I was bo'n in Grimes County, Texas. Don' know de yeah. It was sometime endurin' slavery time. 'Bout fus' thing I 'member dey was a big barbecue what de white people gib de collud at de breakup of de war. I 'member de collud folks going 'bout, wavin' dey han's, and sayin', 'We free! We free!' I lived wid some white folks by de name ob Cawthorn   live wid 'em always. My mudder lived on de same plantation. Pappy done been separated fr'm us endurin slabery days. Saw Pappy once long time 'go. He livin' in Galveston den. I come to Clay county near Bellevue, in 1884, to work on a ranch owned by man name o' Billy Wells . Name o' de ranch was de Block H. All I eber done was work on a ranch. After while I worked fo' man name o' Suggs . Drivin' cattle in de Indian Territory. Den I went to South Dakota wid some cattle for man name o' Samples . Lef' Amarillo wid 'bout two thousand head. On de road 'bout forty days. Stayed up in South Dakota 'bout two months, and 'en come back to Texas ag'in. When I come back to Texas I worked for a cattleman name o' Tom Jones fo' while, an' den I worked for Tom Waggoner. Worked for him seventeen long yea'hs. He bes' white man dat eber lived. Workin' for Waggoner when de Territory opened up. Saw Pres'dent Roosevelt when he come down to de big hunt. Dey had a good time  dats whut dey did. Waggoner carried thirty head of horses ober dere. Hunt lasted 'bout three days. Din' get to go wid 'em on de hunt. I was shippin' cattle den. Nex' mo'nin after he come I went to St. Louis wid a train load o' cattle. Shippin' reg'lar fo' Mr. Waggoner den  shippin' from 'Lectra (Electra). I had full charge ob de cattle trains. Town boys us'ter gib me ten, fifteen dolla's to let 'em ride up to St. Louis wid me in de cattle car. Den I would get 'em a pass back home. One time herdin' cattle in de Territory and a big storm come up. We halted under de trees wid de cattle to try to keep 'em from stampedin'. All de time on lookout for Indians. Odder cowboys was scared outta dey boots, but I wa'nt 'fraid, 'caze de Indians, dey know me  I could speak dey langwidge. Big Indian Chief come up. He spoke, 'Howdy.' Den he asked me to go up to de tepee and eat. Well, I et till I stuck 'way out. Dey had lots ob meat in de big bucket. Purty soon I seed a heap o' flies swarmin' roun', an' de squaw spoke ob 'em. I looked at dat bucket, and hit was covered wid flies. Squaw ax me eat some more; but I'd already et too much. Stomach full o' hoecake an' meat an' flies! Dey was two Indian cowboys on de outfit; one name John and de odder name Pie Wonder .

Nudder time when Indian was workin' wid us his squaw was going to have baby. She stretched her teepee. We moved on wid de cattle. T'ree fo' days later squaw overtaken us at Fort Sill wid papoose on her back. Sho', I know Too Nicey. Know her as well as I know my own self. She old Quanah's favorite squaw. He carried her wid him everwhar' he went. He stole her fr'm 'nother Indians, and took all de Indian had. No, he nebber had no trouble. Quanah , he CHIEF. Anyway, dat was de custom. When one Indian taken another Indian' squaw he jus' taken everthing else the Indian had. I us'ter meet a lotto Indian girls at de camps. I had t'ree, fo' Indian girls myself. Dey didn' w'ar too many clo'es; just a shroud tied 'roun' 'em. I 'member Frank James good. He lived up in de Territory after he surrendered. When I fus' come to Wichita Falls there was only about two stores in town. I lived by myself in a house dat I built on Park Street. Paid a man a dollah a mont' rent for de use of de groun'. After I had wu'ked fer Mr. Waggoner fer sebenteen yeahs, I went to work for Billy Keys in de ol' White Elephant Saloon. Worked for Billy Keys as long as he was in business. Bob Martin bought de White Elephant Saloon out from Billy Keys . Bob was a big fighter; good size man, too. One time some man was headin' off at de bar, an' Bob , he taken it up. Den de fight commence. Dey went 'roun' an' 'roun'. An' den de blood flew. After I lef' de White Elephant I had a saloon ob my own. Name o' Sun Flower. It was down here nex' to de railroad tracks on Mill street. I was still a-runnin' it when prohibition carried and saloons went out. When fights git started in Sun Flower I put 'em out. Fellow got killed dere one time, dough. Him an' 'nother man was workin' at de Libery Stable. Dey fell out downtown; one ob dem followed t'other down to the Sun Flower an' shot him down too quick to talk 'bout. Ha'r raisin' days them was. When pro'bition come in I went to work at Fus' National Bank. Worked dere nine and a half yeahs as po'ter. Everybody down dere my fren'. Kinder lakt' talk 'bout dem old days. I was married three times; think all my wives are daid. Nebber had no chillun  dat is, none dat I knows ob. I lak Wichita Falls. This my home.