Robert Guilford Flanagin
(28 Oct 1862 - Sep 1951)
"He favored his mother in looks, with red hair and blue eyes. He
was educated in the country schools and then his father sent him to
"pay" school to learn penmanship. Considering the limitations of
education at that time he had a good education. He was a rather
wild sort, loved rowdy living but did not indulge often in liquor.
He had a likeable personality, good humor, enjoyed the telling of
tall tales and jokes and was always a happy go lucky person."
I tried to write my own description of Robert but in the end I felt
it was best to use the one above. Robert's life was full of ups and
downs, twists and turns, and what seemed to be an incurable sense of
wonder lust. His fourth marriage, to Mollie Chrisman, seemed to be a
major turning point for Robert.
No statement could be more correct than "...enjoyed the telling of
tales and jokes..." I have inserted an interview Robert gave in 1937
from his home in Oklahoma. It is the type of story that one likes to
hear when they are sitting around a campfire with a big pot of
coffee, and surrounded by friends. Factually, the story is full of
holes with a considerable amount of information left out. For
whatever reason, or reasons, Robert told the story in his own way - a
way which definitely catches the readers' eye and attention. Very
little is said about his life in Tennessee, and nothing is said
regarding his family. He had his reasons for telling the story as he
did, but (as I have said before) "What right do I have to pass
judgment ...?" So, read the interview and enjoy it.
The following interview has been copied exactly as it appeared in the
Garvin County Indian Pioneer Papers - Oklahoma.
Interview # 6016895
Field Worker: Maurice R. Anderson
Date: March 23, 1937
Name: Mr. Robert G. Flanagan (note spelling)
Residence: Pauls Valley, Oklahoma
Date of Birth: October 28, 1862
Place of Birth: Tennessee
Father: T.G. Flanagan, born in Tennessee
Mother: Nancy Bolling, born in Tennessee
I came to the Indian Territory in 1879. I was a young man,
seventeen years old. I came from CADDO, to PAULS VALLEY on the
stage coach. It cost me ten dollars to ride from CADDO to PAULS
VALLEY. The stage was drawn by four horses and the driver sat on
the top of the coach.
PAULS VALLEY was a wild-looking place. SMITH PAUL owned or leased
nearly all of the valley. He was a big cattle dealer. I went to
work for him helping with the cattle as soon as I got there. We
drove cattle and hogs from PAULS VALLEY to RUSH SPRINGS on a
regular cattle and hog trail, called the NORTHWESTERN TRAIL. At
RUSH SPRINGS this trail joined the CHISOLM TRAIL and we drove over
the CHISOLM TRAIL to KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. There were times when
there would be eight to ten cowboys on the drive and we drove as
many as two thousand head of cattle at one time. MR. PAUL'S ability
to stop a stampede of the cattle was marvelous and he always went
with us on the drives.
In those days lots of people thought MR. PAUL was a tough man; he
was in a way, but I have seen him stop his horse and pick up a
rabbit that the cattle had stepped on and pet it and then turn it
loose. MR. PAUL was a fine man but if anyone was making trouble he
did not hesitate to take his part in the affair. I have known him
to carry thirty to forty thousand dollars in a sack tied to his
saddle lots of times when he was making cattle deals. All of the
area from PAULS VALLEY around the WASHITA RIVER and across by BEEF
CREEK (now MAYSVILLE) past GARVIN SPRINGS, through to the WASHITA
RIVER; west of WYNNEWOOD and around the river to PAULS VALLEY was
called "THE SMITH PAULS RESERVATION."
There was a band of INDIANS and MEXICANS, settled on the WASHITA
RIVER southeast of PAULS VALLEY. The cowboys spoke of it as the
MEXICAN RENDE-VOUS.* There was a big log shack and several tents at
this place. I was never there but I have heard people talk about
the MEXICANS and INDIANS. They said that SMITH PAUL was the leader
of the band, but they were careful never to make that statement in
MR. PAUL'S presence. In the talk I heard about the band, it
appeared that they were bringing gold sand in here on burros and
washing it out in the river. I saw MR. PAUL buy one thousand head
of cattle at one time and he paid for them in gold coins. I have
seen the time when this river bottom land around PAULS VALLEY
yielded one hundred to one hundred and fifty bushels of corn per
acre. The prairie land around PAULS VALLEY yielded fifty to sixty
bushels of corn per acre. It was no trouble at all to make money
when I came to this valley. I have helped bury lots of men in the
old PAULS VALLEY CEMETERY who died "with their boots on" and no one
knew them or knew where they came from. About a mile northwest of
where PAULS VALLEY is now, there is a log house that was a saloon
and a gambling place. I believe SMITH PAUL owned this place, anyway
that was the general impression. About a mile or two west of this
saloon was a creek next to the river known as "DEAD MAN'S HOLLOW".
This is where most of the men whom I helped bury were killed. It
was dangerous to go into the saloon and gambling den, get drunk and
flash your money around. If you did it was just the same as
suicide. MEXICANS, INDIANS, and cowboys made the saloon their
regular hangout. I never drank much nor gambled either but I have
been there several times and witnessed shooting and killing
scrapes. Once a cowboy from the WILLIAMS RANCH twenty miles west of
PAULS VALLEY got into an argument with three MEXICANS over a card
game. He was about my age, wore a large white hat, high-heeled
boots and two pistols. It seemed that these three men were trying
to cheat him out of his winnings in the game. He jumped up, kicked
the table over and began shooting with his guns. When the smoke
cleared away, there were three dead MEXICANS on the floor. I don't
know what they did with the dead men but I couldn't help admiring
the way the young man handled his guns.
I paid five dollars for a permit to live in the INDIAN TERRITORY to
a CHOCTAW INDIAN MILITIA. I stayed at PAULS VALLEY about three
years, then I went to RUSH SPRINGS. RUSH SPRINGS was a rough place
then. I stayed around there a short while then got a job helping
drive a bunch of steers to KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. When we arrived
in KANSAS CITY, I sold my horse and saddle to a man for sixty
dollars, then I left for COLORADO where I stayed for several years.
That did not suit me so I went back to TENNESSEE where my mother
and father lived. I lived there until 1907 and came back to PAULS
VALLEY where I have lived ever since.
There surely had been a great change at PAULS VALLEY. Where I had
herded cattle and seen droves of wild turkeys and grass waist-high,
I now saw brick buildings, fine residences, and beautiful lawns and
flower gardens.
Transcribed and submitted by David M. Willis from Indian Pioneer
Interviews, V30, #6016895
- Submitted to Clan Flanagan by Phil Flanagan
* Probably Cherokee Town, about 2 miles south and 4 miles east of
Pauls Valley, DMW.
