Down With Trees!

Pay attention.  This is one of the few times you shall hear me complain about my native Ninnekah!

You see these trees?

I HATE these trees!  Not trees in general; I love trees in general.  I am all about planting trees and initiatives like the one I can't remember specifics on right now - it was a company I read about recently that is planting a million trees a year for ten years or something?

That is great.  Awesome.  I am all for that kind of thing.  But THESE trees?  I HATE them!

This is the view from our front yard.  'Our front yard' being the Gee home in Ninnekah.  Growing up we would often count the cars on the trains that went by or even try to see what we could make out of the vehicles on Hwy 81.  But what do you see in this picture?  Trees.  Just trees.  Ugly trees.  I took this picture on July 29, 2012.  As I took this picture a train was going by.  Do you see a train?  No.  Just trees.

This is how it looked still during the winter of 2000/2001:

A few trees but mostly open space.  For crying out loud at least you could see if a train was going by!

Okay.  Rant over.

Now that the weather is starting to cool off hopefully I will soon have a lot more fodder for OST!  It has just been too hot recently and I've been too busy to go on any appropriate adventures.

So until next time...

The Cattle and the Pond

I am fairly certain that I am currently caught up with On Sooner Trails.  Now I need to go on some new adventures!  :-)


For now I thought I would discuss the wallpaper that you see on this blog.  The wallpaper is a modification of this:

This photo makes the picture look rather small.  This picture is probably about 24" x 24" or so without the frame.  It is the top portion of what used to be a big calendar - like the ones businesses would give away sometimes back in the day.  Now I know businesses still give away calendars (we have BEAUTIFUL ones here at the funeral home! :-)), but I mean the BIG ones.  I haven't seen those in a long time.  This was from a BIG one that Ferguson Motor Company gave away. 


No one seems to know when it is from.  Apparently Ferguson Motor Company did the calendars every year and always had Hereford Cattle, but probably not the same pic every year.  The best guess seems to place it sometime in the 70s or 80s, but they did calendars like that long before then as well. 


This particular one was framed and given as a gift to Charles Ferguson by somebody or other....yeah, the salient details slip right by me.  That isn't the important part, though it is muy interesante.  What is important is that I have become obsessed with this picture. 


When I started the blog I was going to use WordPress which is the platform for my other blog, Cannons, Beads and Raktajino.  I wanted a very specific look, something that screams 'Oklahoma' and I could not seem to find a template that allowed me to use a pic on the background as more than an accessory.  I needed it to SCREAM Oklahoma!  And so I checked out BlogSpot (or Blogger, whatever!).  This way I had much more freedom to customize. 


The next problem was what would SCREAM Oklahoma?!  I flipped through tons of pics online and on my computer and landed on one of the Hereford Cattle (not this particular photo of it).  What could say 'Oklahoma' better?  Cloudy skies, muddy pond, clumsy cattle, cowboy in the back and those hills in the background that say 'the Great Plains' in a way that people that aren't from around here could never understand.  Technically I don't know if this is meant to be Oklahoma or not.  My guess is that it is.   


I have been trying to figure out where this came from!  I have looked everywhere - on websites that offer stock photos for commercial calendars, stock photo websites, e-bay and more.  I even used TinEye reverse image search.  Nothing.  No joy.  The origins remain a mystery.


So that was August 8, 2011, it seems.  Start the blog, show everyone the wallpaper because I thought it was so cool, and then I don't think that much of it for months.  But I see that picture every day at work and the more I see it, the more I am fascinated.  It just SAYS Oklahoma!  And let's not forget that is coming from an Okie that wouldn't know that those are Hereford Cattle if it hadn't been for the Boss Man telling me that.


Are you getting my point?  Obsessed I've become.  With this picture.  It IS Oklahoma!  I don't know why I like it so much.  I don't decorate in Western (and wouldn't have it in my house! :-) ).  I have never been around farms or cattle or anything of the sort.  So WHY IS THIS OKLAHOMA TO ME, you ask?!  I don't know.  But it is.  I mean - look at it.  

And now I see it everywhere.  At work.  On my blog.  I even used PicsArt for the first time to take a picture of it - and now the wallpaper on my HTC EVO is the above edited version of the cattle!


So there you have it.  Now you don't have to wonder anymore about OST's wallpaper.  :-)

Statue of Liberty, Lindsay Style! :-)

We are back in the metropolis of Lindsay, Oklahoma! 


Tuesday, July 3rd I headed back to the Griffith Sports Complex for what would be the Owls last game of the season.  :-(  They played GREAT though!!  Awesome way to end the season!


On this particular day I had Richard Eugene along as an adventure partner so on the way we stopped for pictures at the little Statue of Liberty.  I had tried to get a picture when I was on the way out of Lindsay the night before and managed to get a odd, crooked picture from the car window as I zoomed by.


Growing up we went through Lindsay quite often for several years.  Before Grandma moved to Chickasha she had lived on Jefferson Street in Pauls Valley for a time - the logic being that it was a good mid-way point between her grandchildren.  (That didn't last, though, and a couple of years later she moved to Southgate in Chickasha.)  She made a friend while in Pauls Valley and after the lady was moved to a nursing home she would take us along with her on some weekends to visit.  I always loved those trips and all the little towns you go through on the way.  Lindsay was my favorite one to drive through!!  I always looked for and was excited about the little Statue of Liberty!!  I just thought that was the COOLEST thing!  And it is, isn't it?

I never really knew what it was and I don't know if it has changed hands over the years or not, but at the moment it is partly part of the Chamber of Commerce which is located behind the statue and partly a veterans memorial.

I guess it is one of those things that the people who live there don't appreciate - like people in Europe and castles.  After doing not exactly an intense web search but a decent one, I was unable to turn up a single mention or picture of the statue!!  About all you find regarding Lindsay is the Murray Mansion.  Which, yes, I do desperately need to visit!!!

I did find something interesting in my search, though.  It seems a General John C. Fremont made an interesting statement in a report in the mid-1800s about the Washita Valley:

...if there is a Garden of Eden in the Western Hemisphere, it is in the Washita Valley.  

Granted, the only places I have been able to locate such a statement on are various websites touting the awesomeness of Lindsay (in the heart of the Washita Valley).  Did he really say it?  Who cares!  Remember what I said in the post about Fred regarding Grady Countians and the Washita being like Egyptians and the Nile?  Yep, you guessed it.  I am going to take it and run with it!!!  :-)  And now is a good time to mention that I have the most amazing journey planned with me, some serious GPS locator and the Little Washita.  It will be epic.  It will be even better if Jadzia can come along (my as yet non-existent new Jeep!)  But the adventure can definitely wait until it is cooler!!  :-)

I leave you today with a shot of me and my new friend, Miss Little Lindsay Liberty!  :-)

Griffith Sports Complex - Lindsay

This is probably the least exciting post yet.  Not much to tell.

The date?  Monday, July 2, 2012.  

The mission?  To watch Treyton Seth and the rest of the Owls whoop up on some baseball team or other.  (Mission failed - on their part, not mine  :-))

After work I drove out to Lindsay and followed the only instructions I was given:  turn left at Wal-Mart.  I was concerned about being able to find the ballpark, but that turned out to not be an issue at all.  You turn left at Wal-Mart, go a bit and over the hill you can see the lights to the right.  

It is a little bit disappointing after watching so many ball games at the Chickasha Sports Complex, but it is a nice little place.  Possibly the best part is the very reasonable prices at the concession stand!  :-)

I had Shawna Dawn go with me during a lull in the game to get a shot of the little memorial marker thing over near the concession stand.  I have no clue who J.K. Griffith and his wife are.  No clue.  I suppose Lindsay peeps know.  All I could find online was a document that showed there was a J.K. Griffith who was the president of the American Exchange Bank in Lindsay.  Same person?  Son of the father of the ballpark?  Maybe.  I don't know.  I did enjoy their little sports complex though; it was a nice place for the regional tournament.

Memorial Day Weekend V - Rock Spring Baptist Church

We are going to skip over Eakly Cemetery in the day's chronicles.  I have covered it before and probably will again!
On the way to Eakly I spotted a historical marker on the east side of the road and made a point to catch it on the way back towards Anadarko.  It is up off the road on a hill and partially obscured by grass and other growth.

The marker reads:

ROCK SPRING BAPTIST CHURCH

1/4 Mile East

First Baptist Church

Among Oklahoma Plains Indians

ORGANIZED 1874 BY REV. JOHN McINTOSH.

CREEK INDIAN.  FIRST KNOWN BAPTIST

MISSIONARY TO THESE TRIBES.

First Trip summer 1874 under auspices of

CREEK BAPTIST ASSN.

Sermon text John 3:16.  Black Beaver. Interpreter

"This is the Word from the Great Spirit Above

to all His children" -- McIntosh

Naturally we went on down the road trying to locate any remnants of said church.  We couldn't find a darn thing visible from the road that looked like it was or used to be a church, but we did see a cemetery on the south side of the road and decided that probably used to go with the church.  I should have gotten pictures!  When I got home I did some research on Find A Grave and sure enough there is a Rock Springs Cemetery outside of Gracemont.  Pretty sure it is the one we passed.  I will just have to hit it up another time!


The funny thing is that I have read a few things online that suggest that there is still a Rock Springs Baptist Church (yes, Rock Springs, not Rock Spring as on the marker, but it appears to be the same).  I will have to research that more I suppose.

Memorial Day Weekend IV - Riverside School

After leaving Memory Lane Cemetery and having our traditional pit stop in Anadarko, we head out of town on some highway or other.  I would look it up, but what's the point?  I always forget!  Getting to Eakly is just one of those things that I have known how to do my whole life.  I don't know the darn names of the highways!  :-)


So we head out of town.  Before we get very far, a historical marker appears on the right.  It is in sad shape, but still plenty readable:

The marker says:
Riverside School
Begun by U.S. Quaker Agents, 1871


This school opened at the Indian agency on Sugar Creek with 8 pupils.  A new building was erected as a boarding school in 1872, for Wichita and Caddo children.  Fire in 1878 destroyed the school.  It soon reopened in a new building here on the Washita and continues as the oldest boarding school in the United states Indian service.
Oklahoma Historical Society and State Highway Commission 1970


I am aware that the Riverside Indian School is still around but I had forgotten that it was a boarding school.  That is something you think of more in Europe and Yankee territory!  :-)  And beyond that, there are about 800 students there?!  I had no idea it was that large!!  Peruse the school website some.  There are some interesting things there, the most interesting of which may just be where Anadarko got its name.  Apparently it is derived from an old Caddo word meaning 'a place of the bumblebees.'

Memorial Day Weekend III - Memory Lane Cemetery

Next stop?  
Anadarko.
Memory Lane Cemetery.

I have included this stop on the list since Junior Menefee passed away.  Junior and Winona are my ex-husband's paternal grandparents.  Theirs are the only graves in the cemetery that I mess with, although I will usually say 'hi' to Delphia (Winona's mother) since I used to have her ironing board.  But that is a whole other story.  

Memory Lane really is a nice cemetery.  And it is HUGE!  The Menefees are off to the east side not far from the north entrance, so usually it is a quick in and out for us.  This time we drove around a little bit which is not an easy feat given the cemetery's teeny-tiny narrow lanes!  I thought I spied a veteran's memorial or something of the sort but when we got closer it turned out to be just a section more saturated than others with veterans markers.  Nothing more.  Once there I was able to get a pretty decent picture from the top of a hill that somewhat gives an idea of how broad and sweeping this cemetery is.

I have little personal history with Anadarko itself and am rarely there anymore, so I don't have much in the way of personal tidbits to share.  However, there is a synopsis of the history of the Memory Lane Cemetery on Anadarko's city website that is worth checking out.

Memorial Day Weekend II - Ninnekah History in Rose Hill Cemetery

As explained in the last post, we added Rose Hill Cemetery as a stop for our Memorial Day Weekend traditional trek.  Our destination?  The graves of Fred & Christel Kluver.  Our mission?  To put flowers on the graves for Memorial Day.  The result?  Well, we did the flowers (though not the ones I wanted - waited too late to buy this year) and we will continue to visit their graves on Memorial Day Weekend.  However, what happened as we were fulfilling our task served to change the atmosphere of the whole day and to throw Betsy into full-scale geeky history-loving mode that poor Rick had to deal with the rest of the day. (Yeah, and beyond that day.  Possibly forever!  :-) )

You see, as I was getting pictures I spotted something very close to Mrs. Kluver's grave out of the corner of my eye.  It was the name BEELER.  I had to look.  I made my way over and RIGHT THERE THEY WERE!!!  The graves of George & Georgia Beeler!!!!!


Rick was immediately thrown into the midst of a Ninnekah history lesson.  I told him just about everything I could remember about the Beelers.  I shall now regale you with the high points:

• George Beeler founded Ninnekah!!  
• Georgia was the first postmaster and she picked out the name which means 'Dark Waters' in Choctaw.  
• He turned down the roundhouse that the railroad wanted to put in, causing them to go to Chickasha and in turn for Chickasha to practically overnight become more important than Ninnekah.  
• They had a large residence of which there is a replica in the Ninnekah Historical Museum.

What particularly blows my mind is there they lay in eternal rest with very simple markers and a simple family marker that just says 'Beeler.'  No mention of them founding Ninnekah?  No mention that he is considered the first resident of Chickasha (more details on that tidbit I looked up later)?  It seems there should be something marking the grave!

The reason I know anything about the Beelers at all is because of Mrs. Craig.  She was my art teacher in 7th & 8th grade and my civics teacher in 8th grade.  She and the 8th grade class of 1990 started Heritage Day in Ninnekah and helped put in motion all kinds of things to preserve Ninnekah's history.  In 1992 Mrs. Craig complied a book of sorts of various pieces of Ninnekah history including brief biographies of prominent individuals, interviews with descendants, cemetery records, and more.  At the end of my 8th grade year (1994) the last assignment of the year was to read through this 'book,' and write a summary of it.  I LOVED IT!!!  I am looking at my report right now, which ends with 'I found this book very interesting, and wish I could get a copy!'  First off, I don't know what purpose that comma is supposed to serve and secondly, it doesn't seem to be an appropriate conclusion for a summary of a book.  Nevertheless it got me a copy!  Mummy took me out of school a bit early the last day of school (the same day we turned the reports in) to go visit Aunt Debbie who had just moved to Oklahoma City.  On our way out of the building Mrs. Craig stopped us and gave me one of the books.  I was far too shy back then to tell her how I appreciated that, but I can tell you without a doubt that I WAS ECSTATIC!  That is evidenced by the fact that I am looking at that book right now if nothing else.


Want to know more about Ninnekah?  Sadly, this article is about the best you will find online.  But don't worry.  We will talk more about Ninnekah and the Beelers later!!

Memorial Day Weekend I - The Kardokus / Gee Way

THE OLD RITUALS

Memorial Day Weekend.  A time of cookouts, lake trips, food and fun for many.  For my family and me in particular, it means fake flowers and the dusty wind that just seems to always come with cemeteries in Oklahoma.
From the time I was just a little thing we would make the trek out to Eakly (where Mummy is from) to decorate Grandpa Don, Grandma Florence and Zelda Faye's graves.  We only occasionally make the longer journey to Enid for Grandpa Russ's grave.


I remember a lot of those trips to the Eakly Cemetery from my childhood.  Before Aunt Thelma passed away we would go to her house with the horseshoe drive afterward.  It had been Grandma Florence's house and behind it used to stand the house that Mummy and her uncle Johnny were both born in - among many other peeps I am sure.  I still can find it when I drive into Eakly (which is rare - usually we just hit the cemetery and head back towards Binger) but it is no longer in the family.


These Memorial Day visits and Mummy's feelings about cemeteries helped me to grow up with a fondness for them.  Mummy always loved cemeteries and dreamed of buying and living in an old rural church with a cemetery.  She wanted to spend her free time tending to the cemetery.  I think I would like to be a cemetery sexton in retirement or something (assuming, of course, that I START a career to retire from!).


I am not sure when I went on the cemetery run by myself for the first time - and by myself I most likely mean with the ex-husband.  I would guess maybe 14 years ago or so.  As time went on, more graves were added.  Chris's grandparents in Anadarko (handily on the way to Eakly), and in Eakly, Mummy, Cousin Rattlesnake Leroy and Grandma.  There is a ritual to it, as there is to just about anything I do, which involves certain colors of flowers for each person and the order of the stops and what convenience stores to stop at among other things.  Memory Lane Cemetery in Anadarko is first, followed by Eakly Cemetery.  Then home.  If a trek to Enid is planned, it is most likely a different day.  Also I greatly prefer to go just prior to the weekend or very early in the weekend; you don't want peeps to be at the cemetery thinking the family has been forgotten!


But the most important part:  the flower colors.  I have only set the colors for the more recent graves - very carefully, of course.  The older graves get the same colors that Mummy had put on them for many years before I ever started going with her or was on this planet for that matter.  Those colors were also carefully chosen; substitutions are done in extreme emergency situations ONLY.

A NEW TRADITION

Several months ago Rick and I were walking in Rose Hill Cemetery - the premier walking trail in Chickasha - when we spotted Mrs. Kluver's headstone.  It was right near the gate and easy to get to so it took us all of a couple of minutes to decide that we would add Rose Hill Cemetery and Mrs. Kluver to our Memorial Day Weekend treks.
You see, while we only met Mrs. Kluver on a few occasions she is very important to us.  We bought her house!  There is even still a 'K' on the front screen door.  :-)  She was just the sweetest little old lady!  I know she would be disappointed that I didn't keep her garden spots up and that we have taken out most of the shrubs and stuff AND that the house is in such desperate need of remodel.  Nevertheless, I think she would be happy with us being there because we LOVE the house!!!  This is what it looked like shortly after she and Fred bought the house in 1945:

The house was 20 years old at the time.  She lived there for 60 years (he passed away in 1996) and they raised four children there.  They built on to the back around 1960 - probably mostly to give Mrs. Kluver a larger kitchen!  :-)  We still have the coppertone stuff that was put in at that time.  The back porch was added on to in the 90s - or so I estimate from various pictures.  Those windows you see?  Pretty sure they are the same ones we have now except for the one on side of the house on the far right.  Isn't it just fabulous to have a house with so much history and love behind it?  I think so!  I could go on and on about this topic, but I will wrap it up with a picture of the house now for comparison.  This is a photo of a pencil drawing Michelle did of the house (using Google Maps!) as a Christmas present:

CONCLUSION

Now that you know a little bit about the Memorial Day Weekend rituals and new addition to this year, let's get started on chronicling Saturday, May 26, 2012, shall we?

Oklahoma Heritage Plaza

Friday, May 25, 2012.
I get off work decently early.  Becky and I hatched a plan the night before to meet up in Norman and high-tail it to Oklahoma City to the State Fair Park for the EGI Gem, Jewelry & Bead Show.
  
The show ends at 6:00 p.m. per the e-mail Rabicca had received.  We swing into the fairgrounds going on 5:15 p.m. and it looks pretty desolate.  No signs bespeaking a bead show.  I'm creeping along the grounds in the car.  I can't help it.  I am not used to going to the fairgrounds except during the Great State Fair of Oklahoma (Yes, I called it by its full name.  Doesn't it sound grand that way?  :-) ) and during the fair you are ushered unceremoniously to a 'parking spot' some ways off that you pay a fortune for.  Never have I personally driven inside the fairgrounds.  Eventually we come across a building with a couple of cars outside.  Skeptical that we have reached our destination but wanting to get information from someone in the know prior to giving up after working so hard to get there, we disembark the vehicle and peek inside.  There are just a few people setting up booths on the far side of the building.  Deciding to go ahead and go in there like a couple of lost tourists, we spot a woman walking around the corner.  She informs us that they are setting up for the gun show and nothing else is currently shaking at the fairgrounds.


Discouraged but not quite ready to give up we get back in the car and continue driving around some - still feeling like someone is going to jump out at us any minute telling us we aren't allowed to drive there!  Then around a corner there are cars!  We get closer and there is a sign!  The only sign - right outside the building it is in.  Somebody did a poor job of promoting the show.  Nevertheless, we are here!  In we run and frantically spend too much money on beads until it is time to leave so they can close up.


The point of this post, however, is not the bead show.  It is what we saw when we left.  We were walking to the car and plotting just where we were going to go to use some facilities when to the left I spotted large granite monuments.  It was the 'Oklahoma Heritage Plaza.'  The monuments list everyone inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame and even include etched portraits of a select few.  Becky was not terribly amused with the detour given that she also had a need for certain facilities, but I assured her I wasn't going to take a picture of each monument - there are too many.  We quickly walked the path trying to find the most interesting ones.

This is the main stone telling about the plaza.  Not surprisingly, the two inductees on it are Will Rogers and Jim Thorpe.  It is interesting that both of them died 3 years after being inducted.  Hhmmm... could this be Oklahoma's version of the Madden Curse?  Well, probably not.  There are plenty of peeps that are still alive and well that have been inducted.  :-)


The actual Oklahoma Hall of Fame Gallery is housed at the Gaylord-Pickens Museum along with MANY other things.  Definitely looks like a worthwhile destination.  In the meantime, one can find out some interesting things about the Oklahoma Hall of Fame on their website.  


First off, there are 6 inductees that are listed from Chickasha.  I got pictures of monuments that include 2 from Chickasha including Anna Lewis who was inducted in 1940.

The most rockin'ly awesome thing about that?!  That I didn't even realize until I started on this post today?!  I published the post about Fred earlier and there was a link to an article a professor at OCW had written in 1934.  Yep, you guessed it.  SAME WOMAN!!  How cool is that?!  :-)  I am going to have to find out more about her.  She might warrant a whole post for herself!

Here is a monument that includes Te Ata, after whom the Te Ata Memorial Auditorium at USAO where she attended school (when it was OCW) is named.  The same auditorium my graduation was in!  :-)
Another interesting fact I encountered while looking at the Hall of Fame info online:  The Oklahoma Heritage Association's bylaws were not changed until 2000 to allow people to be inducted posthumously!!  Isn't that weird?  And since the change, only 4 have been inducted posthumously!  One of the four was Wiley Post.  Now THERE was an interesting character AND he had ties to Chickasha.  It is hard to believe he was not previously inducted.


I leave you today with this slightly amusing picture.  Doesn't it look from that angle like the tram is quite precariously perched?  :-)

Fred, Indian Territory

Fred.  What an original name for a town!  They broke the mold on that one.


I have known Fred existed for some time, of course, having been raised in Ninnekah.  Old Fred Road is right off of Old Hwy 81 and leads to the Muncrief Cemetery (which I desperately need to visit for OST).  I also have known of the historical marker for Fred, Indian Territory, for many years as it is near the abode of my best friend.  I had just never been there.  I know, I know.  But I am sure there are people in Philadelphia who have never been to the Betsy Ross House.  Just think about that for a minute.


The date:  May 15, 2012
My Adventure Partner:  The Un-Adventurous Shawna Dawn
Our Objective:  Get Our Fred On


This wearisome trek through the outskirts of town took a lot of effort.  I actually had to stop the car, get out, and snap a few pics.  :-)  But seriously.  The time had come for me to Get My Fred On.  And Shawna Dawn?  She got her I'm-Staying-In-The-Car-With-The-AC-And-My-Phone-And-Don't-Care-About-Fred On.  Fuddy. Duddy.

Sad, isn't it?  I am finding more and more that historical markers and cemeteries and all the awesomeness that I have set out to chronicle are being worn down by apathy.  So many are faded, beaten, and as in the case of Fred, untended.


I assume that you could get in through the gate if you were so inclined and the weather was cold enough to not have to worry about snakes in the overgrown craziness!  I REALLY want to know what those displayed documents are!  No doubt I will return to Fred when I have time to peruse and at a less convenient time for the serpentine residents of the area.


But what is Fred, you ask?  Prior to working on this post I knew essentially two things about it:  it used to be a town in Oklahoma in part of what is now Ninnekah, and it is the reason behind the name of Old Fred Road.  That is about all I KNEW.  Now.  Let's get educated.


First off check out this awesomeness:

http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v012/v012p447.html

Pretty cool, huh?  I am not really sure just when this map was supposed to be from but it almost certainly was drawn ex post facto as Chickasha was in Indian Territory, not Oklahoma Territory, so prior to statehood there would be no reason for it to be listed next to something saying 'Oklahoma.'  The map is not of post-statehood or Ninnekah should be included.  Or maybe that is just my Ninnekah-centricity speaking.  Ninnekah and Chickasha were both established in 1892 and Ninnekah was initially the largest.  You would think if Chickasha is listed and Ninnekah isn't then Old Fred wouldn't be listed either since with the establishment of Ninnekah and Chickasha it declined in importance.  [For example, one piece of information I have come across says that the Fred Post Office was discontinued in 1894 with the mail for that area being integrated into Chickasha.  Interesting factoid:  That area which is mostly technically in Ninnekah still has Chickasha mail service!]  Of course you have to take into consideration that it is listed as 'Old Fred' rather than 'Fred' indicating it is already a thing of the past.

That was a very convoluted stream of consciousness, but if you follow me you see the bottom line is I don't know what timeframe the map was drawn in or is supposed to represent and I don't like that it left Ninnekah out!  :-)

Back to Fred.  This marker gives us the basics.  We see that Fred was a trading post established by Colonel Frank Fred in the 1870s at the crossroads of the Chisolm Trail and Fort Cobb Stage Road.  What the Ft. Cobb Stage Road is should be self-explanatory though I would like to see if there are other markers regarding that, and if you are not blessed enough to be an Okie and need more information on what on earth the Chisolm Trail is, look here.  No doubt that topic will come up again here at OST.

A lovely article published in The Chronicles of Oklahoma in December of 1934 gives us some insight about Fred.  It was written by a professor at the Oklahoma College For Women.  Oh, I'm sorry.  You could sense the overabundance of excitement oozing from that last sentence, couldn't you?  I will contain myself.  We shall cover OCW at length another time.

So the article.  The best part about it?  This statement:  

One of the old buildings still stands; the grave yard not far away and traces of the old stage coach stand are all silent reminders of the past.  

Fred was ESTABLISHED in the 1870s - this was WRITTEN in 1934!!  Half again as many years have passed since that article was written!!  Love it.  I also enjoy where she calls State Highway 19 (or whatever was in its place at the time) the "Alex, Lindsay, Pauls Valley Road."  :-)  I will have to look into just how long Highway 19 has been Highway 19.

What I would like to know and intend to try to find out when I do visit Muncrief Cemetery (anyone want to be my adventure partner?  :-) ) is if that pile of rock and stone over the hill from the cemetery that was the stage stand is still there.  Wouldn't that be something?!  It might even be worth traipsing through snake infested weeds to get to!

Another tidbit of note is that the reason Fred is where it is (aside from the crossroads aspect) is because there is a section of the Washita River that has a rock bottom and that is where they would move the cattle through on the Chisolm Trail.  Who knew?  Not that it is surprising.  Just as the Egyptians' lives were built around the Nile so it is with we Grady Countians and the Washita - and in the case of those fortunate enough to hail from Ninnekah, the Little Washita.  Yes, we will have to go more in depth on both rivers soon!!  :-)

I have found a couple more sources regarding Fred, but we will wait for another installment after I have more information on those darn documents and what-not.  We have the basics down.  Next time we dig in.

Sam Noble Museum of Natural History

32.  32.  On April 18 I actually turned 32.  Ugh.  Time to celebrate though, right?  And celebrate I did!  I had multiple little birthday shindigs and tons of fun!!

I already wrote about this to some extent on my other non-specific blog which you can check out here.  On my birthday I got off work early.  I had lunch with Shawna Dawn al fresco at A&E Grill where they proceeded to sing for my birthday a second time.  We won't go into THAT particular humiliation.  Rick and I had plans for the evening, but I didn't want to sit around and do NOTHING so I started looking for options.  I decided I'd like to do something that I haven't done before and if it involves On Sooner Trails then all the better!  Now my first choice would be the Fort Sill Museum which ridiculously enough after nearly 10 years Rick STILL has not taken me to!!  I know, I know.  Travesty.  I settled on the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History:  easy to get to, cheap admission and close.  Distance was important since it was just after 3:00 p.m. already and most museum-type places close at 5:00 p.m.  Once the decision was made we quickly got loaded up in the car and made a beeline for Norman.

It IS easy to get to.  The Internet did not lie in this case!  Hop on to Hwy 9 E off of I-35, turn left at Chautauqua and drive till you see the museum on the right.  Of course it is best once on Chautauqua to stay in the left lane so as not to run into the turn only area in the right lane and have no way to get over in time, thereby being forced to take a more scenic route like Rick did.  Easy fix though.  And that way I got to point out to Rick where Treyton had baseball camp!  :-)

Ok.  We get to the museum.  Just the outside is fairly impressive and there is a nice bison sculpture outside.  (Yes, bison.  NOT buffalo.  We can get into that another time.)  We wandered inside and over to the reception area where two ladies appeared to be counting down their till.  They seemed to find us rather strange sauntering in about 45 minutes to close and asking to look around the museum.  They were very helpful, though!  They informed us that the second floor closes first, so if we stick to the first floor we could go on in at no charge!  Just another little birthday present for Betsy.  :-)

I don't know what I expected the museum to be like.  This is the second 'real' museum I have been to - the first being the Cowboy Hall of Fame (now the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum) years ago.  Let me qualify that statement briefly.  I have been to the Sixth Floor Museum and the OKC National Memorial & Museum, but they are much more focused on being memorials and commemorating an event in time.  I have been to a few little museums in the area thanks to my wonderful time spent growing up in Girl Scouts that included an auto museum and who knows what else.  :-)  I also remember a trip in elementary school to a little Native American museum in Anadarko.  While those are worthwhile places to visit and I should visit them all again for On Sooner Trails (except the Sixth Floor Museum), they are not REAL museums.  When I say a 'real' museum I mean like you picture as a child: one that is large, has revolving exhibits, massive collections in storage, teams of researchers, a docent and curatorial staff, gift shop, and maybe even echoes when you walk.  :-)

The Sam Noble Museum has all that and more.  It is fascinating!  The subject matter isn't exactly my forte, although like most kids when Jurassic Park came out I learned all the different eras in time and could quote many pre-historic 'facts.'  Those days were long ago but the museum is interesting to anybody and everybody. 

I was impressed with the quality of, well, everything.  The models are amazing, the scenes are set perfectly and everything flows nicely.  I especially didn't expect it to be so interactive.  Every display has something to do:  guessing games, slides to view, drawers to open, replicas to touch, and much more.  It is so much fun and the whole setup is aesthetically pleasing.  I can't imagine what it would be like to work on the cleaning crew of that place!  :-)  I do wish we had had more time to browse.  Nevertheless, we quickly saw most of what the downstairs had to offer starting with the Orientation Gallery and ending with the Gallery of World Cultures where, sadly, pictures are prohibited. 

The Orientation Gallery was much more interesting than one may think given the fact that it isn't even about a specific collection.  It is all about topics like:  what collections are, why we keep collections, the proper way to catalog and store collections and how to keep them safe.  Then you move on to the exhibits and see all kinds of creatures.  This was where we really needed more time to peruse!  I did get several fun pictures before we entered the Gallery of World Cultures where, as previously stated, pictures are prohibited.

Another cool thing about the museum?  The names.  The gift shop is 'Excavations.'  Come on.  How cool is that?  And there is a 'Redbud Cafe.'  How appropriately Okie!  (Ahhh...Redbuds.  How did I get to be 32 and still not have one?  There are things in life that just NEED to be rectified!)

After a quick jaunt through the gift shop where I did not buy anything, we went back out and got some exterior pics as well as pics of the American Bison sculpture.  It was then time to go back to Chickasha to continue the birthday festivities.

Post Scriptum
I have been to more museums than I realize.  The first time through the draft I had written that Sam Noble was the first and then I remembered the Cowboy Hall of Fame. (Which is another one I had to rush through the one time I was there due to arriving late in the day.  There is a pattern here - if you recall the first trip to the OKC Memorial in 2005 we got there late!  What on earth?!)  As I re-read this post I now recall that I HAVE been to the Fort Sill Museum.  It was in Girl Scouts long ago.  Apparently every Girl Scout in Oklahoma came!  All I remember is standing out in the cold waiting and playing with the acorns with Elisha Mann, the cafeteria, and being outside while the tour chica (in my head it was a chica but I am not sure about that) talked about Geronimo.  So I guess I have to count it, but it doesn't count.  Capisce?

Tony K. Burris - Medal of Honor

I love Blanchard!!  I did half of my student teaching at the middle school in the Spring of 2007 and often wish I could have gotten hired on there.  From June 2007 - July 2009 I worked in Norman which meant I would drive through Blanchard twice a day during my commuting.  Their Subway is the cutest thing ever and I don't even mind the massive speed trap so much.

I have often noticed a statue off to the North of Highway 62 right there in the heart of Blanchard.  I just never spent much time wondering what it was all about.  On Saturday, March 31, Rick and I were on our way back from a shopping excursion at Home Depot in Norman (which sounds more exciting than it is - we were buying a new toilet! :-))   We already had a full day of getting SICK deals at some yard sales and winning in the largest lottery jackpot in history.  Unfortunately we did not score the $640 million or whatever it got to, but we did manage to score $21!  So at this point we are headed home from Norman and curiosity got the better of me.  After all, we were not in a hurry and I always need fodder for 'On Sooner Trails!'  So I tell Rick to turn at the light and park over by the statue.  I don't mind looking like a dumb tourist!  We get out and walk to the statue and lo and behold it is honoring a Medal of Honor recipient!!  I had no idea!  But not only is it a memorial honoring a Medal of Honor recipient, it is a name I know!  The Army Reserve Center in Chickasha (the same one I drove through a roadblock at on 9/11 - but then that is another story) is named after Tony K. Burris.  I just had no clue who he was before.  It is sad sometimes the stuff you miss that is right in front of you!


The memorial itself has Sergeant Burris charging a hill or something of the sort and underneath are plaques transcribed with the MOH citation, a letter he sent home, and the telegram to his family from the Army at his death.  According to what I have read online the memorial was dedicated in September of 2007 with General Tommy Franks as the keynote speaker.  Sergeant Burris is also buried in his hometown of Blanchard so when I do get around to the Blanchard Cemetery I will have to check that out! 

This is what the plaque with the MOH citation says: 

Congressional Medal of Honor

Sergeant First Class Tony K. Burris, USA

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his own life above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy:
Sergeant Burris, Infantry, United States Army, a member of Company L, 38^th Infantry Regiment, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and outstanding courage above and beyond the call of duty in the vicinity of Mundung-ni, Korea, on 8 and 9 October, 1951.  On 8 October, when his company encountered intense fire from an entrenched hostile force, Sergeant First Class Burris charged forward alone, throwing grenades into the position and destroying approximately fifteen of the enemy.  On the following day, spearheading a renewed assault on enemy positions on the next ridge, he was wounded by machine gun fire but continued the assault, reaching the crest of the ridge ahead of his unit and sustaining a second wound.  Calling for a 57mm recoilless rifle team, he deliberately exposed himself to draw hostile fire and reveal the enemy position.  The enemy machine gun emplacement was destroyed.  The company then moved forward and prepared to assault other positions on the ridge line.  Sergeant First Class Burris, refusing evacuation and submitting only to emergency treatment, joined the unit in its renewed attack but fire from hostile emplacements halted the advance.  Sergeant First Class Burris rose to his feet, charged forward and destroyed the first emplacement with its heavy machine gun and crew of six men.  Moving out to the next emplacement, and throwing his last grenade which destroyed this position, he fell mortally wounded by enemy fire.   Inspired by his consummate gallantry, his comrades renewed a spirited assault which overran enemy positions and secured Hill 605, a strategic position in the battle for “Heartbreak Ridge.”  Sergeant First Class Burris’ indomitable fighting spirit, outstanding heroism, and gallant self-sacrifice reflect the highest glory upon himself, the Infantry, and the United States Army.

Now how cool is that?!  And during the Korean Conflict no less.  The Korean Conflict doesn't get as much attention as other military engagements.  Unless you count M*A*S*H of course.  :-)

To complete our mini adventure Rick got a picture of me with Sergeant Burris after I had taken several pics of the memorial. We then got back on the road and headed toward home!

There is some interesting info on the poorly named Congressional Medal of Honor Society website.  It seems there were 144 MOH recipients to come out of the Korean Conflict, 24 of which are still living.  I suppose it would be reasonable to double-check the information with other sources considering they call it the 'Congressional' MOH and the 'Korean War.'   I know, I know.  That's somewhat debatable.  But seriously - CONGRESS has to declare war for it to be officially 'war' for America.  Even though it was my favorite president who made the declaration that got us officially involved it still doesn't count.

I also learned that since 1863 there have been 3,458 MOH recipients most recently in September 2009 to a Marine in Afghanistan.  Oddly enough, the only woman to receive one was in the Civil War!  There has been only one Coast Guard recipient and 19 double recipients!! (Note the appropriately placed exclamation points. :-))

Another interesting factoid:  there are 3 MOH designs currently in use!  There is one for the Army, one for Navy/Marine Corps/Coast Guard and one for the Air Force.  I did not realize there were different designs used at the same time!  Personally I think that the Air Force should still use the Army one, but they haven't consulted me.  :-)

Anyway, check out the CMOHS website.  The MOH citations are especially interesting reads.

Cox Convention Center

Originally I was not going to do a post regarding the Cox Convention Center but in the end I figured I might as well! 

To continue the adventures of February 17:  after our phones had died and we had properly traversed the downtown area we went back to our parking spot for a few minutes.  We attempted to charge our phones via a single outlet in her vehicle with little success.  Thankfully I had my camera with me and though I had not thought to charge it and it did not last through the night I was still able to get some pictures of the game. 


Ah, but what game you ask?  I am jumping ahead of myself!  Cher-ron Lee, despite having been in a long-term relationship with a newspaper sports editor, had never been to a hockey game!  To continue our fun and work on her 'bucket list' we traipsed on over to the Cox Convention Center to buy some tickets.  There are some very cheap tickets available and a decent section of $28 seats.  However for $10 more we could get in the best section and this being Cher-ron's first hockey game (and my first Barons game - I haven't been to a hockey game since Oklahoma City's beloved Blazers disbanded) we decided to go for it!  The helpful woman at the ticket counter even hooked us up with FRONT ROW seats!!  Woo-hoo!!

Now we had some time to kill.  We had looked for places to eat along the way there but nothing called out to us, so we decided to eat overpriced concession fare.  Cher-ron went for a loaded hot dog (foot long?) with Coke and I settled on a salty soft pretzel with Dr. Pepper.  The older lady at the concession stand was a riot!  After having a good ol' time cuttin' it up with her (she probably thought we were drunk!) we went in search of our seats.  This was when we discovered just how cool our ticket seller was.  We didn't just get front row seats.  No.  We got FRONT ROW, CENTER ICE, RIGHT NEXT TO THE BARON'S BENCH!!! 

The experience was not novel for me as far as it being a hockey game, but it was a bit different than the Blazers games I previously attended.  It has been several years since I was at a game and back then the Blazers played at the erstwhile Ford Center. 

The Chesapeake Energy Arena was originally The Ford Center. I was at the Ford Center on a number of occasions including multiple Blazers hockey games and Trans-Siberian Orchestra concerts.  I was quite shocked to discover a couple of days ago via the omniscient Wikipedia that The Ford Center was opened in 2002!   I was under the impression all this time that it had been there already and was just remodeled prior to becoming The Ford Center. 

My first Blazers game was a blast!  I went with a group from work and we watched from one of the boxes.  That is watching the game in style:  food, drinks, comfy chairs, TVs, easy bathroom access and more.  It was a fun experience and I am glad I had it.  However, I quickly discovered at the next game I attended that being in the stands is MUCH more fun and provides a MUCH better view of the goings on! 

I have been to the Cox Convention Center on a number of occasions as well, most recently several years ago when we attended a few YardDawgz games (now also sadly disbanded).  There were a few times when I was younger that I was there when it was still The Myriad.  It is smaller and not as fancy as the Chesapeake Arena, but it has much comfier seats that are slightly further apart so you don't feel like you are sitting on the lap of the person next to you like you do at the Chesapeake Arena.

The best part about hockey games is that the crowd gets so involved.  I love the various chants and organized group ruckus. Sadly such crowd participation was nearly absent during our visit in February.  The Barons got soundly whooped which precludes us from much of the taunting of the opposing team. 

Overall we had a wonderful experience and enjoyed the game.  Before it got started I went to the gift shop and picked up a Barons hockey puck (to go with my Blazers one!) as well as sets of chuck-a-pucks for me and Cher-ron.  There was one big kink in the night, though:  our horrible rowmates.  There was a couple to the right of me (and right next to them the Barons team!) that were mostly aloof, so no issues there.  The two chicas next to Cher-ron were a different story.  It seems they attend most if not all of the Barons games and operate under the mistaken impression that the Cox Convention Center is their own personal property that others are infringing upon.  They were loud and rude and obnoxious.  At one point one of the ladies even called Cher-ron a highly inappropriate name because she had stood up to get a better view of a fight in the works further down the ice.  I offered to move with Cher-ron over to the other side of the rink - after the first period was over and there were so many empty seats I figured we could go to another one without causing a stir.  She refused to let them run her off, though.  What really saved the night from being ruined by the harpies was that as they drank more beer rather than becoming more belligerent as one may expect, they mellowed out. 


When the game was over I headed for the bathroom.  Upon exiting I found Cher-ron standing in a relatively short line to nowhere.  While she had been waiting on me she discovered that several Barons players were going to sign autographs!  So we stood in line debating with a teenage girl and her mother what on earth we should have them sign and having some fun at the expense of #9's unfortunate name (Pitlick).  We ended up having them sign some flyer things that were near the table where they were doing the autographs and I had them sign my new Barons hockey puck as well.  There were only 4 of them and after they worked their way through the short line they skedaddled.

Our adventures thus ended, we walked in the rain back to the car (all the while trying desperately not to get our fresh autographs wet) and headed back home.