[Francis D. Childers was born on Cooper’s Creek, November 5, 1893.]
Well, we moved from there to Oconaluftee River to the Jim Dowdles place up on Mingus’s Creek, and at that time I was six years old.
At Cooper’s Crook where I was born, there was a big old tall holly tree in the yard, I remember, I must have been about three years old. There was a holly tree in the yard that was about fifty feet tall, the tallest one I’ve ever saw, and I remember the Indians come with their blow guns to shoot the blackbirds. It was full. And these arrows sprangled out to hit lots of birds when they went up. And when they hit them birds the arrows would fall to the ground. The Indians ‘d pick ‘em up, put the birds in a sack, tak’em home ‘n’ eat ‘em.