Before Oklahoma became a state in 1907, Ben Collins was an Indian policeman for the Chickasaw Nation. He lived 5 miles south of Milburn, Indian Territory. One evening around 10pm in August 1906, Ben Collins was standing on the porch with his wife when he was gunned down by several men from out in the darkness. The Chickasaw Nation offered a reward of $1,000 for info leading to the arrest of his killers. In November that same year deputy marshals and detectives arrested Henry Pruitt, A. Washmood and Ben Tie for Collin's murder. Three years later, at a mob lynching in Ada, Oklahoma on April 19, 1909 four men were taken from the jail and lynched. It would become known that these four men and the three arrested for the murder of Ben Collins were all accomplices that dark night in 1906 south of Milburn, I.T.. This band of outlaws had killed several people during those years, earning up to $2,000 per killing as hired guns.
During the early 1940s the U.S. was caught up in a world war. Many items we take for granted today, were almost none existent during those years. I had one friend who was shot down and captured. He spent 2 years in a German POW camp. When the war ended and he finally returned home to Marietta, he went to the Ardmore post office (north Washington and West Broadway) to sign-up for "war stamps". They told him he would only get 30 gallons of gasoline a month because of rationing. He told the man he had just returned from 2 years as a POW, and "he could keep the damn stamps". My friend had to buy his gasoline on the black market at a higher price, but he did get gasoline for his car. Gasoline was just one of many things that were rationed because of short supply during WWII. People used "war stamps" to obtain those rationed items.
I had an inquiry this week, they were wondering if Myall Road in SW Ardmore (runs east and west) was ever Plainview Road which today runs north and south from Plainview school. I know if it was named Plainview Road, it would have been before 1950. Maybe some old timers out there remember?
A couple of weeks ago we talked about a medallion with 46 inside a star for Oklahoma, and someone was wondering what it represented.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14a/NewStateOkla46.jpg
I think my uncle, Don Bridges, in California found the answer.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/OklahomaFlag46th.jpg
1960 Potter Street SE changed to Hugo SE
07/14/14 Muskogee - Glenn Boulet Sr.,
who was the victim of a vicious dog attack on Monday, has been updated from
critical to serious condition. ?He still can?t talk, and he still can?t walk,?
said Boulet?s wife, Deborah Lolles Boulet. Glenn Boulet, 61, has been at St.
Francis Hospital in Tulsa since being flown there after two pit bull dogs
attacked him near his home at 318 S. Ninth St. Witnesses had to use baseball
bats and a gun to separate the dogs from Boulet.
http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/local/x611418464/Severely-bitten-man-continues-to-recover
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
Q. Where is the deepest producing oil well in Oklahoma?
A. The deepest well still producing oil is 15,500 feet, in Comanche County.
The deepest well drilled in the U.S. was in Washita County, Oklahoma.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Rogers
Q. Just outside Pauls Valley,
Oklahoma in 2012 a film crew shot part of a movie in a nearly 100 year old
2-story house. What was the name of that movie?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
Oklahoma's first state regulated oil
field was at Healdton, Oklahoma.
http://www.okmoga.com/html/tour_details.php
From This and That newsletter archives of July 15, 2000:
This week I found an unusual piece of
history at Springer, OK. At the property just to the south of the Carter County
District 1 County Barn is this huge metal pistol looking ornament.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/SpringerGun2000.jpg
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Another reader told me how badly the old Caddo Creek
Bridge north of Ardmore on
Highway 77 needed painting. Yes, it is pretty rusty.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/CaddoCreekBridge2000.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
And a lady on the fourth floor of the courthouse said she owns a very old piece
of history. A wooden chair made sometime before 1896 by William Morris. The
pitch of the back is adjusted using a wooden rod through the chair.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/MorrisChair.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Chair
----------------------------------------------------
"Butch, here is a little something for T&T
My mother in law found this photo behind another photo inside a picture frame.
She says she believed that it was taken by her Grandfather who ran a photo
studio in Marietta. From the looks of the uniform and the car, I'd guess it was
taken sometime in the 40's. Don't have a clue who the old trooper is, but maybe
some of your readers will."
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/LoveCountyOHP.jpg
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"When I ran across this, I thought of
you immediately and wondered if it might be something that you would enjoy since
you have such a passion for bells. Inscription on an old bell:"
I Call the Living, Mourn the Dead,
I Tell When Days and Years are Fled,
For Grief and Joy, For Prayer and Praise,
To Heaven My Tuneful Voice I Raise.
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Kids will be kids. On July the 18th my next
door neighbor's house at 212 E Street SW was TeePee'd.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/TeePeeHouse214_E_Street.jpg
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Bill Dixon brought me a digital camera
the other day. Since I already have one, he said put it on eBay auction, and
whatever it brings, put the money in the American Flyers Memorial Fund. So
that's exactly what we did.
----------------------------------------------------
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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
Non-ethanol gas (pure gas) stations in the Ardmore area.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/puregas.html
Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
"Butch, I operate the Old Jail Museum in Montague, Texas which you visited a few years ago. I have heard that before Red River Station was the cattle crossing for the Chisholm Trail a trail at Rock Bluff was used to take cattle to Fort Arbuckle and possibility Fort Gibson. Have any of your readers know any information of this. There was a ferry from Rock Bluff across the river later." -max brown [email protected]"While it's quite correct that there was a New State Ice Company in Oklahoma City (its plant was on the corner of W Reno and Klein, near the Farmers' Market), that photo looks nothing at all like the cards used in the window to tell the ice man how much to leave today. Yes, I actually do remember such cards -- and we even had daily milk delivery to our refrigerator in 1958 although it didn't last much longer than that.
My best guess is that since Oklahoma was the 46th state admitted to the Union, back in 1907, that this is actually a decorative button dating from that time -- although it might be a lapel pin. I don't think there's any connection at all to the ice company.
It might also be connected with the transfer of the State Capitol from Guthrie to OKC, though." -Jim Kyle"I have no direct knowledge but... Since the cover is a prop job and says Air Force, it would be my guess it was printed somewhere between late 1947 to early 1950. The USAF wasn't formed until '47 and they converted to mostly jet fighters in the very early '50's." -Thal McGinness
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14a/AirbaseCookbook.jpg
"Butch, that Officer's Wives Club cookbook would have been maybe 1954....don't know that for sure though. If I could see some of the names in it, then I could probably pinpoint the date a little better!!" -danna
Kidnapping of Oklahoma City oil man made national headlines in 1933
http://newsok.com/kidnapping-of-oklahoma-city-oil-man-made-national-headlines-in-1933/article/4987162
"I went to the Oklahoma Senator last year and requested that we get a bridge named in honor of Phillip Gaines, the only soldier killed in Vietnam from Gene Autry. The governor has signed the bill and thanks to Frank Simpson, Senator and Pat Ownby, State representative the bridge that runs over the Washita river on highway 53 overlooking the old Mock ranch where we all have hauled hay will be named the PFC Phillip F. Gaines Memorial bridge. This will be held at 10 AM, Saturday, September 27th. The Gaines family will be having a family reunion that morning also at the school lunchroom. Please forward this to all that might have known Phillip or his family. Also the Patriot Guard will be there to escort the family to the bridge. Phillip's wife Donna and his family sisters Lynnette, Ava and brother Verlin will be there also. It took 46 years but Phillip will finally be honored for his sacrifice." -Doug Williams
A 400 foot symbol of hope, freedom and inspiration in Wisconsin.
http://mortenson.wistia.com/medias/tejnwpitig
Q. Does anyone know what this tool is?
A. It's a Stanley No. 12 Veneer Planer. http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan3.htm
"Butch, I was looking for some pictures from the ARDMOREITE from 1962 for a friend and ran across this photo of the new members of the Ardmore Youth Court from 1964. It was sponsored by the Ardmore Police Department, the Carter County Bar Association and the Ardmore Safety Council. Those students charged with a moving or pedestrian violation in Ardmore were sent to Youth Court to have their cases heard. The court met month throughout the year. Fred Nevill and I were both judges and there may have been a third judge, but I no longer remember. This is a 50 year old blast from the past." -Monroe Cameron
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/ArdmoreYouthCourt1960.jpg
"I have been trying to do some research on the grade school in Mannsville and came across your website. In your Newsletter issued on April 11, 2013 (Vol. 17, Issue 846) you requested information regarding a tornado that hit the school in 1935 or 1937. Did you ever receive any response to that request?
In the research I have done, I found an article in the Friday, May 11, 1934 edition of the Mannsville Times that stated:
?Construction of a new high school building for Mannsville will be under way within 15 days, according to a statement by Colonel Darnell, federal engineer, and his partner of Oklahoma City, who were here Monday and inspected the school building. With all good faith, Darnell said the Mannsville will have a new school building.?
As a side note, the Donut Hole in Mannsville has photographs of both the old and ?new? schools but no dates are associated with the photographs. However, the picture of the ?new? school looks to be from a year book, as it has the dates ?1952-1953? printed above the photo and ?MANNSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL - MANNSVILLE, OKLAHOMA? printed below the photo. Discussions with local residents revealed that the old school was two stories, and the new one as a single story structure. Of the people interviewed, they thought the tornado just blew the second story off, but the photographs clearly show two very different structures.
Thank you for your help." -Rob
"Justice delayed is justice denied." -William Gladstone
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Vicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
Bells of Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bellpage.html
Carter County Courthouse Paver Project
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/pavers
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/
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