moore. A half-breed
Cherokee who was once a notorious outlaw who paid with his life on the gallows
for his crimes was known as Cherokee Bill. He figured on that range as one of
the speediest and quickest ropers. There were riders and ropers from the
neighboring ranches who gathered here to see and show themselves.
Once there was a bunch from the Turkey Track Ranch who stopped by to rest their
horses. They were on their way to market and shipping which was at
There were other sports which were dear to the cowboys and that was horse
racing. Some notable entrants at these races sometimes were Belle Starr and
Cherokee Bill. Tiger Grayson from the Cherokee Nation owned a large stock of
horses and was a specialist breeding only horses. He had three horses of the
racing type and on which he never lost a bet. He would often bet from $1,000.00
to $1,500.00 on these three horses and never lose a cent. Horses of those days
were fed only oats that had been shipped from
Such as these activities were my days on the range. Beans, steak and canned
tomatoes were the main food of the cowpuncher; and, it was while I was on this
ranch that I had and learned to eat tomatoes. I like it then and I still like it
now. I liked steak then and like it yet, but I hardly ever have any.