He was drafted by the United States Army during World War II and served a short tour of duty.

He met and befriended Marion E. Kennedy (1874–1960), a Cherokee Indian from Oklahoma whose job was delivering ice.

Kennedy had at one time attended the Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he studied geology.

Both Carter and Kennedy decided to try their hands as gold prospectors and moved to the San Tan Mountains in the town of Queen Creek.

He kept a guest book, which along with some of his cactus curios and many of his personal belongings, were donated to the San Tan Historical Society's Museum after he died in 1987 of cancer.