PO Box 2, Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402 Email: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net Phone: 580-490-6823
Last Saturday Jill and I took our new Dodge Ram 1500 pickup on its first really long trip since we got it in April. One reason for the long wait was Carter County Dodge in Ardmore promised us 4 things when we bought the truck: spray-in bed liner, chrome wrap around front grill, chrome running boards, and heated leather seats. The first 3 things went fine, but O.C. Condulle in OKC with Condulle Mobile Services was contracted to put in the leather seats. O.C. had some delay in getting the exact color, charcoal gray, that Jill wanted. But once the seats were installed, Jill and I were completely satisfied with the quality of the leather, and the professional installation by O.C. Condulle. Needless to say we are very happy with Carter County Dodge and how they fulfilled every promise they made to us. If your looking at buying a new vehicle, stop by Carter County Dodge and talk to Bo Waddell or Mike McKinnie, tell them I sent you!
Back to our first long trip: We traveled east on Highway 70 all the way to Broken Bow. Well, almost all the way. Just past Valliant, Oklahoma we turned north on Highway 98, and took a scenic route through those pine trees.
Jill had been wanting a log bench for some time and while in Broken Bow she found exactly what she wanted. River Mountain Furniture is made from local cedar trees, and is so beautiful. Their display floor has a variety of log furniture, something for everyone. Marisa Karr was our salesperson, and she answered all our questions and made Jill a deal she couldn’t refuse.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/RiverMountainFurniture052612b.jpg
View of the building outside from Highway 259.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/RiverMountainFurniture052612a.jpg
So just what does the cedar bench look like? They had several different types to look at, and this is the one Jill picked.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/CedarBench052612.jpg
While in Broken Bow we stopped in at Kohler’s Four Seasons Realty and found this most delightful bird. A cockatiel named Poco. And he talked with us a lot, like “Hello”, “I’m a pretty bird”, and more. We fell in love with that bird! He’s about 30 years old, and the owner has another cockatiel 60 years old. Wow!
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/cockatielBrokenBowOK052612a.jpg
Here’s a pic I snapped of Poco with his head feathers standing up. When a cockatiel does this, it means he likes what you are saying, and he’s interested.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/cockatielBrokenBowOK052612b.jpg
I see the old locomotive at Broken Bow is being well taken care of. It was located where Highway 70 and Highway 259 cross. I don’t know the story behind this engine, but I would guess it played a part in the logging business years ago.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/BrokenBowLocomotive052612.jpg
Before leaving Broken Bow and heading home, we stopped at the best Mexican food restaurant I have ever eaten at. I don’t think I’ve ever had any better food. Their chips were crisp and thin, the way I like them, and their sauce was mucho bueno. My beef lunch plate was $6.25 and Jill’s chicken lunch plate was $5.95!
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/PappaPoblanos052612a.jpg
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On our way back to Ardmore saturday afternoon about halfway between Boswell and Bennington, Oklahoma we saw 3 or 4 little hand made signs that said log furniture ahead. So we pull in and met Charles Scott the owner of this little enterprise. Did I say little? Well, he has 1,000s of board feet of local cedar. He makes furniture using his band saw (which he just sold to someone in Atoka). So he is slowing down somewhat because of health reasons, but he’s still in business. We bought two pieces of cedar, one 3 feet and the other 5 feet in length and 1 3/4 inches thick. Here’s a pic of them laying in our pickup bed.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/CedarPlanks052312a.jpg
We paid $35 for the above 2 pieces. All of Charles’ cedar came from acreage he owned in either Atoka or south of Boswell. He’s got several 1,000 board feet stored in several wood sheds. Jill already had a wood base, placed the two pieces together and sanded them down smooth, and made a cedar coffee table.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/CedarTable052912.jpg
Below is a pic I took of Charles while we were there. He can be reached at 580-847-2324.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/CharlesScott052612.jpg
Finding his place is on the north side of Highway 70 halfway between Boswell and Bennington. If you copy and past the GPS reading below in google or bing, it will bring up Charles’ place.
N34.02639,W095.96046
Saw an old piece of history in Ardmore’s Braums parking lot last weekend. A 1936 Ford panel wagon turned into a camper. Might look rough on the outside, but neat on the inside.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/1936FordTruck.jpg
I was needing to sharpen the 2 blades on my riding lawnmower and didn’t any easy way to get under it. I sure didn’t want to pay a couple hundred bucks for a MoJack Easy Lawnmower lift. So I made me a lift out of a couple 2X4s and used my come-along hung from one of our sturdy oak trees, and it worked like a charm.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/MowerRepairLift052812a.jpg
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https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/MowerRepairLift052812c.jpg
From This and That newsletter archives of June 5, 1999:
A blacksmith shop in Randlett, Oklahoma
https://oklahomahistory.net/photos/randlett.jpg
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This Page lists all the Governors of Oklahoma and their info.
http://www.state.ok.us/osfdocs/govs.html
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In western Oklahoma is Washita County. In the northeast part of that county not far from Cordell, is Corn, Oklahoma.
https://oklahomahistory.net/photos/cornokla.jpg
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This is an old photo of a train wreck in the Arbuckle Mountains north of Ardmore December 13, 1910. A beautiful picture of the past.
https://oklahomahistory.net/photos/TrainWreck1910.jpg
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“Butch, when we moved out here on Springdale Road in 1953 many people called Springdale Road “Fairground Road” & Harvey Road was called “Breezy Point Road” by everybody. Then years later the City Officials of Ardmore, in their wisdom decided to annex all of Carter County that was not already incorporated but they had to do some fancy maneuvering and managed to annex the Springdale area also. The protest from the citizens of this area caused them to de-annex the area after the first try. Later they were successful in their effort and did in fact annex the area. So among other things they caused further confusion by renaming the roads. Now we have West & East Springdale Loop which is not really geographically a part of the Springdale area. Then they knew a fellow named Harvey that owned some property about 2 or 3 miles south on Breezy Point Road and decided that Breezy Point Road would be renamed “Harvey Road”. Next we have “Mary Niblack Road” which is 1 mile west of the real Mary Niblack Road – of course the Mary Niblack Road today was once known as the Berwin Road or Gene Autry Road – south.”
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“At Shattuck in northwest Oklahoma I believe, there is a windmill museum and park. Here is the description from page 121 of Oklahoma: America in Its Native State; 1999 Oklahoma Travel Guide, published by the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department. WINDMILL MUSEUM & PARK – Outdoor display of restored and rare mills; recreated pioneer homestead – FREE – US 283 – (580) 938-2818. I believe they have a windmill festival in Shattuck once a year.”
http://www.shattuckwindmillmuseum.org/
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Q. Bugtussle, Oklahoma was the proud and imaginative home of what Oklahoma Congressman and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives?
A. Carl Albert, 1908 – 2000, the Little Giant, was born in Bugtussle, Oklahoma.
Q. Where was Ft. Nichols located in Oklahoma?
A. (answer in next week’s T&T)
Gas prices today in the Ardmore area……
https://oklahomahistory.net/gasprices.html
Some mail from this week’s MAILBAG…..
Q. Butch, do you know anything about Central Park, and the cemetery that was there?
A. Feb 17, 2001. I received an email this week inquiring if there was a cemetery located near McLish street SW here in Ardmore before 1900. I contacted the number one authority in Ardmore for info on Carter county cemeteries, Bill Hamm. Below is the reply from Bill Hamm:
“When Ardmore became a city in 1887, the cemetery was on the west side of town and was called Old South. As the city began to grow the city leaders realized that the cemetery was too close to the community and decided to move it to another location. The cemetery was moved about 1895 or 1896 to its present location south of the City and the new cemetery was called New South Cemetery, later it was named Rose Hill Cemetery. When the graves that were in Old South Cemetery were moved, the workers were only able to move the graves that had markers and the rest were left behind. The area of the Old South Cemetery is now part of Central Park, the Episcopal Church and the houses west of the area. When that area was being developed it was not unusual for the builders to dig into a burial site. I have found several people who had been buried in Old South Cemetery, but could not find any record of them as being moved to Rose Hill Cemetery.” –Bill Hamm
“Dear Butch, I was so glad to find the recipe for Priddy’s dressing on the internet. Back in the late 40’s several of the high school kids in Davis would go to the tavern (restaurant) and one would order a salad. They would bring a jar of Priddy’s along with a plate of crackers with the salad. The rest of us would enjoy the crackers and dressing while the one who ordered would eat the salad. For some reason they later stopped putting the whole jar on the table! I can’t wait to make this dressing, and also sent the recipe to classmates who also remember how wonderful it was. Thank you.” -Georgia Cross Lawless, Tulsa, Ok.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos5a/PriddySaladDressing.txt
“The last time I was in Tahlequah, Oklahoma the street signs were all in English and Cherokee (Sequoyah’s great achievement). One of the downtown banks, complete with black glass facade, had its sign in both English and Cherokee. That owner of that bank later was elected principal chief and then name the U.S. commissioner of Indian affairs. We stayed at a motel there owned by the Cherokee nation. When we went to check out they had not included the bar tab for the previous evening. Which we found out when a computerized bill came from the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma with the tab enclosed. That was when not very many businesses had computers. The first commercial telephone line in Oklahoma was built between Fort Gibson and Tahlequah three years after A.G. Bell invented it. We (SW Bell) had in our files a copy of the act of the Cherokee Council granting permission for the line to be built, providing for taxes and earmarking the revenues for the common schools. It was attested by the presiding officers of both houses of the Cherokee Council (legislature) and signed by the principal chief, who could have vetoed it.” -Wes Leatherock
“By the time Carl Albert was using it in this campaign literature, Bug Tussle (north of McAlester) was mostly a ghost town, but I have heard the area had come back into favor as a resort-type and vacation area. At the time Albert was majority whip (NO. 2 in the leadership of the House, Bob Kerr was majority whip in the Senate, Sam Rayburn (just over the line in Bonham, Texas) was House speaker and LBJ was majority leader of the Senate. So Texas and Oklahoma really had their hands on the levers of power. (Carl Albert later became House speaker when Sam Rayburn retired or died.)”
“I cannot think that we are useless or God would not have created us. There is one God looking down on us all. We are all the children of one God. The sun, the darkness, the winds are all listening to what we have to say.” -Geronimo
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore Oklahoma
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
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Ardmore High School Criterions Online
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Oklahoma Bells: https://oklahomahistory.net/bellpage.html
American Flyers Memorial Fund – Administration Webpage
https://oklahomahistory.net/crash66.html
Official American Flyers Memorial Website
http://www.brightok.net/~wwwafm
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Base Website
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Mirror Site of the Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
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Carter county schools, past and present
http://community.webshots.com/user/oklahomahistory
Carter County Government Website
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Ardmore School Criterions
http://www.ArdmoreCriterion.com
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