JOHN N. INTERVIEW.

#6882 ,

95

t McCHXISEER, JOHH N. INTERVIEW ' ' .

- 8 -Form iU(S-149)

9 8BIOGRAPHY mm

WG&S EROGcffiSS AJKINISTRATION ' ' -"Indian-Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma

Field 'Worker's nsrae ki mr* TK

This report made o n l d a ^ k J u l y 1 5 , 1927 193.

l. Name John fl* ifoOalllster

2. Post Crfice Address 410 Eaart Four th atrafi-h

3. residence address ^or location) ^10 Bq,at ffnnyfrh g t y ^ ^ t ;

4. DATS OF BIRTH: Month August Day 1 ft Year _XB32

5. Place of birth S&linft QooTrfay MiaRftnyl

6. .Name of Father Jaaob TT, MaQalliatflp Place of b i r th wi

[ Other information about fa ther d i a d In Iran gas a-f: -hha

| / ' Madallister7. Name of kother Mftrg&rst F» yiirinflgY* Place of birth

Ot-.er information about mother I s 85 veara o l d and I IVAH With

her three children.

Notes or 'complete n a r r a t i v e by \he f i e l d worker deal ing with the l i f e andstory of the person interviewed,! Refer to kanual for suggested sub jec t s •and questions,. Continue on blank shee t s if necessary and a t t a c h f i imly tothis forr.. Nur-ber of sheets a t tached TK .

, JOHN H. INTERVIEW.

l l e n e DUCDowtllR«eearohIndia n-Honeer History,S-149 07July 15, 1937 , &

Interview withJohn N* MoOallieter

410 Bast 4th.Bartlesville, Oklahoma

John If, MaOallieter was born August 18, 1871,

in Saline County, Missouri.

Father - Jaoob TS» MoOallister was

Oass County, Missouri and died in Kansas at the

age of 74 years.

Mother - Margaret P. MaKinney-MoOallister

was born in Missouri and is now living at the agethree

of 85 yeats. She makes her home among her/child-

ren and is now with her daughter at Kiwah, Kansas.

I removed with my parents from Missouri to

Cherryvale, Kansas when I was eighteen months oldf

where we resided until 1881, then removed to Green-

until 18961I removed to'the Indian Territory.

In 1893 my brother-in-law, D.S.Riley,and I

decided to try our luck in the new country and oameto

/Oaldwell, Kansas ,t6 make the run into the Cherokee

Strip. .1 was there thWe nreeks before the date of

the opening, and set up a barber shop in a tent on the

line. In this way I became acquainted with a lot of the

United States soldiers ~along the l ine .

McCALLISEER, JOHN.N. INEERVIiflY

98

I was making the run for a town^lot in Round

Po;ad, now known as Pond Creek, in Grant County.

Riley and I made the run in a two wheel oart. When

we were about ten miles out we were enoountered with

a prairie f i re , set by the sooners ahead, to blind

the home seekers and out them off in order to get

the best olaims. The f ire run the deer out and a

buok ran out of the grass in front of us . I only

bad a revolver but took a ohanoe shot at him and

broke his neok. I threw him in the oart and took

him along, and we had vinison for supper, My bro-

ther-J'n-}.awfs parents drove the team in for us. I

Eecute* a l o t , stayed a l l night and l e f t .

The soldier that .fired_t.h©--signal shot^ for the

,raoe to s tart , was stationed beside my oart. When

he shot his horse reared up, the surcingle broke,

throwing,,him off backward, breaking his neok. I

jumped from my oart and ran to him, but could see

he ttras dead. Another soldier rode up and I tkrew

the dead body upon the horse in front of the solr

•fier and he took him to headquarters.

• coincidence happened A few months ago oonoern-

McCALLISTER, JOHN N.— • — — /

ing th i s aocident. Mrs.* Jaokson of Bartlesvi l le was

vis i t ing my place of "business and out conversation

drifted to the early days and she told of making the

run in 1893. She stated they had started from Oaid-

wall, Kansas, aal I .asls^if she remembered the aooidentyfeye.

and whhre they/stationed, from where the aooident

*. They vere behind tfce soldier and saw him f a l l ,

and she was EUGJJ surprised to learn I was the young man

who had jumped from the oart add ran to him*

After the exoitemejit ©-f the run I returned to my

home in Missouri and marfUed. ,1 was looking for a

good location for a barber ehcp and heard of th« new '

town of Bart lesv i l le , Indian Territory, Upon inves t i -

gation I found there was^a shop for sale and oame to

Bartlesvil le , bought the shop fronTa man named Bounds

and have made th i s my home s ince.

I oame as far as Oaney, Kansas,on the train and

while awaiting the maiiirhaok, the only transportation

to Bartlesvi l le , I met Smith lounsbury and B i l l Mo-

Inroy who lived here and made the remainder of. the

journey with them in a buggy, Can»y river was out

of i t s bank* and we drove through the river bottoms

McCALLISTER, JOHN N. INTERVJE.Y

100

in water, about two milesf to the ferry "boat where

we Grossed the river, Bartlesville was located onNorth

the south side of the river, on what ie now /Delaware

avenue,

I stayed at the BeisAl Hotel for three months

before I sent for my family. My daughter, Daisy

MoCallister-Burt, was three and one-half years old

•and my son_,;Br nest, was two years old when I moved my

family here frcm Missouri in February^ 1897.

There were no roads in the Indian Territory

when I oame here. There was a trai l abofct 100 f e e t -

wide from the Oaney river at Bartlesville "to O&ney,

Kansas^used to haul freight over and to drive the

aattle over to Caney to the railroad. This t ra i l

was in praotioally the same location as the present

United States Highway #75 is now. Very l i t t l e changes"V.

were made in the road location, when the highway *

was surveyed. The;-Crane Perry orossed Oanty river

jUBt northwest of where the wagon bridge was built

in abcut 1902. A new bridge is now under construction

by the Maokey Construction Company.

There was only one t o l l bridge in this vicinity,

^"JOHN K.' IRTER7IEW

101

to my Inowledge, I t was located aoross the Oaney

river, south of town* The north side of the bridge

was on the William Johnstone place and the south

side on the Jim Bay olaote. This was a swinging

bridge and was operated by Bill Shinn.

The road west to "Pawhuska was just a cow trai l

winding through the Osage Hills and every time i t

rained the trai l was washed qut and a new one was

blazed by the f irst traveler that made the trip

through the h i l l s .

The road south of Eartlesvill© was also a tra i l

and a rough one in bad weather. 1?he east road to

lowata was about the same. \

I made a trip to Olaremore^ on\a court oase in\ V • •

about 1902 or '03 and recap, orossi^ig a ferry ovet theYerdigris river west of Ojfaremore, \

I built a one room house 14 fZ 18* looated on the'

northeast oorner of what i s now Seoonc1 street and

Oherokee Avenue, where the^img* Sandwit)i Ihop-jaow

stands. In the fa l l of 1898 there was a flood and

the water stood 18 laches deep in my house. After

the water reoeded I put poles under the house and *

MoCAUJSiEB; JOHN N. INTERVIEW

102

moved i t with, a t«am to the corner of what id now

Third street and Dewey Avenue, where, the Montgomery-

^ard storetaow stande. We lived %here several years,

then built a home on j)ewey Avenue and moved td t h i s

location. The old house has been moved to a location

on *est Third street ne«r the Tashington-0sage County

line and i s occupied.

My barber shop was located on North Delaware avenue,

near tfcTe dam across Oaney r iver . In 1900 I moved my

barber shop from"0ld towfl" to the north side of Second

street , between Dewey and Johnstone avenues. In 1902

I erected a frame building at Third street and Dewey

avenue and moved my ship to th i s location. In 1903 I

replaoed the frame building with a new .brick building, ••

I built 55 feet of the block and was quite proud of

the new building. , %

In 1900 .1 wortfetf for a man named Barnes for one

year nhere I learned the undertaking fcuiinesB, He

operated a furniture stor-e ana undertaking establ ish-

menfc at 118 Bast Seoond s tree t . He sold his business

to a man named-Foster and one year later the Indian

Territoiy Furniture Company purchased i t from Foster.

McCALLISTER, JOHN N, INTERVIEW

10-3

In 1906jUli Spayd bought the furniture store* I

worked for each of the various owners and in 19C7

I bought the business from !&•• Spayd, I have been

a fundral' direotor in Bartlesville and vicinity

continuously for 37 years*

Bli Spayd and W»G.Hait operated a furniture

store on the southeast oorner of Seoond street

and Bewey avenue, where the BIks Olub now stands.

Their place was located across the street we**

fewrtpg^ frsm: my1. iteneral home • I operated my

funeral home at this looatiqn from 1907 until this

spring, 1937,. I bought a location on Fourth strtt t

between Cherokee and Delaware avenues and moved

my establishment to the new looation,

, Bli Spayd, who i s now a deputy sheriff of Wash-

ington County, retired from the furniture business

about four years ago and the Halt Furniture Company

is now located at, 308 Johnstone and i s operated by

Earry, son of W»S«Hait# Mr. Hait.Sr., retired from

active business about two years ago and l iv«i in

retirement in his^ home at 1600 Johnstone avenue.

Mr. Spayd aod I have been fast friends through the

McCAlXISTER, JOHN.IS

1018

long years and often talk over our early day ex-

periences and enjoy the i r memory.

In 1897 I was elected ooroner of Bartlesvilieand I recal l there was only 15 votes cast . John

Jordon was elected sheriff, Dr. Stewart Maydir,

Charley Keeler recorder, Joe Mitchell treasurer

and George Keeler, Henry Glay and Frank Overleee

were elected councilman, Earry Jennings ras in a

heat&d raoe with Br. Stewart' for mayor, but Stewart

won about two to one, however Jennings was a good

Jtfser and turned his interests to helping establ ish

the ner* to.wn In other ways. He was elected the second

mayor of Bart lesvi l le .

• The Bartlesville Magnet ^ s the f i r s t newspaper

published, oy Harry Jennings. Earry laabden was the

reporter an<! helped edit the paper. This paper is

now d£nown as the Korning S&aininer*

I was eleotad coroner of Tashington County with

the f i rs t corps of offioers in/-1907 and held the

first inquest in the state of Oklahoma on the even-

ine of November 16, 19Q.7, for Bar nest Lewii and Qeo->>--$> • f

^ ^ *

. Lewis was proprKt^>- of a beer parlor

McCALLISTJ£R,*JOIIN N. IHTEHVIEW

9

located or. Third street and Keeler avenue, in the

rear of the ""eat Virginia Oafe operated "by Bob

Scamp. Williams was a United States Deputy Marshal,,.

I have the records of the inquest and also have the

bullets taken from the bodies of both lewis and

Williams• I was the only person who ever served as

coroner of- Washington County,

Eleo.trioity was .brought here *dth the street oar

in 1908. Bartlesville was then a baby iTew York with'

her bright l ights .

I belonged to the volunteer fire fighters of' . •

early day Bartl.-svilie , and the f irst fire team of

Bartlesville Fas named Buok and Mack,, for Dr. Buck

and myself.

Oil) "BARTIESYILLE in 1896,

Then I arrivod in Bartlesville the town'was

only about two blocks long and was a l l located on

north Delaware avenue and J i r s t street to the

•river banks. Johnstone and Keeler owned the largest• *

general merchandise stcre. ¥heir merchandise was -

freighted from Coffeyville and Oaney, Kansas'• Frank

Overleee operated a general merchandise storej Dr»

Stewart owned a small line of drugs and John 3?inley

McCAlLISTEH, JOHN N.

10610

ras the drugest ( in 1900) Henry Olay owned a Black-

smith shop, lirs* Ann Beisel operated the ho t e l , Sam

Eopst a hardware store, and Jake Beisel owned the meat

market. 7i ld game was p l e n t i f u l and I remember Jake

Beissl sold more deer meat in hie butcher shop than

he did beef.

SCHOOLS

The sohoo}. was a- one room frame bui ld ing , located

at the corner c f about Fourth s t r e e t and Delaware ave-

nue T4Iere the A.3«3aster •home now s tands , and the f i r s t

teacher I r e c a l l was Annis Bixl'er, who l a t e r married

Join Johnston*•

CHURCHES.'k

'The Baptist church i s the oldest church in th i s

vicinity. 7e were members of the Christian church,

organized in 1897. The f i r s t meeting place was in

a frame church building looaterl at the southwest

corner of Third s t reet and Johnstone avenue <*tiere

Stout *s Speciality Shop now stands. T£ie building was

later moved to Bast Third s t reet in the miaul* of

the iilook on the east side of the s t r ee t , between

rial ie now Dtwey and Osage avenues", about where

Haupt Jewelry store stands* We la te r buil t the p r t -

McCAlLISTEB, JOHN II. INTERVIEW

10711

sent brick ohuroh at the corner of Sixth street

and Cherokee avenue.

In 1908 the United Hrethern Ohuroh was

ized "by RevereridjKLla Tharp, with seven charter mem-

bers. In June of that year they bought the old'

Christian Ohuroh and moved i t to Third street and

Seneoa Avenue. This building was used for several

years but has been replaced with a briok building

on the same location.

The Presbyterian Ohuroh was organized in 1905

with twanty-siac charter members. The f i rs t church

building was erected and dedicated in 1907, Reverent

Ralph j ; Lamb was the f irs t pastor.

The Episcopal Ohuroh was built in 1908 at the

corner of Ninth street and Dewey *venue, with Reverend

Hennessey as rector.

I am a member of a l l the fraternal organizations

of Bartle*7ilie except the Masordo lodge* The Rtbekah

lodge wae instituted in 19C4 with a membership of

about 80. This was one of the largest BQUHtXEfctBOKi

t

ohapter£ ever^r^rslti^d,injbjie territory, .»

The Almqda hotel was the first brick building and -

was ereoted in 1904 at the cost of about $40,000.

McCALLISTER , 2DBH N. INTERVIEW

12

BALL

We had the best amateur "ball ^eaaft, in t h i s ' '

part of t h e Ter r i to ry , Some of t be old t imers

who played on our team were: Dr. Buck, Jesse !»•

Overlees, B i l l Molnroy, Guy Woodring, Ola Wilhite

and myself, I played in the f i e l d . Jesse was the

best a l l around player we had and our team was

hard to beat*

• I had played on the Universi ty team when I

attended the Baker University at Baldwin, Kansas^

and some of the teams we played were Ottawa,

Topeka, Lawrence and the (Jherokee Indians at Has-

k e l l , Kansas.

FISH

One day a crowd of us went seining in the Oaney

river at t he edge of town and caught about 500 pounds

of fish, We caught one oat that weighed 75 pounds,

one that weighed 50 pounds and a number that weighed

ZC pounds. 411 that weighed less than two pounds we

turned baok in the stream*

One time Joe MoOlintook, Ike Hioks and I were

fishing, when we snagged a "young whale". We were

'MCCALLISOSR, XORt ft.

. 10913

t rying to get the rope fastened in1 the g i l l s and

i t carried the three of us down stream, Joe Barbies

was on his horse with the rope t i ed to the saddle

horn. The f i sh measured six or seven feet in length

and i t s t a i l was 18 inohes wide* I cannot estimate

the weight of t h i s monster. We had our pic tures made

with.the f i sh strung from a pole w&ioh Jesse Overlees

and I held on our shoulders and the f ish t a i l , d r u g

on t.he. ground, Jesse and I were both t a l l men.

* MIS0ELAH50US HAPPENINGS'.

Harry Brent, Jim Requah; Joe Bar t les , JHarry

lambdin and 1 made a t r i p to Kansas City, with a

load of oa t t l e Brent and Reauah were shipping to

market.

There was a carnival in Kansas City and we

decided t o see the s i g h t s . One a t t r a c t i o n was a

dance for which the p r i ce was twenty-five cents

admission. We paid our admission and the dancer walked

out, shock herself on««: and l e f t . There was a

roptr stretched arounrfthe stage and we were a l l

leaning on i t , howling jf or. more show. We were a l l

armed and I always oarried a sharp i n i f t . I out thej

rope and we a l l fe l l iiiknd began tearing up the

MoCALtlSTER, JOIiH H. IUTERVUflV

110

platform. The oops s ta r ted to i n t e r f e r e when Joe

jumped upon, a b a r r e l , d»ew h i s six-gun* and made

a speeoh. He to ld the oops t o stand baok and he

explained tha t we had paid our money t o see a

show and intended to see one* The oops made them

put on a show t o our sa t i s f ac t ion which las ted

about t h i r t y minutes*

I have played pool and poker with Henry Starr

many t imes. Henry was a swell guy who happened to

mate a mis-step and oould never make a come back.

I also knew the Daltons and Al i n n i n g s , outlaws

of the old school. I knew Al Spenoer when he was

a kid and l a t e r when he wds a cow puncher. I took

care of his body when he was k i l l e d north of Bart-

lesv i l le in 1923.

I have a solid walnut stand t a b l e , I s t a r ted

housekeeping with 45 years ago.

OOKLSHTS.

Mr. MoOallister was a r e a l pioneer and enjoys

relating his early life in the unsettled Indian

Territory from the late '90*1 to the pre&ant modern

times. He now operates an up to date funeral home

McCALLISTER, JOHN N . INTERVU5V7 -

15

and owns the Oongress Hotel located on the corner

of Second and Dewey avenue. He moved into the new

funeral" home in April of t h i s year and i s very

proud of the new location*