It has been 14 years since I've undertaken a fundraising project like I'm going to talk to you about. I know things have changed, the economy has changed, etc., but people are the same. And the right thing needs to be done; that's to erect a granite memorial to a Healdton police officer who gave the ultimate in the line of duty 84 years ago and was then forgotten.
We've talked about James Hutchison for several weeks after discovering his sacrifice in the line of duty in 1930 as a Healdton police officer. Right now we are only asking for pledges to see if the interest is there in purchasing a granite memorial for Hutchison and Doug Durington, another Healdton officer who died in the line of duty.
I know if we work together, our pledges can turn into donations, and we can make this happen. Please join me and others in this project to make it a reality. I hope to receive an email with your pledge.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/hutchison.html
August 1930
More than 4,000 voters from all parts of Southern Oklahoma are to take part in
the big Democratic barbecue and political rally to be held at Newport on Friday.
Urgent invitations have been sent out to every state candidate for office.
Pegger Stephenson, 52, boasts proudly that he was the first Negro to vote the
Democratic ticket in Carter County will be the barbecue chef. He has cooked at
every Newport political rally since statehood with the exception of one year
"when they hired somebody else. He simply ruined the meat, and I've been doing
it ever since." Barbecue will be served at Midnight, with iced water and hot air
helping keep the crowds awake.
August 1954
June 4, 1953 was the hottest June 4th since the weather bureau was established
in 1890. The mercury stood at 98. June 4, 1954 was the coldest June 4th since
the weather bureau started. It was 47 degrees.
August 1965
Jack Markham, independent oilman of Lubbock, Texas is reported putting together
a 12,000 acre ranch spread in Carter and Murray Counties. He has purchased the
7,000 acre Lazy S ranch in the Arbuckles, north of Springer, and the Cool Creek
ranch consisting of 2,000 acres in the Arbuckles north of Gene Autry. The Lazy S
was established by the Scivally's, pioneer ranchers; later owned by Tom Cooper;
and in 1937 by Mr. and Mrs. Moss Patterson. Markham bought both ranches from the
estate of Phil A. Cornell, Oklahoma City oilman.
August 1986
Jack R. Sullivan, who with his two sisters, Gussie and Louise, donated the land
for the Sullivan Family Park in Lone Grove, died at the age of 73 in Tucson,
Arizona. The Sullivan family, Dr. and Mrs. Charles Franklin Sullivan, moved to
Lone Grove, Indian Territory, in 1893 bringing with them their three older
children. Five children were born to the Sullivans, including Jack, Gussie, and
Louise, while the family lived in Lone Grove. The trio gave their childhood
homeplace to the town of Lone Grove, stipulating that it will always be used for
the benefit of Lone Grove children. The land can never be sold by the town. In
the event it should no longer serve as a park, the land will automatically be
donated to the Lone Grove Board of Education. The park must always be known as
the Sullivan Family Park, according to the transfer deed.
VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE SMITHSONIAN
Here is something special, a virtual tour of the Smithsonian Museum room by room. It is really something with a 360 degree viewing by using your cursor. You can easily spend days/weeks looking at everything. It's just marvelous for kids and adults. Follow the blue arrows on the floor to move into new rooms.
It shows inside and outside of the museum and there are little cameras here and there which show detailed info on certain things. If you click on the floors (upper right corner) you get a floor plan of that floor and you can click on a blue circle and go directly to that room.
It's truly an incredible web site.
Watch it in full screen when you open it up. Use the roller on your mouse to move in and out. Look for the "arrows" on the floor and click on them. They take you to other places.
Make sure you use the arrows at the bottom of the screen, as they allow you a close up or even a look at the ceiling.
http://www.mnh.si.edu/vtp/1-desktop/
Q. What is the least populated county in Oklahoma?
A. Cimarron County. 1,841 square miles. It is located at the western end
of the panhandle of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,475.
Its county seat is Boise City.
Q. What Oklahoma county has the
most caves?
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 August 12, 2000:
"Speaking of watermelons, my niece & her
husband came up from Mississippi for a short visit a couple of weeks ago & I
just knew they would bring one of those big Mississippi watermelons with them
but they forgot to. This reminds me of a story that happened one summer when we
were visiting down at Mize, Mississippi. This little old town of Mize,
Mississippi is known for its timber, freshwater streams, swamps, snakes &
agriculture. As a money crop the farmers raise wonderful watermelons that are
either trucked out or loaded on to freight trains for shipment north. A buyer
showed up on the scene & offered a fair price for all the melons that they would
bring in to the loading docks. Truck load after truck load of big watermelons
were carted in. The buyer was overwhelmed by the large number of melons he was
obligated to buy. Anyway, he decided to renege on the price and offered a much
reduced price. The farmers did not say much in response to his crawfishing on
the price but that doesn't mean they did not react. The trucks backed up almost
to the dock & one by one, dumped their load on the ground along the railroad
track. Then they drove back & forth over the melons until the watermelon juice
ran down the ditches as it flowed toward "Clear Creek" near by. The buyer left
with NO melons."
----------------------------------------------------
"I enjoy reading This & That, you do a
wonderful job. I was wondering if you or any of your readers have or know where
I could find some old pictures of Caney, Oklahoma. Preferably around 1910 to
1915. I am particularly interested in a drug store on the main street at that
time. Thanks."
----------------------------------------------------
"Regarding the 5th Ave. Viaduct. It burned
on July 4, 1964. My brother Bobby and I happened to come down 3rd Avenue shortly
after the fire started. We stopped the car and walked up close to the burning
structure. Since I had an 8mm movie camera with me and a fresh roll (50 feet) of
movie film, I shot the whole roll on the fire and got scenes from shortly after
the viaduct was engaged until parts of the viaduct collapsed. I would consider
making a DVD or QuickTime movie CD of that fire available to an Ardmore museum
or library, if one were interested." -Doyle Williams
----------------------------------------------------
"After reading last week's newsletter about
the bell and Hillsboro, I did a little snooping and could not come up with a
foundry in Hillsboro, OR. That's not to say one existed in the past. Oregon
isn't necessarily "industrialized", especially years ago, so it's probably safe
to assume Ohio is the place. I won't abandon the query however. You never know
what will turn up under the next rock."
----------------------------------------------------
While I was out on the 4th floor roof
of the courthouse, I took a pic of Ardmore looking southeast. The tall structure
is Bluebonnet Feeds. You can see the red brick sheriff's office in front of the
feed mill.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/ArdmoreLookingSE.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
I noticed the workers with RFD
Construction out of Sulphur are going around City Hall here in Ardmore putting
in those red brick sidewalks. They did Main Street a long time ago, and over the past
few weeks they've been doing North and South Washington at Main. If things go okay,
hopefully we will have the same red pavers around the new pavilion presently
being built at the courthouse. Here's a pic of the work going on around City
Hall.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/CityHallPavers.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
After a bumpy start, a concrete slab is
finally in place in front of the courthouse on which the pavilion will sit. I
took some pics of Day Concrete pouring the concrete slab. It was over 100 degree
heat, and there were 12 concrete men, working fast and furious to get the slap
ready before it set up. But it looks great--- and soon the pavilion will be in
place!
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/pavilion3.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
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.....
Hi Butch
Regarding "Deacon" Jim Miller. I became aware of him while doing research on Charles Hobart Heald, the man Healdton is named after. His daughter, Hettie Bernard Heald, married Marshal Ben Collins. She was at home when her husband was murdered by Jim Miller as he entered a gate about 200 yards from their home.
Miller got away with the Ben Collins murder. He did so by hiring the best lawyer in the state. The tactic worked several times. He tried it for the last time in Ada, but the mob there didn?t give him the chance to do it again. They removed him and three others from the jail and hung them in a stable next door.
There is an out of print book about Miller called ?Shotgun For Hire?. He was the baddest of the bad. A guy who killed and then went to church and was called Deacon Jim. The link below has several articles and photos of him.
-Barry Flanary
http://www.historynet.com/deacon-jim-miller-killing-in-deacons-clothing.htm
The Everlasting Hills Of Oklahoma - The Sons Of The Pioneers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLV7hiK0qvk
"Butch, I enjoyed the tour of Gene Autry because I haven't been over there in 40 years. You can check out YOU TUBE for videos made with the Go Pro camera. Just input Go Pro and then whatever you think you want to watch. You can find some incredible mountain bike rides in Utah or anything else you may like, including soaring eagles carrying a camera. Nick Woodman, the guy who developed Go Pro has a home here in Big Sky. Everyone started wearing ski helmets about 5 years ago and now a large portion of those people ski with cameras mounted on their helmets." -Monroe Cameron
http://winterfamily.smugmug.com/Bike-ride-through-Gene-Autry/
"I'm looking for info and photos of the El Toro Club and the Paradise (maybe Pair of Dice) club just across the Red River from Bonham, TX. My friends and I went there in the 50's and 60's when we were in our teens. Thank you for any help." -Larry Harper
The History of Love County, Oklahoma, by Love County Heritage Committee, Chairman, LaDaria Riggs.
http://www.linkpendium.com/genealogy/USA/OK/Love/
"Last week you made mention of the plane crash, I think it was 1963. Not for sure this is of interest but, I'll send it anyhow.
My wife and I were at the Tivoli theater with Sonny and Barbara Craddock, part owners of then Bettes Funeral Home, now Craddock Funeral Home. Back then the funeral homes ere the ambulance service. Someone came and told Sonny of the crash and he was needed for ambulance service. We learned where the crash site was (approximately) and we headed out there. A rancher in the area had one of the survivors in his pick up taking him to hospital and he told us to drive around in search of other survivors trying to walk out of the crash site. We drove several of the back roads hollering then turning off our engine and listening for voices. We did not find any and eventually got on old highway 18 and came to the gate where emergency vehicles were coming and going. One of Bettes ambulances drove in to enter and Sonny jumped in and went into the crash site. They were asking for volunteers to go in to help but, from what we had heard, it was not a place for on job training and didn't think I would be much help, not being use to such. I don't know how long those folks worked that night but, it is still a night to remember." -Dale Young
"The safety of the state is the highest law." -Justinian 482-565 AD
The above quote is at the entrance to the Carter County courthouse on the north side. It was chiseled into the autumn rose granite from the Tishomingo quarries in 1910 when the courthouse was being built.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos14b/CourthouseJustinian.jpg
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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