The Okie Legacy

Vol. 2, Issue 55 -- 22 April 2000

A DAY IN INFAMY...

Roosevelt once said, "December 7, 1941,...A day that will live in infamy..." There are lots of things that have happened since then that we shall remember and never forget. One of those infamy days is the bombing of the Murrah building, 19 April 1995, 9:01AM, that shook the World & the Heartland's Conscience.

The highlight of this week in Oklahoma was the opening and dedication of the Oklahoma City National Memorial, 19 April 2000, Thursday. A place to come to remember 19 April '95, "...Those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence." Layout of the Memorial

The "Gates of Time" now stand on either end of the "Reflecting Pool" that was once NW Fifth Street. The East Gate (on Robinson Avenue) represents 9:01 (time of the blast) and the West Gate (on Harvey Avenue) represents 9:03 (when the smoke cleared). The Reflecting Pool between these two gates is a shallow depth of gently flowing water lined with black granite and intended to help soothe the wounds and provide a peaceful setting for quiet thoughts as you view and contemplate the reflections of reminders of the destruction of anger and violence -- Finally letting go and moving on.

On the south side of the memorial where the Murrah building once stood is a field of empty chairs (168, 19 of which are small chairs) as a poignant reminder of each life lost. The chairs are placed in nine rows, representing the nine floors of the building and according to the floor on which those killed worked or were visiting. The smaller chairs represent the absence of 19 children. Each chair is crafted of bronze, stone and a glass base etched with the name of a victim. By day, the chairs seem to float above their translucent bases and by night, the glass bases illuminate as beacons of hope. These photos were taken 19 April 2000 looking south across the reflecting pool towards the 168 chairs of angels reflected in the black granite pool. View looking south towards the Kerr-McGee Building.

May we all be survivors like the stately, Survivors (Elm) Tree from 19 April '95. As the Phoenix rising from the ashes, may this memorial lead to a healing, rebirth, renewal and strengthening of our faith, hope, and trust for all that enter. May we learn from the past; live for the present; and look to the future.

OUTLAWS OF 1890s...

The beginning of the week (Sunday, 16 April 2000) our NW Oklahoma paper wrote an article concerning the pauper grave of an outlaw (Ike Black) in the late nineteenth century. Isaac "Ike" Black was gunned down Aug. 1, 1895, near Canton, Oklahoma by a bullet fired from the Winchester of a Woods County posse member. The bullet lodged in Black's head and he died instantly.

They say that Isaac "Ike" Black was the most wanted because he participated in the Yeager & Doolin gangs in 1892 when he and his wife Belle provided refuge for Zip Wyatt (a.k.a. Dick Yeager and Wild Charlie). The paper also said, "Black's brief life of crime began with a stint in the Kansas Penitentiary for stealing cattle from Sumner County, Kansas, and concluded unceremoniously with his unmourned burial in a pauper's grave at the Alva Municipal Cemetery (at county's expense). Deputy Sheriffs Marion Hildreth and J. W. Meir (Muir) brought Black's body to Alva on a horse-drawn wagon for burial, his only remaining booty from his life of crime included a picture of his wife, Belle, $1.50 in silver and copies of two ballads."

Ike was buried in the pauper section (Block 10) of the Alva Municipal Cemetery in an unmarked grave that was once marked by a jog in the fence. Now it is just unmarked by a grass-covered grave. It is totally unmarked except in cemetery records. This is a view of Block 10, Pauper Section of Alva Cemetery looking SW towards Flynn Ave. on the west edge of Alva, Oklahoma. This is a close-up view of the grass-covered, unmarked grave of Isaac "Ike" Black

My curiosity got the better of me after reading our local paper's description of this nineteenth century outlaw who was buried in a pauper grave in my hometown. I went online in search of more information. Here's what I found while doing a search on Zip Wyatt (a.k.a. Dick Yeager & Wild Charlie), the Doolin Gang, the Dalton Gang, and Ike & Belle Black. Zip Wyatt - The Wild West - Last of the Doolin Gang - Last Days of Bill Doolin - Doolin-Dalton Gang

This Zip Wyatt (a.k.a. Dick Yeager and Wild Charlie) allegedly shot up the town of Mulhall around June 1891 wounding 2 citizens. Sheriff Hixton of Logan Co. obtained a warrant for his arrest. Zip escaped north to Cherokee Outlet and then to Kansas. In Greensburg, Kansas Zip stole riding equipment from a livery stable on July 4, 1891. Sheriff Andrew Balfour trailed him 10 miles north of Greensburg to a plug-horse race in progress. Anyway, Zip shot the sheriff (Balfour) in the stomach when he attempted to arrest him. (Not sure what a plug-horse race is. Can anyone enlighten and educate me on this plug-horse race?)

BACK TO THE PRESENT...

The NEW VFW Supper Club & Steakhouse owners (Jim and Wilda Clemons) opened the newly reopened "Supper Club & Steak House" less than one mile west of the VIP (VIP is finally closing its doors). The VFW stands on the original site of Alva's WWII German POW camp and was used to house the Officers quarters. The VFW has been opened for dinner Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings from 5 to 11 p.m. for a couple of weeks! I give my compliments to the chef and my friend from Pennsylvania! All you Goldbugs attending the Reunion 2000 this June 30 thru July 4th -- Stop in and say "hello" and see a piece of NW Oklahoma history and the paintings of Jack N. Hayward (local artist now deceased) that still grace the interior walls of the VFW building.

OAKIE's LINKS & MAILBAG

Night-time scenes taken 19 April 2000 at the Oklahoma City National Memorial...
Survivor Tree
East Gate, 9:01
Oval View of the East Gate
West Gate along Harvey Ave.
another view of West Gate
Message from Team #5, 19 April '95

"Hi Linda -- Thank you for sending the newsletter each week. I asked my father about the train accident and he does not remember much if at all. But he had some ideas on sources if that helps. He said the trains use to park not far from their house in Pitcher and suggested contacting the archives of Barnum and Bailey since they were the big circus people at the time. Also, he said the Army might know something because they learned how to pack and haul troop trains from the circus. Good Luck."

Wagoner's Waggoner/Wagoner/Wagner Pages - If you know of a Waggoner Wagoner or Wagner Family genealogy page not listed here PLEASE let Chris know where. He would like to add more of them here to make it easier for people to find information. E-mail Christopher.

The Wild West - "...the twin territories of Oklahoma and the Indian Nations were full of in the later part of the 19th century. Known as the Robbers Roost, the territories became a safe haven for some of the old west's most desperate villains. With no law west of St. Louis and no God west of Fort Smith, Ark. the remnants of the Missouri Border Raiders and Texas Freebooters found the territories a safe place to conduct their illegal business from."

Zip Wyatt - "One of the most well known outlaws of the Territory of Oklahoma was Zip Wyatt, also known as Dick Yeager and Wild Charlie. The outlaw was born Nathaniel Ellsworth Wyatt in the year of 1864 or 1868. Some writers have listed his first name as Nelson and the exact date of birth or location is unknown. He was probably born in Indiana."

The Last of the Doolin Gang - "Little Dick West and Dynamite Dick Clifton may or may not have heard the gunfire that killed Bill Doolin on August 24th, 1896. West and Clifton had been camped with Doolin at an old hideout on Mud Creek near it's junction with the Cimarron River near present day Yale. When Doolin rode the short distance in to Lawson, he died in a shootout with deputy U.S. marshal Heck Thomas and his posse. Doolin had planned to take his wife and son out of Oklahoma to start a new life, possibly in New Mexico. It is unknown if Little Dick West intended to follow Doolin out of Oklahoma, but after Doolin's death, West was on the run for the remaining two years of his life." -- Oklahombres Online Research Forum

The Last Days of Bill Doolin - "Bill Doolin was arraigned in Stillwater on murder charges on May 1, 1896 based on his role in the Battle of Ingalls and the deaths of three deputy U.S. marshals. Doolin had earlier agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a fifty year prison sentence, but when he appeared before the judge he pled "not guilty." On the way back to Guthrie, deptuy U.S. marshal Bill Tilghman asked Doolin why he had gone back on his word, and Doolin replied that fifty years was a mighty long time."

Doolin-Daltin Gang - "William (Bill) Doolin was born in 1858 in Johnson County, Arkansas. In 1881, at the age of 23, he drifted west working at odd jobs and eventually ended up in Caldwell, KS were he met Oscar D. Halsall of Texas. Halsall hired Doolin to work for him on his ranch on the Cimarron River in Oklahoma. Doolin soon became a top hand for Halsall."

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When you step out onto my back-porch in NW Oklahoma in the cool early hours of dawn or hours of dusk, the huge (12-13 ft., over 50 year-old) French Lilac bush growing and blooming in my back yard greets you with a fresh aroma of lilac through the air to let you know it is Spring.

BUT... If you clip a sprig of those Lilacs to take indoors, it just isn't the same. Its the type of flowering scent that needs the whole outdoors to spread its strong, pungent aroma. Enjoy this rebirth of Spring and Easter weekend with friends & family.

May your rebirth of strength, peace, courage and hope comfort you all the days of your life! We will be on the road this coming week doing some research on the St. Louis Browns, etc... So you may E-mail me through my Yahoo! Addy

QUOTE/POEM OF THE WEEK

"Few get enough, --- enough is one,
To that ethereal throng
Have not each one of us the right
To stealthily belong?" -- Emily Dickinson

"It's all I have to bring to-day,
This, and my heart beside,
This, and my heart, and all the fields,
And all the meadows wide.
Be sure you count, should I forget,--
Some one the sun could tell,--
This, and my heart, and all the bees
Which in the clover dwell." -- Emily Dickinson

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