When Jill and I were in Ada last
weekend we found a great place to look at curios and whatnots and the like.
Inside one business we visited we found a bird cage made out of wood for $9, and we couldn't resist buying it. The
place is Hisaw Warehouse and its located just a 1/2 block west of the Railroad
tracks and Main in Ada. They have furniture and isle after isle of what I
call whatnots and figurines. Its a great place to go browsing.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/HisawWarehouse7a.jpg
And here's a pic of that decoration
bird cage.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/BirdCage7a.jpg
Just a block south and a
couple blocks east of Hisaw's is Hudson's Antiques. It's a old store front
looking building filled to overflowing with antiques. I snapped some pics that caught my eye like this old time flour mill. My great grandmother,
Ida Murphree
Miller, had one
just like it in her house across the street from
Washington School back in the
60s.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/FlourMill7a.jpg
And then there is the old butter
churns, two of them.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/ButterChurns7a.jpg
Another item I found interesting
was a Indian statue, reminded me of the song Kaliga.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/IndianStatue7a.jpg
Another item from the past in Hudson's Antiques
of Ada was an old Texaco Fire Chief gas pump. Since Jill was in the picture, and
the sale price was $2,000 she told me if it sold, she should get a commission.
LOL
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/FireChiefGasPump.jpg
This is an inside view of Hudson's Antiques,
that's Jill checking out with a ceramic bird she bought to go in the bird cage
mentioned above.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/HudsonAntiques7b.jpg
And this is a view of Hudson's Antiques from the outside.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/HudsonAntiques7a.jpg
While in Ada we drove to where my great aunt lived when she was
alive, Fannie Murphree Sanders (1878-1970, at 625 West 6th behind the First
Baptist Church. I hadn't been there since I was a wee teen in the late 50s. We
found her house gone and her property turned into a parking lot behind
the church. Things change. Fannie is buried with my other Murphrees just north
of Ada at Francis, Oklahoma.
About noon or a little later we were talking
about what to eat. You all know me, I wanted to get a hamburger so I could
take a pic of it, but Jill had Chinese food on her mind, so we compromised and
ate at a great tasting Chinese restaurant at the Mix Master or Crazy Corners
in Ada called Oscars Restaurant.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/OcarChinese7a.jpg
Mix Master in Ada? You dont know where that
is you say? That's where Highway 1 and Highway 377 and Mississippi Avenue all
come together at a 5 way stop. And the railroad comes right through the middle
of it all. And believe me, when that 150 ton engine comes through, it's
every man for himself. LOL Kinda makes a guy feel like he's just had a
miracle take place if he makes it safely through it. Here's a couple of pics I took back in 2002 of
the Ada Mix Master.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/adamixa.jpg
http://www.OklahomaJistory.net/ttphotos/adamixb.jpg
This is a map showing where the Mix Master is located in Ada, I
marked it with a red X.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/AdaMixMasterMap.jpg
What used to be the world's longest conveyor belt
at Ada, Oklahoma maybe still be in use, at least to some extent, as it snakes
its way south from Ada. I took a couple of pics, one even has the
locomotive engine just entering the picture. Now that would happen again,
unplanned, in 50 years.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/AdaConveyorBelt7a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/AdaConveyorBelt7b.jpg
On our way home from Ada Jill noticed a place
kinda back from the highway about halfway between Sulphur and Davis called
Grady's Sale Barn (580-622-3095). Its directly south of the brand new Adventist Church being
built on the highway, and not quite finished. Anyway we stopped and went inside,
boy there's a lot of good stuff in that barn. Lots of whatnots and the like. If
your into collection rooster or chicken figurines and the like, they have all
kinds for sale, even some pig stuff too. And tools, a big tool selection, and at
great prices to. But what really caught my attention is what looked like 1,000s
of candles. Maybe there weren't that many, but it sure looked like it. Every
color and size and fragrance a person can imagine. And those candles are a
bargain too! I didn't snap any pics of the inside, maybe on our next stop, but I
did take a pic of the outside.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/GradySaleBarn7a.jpg
Jack Blackwood sent in a photo this week he took
of an old outhouse at Russett, Oklahoma. Its located just as you start into
Russett from the south on the east side of Highway 1. Russett is in Johnston
county.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/OuthouseRussett7a.jpg
Kirk H. Smith in Montana sent this email:
"Butch, First, thanks to everyone for sending me
all the great variations on frying Okra. Also, hate to correct you, but I
did not grow up on Tater Hill, but my mother was born there in 1915 as was
my grandfather about 1893. My grandfather was killed there in a horse
accident coming down the south side of the hill. His father moved there
and built the homestead from Mississippi. I spent a lot of summers around
there runnin around with my cousins, and went up there in the late 60's with
my mother and aunt to see the remains of the old homestead and cellar, which
was still there. we also found the old little family cemetery which was down
on the east side of the hill. I was back there in 2002 and about where the
cemetery was , now there is a road running north-south and a mobile home.
Heres a pic of the Hill looking west from that road. The homestead was up on
the top over on the north side."
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/TaterHillLookingWest.jpg
Linda McGill of www.okielagacy.org sent in an
email this week she received from a researcher in the UK. They have complied a
list of 7 Oklahomans killed in action during WWI in the British/Canadian forces
in the UK and is trying to reach relatives of those men. Below is a link to the
list, maybe someone will recognize a name.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/WWIdead.htm
I was born and raised in Ardmore. This week I
learned that located just 3 or so miles east of Ardmore, just a couple of miles from where I grew
up, is a place called Long Mountain. Long Mountain is just a little to the north
of Tater Hill and not has high.
Tater
Hill is 1,032 feet. As soon as warmer weather gets here, we'll make a trip
to these two places and get some pics, along with a GPS reading for Long
Mountain. Now the next question is how did this spot in eastern Carter county
get the name Long Mountain?
I received an email last
week inquiring if anyone attended the "48 Hours in Atoka"
concert a few years ago. If you did, let me know. They are doing a school
project on the event.
Doug and Scheryl Williams has written in before
about his new grand baby Zan Williams who lives right outside Tulsa. Doug is so
proud of that boy, he sent in a pic this week. If anyone wants to send in a pic
of their grandbaby, please do, others would love to seem him or her.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/ZanWilliams012707.jpg
There are a lot of website where you can go and test your
bandwidth speed. I found a great website to test your upload and download speed
because the screen is laid out like a car's dashboard speedometer, easy to read.
My cableone connection has a read out of 3238 kbps download speed and 254 kbps
upload.
http://www.speedtest.net/
I had bad links to the pics in the following request last
week, so here it is again: "From information put together from other
photos (out of the many that I have), Paul Pierman may be the father of David
Paul, who was 8 days old in May 1941. Other children may have included Judy
(born August 9, 1948) and perhaps David Ralph Pierman who was age 2 in 1949 --
and I'm wondering if David Paul died before the birth of David Ralph (simply
because of the repetition of names). I also thought "Jack" (named in the fifth
photo) could also be Paul's son, but I find no other reference to him. Paul's
wife may have been named Maude... again, a guess. Other family names --MAY--
include Dorothy, Linnie, Bill, and an Aunt Winnie. Other photos include a Hugh
Vitterman Marker (born 1898); and in another photo, MAYBE his father, a William
F. (possibly Franklin) Marker -- maybe the "Bill" mentioned above. William
Marker is pictured in another photo with an Edward W. (probably Warren) Stocker
-- as two "dapper" young men, in January 1894 at the University of Illinois,
School of Architecture. Another photo leads me to believe that Edward W. Stocker
died on September 16, 1894, just eight months later." Stocker died on
September 16, 1894, just eight months later."
Click Here
Click Here
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And last but not least before we move on to this week's Mailbag, Feb 2nd is
Ground Hog Day. It kinda looks like he's not going to see his shadow,
and winter weather is over, or so the story goes. But as some of us remembers
from the past, I've seen PLENTY of snow in April at least a couple times in my
lifetime. LOL. Also, the worst winter recorded in this county was on February
12, 1899 when a blizzard sent the temperature down to 13 below.... yes, that's
MINUS 13 ! So don't put your winter coats in storage yet.
MAILBAG
"Butch, In reference to the towers on Davis
mountain. The smallest and furtherest to the left is a tower owned by the
Oklahoma Wildlife Department. When we built the new one, behind and just
ever so slightly to the right of the second tower in the picture, we
abandoned the old tower to the land owner at that time, Fred Chapman. Fred
rented some space on the tower to various entities, but it appears to be
empty now. The new Wildlife Department tower is 400' tall, which is twice
as tall as the old one, 200'. Several of the towers are new since I was
last up there. One belonged at one time to AT&T, there are a couple of cell
phone and Microwave towers. On a clear day, you can see OKC from the top of
the mountain. It was a line of sight shot from this tower to our OKC tower,
located at the 600' level of the KWTV tower on North Kelley in OKC. Few
know that the KWTV tower has an elevator that goes up to the 600' level. It
is a scary and squeaky ride to that level on an outside elevator, up a
swaying 1,500'+ tower. I have made that ride several times, but I don't
think I will ride that elevator again or climb the tower at Davis mountain
again. A funny story: When we started to build the new tower, Ed Wolford,
our Radio Division Supervisor, Bob Mullenix, Game Warden from Marietta and
myself showed up to do the work. Ed brought a pick and two shovels. I hit
that solid rock of a mountain one time with the pick and it didn't even chip
it. We went back to town, rented an air compressor, jack hammer, back hoe
and bought a case of dynamite. After much drilling, blasting and scooping,
we got a hole big enough to pour a base for the tower. We hired a tower
building company out of OKC to construct the tower. After we got it
built, it turned out to be right in the path of the AT&T tower and caused a
problem with telephone signals, so we had to tear it all down and build it
again, 25' further west. All in a day's work." -Lt. Rome Ingle (ret) Oklahoma
Department of Wildlife Conservation, Tulsa.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/TowerHill7a.jpg
"Cuz, Those towers you mentioned were
installed by the TV Stations in Oklahoma city (WKY TV - Channel 4 took the
lead) as relay towers in order to transmit their signals over the Arbuckle
Mountains to Ardmore and other towns and cities south of the Arbuckles. I
believe they were actually put in in the mid to late 40's but don't hold me
to the dates - just that when my Step-Dad Ford was working as a
"Cub-Reporter" for WKY TV - (he use to film events in the area for broadcast
on TV with eight and sixteen mm cameras) he told us that was where we
received our TV signals from and in the early stages of outside TV antennas,
everyone pointed their antennas towards those towers." -Poss
Also about Woody Guthrie's song: "This Land is
your Land" There is a Woody Guthrie Museum here, a Bed and Breakfast, and
the Old drugstore he started at. They have a Woody Guthrie Day, a highway
named after him, and several times a year a "jam session". This is all IN
Pampa, Texas." -Rae Jean Miles [email protected]
"Butch, So many things I could say to
you... First congrats on the new bride... It appears that you did good... Sure do
enjoy the T & T. Look forward to it week after week... I only lived in Ardmore
eight years but feel close to that community. The elevation of Tater Hill is
approximately 1032
feet. The center contour of the ring on the topography map is the 1030 foot
contour... I've
attached a larger view of this contour map along with a photo of the same
area... This topo map and photo is taken from the following website.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/TaterHillElev1032.jpg
Here's the website.
http://jdmcox.com/
Download "USAPhotoMaps 2.76"... I've used this website
for several years...A few pointers, if I may...
* Press T on keyboard for topography maps of an area
* Press P on keyboard for aerial photo of an area
* Press + on keypad to zoom in
* Press - on keypad to zoom out
Time to learn to use the software is about 15 minutes if you are a fast
learner...Very useful free software. Let me know if I can help with it. You're
doing good. Keep it up." -John Key
How to clean anything.
http://www.HowToCleanAnything.com/
"Butch, this is a picture taken on a dairy farm a long time ago
probably in the 1930's. I am trying to figure out what the machine
is in the right side of the photo. This is Scheryl's great aunt on
the left and great uncle and her great grandmother on the right.
Anybody elso have any idea what they are." -Doug Williams
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos7a/TroyGabriel.jpg
"The cabin that you referred to in your article is actually on
Long Mountain, not Tator Hill. Long Mountain is just North of Tator Hill
and we are the new owners of the cabin. Tator Hill is owned by Nora Harris,
and there is not a road to get to the top of it (quite a hike). We are not
sure if Long Mountain is the highest elevation (that one can drive up on) in
Carter County; but we would like to know, if someone has a GPS. On a clear day, you can see the water on Lake Texoma. Storm spotters use Long Mountain to watch for severe weather. There is a marker up on Long Mountain that we are told the
whole County was surveyed from in 1936. Fourth of July is spectacular up here. You can see all the
fireworks shows in Southern Oklahoma. The whole horizon is lit up with
fireworks. Last fourth of July was open to the public. Folks were welcome
to bring chairs and blankets to enjoy the many shows. We are hoping to be
able to do it again this year." -Anna
"My name is David
Crutchfield. I live in Rockwall
Texas just east of Dallas on Lake Ray Hubbard right on the water.
On January 15, 2007 an ice storm prevented me from going to work.
I was at home with my two sons John and Will.
At 4:15 pm we were getting ready to go out to a movie when a
large bird flew by the window.
At first, I thought it was an Osprey or some other large fishing bird.
Another glance told me it was something much more special.
It was a Bald Eagle! It
was flying low near the jetty of the yacht club.
It circled and hovered for over a minute.
It then dove to the water and I thought it was going for a fish.
Instead it had been waiting for a Coot (small black duck like
bird) to resurface. I suppose
the Coot had been trying to hide from the Eagle but lost out.
The Eagle dove into the water and immediately started to fly off
with the Coot in it?s talons.
If
you look closely at slides 7 and 8 you can see the Coot below the Eagle.
We watched the Eagle fly away and were amazed at what we had just
witnessed. We had just watched a
Bald Eagle hunt down it?s dinner from less that 200 feet.
Now we were late to the movie so we jumped
in the car to leave. I took my
camera with me to show my wife Mary the pictures.
She is an avid birder and I knew she would love to see them
immediately. About a block from
our house I spotted the Eagle sitting in a large tree eating the Coot.
We pulled over and I jumped out of the car and took some photos
from about 200 feet away (#9).
I
then worked my way closer to the Eagle and took the last tree shot from
about 50-75 feet distance. The
Eagle began to notice the people nearby and took his dinner and flew
away. It was truly an astonishing experience for me and
my sons and one that we will not soon forget!"
"Hello Butch, Thanks for mentioning the new
Russett website
www.russett.info in
your January 25, 2007 issue of "this and that'. I once worked with Paula
Stout in her development of a Russett Website. But, as you said, it seems
to have gone away. This new website started a couple of years ago
when at a Russett Reunion that meets every year on Memorial Day weekend at
Murray College, Jim O'Steen a fellow Russett graduate suggested that Russett
ought to have a website and volunteered me to do it. After a couple of
years of hesitating I bit the bullet and with the help of my son's business
InterTribal Software Consultants (ISC) hosting the website, we launched it.
Several people are working to develop this
website, Jim O'Steen, JC Henry, June Boyer, Dee Frye and Wayne Easterwood
to mention a few. We gather most of the input from former Russett residents
and a few families that still live there. As we say on the website "Russett,
once a bustling frontier town located in the Chickasaw Nation of Indian
Territory, transitioned over time to a farming community of mostly
sharecroppers during the dark days of the depression and then to one of the
"former" places in Oklahoma." A lot of good people grew up here, dirt poor,
working hard to survive the depression and the dustbowl of the thirties and
forties but went on to live successful and prosperous lives. Many became
college graduates and went on to be Corporate Executives, College
Professors, Engineers, Computer Scientists, School Teachers and Other
Professionals. You'll find their stories on the Website. Thanks again for
mentioning it" -Larry Wilcox
http://www.russett.info
"Hi Butch and Jill. I wanted to ask to please put in your paper
that my church, Zaneis Baptist Church, Wilson, OK. will be celebrating it's
100th Anniversary! We are going to host a big "homecoming" probably in October,
but I want to try and get as much information about our church, people that use
to attend. Any stories? and mainly pictures of any of the three/or four buildings
is has been. When it was first formed, it was actually named Joiner City
Baptist Church. and later moved up top of the hill by the Zaneis School, which
then took on the name Zaneis. It then was built in the present location and in
1975/1976 the new building we have was built. I know that a church that has
stood firm in it's foundation, and the zeal that it has, there must be someone
out there that has something they'd like to share. I want to make a slide show
for the Homecoming, so if I can get stories, pictures, letters, or what ever I
can use to make our slide show a success I would be most honored. And when we
have actually set the date for the Homecoming, I will let you know. Our church
loves the Lord, and wants to invite any and all out to service the Lord Jesus
with us. Please send any information to
[email protected], or email
me and I'll send you my address. God Bless and looking forward to hearing from
anyone who has attended Zaneis Baptist Church." -Lee Thompson
"The email about Anadarko and mass burial site
sparked my interest. I have many relatives who live in Caddo County near
Anadarko. I have never personally heard of this site, or saw any excavations
which exposed human bones in the area. Of course I was overseas in 1968. I can
shed some light on the Tonkawa massacre it happened near the site where Indian
City is located, just inside the entrance of Indian City at the bottom of the
hill. There could have been an archaeological dig in progress there at the time
but I am not aware of it if there was. Several miles to the South of Anadarko
near Stecker, Oklahoma the remains of a mammoth were found in a creek bed. My
uncle took us to this location while it was being excavated this was in the
early 60's. The mammoth was killed and butchered on this spot by Paleolithic
era Indians. There were a number of artifacts found at the site. The
fossilized remains of the mammoth is in the museum at Lawton. There is also a
museum in Anadarko which might be able to provide information on the site
you described." -Mike Jones
Blog Oklahoma.
http://www.blogoklahoma.com/
"I just found out the date for the 2007 Dickson
Alumni get together, It is set for Saturday, April 28th. I didn't get a time
but I will probably get a letter from them soon. The time is usually from about
11:00 a.m to 3:00 p.m. It will be in the new cafeteria this year. It is
located over by the auditorium, which is the same one we graduated in, just
remodeled. I told you I would let you know as soon as I found out the date, if
you want to let the other classmates know. Margaret Washington (Williams now)
has a new e-mail address: It is [email protected] hope you
are doing okay. Let me know if there is anything I can do. Our
school President was Steve Sons, Vice President, Ronnie Morrison, Secretary,
Marilyn Mithcell , and Treasurer was Margaret Washington."
"Butch, When I went there in the late
60's, we went from the road ( Tater Hill Rd ) and walked north straight
up and over the top of the hill. Mom showed me the foundation of the old
homestead and the cellar which was still there. It was just north of the
top of the hill. Then we walked down to the east and a little back south
down the hill to a small bunch of trees. In there was a little cemetery
with one of those old fashioned iron fences around it with a little
ladder that went up and over the fence. There were , I dont know for
sure, maybe 5-10 graves in there with stones. The picture I sent you ,
on the left about halfway up the hill is a little clump of trees that
might be it or it may be further north, or is under the road there now
or the mobile home yard, but I think it was on the side of the hill
about halfway down in a group of trees. Sure would like to walk around
there with a metal detector........Yep, 3 generations of my family were
born and lived there. My mom was born in the cellar, because it was cool
in there. She used to walk to the ( Dinky ? ) and ride into town. My
grandpa was buried in Providence (sp?) cemetery, and I think my
grandmother was buried across the road from there in another cemetery
because grandpa was buried with some kinda mens org. and they didnt bury
women there or something like that. My bunch of cousins all still live within a
few miles or less of Tater Hill. I met a lady through T&T whose grandparents
were good friends with mine and were there when he was killed thrown from the
horse. Just replying to you with some fuzzy facts." -Kirk.
"Once I traveled about in an
old bakery wagon, double-doored rattler with a mattress on the floor, I
stopped where people stopped or gathered, I listened and looked and felt, and in
the process had a picture of my country the accuracy of which was impaired only
by my own shortcomings." -George
Steinbeck
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net
