[2] In 1931, John moved to Springdale, Arkansas, with his wife Helen and infant son Don, hauling hay, fruit, and chickens for local growers.
[3] Tyson's career in the poultry market began when he heard that chickens were bringing in higher prices in the northern parts of the United States than in his home of Arkansas.
In 1936,[3] Tyson drove 500 chickens from his state to Chicago, Illinois, earning enough profit from the trip to fund another.
[9] Tyson and his son considered accepting a buy-out offer from Swanson, but decided to persist instead, and by the end of the decade had built the company's first processing plant in Springdale at a cost of $90,000, $15,000 above estimates.
[10] John and Helen died in a train accident near Springdale in 1967; Don Tyson succeeded his father as CEO of the company.