I've mentioned several times in back
issues of this newsletter how I've noticed in old photographs taken in Oklahoma
has one stark feature--no trees, or hardly any trees in many areas. 100 years
ago this area was mostly prairie. I have dozens of photographs taken in the
early 1900s (some before) and few, if any, trees are visible in the background.
I have also mention that the scourge of this state is those blasted cedar trees.
Over the past 75 years the cedar trees in this state have continued to spread
until they have taken over this part of the state. A prime example is the
Arbuckle Mountains north of Ardmore.
Now, thanks to the Ardmoreite archives, I think I have discovered when the cedar
trees first appeared in this area. They weren?t called just cedar trees years
ago, but Chinese Arborvitaes.
December 1930
Carter County is to have its first real experiment with forest tree planting
Friday with 1,500 forest trees planted on the state demonstration farm near Lone
Grove by the state forestry department. The trees will be planted as an
experiment in growing trees to act as a windbreak. The planting includes 1,000
Chinese Elm, 100 Scotch Pine, 100 Western Yellow Pine, and 325
Chinese Arborvitae trees (cedar tree).
I've said it in previous issues, I wish a bounty could be placed on every cedar tree brought to a central depository in each county, and lets rid Oklahoma of this destructive nuisance.
January 1931
Turner Falls, owned by the City of Davis, has been leased to the state fish and
game department and will be operated and developed as a state park. The citizens
of Davis have decided that the proper thing to do is to turn their beautiful
possession over to the state of Oklahoma. As a result, the state has leased the
park for twenty years and will develop the park in that time.
January 1964
Last year was a dry year, the driest year since weather records were first
recorded 61 years ago. The local area got 14.82 inches of moisture. Before that,
the lowest total recorded was 19.24 inches in 1917. The wettest month last year
was April with 2.58 inches of rain.
January 1955
The Lazy S Ranch, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Moss Patterson, has been sold. The new
owner of the 6,200 acre ranch is Phillip A. Cornell, Oklahoma City. The deal was
completed Friday for half a million dollars.
January 1931
Andrew Hardy, 46, former county judge and one time county attorney of Carter
County, was arrested on a complaint of first degree murder in the death of his
wife. The complaint was signed by Mrs. N.S. Shadden of Newport, mother of Mrs.
Hardy. Mrs. Hardy was killed while hunting with her husband on their ranch near
Newport on November 12. According to the story told at that time, a shotgun
accidently discharged while she was in the car. A full charge of shot tore away
the top of her head. Since her death, an investigation has been instigated by
several insurance companies, and numerous rumors have circulated on the streets.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/hardymrs.html
January 1964
Ringling native, Wyman Henry, delivered a new twin engine Beechcraft Queen Air
80 to the home of Mrs. Lyndon Johnson and her company, Texas Broadcasting in
Austin, Texas. Henry, son of Mrs. J.H. Henry, is vice president of Beech
Aircraft Corporation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Queen_Air
January 1954
Twenty days ago, Ann Elizabeth Hodges, 31, of Sylacauga, Alabama lay down to
take a n little nap. Then there was thunderous crash. She felt a violent blow on
her left arm and hip. Sunlight was showing through a hole in the ceiling. A
rough edged black rock lay near her. She had been struck by a fragment of a
shooting star. Scientists say she is the first person in recorded history known
to be hit by a meteorite. She is still in bed, recovering from the crash. The
Hodges moved, after their landlady, Mrs. Birdie Guy, filed suit for the
meteorite, for which $5,000 has been offered. Mrs. Guy's lawyer said the Supreme
Court has held that meteorites belong to the owner of the property on which it
falls. Hodges' lawyer said the meteorite didn't fall on the property. It fell on
Mrs. Hodges and her couch. "I think God intended it for me," said Mrs. Hodges.
"After all, it fell on me."
http://archive.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/061130/meteorite.shtml
December 1930
Con Keirsey, 36, for the past ten years a colorful and widely known figure in
the annals of crime investigation in Oklahoma, died of gunshot wounds
received when he and Vernon Cason, undersheriff, attempted to investigate the
reported theft of a car at Wirt. Cason was also shot. A vast net has been thrown
over that neighborhood in an effort to apprehend D.I. Davis, 25, and Colquitt
Davis, 23, the slayers of Keirsey.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/keirsey.html
December 1930
The Carter County Farm Congress has petitioned the state to continue to supply
funds for wolf eradication. "The wolf today has increased in such numbers in
southern Oklahoma to become a menace to all kinds of livestock, poultry and
wildlife."
December 1965
Miami Florida scientist have discovered that tooth decay is not inherited from
parents. Instead, individuals should not kiss a person with cavities. You can
eat all the candy, cake and soda pop you want if you don't kiss someone with
tooth decay bacteria. Of course, every time you eat something with sugar in it,
it gives the bacteria food to grow more cavities.
I spoke in the last issue about trying TruVision to lose weight. Well, it's working wonderfully. I mean I have really seen a reduction in my gut and that is where I wanted to see it work. I have plenty of Trial Packs ($20) if anyone wants to give it a try, just give me a holler. Several of you have let me know TruVision is working for you too. I received another shipment today of 50 Trial Packs and half of those are already gone or spoken for. If you want to try it, let me know. Check it all out at the link below.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/truvision.html
http://butch.truvisionhealth.com/
If anyone has been saving my newsletters through the years I am looking for Issue 573 dated January 24, 2008. Somehow, when I don't know, #573 was overwritten with a partial #573. If someone has it, even a paper copy in a binder, let me know.
Q. What does the color blue on
the Oklahoma state flag represent?
A. The origin of the sky blue color can be traced back to the flag used by
the Choctaw soldiers at the time of the Civil War.
Q. What turnpike opened in 1948
and was the first in the state?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
From This and That newsletter archives of January 30, 1999:
This week a friend of mine at the courthouse said she and her dad were going to "ten mile rock" this weekend. I thought for a second, and come to find out she meant Ten Acre Rock north of Ravia, Oklahoma. My mind flashed back to childhood, where a number of people would be sitting in a row of chairs, the first person would whisper something to the person on the right, then they would whisper it to the person on their right, and so on. When the last person heard the message, it was usually nothing like it started out. Anyway, back to Ten Acre Rock, it is said all the granite used in the Oklahoma state capitol came from that granite quarry. Ten Acre Rock is on private property, but I've heard people can still go there for a look-see. Here's a pic of Ten Acre Rock. GPS 34.330275, -96.760345
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/maps/TenAcreRockMap.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
During the late 60s, I used to visit Mr.
Foster Stoner's log cabin at Ardmore Club Lake at the northwest edge of Ardmore.
For two summers, before his retirement from Bell Telephone, he and his wife
would travel from their home in Oklahoma City to Ardmore Club Lake to build on
their log cabin. Guess where the logs he used came from? They were telephone
poles! The one thing I remember is Mr. Stoner catching catfish out of that lake.
They never ate fish so he'd always give me a mess of superb, cleaned catfish on
my visits!
----------------------------------------------------
"This week you mentioned your fascination
with "bells" and I immediately recalled many things that this subject brought to
my mind. I remember the bells at the Presbyterian church in Ardmore & how
beautifully they rang out across the town every evening when I was growing up. I
still enjoy listening to them very much. I also remember how, as a young boy, I
joined my friends in tossing rocks up to the belfry & listing for the bell to
sing out to us, what a great sound. I remember the old steam locomotives when
they came down the track, ringing their bell as a warning - it was a musical
reminder to everyone that danger was approaching. How my old pioneer aunt, out
on the farm down in Choctaw County rang a bell mounted on a pole to call the
field hands to come in for dinner. The Methodist Church at Lone Grove had a
large bell located on a mounting right at ground level. We rang in the New Year
one year but the population of Lone Grove at that time was only 510 & nobody
seemed to even notice the terrible clamor we were causing. I think the hand-bell
music that some churches perform is a wonderful expression of worship. Edgar
Allen Poe wrote a rather lengthy poem entitle "The Bells" I think few people
really understood it and surely no one tried to memorize it, but I suppose he
also was fascinated by the bells. Oh yes, "The Liberty Bell" the symbol of our
freedom is still on display in Philadelphia, lest we forget one of our most
precious possessions. Our Flag rates right up there with the Liberty Bell.
Thanks for listening."
----------------------------------------------------
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Gas prices today in the Ardmore area......
http://www.oklahomagasprices.com/index.aspx?mss=152754
Non-ethanol gas (pure gas) stations in the Ardmore area.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/puregas.html
Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
"Our family history has my wife's grandfather, Redden Alexander Riner, as one of the first merchants in Ardmore. A grocer maybe? Anyone out there recognize that name?" -g. k. stanton gks1959@gmail.com"Oh Yeah I remember those. In fact I have several different types and sizes in my museum but the metal caps have been removed. I also remember stores we frequented that had literally hundreds of the metal caps on the ground in front of the store. The story owner would just throw them out on the ground.
Maybe we should go back up to the Curio shop and get a can or two for posterity. LOL" -Dwane
I found some on ebay the steel beer cans and Thal
McGinnis you're correct. They are
expensive."
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251770524387?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D251770524387%26_rdc%3D1
"Them's beer can boys."
T. E. (Thal) McGinness
Conroe, TX
http://www.beercantiques.com/images/HomePage_Cones_1.JPG
"My mother-in-law told stories about living in a tent over a storm cellar at the oil camp in Ryan, Oklahoma around l935." -Pat McKee
"Butch, I absolutely enjoy reading your weekly articles.
I think I can offer a clue as to what the cone top cans were at the dump behind the Turner Falls Curio Shop. They are simply quart oil cans of years gone by. I can remember some of them as I drove a truck in the 60's and some companies still used them. I believe the original gas station built at Turner Falls was a Palacine (Wirt Franklin) constructed in the late 1920s. Highway 77 was constructed using prison labor from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester from 1926 to 1928. As you can see by the photos attached, the station was remodeled later, probably in the 1930's as a Shell Gas Station. It is so amazing that people threw their trash on the countryside, and after 90 years, the trash is still there as an eyesore. My family has a long history in Carter County as my 4th great grandfather was one of the original settlers of Hewitt. Keep up the good work." -John Means
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/turnerfalls/TurnerFallsCurio01.jpg
"The 1930 oil-field photo is interesting as that's about the same time Clark Gable was working in the oil fields in the area. And as far as the pile of cans, a lot of people would buy soft drinks at the curio shop and after drinking them and looking through the telescopes, they'd just throw them down in that area. Of course a number of the cans are beer cans as kids use to park up on the hill at nights to drink beer and "spoon" with their girls and would throw the cans down there as well. Hope this helps you with an answer." -Ralph
"Butch, the Daisy BB Gun Museum is just up the road from me in Rogers, Arkansas. It's pretty cool & they even have the Red Ryder BB gun from "The Christmas Story" that Ralphie wanted." -Kathi G., Springdale, Arkansas
http://www.daisymuseum.com/
Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it. -Ben Franklin
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Follow me on the TruVision lose weight program
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/truvision.html
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
Ardmore High School Criterions Online
http://www.ArdmoreCriterion.com/
Oklahoma Bells:
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
Bill Hamm's Cemetery Database
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/carter/cartercm.htm
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://cartercountyOK.us/
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