MARY (STARR) PALONE
INTERVIEW #5786
W.J.B. Bigby, Field Worker
May 17, 1937
Mary (Starr) Palone was born in Goingsnake District, Cherokee
Nation, in 1872. She was the daughter
of Joe Starr and Sarah Starr, full bloods, who came from Georgia, about 1838.
Mrs. Palone’s grandparents on her mother’s side were Harry and Susie
Crittenden.
Nune Starr and Lila Starr were
her grandparents on her father’s side.
The Starrs settled on the Baron Fork Creek about two miles west of the
present village of Baron, Oklahoma, now known as Buster Scraper Farm. Joe Starr was a well-to-do man in his time.
He and his brother, George Starr, formed a partnership in stock raising. They also owned race stock. This family was related to the other Starrs
and who live near Evansville, Arkansas.
EARLY
LIFE AND EDUCATION
Mary was not reared in poverty as
others had been reared. She had a better chance to receive an education. She attended school at Starr Chapel as the
school was called, that was founded near the present Duncan Springs, just a
half mile west of the present village of Baron, Oklahoma.
Starr Chapel was also used as a
church house. The building was a log
construction. No windows, one door and
a few benches; the blackboards were painted boards.
Tablets did not exist at that
time, slates being used instead. Only a
few children attended this school.
Among those going to school with Mrs. Palone being Dick Crittenden, Ned
Downing and Tawnie Shell.
Neighbors were scarce in Baron
Community at that time. The nearest neighbor they had was Ave Thornton, who
lived about two miles away.
When she was about nineteen years
of age, Mary Starr married “Stute” Walkingstick, later a noted peace
officer. To this union there was one
child born, Zeke, who lives at Piney neighborhood. Several years afterwards, she married Mr. Frank Palone.
ROADS
The roads in those days were
poorly constructed. By-roads were the
only roads at that time. The only one
that is of any interest at all was the road that they frequently used in
getting to Siloam, Arkansas. This road
started at Piney, through the Piney Flats to the Dutch Mills Creek, across this
creek, up Chewey Hollow to the present Union Hill schoolhouse. This route
missed Westville about a mile to the east.
You followed the Ballard Creek to the present site of Watts, Oklahoma,
crossed the river at Watts, then straight to Siloam.
Siloam was the trading point of
the Starrs. Evansville, Dutch Mills,
and Cincinnati were all early day towns.
SAW
MILLS
The only saw mill was the one
located at Duncan Springs. This sawmill belonged to Felix Duncan and Joe
Starr. Many houses have been built form
the lumber that was sawed at this mill.
People from miles around came to this mill to get lumber to build their
homes with.
MILLING
POINTS
Evansville, Dutch Mills, and
Cincinnati were the early day milling points.
But there was a gristmill located at Eli Wright’s on the Dutch Mills
Creek, about three miles north of Piney.
Most of the people around Baron went to this mill with their corn. For wheat they went to Cincinnati. Most of the family milling was done by the
women at that time. Mrs. Palone has
gone many times to the mill in a wagon.
They usually went twice a month.
FARMING
Farms were small at time,
especially those on the hills but the farm on which Mrs. Palone was reared was
about forty acres. All kinds of
vegetables were raised on this farm, but corn and wheat were the principal
crops. Most of the farming was done
with homemade implements.
Mrs. Palone has seen land broken
by a yoke of oxen. Most of the logging
at her dad’s sawmill was done by oxen.
The farm people at that time
traveled mostly on horseback. The women
used the old “sidesaddle”.
CIVIL
WAR
She does not know much about the
Civil War, except what her father has told her, although, her uncle George was
killed during that war. He was killed
somewhere on the Red River.
She does not know of any battles
that occurred in that war. The battle
story of Caney has been told to her by her friend, John Looney, who took an
active part in this battle.
HORSE
RACES
Uncle George who was killed in
the Civil War, owned a bunch of race horses.
He matched several races, during that time. The only race she knows anything about was the race that was
matched between Clem Starr, her uncle, and a man from Kentucky. This race was run near Evansville.
MEDICINES
AND EPIDEMICS
The Cherokees doctored among
themselves by the use of herbs. There
were only a few white doctors to be found at that time. Among the white doctors to be found at that
time was Dr. Johnson at Dutch Mills, Dr. Walters at Evansville, and in case of
emergency they were sometimes called to come to the Indian Country. They charged a very small fee for their
services. The charge from Dutch Mills
to Baron was three dollars.
Among the Indians were to be
found Ave Thornton, a noted Indian doctor, William Wolf, and several others.
Summer chills was the most common
disease among the Cherokee people at that time. Consumption was the most dreaded disease. This alone killed many people in a
year. There was no cure for the old
time consumption.
There were many snakebite doctors
among the Cherokee People.
CUSTOMS
The early Cherokees had many beliefs
and customs. They believed that when a
person died, the deceased would visit the home once more on the seventh
night. And if a deceased left anything
that he thought much of that his spirit would always remain in the household
until that belonging was done away with.
It was the custom of these old
timers to take the little children every new moon to the medicine man and let
him doctor them for four mornings. This
doctoring was done before the sun was up.
Any pregnant woman was not allowed
to visit the sick, or enter into a room where there was a sick person. Any person that was taking medicine from an
Indian Doctor was not allowed to eat cooking of any pregnant woman.
All medicines must be kept on the
outside of the room where the sick was.
DREAMS
There were believers in dreams
also. They believed very strongly the
three dreams that I am going to tell.
The dreaming of a dead cow or beef cowhide was a sign that some one in
the family was going to die in the near future.
The dreaming of a naked person
was a sign that you were going to have bad luck. Children were taught if they had this dream, they should
immediately tell their parents of it so they could be watched closely and they
were instructed not to climb or swim or do anything that was dangerous or
whereby they could get hurt.
The dreaming of a certain person
dying was a sign that he was going to live a long time.