a
steamboat, and he took dem off on it when de freshet come down and de
boat could go back to Fort Smith. It was tied up at de dock at
Webber's Falls about a week and we went down and talked to my aunt and
brothers and sister. De brothers was Sam and Eli. Old Mistress cried
jest like any of de rest of us when de boat pull out with dem on it.

Pretty soon all de young Cherokee menfolks all gone off to de War, and
de Pins was riding 'round all de time, and it aint safe to be in dat
part around Webber's Falls, so old Master take us all to Fort Smith
where they was a lot of Confederate soldiers.

We camp at dat place a while and old Mistress stay in de town wid some
kinfolks. Den old Master get three wagons and ox teams and take us all
way down on Red River in de Choctaw Nation.

We went by Webber's Falls and filled de wagons. We left de furniture
and only took grub and tools and bedding and clothes, 'cause they
wasn't very big wagons and was only single-yoke.

We went on a place in de Red River bottoms close to Shawneetown and
not far from de place where all de wagons crossed over to go into
Texas. We was at dat place two years and made two little crops.

One night a runaway negro come across from Texas and he had de blood
hounds after him. His britches was all muddy and tore where de hounds
had cut him up in de legs when he clumb a tree in de bottoms. He come
to our house and Mistress said for us negroes to give him something to
eat and we did.

Then up come de man from Texas with de hounds and wid him was young
Mr. Joe Vann and my uncle that belong to young Joe. Dey called young
Mr. Joe "Little Joe Vann" even after he was grown on account of when
he was a little boy before his pappy was killed. His pappy was old
Captain "Rich Joe" Vann, and he been dead ever since long before de
War. My uncle belong to old Captain Joe nearly all his life.

Mistress try to get de man to tell her who de negro belong to so she
can buy him, but de man say he can't sell him and he take him on back
to Texas wid a chain around his two ankles. Dat was one poor negro dat
never got away to de North, and I was sorry for him 'cause I know he
must have had a mean master, but none of us Sheppard negroes, I mean
the grown ones, tried to git away.

I never seen any fighting in de War, but I seen soldiers in de South
army doing a lot of blacksmithing 'long side de road one day. Dey was
fixing wagons and shoeing horses.

After de War was over,