PO Box 2, Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
Email: [email protected], Phone: 580-490-6823
Dale Evans and Roy Rogers were married just south of Davis, Oklahoma on the Healey Brothers Flying L Ranch on New Years Eve back in 1947. The cabin house they were married in burned long ago, today only parts of the foundation are still visible. But just short distance from there is the Price’s Chapel (namesake Nathan Price), built before statehood. We find this building as a school house around 1923.
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I snapped a pic of the cornerstone, shame the last part of the year is broken away. Maybe someone can clue everyone in as to the year?
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This is a picture of a few in our group who were up at the Healey Ranch last Friday get the grand tour from Herman Kirkwood of OKC. That’s Jill with the biggest smile, she was loving every minute of the tour.
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By the way, the Oklahoma History Rendezvous held here in Ardmore last Saturday was a great success. We had 22 show up, and the speakers were awesome. Four dynamic speakers in a row that morning, each one speaking about a special part of local history, keeping everyone glued to their seats. If you missed this meet, you missed out on a lot of history. Then that afternoon we went on a tour of several historical sites in Ardmore and the county. Lots of fun.
Across the drive from Price’s Chapel is Price’s Cemetery. Its in bad need of a cleaning up. What is interesting is the tunnel you have to go through near the front gate to reach Price’s Chapel and cemetery. This is the same railroad track that goes from Oklahoma City to Ft Worth. As you exit the west side of the tunnel, if you don’t immediately, and I mean immediatly turn left, you car will drop off in the creek.
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Between the tunnel and what’s left of the cabin Dale and Roy were married is a marker recognizing a high bred horse, as best I could tell, the plaque was pretty much unreadable in the available light. Maybe someone can tell us more about this horse?
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On the other side of the highway is what’s left of the cabin where Dale Evans and Roy Rogers got married in 1947.
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And evidently just to the south of the above cabin was a German POW camp back during WWII. The above 2 places face Highway 110.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/HealyPOWmarker.jpg
James Lindsey, head of maintenance at the Carter county courthouse, had a birthday last week. The girls and guys at the Annex Building next door put on a little birthday party for James at noon that day.
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I was looking over that old 1900 map of Oklahoma again this week and noticed a town by the name of Gilsonite in Murray county. According to that map it was located about 5 miles south of Sulphur along Highway 177. This town caught my attention because of the word Gilsonite. Gilsonite is a close cousin to tar and asphalt and only found in two places in the U.S. both in Utah. There has been many a tar pits being worked all around south central Oklahoma over the years. I was wondering if maybe a Gilsonite pit was worked south of Sulphur 100 years ago. On the two maps below I marked in red where the town of Gilsonite used to be located.
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https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/Gilsonite_OK_2008.jpg
Gibsonite: In Murray county, 7 miles east of Davis. A post office from March 31, 1900 to February 27, 1909. The name is that of a variety of asphalt, a commodity mined nearby. -from Oklahoma Place Names
Speaking of Murray county, a reader told me this week that if he remembers right, somewhere on the Highway 177 just south of Sulphur is a lone grave and marker. He thought the marker designated the grave of a horse thief. Does anyone recall this grave south of Sulphur?
A Reader sent in a picture this week she took inside the old Gilbert Building at West Broadway and B Street (now the Ardmoreite Building). It is a photo of a Viking’s Head located near the ceiling of what used to be the Auditorium when the Masons opened the building in 1930. What detail. True craftsmen.
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The past few weeks my Upside Down Tomato Webpage has been receiving a lot of Hits. More Hits then any other webpage the past month. So interest is high in growing tomatos right now. But in reality, I am not a person you want to talk to about gardening, I do not have a green thumb. But Jill does, she can grow about anything. She has been busy the past 2 or 3 weeks planting the garden, including tomato plants.
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Another Reader told me this week he heard if you stick a nail in the ground right along side of the tomato plant’s stem, this will keep the cut worms away. Has anyone every heard of this? I placed a nail beside half of Jill plants to see if it really works. Go ahead and laugh, I love home grown tomatoes so much, I’ll try anything.
Of course we have much more to fear then those cut worms eating the tomato plants. Let see, Jill has sunflowers, corn, peppers, 2 kinds of cabbage, zucchini, watermelon, cantaloupe, and herbs, mint, dill, rosemary and sage. So we will have our hands full trying to keep those hungry critters away.
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Pete and Repeat come over nearly every day to see us. They live next door, but travel all over this neck of the woods. Pete was over here by himself this week, so I snapped a pic of him. They are such lovable dogs, they are like family now.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/Pete041208.jpg
A Reader wrote in a few weeks ago asking if I could get a picture of a “real” sopapilla next time Jill and I are eating at a mexican restaurant. He went on to say he now lives in Georgia and he has been telling everyone there the “flat and thin” sopapillas they are eating are not ‘real sopapillias’. Last Friday night we were at Las Cascadas in Davis Oklahoma (no connection to Casa Roma in Ardmore) and after the main meal, they served us sopapillas. Oh man, you talk about delicious. I used a butter knife to open that hot baby up, put plenty of butter inside, and then a generous helping of honey, and wa la! A sopapilla fit for a king or queen. And it ain’t flat. lol Suffer Georgia! lol
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Visit the Oklahoma History Boards, start a topic if you want too!
http://oklahomaroots.proboards83.com/
Q. During WWII the ‘WAVES” had a training ‘ship’ on what campus?
A. OSU at Stillwater, Oklahoma
Q. What is Oklahoma’s leading cash crop?
A. (answer in next week’s T&T)
Some mail from this week’s MAILBAG…..“Skinny Stewart’s real name was Arthur Ogustus Stewart.”
“Butch, I do enjoy the newsletter. The picture of the albino pigeon was neat. I sent it over to my son. He has racing pigeon, has some great birds. Said this bird is a Jacobean Pigeon with black and white pattern. Said he use to keep a pair of these with bigger head (the ruff around the neck) in brown color. The hawks thought they were owls and would stay away.” -Gerry Lucas
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“Hi Butch and Jill, I just read this week’s T & T and as usual enjoyed it very much. Things are windy and getting warm out here in Nevada; wish you could visit here now. It’s pretty nice. Just a note about the person writing in about NOT killing those tarantulas! If we find one out here…..it’s not going to live long! Seriously, they do have fangs and know how to use them. If you get near one and let it accidentally get on you, you’re sure to be bitten. They are poisonous, in spite of what you hear! All of us out here in the desert know better than to become friendly with them if you don’t want to get bitten. Keep up the good work on T&T, we really enjoy reading about the old home town.”
“Dear Butch, At the age of 14, armed with an eighth grade education, I left home and started out on my life’s journey by working on some of the vast cattle ranches that used to cover central Florida before the Yankees developed them all up. Since that time I have had many very exciting adventures. I am now 82 years old and for the past few years I have been writing stories about them that I plan to publish as soon as I con finish one more that I am working on now.
I have a list of more than 30 different occupations that I have used to make a living which range from ranch hand through rodeo performer, inventor, mechanical engineer and licensed general contractor, all of which I learned by working free of charge for the people who could teach me. I now have about 15 stories, one of which, about alligator hunting, has been published with considerable success. In 1944 I worked for Col. Jim Eskew on his wild west shows in the eastern U.S. & Canada and spent the winter on his “ranch” in Waverly, N.Y. It had only 240 acres at that time and I built the fence around it.
Would it be possible for me to get permission to use pages 36 & 37 of the Pages of History CD which are reprints from the 1965 & 1966 Ardmore rodeo programs in my story about Col. Jim Eskew? I followed the rodeo circuit all over the U.S. and Canada for 8 years beginning in 1943. I think I rode in Ardmore one time in the late 40s. There are Overstreets all over the U.S. now. I run across them almost everywhere I go. They are all descendents of a Henry Overstreet who landed in Georgia some time about 1800 or before with Oglethorps group of political prisoners.” -LeRoy Overstreet, Rio Hondo, Texas [email protected]
“You can get $25 for a tarantula in some of the Dallas schools. We adopted an Oklahoma tarantula about 10 years ago for the winter and she nearly ate us out of house and home. We had to go to the pet store to buy crickets every other week. We took it back to Oklahoma after the winter and let it go. It was a tearful goodbye. I hope that wasn’t Fuzzy you killed. We often think of her. She was like one of the family. She was one of God’s special creatures.” -Dan
Q. Hi Butch: Do you suppose you could look on that 1900 map you mentioned and see if there is a place in Johnston County (Pickens County back then) called Earl?
A. Earl is located in far southwest Johnston county according to the 1900 map.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/Earl_IT_1900.jpgEarl: In Johnston county, 2 miles northwest of Mannsville. A post office from November 3, 1893 to October 15, 1908. No longer in existence. -from Oklahoma Place Names
“My name is Dick (Richard) M. Manley. You and I have corresponded over the past several years and you have been a big help in me rebuilding my childhood. I was born in Lawton, Comanche County, OK on October 26, 1930. My Father was Irvin Warren Manley, a soldier at Ft. Sill at the time and Catherine Irene Harrity Manley, Daughter of John Franklin Harrity, again a soldier at Ft. Sill, and Ona Phipps. John was from Philadelphia and I believe Ona lived at 210 H. Street, there in Lawton. Ona, from what I have been able to uncover, was related to Outlaws, Oscar, and Policemen, My Uncle Tom. Butch, I believe there are stories there about Lawton, Ardmore and Hugo OK and the families I mentioned , that would equal any thing Zane Grey could write about that area. As you can see by my birthdate, I a’int gittin any younger. I went through school years in Lawton, Ardmore and Hugo. My daddy was a trooper on the OHP and moved around a lot. He was also Under-Sheriff in Comanche County under George Myers (Meyers) 1n the 1940s. I do have a fantastic memory of my years in Oklahoma but have no inkling of how to guide my thoughts. If of you can help me, please do.” -Dick Manley [email protected]
“Does anyone know the website for – – ‘Healdton’s place in Oklahoma History’ ?”
“Butch and Jill: You two are highly praised for the historical information you share each week. Members of our Daughters of the American Revolution – Ardmore Chapter – highly regard articles and photos that you share. DAR is a volunteer women’s service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history in many ways, and securing America’s future through better education.We look forward to each issue of the newsletter.Let’s have more photos of the beautiful Arbuckle Mountains sometime. One of our members, Nelda Keck, has enjoyed your involvement with our interest in preservation/restoration of local old and almost forgotten cemeteries.When those old Stage-Coach stops in south Oklahoma are located and photographed, that will be interesting, too.” -Nell Truitt, Regent-Elect, DAR Ardmore – [email protected]
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~okacdar/
“Butch, I have video uploaded to YouTube of what’s left of the old Oklahoma, New Mexico and Pacific abandoned railroad line. As you know, the line was originally constructed by John Ringling of Circus fame in 1913 and ran from Ardmore west to the towns of Long Grove, Wilson, Healdton and Ringling. In about 1926 the line was sold to the Santa Fe Railroad and was operated until 1976 when it was abandoned. Part of the line is still used as an industrial spur to the Michelin Tire Plant just west of Ardmore. The scenes in this video are of what remains of the old line further west of the Tire Plant taken a few weeks back. There are two bridges on this abandoned section that have partially washed out with the rails still stretching out in mid-air. Just thought your readers might like to see what’s out there.” -Dwane Stevens
Here’s the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBePJQsa0xo
Click here: Chill A Dr Pepper In 2 Minutes! Video
“Butch, I have seen several articles about Pennington Creek in Tishomingo. I have heard that it may have been named after Edward Alonzo (Lonz) Pennington born 1811 in Kentucky who was captured on Pennington Creek and taken back to Kentucky and hung for murder.
http://westernkyhistory.org/christian/pennington.htmMy great grandfather’s name was Alonzo Charles Pennington 9-15-1854 born in Mississippi and came into Johnston County (Indian Territory in 1905) and was a Baptist Minister for many years until his death in 1936 at Ringling, Oklahoma. I would like to see if any of your readers knows the exact history of Pennington Creek and any other information I can find. I located some photos of the creek http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/89542178rJHIdL and learned that it extends 9 miles and actually goes through the noted Devils Den. Perhaps your readers may enjoy reading more on the attached web sites. http://www.riverfacts.com/rivers/12576.html
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563110889UWsxKuAny information would be greatly appreciated.” -Mike Pennington [email protected]
Jesus loves the little children,
all the little children of the world
Red and yellow, black and white,
they are precious in his sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world
Everything is beautiful in its’ own way
Like a starry summer night or a snow
covered winter’s day
Everybody’s beautiful in their own way
Under God’s heaven, the world’s gonna
find a way
-Ray Stevens, 1971
http://www.ziplo.com/beautiful.html
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore Oklahoma
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443https://oklahomahistory.net
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