Ringling, Oklahoma resident and former Corporation Commissioner Hamp Baker passed away at age 91 on April 23, 2025. Many Oklahomans will remember the signs he put up all over Oklahoma when he ran for the state office which he held from 1974-1985. One of his slogans during his campaign was, “Put Your Stamp On Hamp”.
In the summer of 2014 I put out a plea to purchase a granite memorial for the two Healdton, Oklahoma police officers who died in the line of duty. Thanks to 14 friends who came forward we were able to raise the $500 in record time. The memorial stands today in front of the Healdton Museum.
In October 2014 just as I was about to place the order with Wilson Monuments in Lone Grove I received a phone call from a lady who lives in Healdton. She was against putting Doug Durington’s name on the memorial. She said if I did, I would be opening up a can of worms. Not being from Healdton and not knowing the small town politics there, I caved, and left his name off leaving only Jim Hutchison’s name to be sandblasted on the granite monument (see photo above).
I have regretted my decision to leave Doug’s name off every day since. Lt. Doug Durington was killed in the line of duty.
I’m asking anyone to make a pledge to have Durington’s name sandblasted on the memorial at Healdton. I have already talked to B&M Monuments in Lone Grove and she said they can get Durington’s named sandblasted on for $300. I’m asking for only a pledge at this time, and as soon as enough money is pleged to place the order, I will call for those pledges through a GoFundMe website. I will list the donor’s names (even annonymously if requested) on this webpage on my Oklahoma History website. Just send me an email, message or call. 580-490-6823
butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net
https://oklahomahistory.net/the-doug-durington-memorial-fund/
The portion of U.S. Highway 377 in Johnston County beginning north of Tishomingo at the intersection of U.S. Highway 377 and Golf Course Road extending south four thousand (4,000) feet shall be designated as the “Lt. Lowry Douglas Durington Memorial Highway”.
Mail From The Mailbag
Charlotte Hall Park
2021 Choctaw Ave
Ardmore OK
Amenities Include:
Basketball Court, Picnic Tables, Playground, Portable Toilet, Softball field
My grandma Kimberlin told me about the Daltons. He told me they went by the last name Brown living in the Graham/ Oil City area. I never knew him to be wrong about history. His family ran the ferry across Red River and has sisters buried at Spanish Fort cemetery. They also supplied hay for horses/mules at Ft Sill. -Vince Freeman
We received heavy snow here in Big Sky, Montana this week. -Monroe Cameron
Eddy Crelia and his brother found the sword on Addington Bend in Love County in the 1960s. They were walking down a spring-fed wash and the sword was laying in the bottom of the wash along wrapped in a coat of chain mail along with a Spanish helmet and dagger. The sword and dagger had crystal in the handles. As soon as they touched the handles, the crystals crumbled away. The boys took these home with them and even played with them for a time. Eddy went to his dad’s property years later, on Addington Bend, to clean everything out. He looked in a car trunk and found the sword. He had someone in Lone Grove replace the handle with a cast iron handle.Eddy showed it to a college professor in Texas who traced it’s origin back to the early 1700s. It was made in Toledo, Spain. He told Eddy that back at that time, crystals were considered to have magical powers. The handguard and butt plate of the sword are shaped with three humps, similar to a clover. This shape represents Father/Son/Holy Ghost. There is a pine tree stamp on top of the hand guard which is the mark of the artisan. Eddy has since passed and when I contacted his children 10 years ago they did not know where it was. -Ron Taylor
HAM Talk By Butch Bridges KC5JVT – Allstar node # 58735
Last Sunday at 8:00pm there was a record number of HAMs check-in on the weekly Sunday night Net. 20 HAMs was a great success since we don’t have internet connection to the repeater, only through the airwave transmissions.
Our next monthly breakfast is May 17th at 9:00am at Ardmore’s Prairie Kitchen at I-35 and Hwy 70 (West Broadway). Hope to see more HAMs on the 17th!
Below is from my newsletter archives dated
May 29, 2008 – Issue 592
The Daily Ardmoreite, May 1924: For some time the lighting at the county courthouse has been in a bad way, nothing apparently ever has been done since the building was dedicated and occupied in 1911, with the result there are several wiring connections that have gone to the bad and are dead units in an otherwise perfectly good and well equipped county establishment. The Carter County Courthouse was considered the best in the state when it was built, and has cost the taxpayers very little to maintain.
“Mr. Bridges, Otto Powell (1912-1977) was my uncle, He ran for Carter County Sheriff for many years in the 1950’s- his slogan was A Country Boy plows his way to town, and had posters made up with him in his white shirt and blue jean overalls with his horse and plow! That out fit was all I ever saw him dressed in. He wore clean pressed white shirts with them all of the time. I was reading the comments in your- This & That about him. I enjoyed reading the stories about him- he was in all 50 states- and never owned a car. He was an auctioneer that is why he talked so fast! I ask him why he never married, he told me every time he ate a bean he would throw one in the jar, and pretty soon the jar was full and he decided he could not afford a wife! when he ran for sheriff for Carter County- I remember asking him what he would do with it if he got it, and that was not his intention, just running was enough for him.! I believe he was in all 50 states and never owned a car! He hitchhiked every where he went! He loved to catch big trucks and ride with them. One time I remember he was sitting on his mother’s porch in Wilson Ok. we got in the car and started home to California driving when we got home to Dos Palos Calif. he was sleeping on our front porch. He beat us there some how. I just joined your mailing list.” howellsii@aol.com
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Otto Powell is buried in the Simon cemetery, Love county, Oklahoma.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14259034/otto-lee-powell
From my April 11, 2013 newsletter:
Otto Powell was famous in this county for his many runs for the office of sheriff. He never won an election, but in 1958 he only lost to Theo Cobb and Robert Pierce by 24 votes. Many citizens at that time believes he lost that election by unscrupulous tactics. On Otto Powell’s campaign posters and campaign card was a photo of him plowing a field behind a horse. On the posters it read: “A country boy plowed his way to town”. Otto lived in western Carter county at Wilson. Otto could not read or write. But he could sing like a song bird and retired Sheriff Enoch Watterson told me Otto would call him collect at 3am in the morning to sing to him over the phone. His favorite song to sing was, “Riding Old Paint, Leading Old Ball”.
The song Riding Old Paint, Leading Old Ball 1934
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzjFto8JVm0
“My husband played for the Ada Herefords and Cementers in 1954, as catcher. We are here in Baton Rouge, and one of our close neighbors Bob Trumenella played for McAlester in the early 50’s. Ada at that time was a farm club of the Baltimore Orioles. Dusty Rhodes, a pitcher, lived close by Ada.” -Joanna and Fern Smathers, Baron Rouge, Lousiana
“Butch: I had a computer problem last week! I found a good shop here in Healdton. It is called Paul’s Resale. It is located at 608 Highway 76 South on the north side of ‘Movies and More’. I know there is some good shops in Ardmore but it sure is nice to have one here in Healdton! I just took the Computer Tower down to his shop and he had it ready to go that evening, at a reasonable price! Very best to all.” -Hoot Gilbert
“Hello Butch, I think you done a small article on the Rock Cafe at Stroud, Oklahoma with some photo’s taken a couple years ago. I was on my way to Sapulpa on May 21, 2008 and The Rock Cafe in Stroud Oklahoma had burned early that morning. Also read in the Tulsa World that it could be restored providing the walls are not too damaged, because they want to keep it as original as possible.” -Russ Martin
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History. Roy Rieves started building the Rock Café in 1936 during the Dust Bowl era of the Great Depression and relied on local materials to build the café’s distinctive stone exterior, doing much of the construction work himself or hiring students.
https://www.rockcafert66.com/index.html
Youtube video on the Rock Cafe.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=309293763416444
“Mr. Bridges, My name is Jimmy Aycox and my father was James David Aycox who ran Healdton/TransCare Ambulance back in the 80’s and I remember growing up and hearing your name mentioned as being one of the founding heroes of EMS. I’ve been in EMS now for 23 years and I work for MedStar EMS in Fort Worth Texas. I was just wandering if any of your Readers might have any pictures or information of Healdton/TransCare Ambulance. Thanks.” -Jimmy Aycox
“Butch, I wanted you to know there are plans to tear down the old gas station a the Airpark. I had inquired about it when the last tenants moved out. I was thinking about making it kind of a general store with gas pumps and lots of retro aviation themes. As usual I have the ideas but that’s all so I probably could not rent it at this time anyway. It’s in really bad shape as it is and would take a lot of work inside to get it up and going again. If anyone wanted to tackle something like this now would be the time to look into it as it may soon be gone.”
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The Daily Ardmoreite 7-13-1944
The first map made of the city of Ardmore was made by W. S. Crockett, who celebrated his 80th birthday anniversary last Thursday. His map was made the official map of the Chickasaw Townsite company and it was the first map ever to be made of the city.
The Wilson Post Democrat 7-21-1960
Hats off to Ardmore’s Hardy Murphy, who is in charge of that city’s birthday party every year. This time he has gone one better… he is credited with securing the appearance of June Bowdish, Miss Alaska of 1960, for the 73rd birthday.
The following advertisements appeared in The Wilson News in an effort to promote Wilson’s first “Trades Day”.
The Wilson News
3-13-1916
*To the largest lady that comes to our store on Trades Day we will give a $4.00 time piece ~ Means & Lee
*Free to the ugliest man that visits our store on Trades Day a 100 pound sack of flour ~ M. H. Tennison
*The man buying the largest bill of merchandise on Trades Day we will give a $5.00 Stetson hat ~ H. A. Watson
*To the biggest footed man that comes to town on Trades Day, a good pair of hose ~ Corner Drug Store
*To the largest family coming to Wilson on Trades Day we will give 3 large cans of peaches ~ C. O. D. Grocery
*Shoes half soled .60 per pair ~ A. A. Edwards Shoe Shop
*10 packages of garden seeds for .25 ~ Moore’s Grocery
*Free 20 pounds of sugar with each $5.00 purchase at The People’s Store
*A set of dishes to the lady bringing in the largest dozen eggs ~ C. P. Hall
Wilson Historical Museum hours: Thurs. Fri. & Sat. 10:00 a.m. – 4:00p.m.
COME SHOP IN THE WILSON MUSEUM’S NEW GIFT SHOP!!
All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. –J. R. R. Tolkien
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore Oklahoma
580-490-6823
https://oklahomahistory.net