This and That
Newsletter
A Weekly Publication
Vol 16 Issue 810 Circulation 5,000 August 2, 2012
PO Box 11
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
email address: [email protected]
580-657-8616
In July 2010 Jill and I attended the Grand Opening of the Chickasaw Cultural Center at Sulphur, Oklahoma. We had the most wonderful time seeing everything, learning about the Chickasaw Nation and its people and customs. We even watched the movie The Aviator about Pearl Carter Scott, the youngest licensed pilot in the U.S. back in 1930. If you ever get a chance to see this movie, do, you will love it, we sure did.
Its been 2 years and Jill and I decided to visit the Chickasaw Cultural Center again, and believe me, there has been a lot added since the grand opening in 2010. If you are ever in the area of Sulphur, I urge you to visit the Chickasaw Cultural Center, it will be an experience of a lifetime, I promise you. And the $5 admission fee to enter the Exhibit Center building will be the best $5 you spend this year! There is so much to see and do in the Exhibit Center, plan on about a 2 hour stroll in just that building alone to see everything! By the way, if you get tired along the way, there are plenty of rest areas inside the building, plus informative videos while your resting inside the air conditioned building!
Here are a few pics I tried to take inside the Exhibit Center. My camera does not do good at all inside, so the pics are not all that great.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/ChickasawCulturalCenter072212a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/ChickasawCulturalCenter072212b.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/ChickasawCulturalCenter072212c.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/ChickasawCulturalCenter072212d.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/ChickasawCulturalCenter072212e.jpg
Link to the Chickasaw Cultural Center website
http://www.ChickasawCulturalCenter.com/
Ardmoreite William Pippin notified me this week of an old Pony Truss bridge still in existence north of Lone Grove. It was removed from service back in the 80s and a new bridge built about 500 feet to the west of it, where Deese Road crosses Caddo Creek. If you stop on the new Caddo Creek bridge over Deese road, and look east, you can see the old bridge. Pony Truss was a certain type of bridge built back 100 years ago and before. This particular bridge was built in 1910. The wooden planks are in really bad shape, rotten in some places, so one would really have to watch where they stepped if crossing it on foot.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/DeeseBridge073012a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/DeeseBridge073012b.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/DeeseBridge073012c.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/DeeseBridge073012d.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/DeeseBridge073012e.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/DeeseBridge073012f.jpg
Here are a coupe of maps to help show exactly where in Carter county the bridge is located.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/CaddoCreekBridgeMap.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/CaddoCreekBridgeMapOverview.jpg
There were several of these old Warren "pony truss" bridges
scattered around Carter county years ago. One was the old East Anadarche Creek
bridge on Concord Road (used to be Blevins Road) southeast of Ardmore which was
built in 1927. The bridge is representative of many Warren "pony truss" bridges
built across Oklahoma from around 1910 through the 1930s. Back in 2008 Carter
County Commissioner Bill McLaughlin removed the old East Anadarche Creek bridge
in preparation for a new one. I took a picture of the brass nameplate Bill
removed for later mounting on a wood frame for hanging in his office. The plate
reads: BUILT BY J B KLEIN, IRON & FDRY CO, OKLAHOMA CITY, 1927. Below is
a picture I took of that nameplate along with other pics of the bridge just
before the crane would arrive to move it.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/ConcordRoadBridge1927.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/ConcordRoadBridge8a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/ConcordRoadBridge8b.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/ConcordRoadBridge8c.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/EastAnadarcheCreek.jpg
A friend of mine when he was 6 years old found an old map at the Wynnewood dump grounds back in the 50s. I got to take pic of it, and you can tell it is old, its even on yellowed canvass. Its a map of Indian Territory and Texas in 1900. A real piece of history. Maybe someone can tell us what the value of an old map like this may be.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/OKTXmap1900a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/OKTXmap1900b.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/OKTXmap1900c.jpg
It was brought to my attention last week that one of the oldest trees in Ardmore might be in this front yard at F Street and Frensley Street SW. I don't know how old it is, and if it qualifies to be the oldest, but I do know there is a very old tree at 11th NW and O Street. I was told several years ago this may be the oldest tree in Ardmore. You can see in this picture, this tree is huge around the trunk.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/BigTreeOStreetNW080212.jpg
Here is a pic I took of the tree at F and Frensley Street.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/TreeFstreetSW072612.jpg
Jill and I was in Ringling, Oklahoma last weekend and decided to stop at Mud Creek BBQ for a sand. We had a real good meal of sliced beef sandwich (lots of meat), a drink and chips all for 6 bucks each. We really enjoyed the atmosphere and nostalgia from the olden days on the walls. Highly recommended.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/MudcreekBBQ072712a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/MudcreekBBQ072712b.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/MudcreekBBQ072712c.jpg
From This and That newsletter archives of August 8, 1998:
Retired Washita county commissioner Alfred
Miller sent me a photo of the tower clock in the Cordell, Oklahoma courthouse.
It's an E. Howard & Sons clock. They removed it from the courthouse about 1950
and replaced it with an electric one. They just recently took the old tower
clock from the barn and put it on display in the courthouse.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/cordclk1.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
Last week the Tri-County Ambulance
Service at Healdton, Oklahoma closed it doors... again... which makes several
times that I remember since the early 70s. When I started to work at the
ambulance service here at Ardmore in July 1970, we charged $17.50 for a basic
run here in town. But a trip to Oklahoma City was a lot higher.... around $150.
And that was using old Highway 77, because I-35 was not opened up yet. Boy, that
"S" curve at Turner Falls was scary when running emergency. I'll see if I can
dig out a pic of that "S" curve in the Arbuckle Mountains north of Ardmore. One
mistake and it was over the side. Went to a few wrecks up there where that very
thing happened. But one of the worst wrecks I went to was in 1972. Four local
teens died. I'll never forget it as long as I live.
---------------------------------------------------
"I have acquired a painting that was
painted by a Creek Indian named Fred Beaver.... from Ardmore. On the back of the
picture is a newspaper article with a picture of Fred Beaver in his native
attire showing one of his paintings. The painting that we have is called
"Praying to the Great Spirit".... The article said that Fred Beaver is also a
singer and an expert on Indian heritage. What I am asking is if you can help me
find out something about the painting and Fred Beaver?"
---------------------------------------------------
Q. Who were the original members of the Dawes
Commission?
A. Henry L. Dawes,
chairman;
Captain Archibald S. McKennon and
Meredith H. Kidd
Q. Wildman and Oreana are Oklahoma Ghost towns located where
and why did they “spring up” ?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
Gas prices today in the Ardmore area......
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/gasprices.html
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.....
"Butch: Since you are a BBQ/Smoked meat aficionado, thought you might be interested in the smoker that i designed/built. About 4 years, I made a smoker, using a Weber Smokey Joe ($29.99 at Walmart) grill and a modified tamale steamer as the barrel, also purchased from Walmart. I posted the build instructions on the Virtual Weber Forum and the owner of the forum later posed the attached instructions. I have since built 7, usually using Smokey Joes found on Craig's List or resale shops for as little at $10. The IMUSA 32 qt is found at some Target and Walmart stores for $21 to $25. The modification is simple, easy to build and is very popular, has now spread to dozens of other blogs. Google Mini WSM and you can see how popular it has become. On the virtual Weber forum, there are posts by those who have built them in most of the states, in Europe and in Australia. I use mine to smoke whole chickens, pork shoulder, ribs, and chuck roast, or anything smoked that will fit on a 14.5" grill. I use two racks and have smoked up to 15 lbs of meat at a time." -Larry Watkins, Mesquite, TexasCheck it out.
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/miniwsm.html
"This guy writes with a golden pen. So easy to follow and understand (even for a 70 year old "shade tree". -Richard Johnson, Spring, Texas
http://troubleshootmyvehicle.com/
"Butch: I'll bet not many people knew Roy Rogers had a wife before Dale Evans until reading your current This 'n That. I don't know how many children he had by the first wife, but we know now he had at least one. Not much has ever been said about this." -Royse
Museum Memories
Compiled by Melinda Taylor
December 8, 1916
JOHN RINGLING BUYS TWO MOTOR CARS
Takes Steam Passenger Train off O.N.M.&P Lines and Installs Motor Service - Same Schedule to Wilson As we are living in the motor age, there can be no great amount of kicking reasonably registered against John Ringling for deciding to discontinue his steam passenger service over the Oklahoma, New Mexico & Pacific Railway traversing this country from Ardmore to Lone Grove, New Wilson and Ringling, a distance of 30 miles. The make of cars which went into service yesterday were of the General Electric type, consisting of a combination passenger, baggage and express, this car seating 91, and a trailer with a seating capacity for 103, or a total of 194 passengers. The initial or trial run was made over the line Wednesday, the cars making all stops and doing the 30-mile trip in 42 minutes, this beating the steam train schedule of over an hour by several minutes. At present this seems to be a good move, as we are assured of a quicker service, no dust, no cinders and the cars are new and saniitary. But we still earnestly pray that John Ringling will now make some arrangement with Uncle Sam to haul our mail by pouch, which we think he can do under the new scheme, without entangling his other railroad business up with other complications.
Drop by and look at our old 1900s
Cornish Newspapers now on display at the museum
Visit us online at
www.wilsonhistoricalmuseum.org
Wilson Historical Museum Hours Tues., Thurs., Fri., Sat.: 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
"Butch – Just thought you and your readers would like to know the book “Carter County, Oklahoma: Then and Now” was just delivered to our doorstep today. It is available in our gift shop. It has been a long time coming, but it is here now." -Barbara, Greater SW Historical Museum, Ardmore, Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/CarterCountyThenAndNow.jpg
"For those of us who remember Dave Wood, perhaps this link will affirm some memories. For the newly initiated, welcome to the brand new blog of Lee Broom Gallery, whose history is shared with Dave Wood and others like him. Lee Broom Gallery and Design began as Valley Staging Company Inc., thirty-five years ago on June 12, 1977. "
Click on the link for more about Dave Wood:
http://leebroomgallery.wordpress.com/
The Daily Ardmoreite
October 20, 1946
HARDY MURPHY WILL LEAD USO
The appointment of Hardy Murphy of Ardmore as county chairman was announced Saturday by Gareld A. Whitlaw, chairman of the Oklahoma USO state committee.
At the present time there are 74,200, Oklahomans still in the service of our country. Many of these men are in hospitals where the bi-weekly visits of USO entertainers are often the only bright spots in an otherwise drab life. The continuation of USO through 1947 is vitally important to these men, Gareld A. Whitlaw said, and Hardy Murphy in accepting the chairmanship of the Carter county USO committee is doing his best to see that the wounded of World War II will not become the "forgotten man" of this generation.
A few questions about Ardmore schools, maybe someone can provide the answers....
1. Where did Ardmore Douglas play football?
2. Where did AHS play football before Walker Stadium?
3. How many schools (and where we're they) made up the Douglas system?
4. When did the old Jr high building burn (SW corner of AHS downtown school block)?
Would appreciate any help with the above questions.
I snapped this picture at Martin Luther King Blvd and K Street NE. Anyone know what it is, or was a part of? -Doug Williams
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/MLKcolumn.jpg
"Hi Butch. It is Susan from Baton Rouge again. My parents & grandparents and I were going from Davis to Ardmore, and, as usual, we stopped on the top of the mountain to look through the viewers at Turner Falls. Well, there was quite the crowd of people there. I was impatient as a 5 or 6 year old is. I walked up to a viewer and asked the man using it, "When will you be through so I can look?" He turned around and I recognized him as Roy Rogers. My mother was mortified at my rudeness. Roy smoothed it over, and soon my mother and the grandparents were at ease. As I remember, they discussed the movie and the wedding while I used the viewer." -Susan
Look, Here are Oklahoma today archives you can see online.
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/oktoday/
Saturday August 4th at 10:00am. Absolute Auction at Tex Ritter's place, 3021 Springdale Road, Ardmore, OK.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/RitterAuction080412.jpg
Life can be only understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards. -Kierkegaard, Søren
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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