This and That
Newsletter
A Weekly Publication
Vol 17 Issue 837 Circulation 5,000 February 7, 2013
PO Box 11
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
email address: [email protected]
580-657-8616
I received an email this week asking about what happened to Carter county deputy Bill Guess. Some of you will remember we've talked about him on several occasions in past issues. Bill's real name was William Edgar Guess, born July 30, 1894 and died June 6, 1961. Bill is buried in Pontotoc, Johnston County, Oklahoma. His second wife was Velma Guess of Connerville, Oklahoma. Bill Guess was the lead deputy in the 1931 shooting of the nephew of the President of Mexico resulting in the nephew's death and another student in the car. The incident took place at 10th and E Street NW in Ardmore. In a matter of hours the shooting attained national coverage in the news centers and Ardmore was swamped with reporters trying to get the story. After several days of national headlines the Ardmore shooting would finally prompt a letter of apology from the president of the United States to the president of Mexico.
What is interesting in this story is back in 2006 I received an email from a Greg Laumbach in New Mexico telling me he had put to music the Ardmore shooting and wanted to know if I wanted a copy. When I received the song, I created a webpage along with a picture of this Singing Professor so people could listen to the song.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/DeputyGuess.html
I heard from several Readers last
week about mascots for the Ardmore schools from bygone days. Here are the
responses:
"On the schools in Ardmore
mascots, I went to Franklin in the 50's I think we were the "cubs". Not for
sure. Someone else may know for sure what we were." -Jenny Russell
"Butch, Franklin elementary nickname was "rockets". -Jay Cook
"I went to grade school at Jefferson in the middle sixties. I'm pretty sure we
were the Jefferson Hornets. I also seem to recall that Charles Evans was the
"Longhorns." -Randy Evers
"Charles Evans elementary was "Evans Eagles". -Alicia Key
"Butch, ours at Will Rogers School was "Hornets ". -Edgar Wallace
There will be a gun show at the Choctaw Event Center in Durant, Oklahoma this Saturday and Sunday (Feb 9th and 10th). Get there early if you plan to attend, it will be packed and stuff will sell out fast.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/DurantGunShow020913.jpg
The Bogus Check division of the District Attorney's office here in Ardmore updated their list of outstanding warrants this week. If you or someone you know is on this list, it should behoove a person to get it taken care of now instead of later.
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/boguscheck/BogusCheckWarrants.htm
Last week we talked about Heartland Foods in Ardmore and their large list of items available including foodstuff. I stopped this week and picked up a 5 lb. tub ($16.77 incl. tax) of Cripple Creek BBQ (produced in Tulsa). Ardmore's Heartland Foods is located about a block west of the old High Rise Tower on 1st NW.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/CrippleCreeekBBQ020613.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/HeartlandFood010213a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/HeartlandFood010213b.jpg
I mentioned a couple months ago we need a Redbox in Lone Grove if Healdton (pop 2,819) can have one, and Marietta (pop 2,216) can have two Redbox units. This week one was installed at the Family Dollar in Lone Grove, convenient 24/7 to the 5,111 people who live in Lone Grove!
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/RedboxLoneGrove.jpg
From time to time we hear someone say their computer is possessed or haunted or has a mind of its own. Last week I came across a computer I am pretty sure is possessed. I would turn it off and the next morning it was back up and running. The first 2 or 3 times I thought I was losing it and just forgetting to turn it off, but thankfully that was not the case. So, I found a neat program Debut Video Capture (demo version) that runs off my webcam and can be scheduled to start and stop at a certain time. The thing the program didn't have is a Time and Date stamp on the recording, but I found out from some googling if I input:
%MM% %DD% %YYYY% %HH% %MIN% %SS%
in the "Capture Section" of the
setup, it displays the current date and time on the recordings.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/DebutVideoCapture.jpg
Sure enough, even though I had the
computer turned off, it would automatically come on exactly to the second at
9:00pm at night. I checked everything, googled a dozen times or more, and never
found an answer that would fix the problem. So, until I get to the bottom of it
(which I will)... I just unplug the power cord for now.
http://www.nchsoftware.com/capture/index.html
Q. In which now-closed Oklahoma City
restaurant would you have found a red Jaguar in the middle of the dining area?
A. Molly Murphy's House of Fine Repute Restaurant
http://tulsatvmemories.com/gb011304.html
Q. What major highway in Oklahoma
City eventually becomes two different turnpikes, depending on direction of
travel?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
From This and That newsletter archives of February 5, 2000:
In a T&T last November, I told about going to the Arbuckle Mountains north of Ardmore on a cold Tuesday night. It was November 2, 1999 and a night I will never forget. A man and his wife and their three sons own 120 acres in those mountains and have been experiencing Bigfoot sittings for a long time. They took me up into the mountains, and what I really saw I don't know. But I did see two red eyes back in the timber. Plus they showed my other things that indicated a Bigfoot had been in the area. Fact or fiction? I don't know. But I know we are were all heavily armed, and depended on each other to come back out of those mountains safe. Why I am telling you all this, is this week there was an article in The Daily Ardmoreite telling about sightings over in southeastern Oklahoma. So who knows. Maybe?----------------------------------------------------
Ardmoreite Robert Hensley came through this week with a great pic of the invisible "little helper" and Dr. Washington, Choctaw Indian doctor that was featured in the Daily Ardmoreite on January 21, 1979.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos5a/WashingtonHelper.jpg
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Ardmoreite Obie Johnson acquitted of the murder of Henry Guess at the Blue Front Cafe. February 2, 1947.
The Daily Ardmoreite- "Obie Johnson was acquitted of murder charges in connection with the death of Henry Guess in the district court Friday, as Judge Monroe presided. Johnson was charge with shooting Henry Guess to death in front of the Blue Front cafe on Caddo Street, February 2, 1947. The defense headed by Joe Ben Champion and Wilson Wallace of Champion, Champion and Wallace produced witnesses who testified that Johnson acted in self defense of his life and business. Guess had caused trouble in the establishment several times, and had been told to stay out of the Blue Front, which is owned by Johnson's uncle Earl Mann, according to testimony. On the night of February 2, Johnson had asked Guess to leave and in the argument that followed it was testified that Guess pulled a knife on Johnson, and the later was forced to shoot to protect his life. Alvin Bruce and Joe Culp represented the State in the case."
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/ObieJohnsonAnnouncement.jpg
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"Here is the information my husband and I combined put together on Chili Bowl Chili and we thought your Readers might be interested in the strong connection to Ardmore. A Mr. Otho Hutchins worked at H.A. Brooks Gro store on N. Washington back in the 30's. He made a very good chili. He moved to Tulsa and started making spices and later his chili. He had a brother-in-law named Matt Berryhill. They went into business together making Chili Bowl Chili. The Berryhill family were still running the Chili Bowl Co. as late as the l980's. I have lost tract of the company in the last few years."
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"I don't see how, unless a pay off was made that Judge Hardy got off and not-guilty. I don't buy his story of accidental and do NOT see how the leaned gun could possibly hit Mrs. Hardy in the face when the gun was leaned up against the car and she was facing the backseat to untangle dog. Too many witnesses having accidents... and attorneys trying to confuse the issue with the Viola Ross and six children scandal. If I would have been on the jury...... He would have gotten my vote of guilty! I guess every county and community has their little mobs of power and pay-offs, don't they!"
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/hardymrs.html
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Q. "Butch, do you know anything about the town of Demijohn, located near, possibly south of, the Wilson area that existed around 1900? I grew up in Healdton; my granny was born in Demijohn, but I don't know where it was or anything about it."
A. There is a Demijohn Creek halfway between Lone Grove and Wilson, about 2 miles south of Highway 70.
GPS 34.1450947 -97.3294631
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/DemijohnCreekOklahoma.jpg
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"Butch, The following classified ad appeared in the Ardmoreite this week:
Announcements - Personals
"In 1933 M&M Luther ARNOLD and daughter Geraldine of Ardmore testified in Machine Gun Kelly case. Author seeking how to locate Geraldine or her children. 703-960-3119."
Obviously, "M&M" stands for Mr & Mrs, but I didn't know anyone from Ardmore had ties to Machine Gun Kelly. The area code in the ad is from Virginia. Finding these people sounds like a job for the readers of This & That!!!"
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"Butch: The mines that were located at Overbrook, Oklahoma were asphalt mines,according to the following article. The Daily Ardmoreite, Sunday, July 25, 1993 (special birthday insert) "Young Ardmore" The Manuscript of Julia K. Sparger pg 4 ,column 2, second paragraph( the following is a partial copy). Another resource of the area was begun south of Ardmore in 1890 by S. Zuckerman, M. Munzesheimer & B.C. Burney, later M. Westheimer & S. Daube. About 1895 the first paving with asphalt from mines near Overbrook began. The operators paid the Chickasaw Nation $500.00 a year for their lease & 10 cents for each ton sold. The asphalt was one of the stimuli later for a search for oil in Carter County. I have a postcard showing paving main street Ardmore I.T. with asphalt from the Ardmore area."
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Gas prices today in the Ardmore area......
http://www.oklahomagasprices.com/index.aspx?mss=152754
Check gas prices by town or zip code anywhere in U.S.
http://www.kmov.com/traffic/gas-buddy
Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
"My Chickasaw family (Russell, Pickens, etc.) settled in the Yellow Hills country around present day Durwood and McMillian east of Ardmore in Marshal County during the mid 19th century and I have heard many stories of the Choctaw medicine man Billy Washington and his “Kwanakuasha”. When I was a kid, my great aunts, Myrtle Russell and Eula (Russell) Carter used to tell me about Billy Washington coming to visit the family when someone was sick and how they had seen the “Kwanakuasha” or “Little Helper” on those occasions. Supposedly, one could not see the Kwanakuasha unless they were sick. The Little Helper according to legend was supposed to help the medicine man gather plants and herbs in the forests of the Yellow Hills to facilitate the preparation of medicine. This was frequently done by lantern light at night time. The doll like figure on the table beside Washington in the studio portrait published in the Daily Ardmoreite was unique because of this representation of the Kwanakuasha.Billy Washington lived among the Chickasaw because he was somewhat estranged from his Choctaw family. My aunts told me on one occasion he left the Yellow Hills to go back to the Choctaw Nation to take care of some business because some of his relatives were trying to have him declared dead in order to take possession of some property he owned. According to Aunt Myrtle and Aunt Eula, he did not trust his Choctaw relatives.
Would like to hear from anyone else who has information on Billy Washington and his Kwanakuasha. Always enjoy reading the This and That Newsletter."
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos5a/WashingtonHelper.jpgTowana Spivey, Duncan, Oklahoma email: [email protected]
Here is a photo recently of 6 Budweiser trailers coming through Ardmore at the Ardmore Depot.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/BudweiserTrailer012413.jpg
"Mom's only sister, LaVeta Phillips Austin, passed away on Jan. 25th, 2013 at age 84 in OKC. She won the Oklahoma State Oratorical Contest her Senior year at Ardmore High and was Queen of the Ardmore Airbase during WWII. She taught English at Putnam City High and Humanities at Rose State College. She was born to James Edward and Edna Mae Arnold Phillips on Apr. 23, 1928 in Davis, OK and is survived by a son and daughter, King and Robin Austin, and their father, Tom Austin, as well as several nieces and nephews. Her oldest daughter, Laurie Austin, died in 2007. Her memorial was Sat. Feb 2nd, @ Santa Fe Presbyterian Church, 1603 Santa Fe Ave, Edmond, OK from 3-5pm. You can find a pic of Aunt LaVeta and news article about the OK State Oratorical Contest @ the Ardmore High Criterion website if you would like to add it to your newsletter. She won award in 1945.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/LeVetaPhillips1945.jpg
"Mystery teacher in last weeks newsletter is Anne White and the picture was taken at Wheeler School 1939 or 1940. I am the little boy in the front row just right of Leta." -Newman Walker
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/WheelerSchool1940.jpg
"We have discussed Magnetic Hill near Springer many times and now I have one more question to ask. Does anyone know when it was discovered and who discovered it? I was taken there by my father in the 1930's and had my second visit in 2012. It was still as exciting the second time as it was the first." -Elisabeth in Tulsa Ok
"Butch, Many people have written about the good food at Miller’s Dairy Queen. In the summer of 1952, that I worked there, DQ did not allow food to be served because it might contaminate the flavor of the ice cream mix. They also had a partner whose name I can not recall but his son had a chopped Merc coupe that was really neat. Jay Cook may have been in my 6th grade class at Franklin in 1958. If he is the one I would like to say Hi and tell you he had the ingenuity to get those crates from Miller’s to his house." -Dan Holder
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/glimpsepast/millerd.jpg
"Ardmore's Paradise Vista was owned by my great uncle, Pink Williams. He was the state treasurer and later Lt. Governor of Oklahoma in the 1950's. It was managed by my grandfather Elmer Bell and my uncle Frank Bell worked for him. I don't know what year the photos were, but my grandparents are in it. My guess early 1920's." - Mike Boucher Sr.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/ParadiseVista_1.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/ParadiseVista_2.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/ParadiseVista_3.jpg
"Good morning Butch... always find it interesting when something pops up on my father's death, Buddy Moorhead, so many years ago...of course as I was only 15 months old, only heard about it all these years later... I am still going strong at 83 and always look forward each week to your reports of Ardmore, Carter County and Oklahoma history. Missed out on Class of 1947 reunion in Oct. but hope to someday once again getting back for a visit. Regards again and thank you. (I did enjoy helping Vernon Straughn's son in his efforts last year in honoring his father's softball fame)." -Jack Moorhead [email protected]
One of the world’s top physicians, Dr. Eric Topol, has a prescription that could improve your family’s health and make medical care cheaper. The cardiologist claims that the key is the smartphone. Topol has become the foremost expert in the exploding field of wireless medicine.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rock-center/50582822
"Butch, Here are a couple of images to compare from the war years to 2010. In my opinion, these are the heroes that make me proud to be an American. GOD BLESS AMERICA... Thanks to the person that shared the black and white images in your newsletter. This album has 2 photos and will be available on my SkyDrive until 5/2/2013." -Cecil
"Butch, seeing the story last week about the pecan harvester reminded me that my dad, Ossian Cameron, tried to invent a harvester back in the 1950s. I think he tried because Ed Luke had the orchard at the base of the Arbuckles on the west side of US77. He was unsuccessful in getting the machine to gently shake the trees. I picked pecans on the halves for a couple of years in high school. I don't remember making much money but it was a opportunity to get out on crisp fall mornings and earn some money, then go to Bosco's at the entrance to the airbase for cheeseburgers and beer." -Monroe Cameron
"Butch, your Paleo Diet is catchin on. LOL." -Ken @ Wilson
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/PaleoComic.jpg
"Looking and what with the RR crossings, my guess (and guess it is) would locate Lawn Street running E/W north of 6th St SW (where the Ringling Line ran (just north of Moore Ave). Your clipping mentions both Wheeler and D St ending at this Lawn St and it running from B SW over to L SW (looks like L might have been absorbed by the 4-laneing of Commerce as Wheeler is the last shown before the service lane). Anyhow, that's my entry for the drawing. I hope someone can give you some more fill." -Garth
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/LawnStreetArdmoreOK1955.jpg
Starting in August no more Saturday mail delivery by the U.S. Post office.
Your the Reason God Made Oklahoma - Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert
Here the city lights out shine the
moon
I was just now thinking of you.
Sometimes when the wind blows you can
See the mountains,
And all the way to Malibu.
Everyone's a star here in L.A. County,
You ought to see the things that they do
All the cowboys down on the Sunset Strip
Wish that they could be like you.
The Santa Monica Freeway,
Sometimes makes a country girl blue
You're the reason God made Oklahoma,
And I'm sure missing you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxiLoXntRMU
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Nashobish Ikana
PO Box 11
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
Save on long distance calls, just a couple cents a
minute!
http://www.CheapLongDistance.org
Ardmore High School Criterions Online
http://www.ardmorecriterion.com/
Oklahoma Bells:
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
American Flyers Memorial Fund - Administration Webpage
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/crash66.html
Official
American Flyers Memorial Website
http://www.brightok.net/~wwwafm
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Base Website
http://www.brightok.net/~gsimmons
Mirror Site of the Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/airbase/
Carter county schools, past and present
http://community.webshots.com/user/oklahomahistory
Carter County Government Website
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/
Ardmore School Criterions
http://www.ArdmoreCriterion.com
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