The Okie Legacy

Vol. II, Issue 69 --- 29 July 2000

Dandelions To Ghost Towns

Gone with the wind like the seeds of the dandelions to be scattered, blown and nurtured to sprout again are the memories of the inhabitants of small, rural pioneer communities that nurtured and grew the flowery seeds that get blown away with the winds of time.

They say, "Ghost Towns could be applied to hamlets, villages, towns, and cities that are no longer in existence... All buildings and indications of existence having been either destroyed or covered by water or earth... Where the remains of business and / or residential structures still stand but are largely unused... Where the population has decreased at least 80% from its maximum."

The Ghost Towns of Oklahoma all developed for varying lengths of time as Boom Towns and languished or died as agricultural technology changed... transportation lines developed and shifted... mineral resources became depleted... and a new life style came into existence (especially in Oklahoma and Indian Territory).

This is how I spent the latter half of this week... Reading "Ghost Towns of Oklahoma" written and compiled by John W. Morris around 1975 and published in 1977. The first part of the week found us spending some quality time with our horses and getting some more photos to share with you on our NetDrive photo album.

We also spent the first part of the week delimbing some trees in our yard up in northwest Oklahoma after last weeks wind storms that bounced through the state. We didn't have half the damage that others went through, so we are feeling really lucky in that regard.

Back to the Ghost Towns, though... I have added a "Ghost Towns" section to my web site to show a list of what they considered to be Ghost Towns in the late-1970s in Oklahoma. If anyone out there has any additions to add to the list or any photos to add, please... EMAIL Oakie... OR Use the Email Form... AND... Check out what we have on our Ghost Towns section.

Fair Valley in northwestern Oklahoma was NOT mentioned in the 1975 list of ghost towns... BUT here is what I have compiled from friends and other readings concerning this Ghost Town in northwestern Oklahoma... Platted Map ---- Fair Valley TOC --- Fair Valley Legacy --- Fair Valley's Name.

Did it leave out one of your Ghost Towns that we need to add to the list? Send me a snapshot (in jpg/jpeg) and a little bit of the legacy seeds that your ghost town left behind in the winds. I will add it to my "Ghost Towns" section (giving you credit, of course) and stick your name in "Oakie's Fishbowl" for the NEW weekly drawing for a "NW Oklahoma Alabaster/Silver Clock (battery operated and included with package)." I plan to give away one each week starting August 4th , 2000 while the supply lasts. EMAIL OAKIE.

Ghost towns are similar to dandelions in many ways... They are resilient bodies (or communities) that sprout the seeds of their flowers and get blown and scattered with the winds of time. Some of those seeds are nurtured there on the spot to keep alive the memories of those who came before. Others are scattered hundreds of miles and are gone with the wind, but the memories linger.

There may be only bare memories of the existence that anything ever grew around there as some ghost towns are only left with decaying, unkept buildings, foundations and memories of their heritage. Maybe we all need to dig into our memories, mementoes, etc... And remember the ghost towns from whence we came and keep their history and heritage alive. Will you help me?

o OAKIE'S MAILBAG/LINKS

"How about this... The nursery rhyme 'Ring Around The Rosey' is a rhyme about the plague. Infected people with the plague would get red circular sores (Ring Around the Rosey) .. these sores would smell very badly so common folk would put flowers on their bodies somewhere (inconspicuously), so that it would cover the smell of the sores (a pocket full of posies...) People who died from the plague would be burned so as to reduce the possible spread of the disease (ashes, ashes, we all fall down)."
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"The term 'the whole 9 yards' came from WWII fighter pilots in the South Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got 'the whole 9 yards'."
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"If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes."
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"Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David; Clubs - Alexander the Great; Hearts - Charlemagne; Diamonds - Julius Caesar."
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"It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after a couple's wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all of the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the 'honey month' or what we know today as the 'honeymoon'."
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"Linda, the Dandelion Wine, Oh ,Yes my Dad made wine from them, I can't put my hands on the recipe. I'll keep looking! Alva got some wind damage from the storm on Friday (July 21)."
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"Linda, I enjoyed the Dandelion piece. I like the dandelion and wildflowers that decorate the yard even though some call them weeds. Purple henbit is one of my favorites. Years ago (college age maybe) before I ever had a typewriter or computer, I copied by hand to a notebook several recipes from a book of flowers."

"Dandelion --- Every part of the plant is edible from root to flower head, and today, its tender inner leaves are cultivated and sold all summer long by green grocers for use in delectable salads or as a cooked spinach-like vegetable. Only the mature outer leaves should be discarded, simply, because they are too tough and somewhat bitter. The roots have been used for soups, the bud like whorls at the centers at the plant flowers are an interesting vegetable dish and sieved like baby artichokes. The golden blossoms have been beloved by the ... for centuries in the making of the ... called Dandelion wine... Another interesting article on flower medicines or herbals. Nothing to bring back a childlike wonder like plucking a dandelion puffball and blowing it to the wind... Yours, Susan,

Dandelion Wine
2 quarts dandelion blossoms
4 quarts water
8 whole cloves
1/2 tsp powdered sugar
1 cup orange juice
3 T lemon juice
3 T coarsely chopped fresh orange rind
1 T coarsely chopped fresh lemon rind
3 T lime juice
3 lbs sugar, granulated
1 cake compressed dried yeast dissolved in _ warm water Choose flowers early in season rather than late in season. Pick flowers that have just opened and just the flower heads. Put the washed blossoms in water with orange, lemon and lime juice. Add the citrus rinds, cloves, ginger and sugar. Bring to a boil and continue to boil for one hour. Strain through filter paper. Cool. While still war, add yeast. Let stand overnight and pour into bottles. After three weeks cork and store in a cool dry place. Makes about 8 pints."

"Dandelion Salad
1/2 cup dandelion flower buds, unopened
1 bunch young, tender dandelion leaves (about 1 pint, loosely packed)
2 strips bacon
3 T vinegar and oil dressing
Wash dandelion flowers and leaves and pat dry between paper towels. Fry bacon strips in skillet until crisp. Remove bacon and drain on towels. Toss dandelion flowers into bacon grease and cook until buds burst open. Drain buds. Crumble bacon into salad bowl. Add dandelion leaves and flowers. Pour dressing over all and toss lightly."

"Dandy Omelet
1 cup dandelion flower buds
4 eggs
pepper & salt to taste
butter
Pick buds which are showing yellow about halfway down the bud. Remove stems, wash, measure one cupful. Melt butter in medium size omelet pan. Add drained and dried buds and saute just until the buds start to burst open. Pour in the lightly beaten eggs. As eggs firm up on edges lift edges and let liquid egg run under cooking until omelet is firm all around, but still soft in enter. Fold in thirds. Flip over and serve. Season to taste with salt and pepper or finely chopped dandelion leaves as garnish. Serves 2-3."
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HAS ANYONE SEEN A VIRTUAL DOG NAMED 'BIG SCRATCH' W/FLEAS????
-- "Linda, I was wanting to ask..... I was looking for the Best Dog I've seen yet, His name is 'Big Scratch' and he comes with a little puppy and with a flea if you want to use it. It is a 'Virtual Dog.' It is so cute. I found one that said it was to be 10-2000 but I haven't seen them for awhile. Just thought you might have seen this in your cyber travels. All three are like $59.99. I would like to find better buy than that. I wasn't sure what to look under on the web, everything I tried came up NO"
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This Dandelion Wine recipes comes our way from a friend who said it was a recipe of her mother's mother from the Pennsylvania area. Her father used this recipe many times and had the children gathering dandelions out in the fields. Although, the children were never allowed to watch the process of making the wine...

Dandelion Wine
1 qt. dandelions
1 gal. boiling water
3 lb. sugar
1 cake of yeast
1 lemon
cover Dandelions with boiling water -- Let stand for 2 days -- Then strain -- Then boil for 2 days -- Then strain -- Then boil 5 minutes, put in sugar, lemon, yeast. Let stand 10 days then bottle and seal.
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"Hi, Linda!! As always, you publish a great newsletter!! How you find time to do that and take care of horses and gardens and do your research is beyond me!!! Hope you are having a good weekend."
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"Touring Arizona's ghost towns is an excellent way to step back into the bygone days of the Old West. With more than 30 ghost towns throughout the state, Arizona offers an opportunity to visit areas which formed the southwest as we know it today. Once you begin to slow down from the hectic pace of contemporary life, you start to feel more and more at home among the memories of an earlier time. "
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"Stories & photos of Ghost Towns in Alberta & Ontario -- This site is dedicated to all those communities which, whether due to lousy planning, impossible dreams or rotten luck, just didn't make it."
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"Take our Free Online Mining Camps Tour of fifteen of Colorado's ghost towns and mine sites. Each sample sight-seeing tour comes with photos, a brief history, and a map with directions for outdoor enthusiasts who want to drive, four-wheel or hike in the footsteps of history."
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Ghost Towns of USA & Canada
Ghost Towns of Oklahoma
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"Ghost Towns of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma & Their Early Inhabitants!"
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Whiskey Towns of Oklahoma Territory, 1889-1907 -- "In the years before Oklahoma became a state, dozens of towns sprang up along the boundary of Oklahoma Territory to serve as supply centers for the Indians, cowboys and farmhands who lived across the border in Indian Territory. Many of these towns owed their existence and much of their early development to the fact that liquor was legal in Oklahoma but was forbidden a few miles away on Indian lands. This peculiar situation gave rise to a unique kind of town in Oklahoma -- the whiskey town -- where saloons lined the streets, bootleggers came to stock up, gambling was widespread, and brothels did a brisk trade in upstairs rooms. In the most notorious of these towns, outlaws ruled the streets and murder was common."
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"Famous Pioneer, Towns, Forts & Places" -- Deserted Lands - Great photos of old places! Check out Shawn Hall's Nevada Ghost Town website - Tim's 1880's Info Swap - GHOST TOWNS of the West! - Ghost Towns and Boom Towns"
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ALL YOU PARIS COUSINS OUT THERE.... REUNION TIME is just around the corner! Mark this date (September 10, 2000) on your calendar. Dig out your family photos and memorabilia. The next "Paris Cousin Reunion" is being hosted by Deverl & Luana Paris and will be held in Chester (Tailholt), Oklahoma, Major County, the Sunday after Labor Day (10 September 2000) at the "Chester Community Center." Please pass the word out to any other of the Cousins you have knowledge of on the website. Deverl & Luana Paris - Linda "Oakie" -
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QUOTE/POEM of the WEEK

"Memory is a net; one finds it full of fish when he takes it from the brook; but a dozen miles of water have run through it without sticking." by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (1858)"
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o "NEW Drawing Contest" -- Alabaster/Silver Clock
"What is the Legacy of the Ghost Towns in your area?"
Open to Everyone --- Starting Friday (28th July 2000) --- Drawing Each Friday, beginning August 4th, 11:00PM, CDT... All those who SEND EMAIL with the Answer to the Question listed on the front pages of ParisTimes.com & WWWPubCo.com will be put into "Oakie's Fishbowl of Names." Every Friday, 11:00pm, CDT, I will draw out the "Lucky Winner" of the "Alabaster/Silver Clock" (battery operated/included w/clock). Each clock has a different silver sculpture on it.

EMAIL Oakie -- .OR Use the EMAIL Form.

Good Luck & Have Fun!
Send in those Okie Legacies & Ghost Town memories w/photos!

See Y'all Next weekend!
Linda 'Oakie'

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