The Okie Legacy

Vol. 2, No. 48 --- 4 March 2000, Saturday

Prairie Prince's Plight

Almost One-hundred years ago this March (9th), Northwestern Normal School's Castle On the Hill was dedicated by President James Ament after the Commercial and Push Clubs in this northwestern community began their push for a school of higher education.

I only bring this up now because this past weekend I spent some time in my basement rummaging through old photographs and boxes. Amongst the clutter I found a great old photo dated 01/22/1901 of the "Castle on the Hill" that I have never seen before. It was a photo of Norhtwest Oklahoma Territory's "Northwestern Normal School", the second Normal School in Oklahoma Territory.

Northwestern Normal School was at one time scorned by thousands as the "Prairie Prince's Plight." President Ament had a vision of building Northwestern Normal School after a Norman castle that he had seen in France. There were to have been four castle buildings in all, but it never came about. March 1, 1935 an early morning fire destroyed the Castle on the Hill. The cause of the fire was never determined, but someone suspected that some young boys smoking cigarettes in the basement the day before might have been the cause. No one knows for sure.

As to the photo that I found recently, I took the "Castle on the Hill" photo to my favorite copy center to get it enlarged so I could get a better look at the group of people seated and lined up in front of the northeast corner of this treeless Normal School. The date on the photo was January 22 (or 27), 1901, Alva, O. T. In the photograph it looks as though the whole County must have shown up for the picture. Either that or the whole student body.

To review some history of our Normal School, a bill was introduced in 1895 to establish the Normal School in Alva, M county, O.T. It was the second Normal School and Central State of Edmond was the first. The building was finally started in the Fall of 1897. By March 10, 1898 a contract was given to John Volk and Co. to build it. On April 1, 1899 they began actually work. By July 1, 1899 they laid the cornerstone. The Commercial Club offered to furnish a building in which the school could start in the fall of 1897.

The Alva Congregational Church building was rented for $150 and class work was started in that building. On March 9, 1900 the Normal School was completed and dedicated by President James Ament and turned over to the Board of Education. Another person's comments on the history of the Normal School, "Talk about boomers and sooners and people knowing how to play the political game!" Normal School Front-page || 1897 History of Normal School beginnings.

Almost one hundred years ago to date it was dedicated (March 9, 1900). The building was first condemned as a folly due to its appearance but was later herald as a masterpiece of architectural beauty. The building was constructed of native red brick. It was Dr. Ament's plan to reproduce the gigantic castle he had seen in France. However, the huge 3 story school with its towers and turrets with battlements was to be only one wing of the structure and Dr. Ament's vision was never realized even though he carried it with him all his life, even when he left Alva. Dr. Ament died in New York City on July 21, 1936.

A group of norhtwest Oklahoma citizens have been given a film of the March, 1935 burning of the Castle. They have reproduced it on tapes and are selling a limited amount of the tapes to raise money for a mural to be painted and hung on one of the buildings surrounding the downtown square. I was told by the Chamber of Commerce that those interested in the tapes could contact Beverly Kinzie, Alva, Oklahoma.

OAKIE's LINKS & MAILBAG

TRANSLATIONS. Machine translation of English to/from French, Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese.

GO... Over to Their Dedication Site!
READ... Their Story!
SEE... How YOU Can Pledge Your Help!

"Granite Monument To Be Raised! On a rainy Friday evening, April 22, 1966 an airplane with 93 young Army soldiers crashed into the Arbuckle Mountains about 20 miles northeast of Ardmore, Oklahoma. The Lockheed Electra had a crew of 5 members. 78 service personnel lost their lives that night in a fiery crash that also took the lives of the 5 crew members. On Saturday February 22, 2000 a group launched a campaign to raise enough money to place a granite memorial stone north of Ardmore, Oklahoma at the site of this 1966 airplane crash to be dedicated to those 83 men and women who lost their lives in a plane crash near Ardmore, Oklahoma on April 22, 1966."

"ref. Old Greer County. I do not agree with the historical accounts that say the surveyors made a mistake when they labeled the North Fork the Red River. The treaties between Spain and France defined the boundary that was supposed to be honored by Texas and U.S. The Red River was the hi-way from the gulf to Santa Fe. The river bed was retained by France, and they would never let Spain claim even the south half. All the traffic came up the Red River, on up the so call North Fork into what is now the panhandle of Texas, over the hill to the Canadian and on to Santa Fe."

Grandpa's Baseball Legacy Continues....
Senators Won, Aug. 1, 1906
Senators Won Again
M'Gill Leads South Texas league
July, 1906, Houston v. Austin
July 12, 1906, Senators Invincible
Umpire Arrested, July 28, 1906

"Gill selected McGill to guard the main kopje for him, and he was reached but six times and never more than one hit was made in a round. McGill spun out a good game on the slab and received stylish support from his help..." Aug. 1, 1906, Austin Senators v. Houston, baseball in the South Texas League.

"McGill, the Austin pitcher, who has played in but twenty games, leads the South Texas league with the swat stick. McGill has a average of 308, which is a shrinkage of 13 points from his average of last week."

"Harlow's Hands Attempted To Bulldoze Umpire Quigg Who Threw Two Men Out of Game and Fined Five. McGill Pitched a great game. He enjoys the distinction of breaking the winning streak for the Hands. He did it by straight hard pitching. McGill pitched for the home team and threw curves around the visitors' necks, which they struck at, and man after man fanned."

"Too much credit can not be attributed to McCall and McGill, who did exceptionally fine work..... McGill went in the game after the fourth inning of the second game,and not a run or a hit was made during the five innings that he pitched. This is a record that is rarely equaled in this league. Only one man reached first base in his part of the game, and that was on an error. In the five innings that he pitched only sixteen men faced him, only three men in each inning for four innings and four in another. It was perhaps the best ball that the big fellow has ever pitched in this city, and will be hard for him to equal hereafter. He took the game in a pinch, when they were being batted all over the field, and reversed the order of things."

"Umpire Arrested - July 28, 1906, Charged with Using Improper Language in Galveston Game. Umpire Wright, in the first of the eighth, was arrested for improper language in reply to a question from the grand stand, and the game was forfeited to Austin by the usual score of 9 to 0. The language said to have been used was such as to offend even the blase old rounder, to say nothing of the many ladies in the audience. The action of the management in having Wright arrested, even at the expense of the forfeiture of the game, was commended by all present when the reason of it all became known."

"THANKS! for info on progesterone."

The Natives Called It "Tailholt" -- But it was also called "Cottonwood Corners." Chester, Oklahoma was also known as "Cottonwood Corners" because of the huge cottonwood tree standing in the middle of the intersection and the rows of cottonwood trees lining the road in each direction. (Info taken from the "Major County History" book at the Oklahoma Historical Society.)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"The greatest gift you have to give is yourself, your own true self. The dreams, the goals, the purposes and passions you hold dear are powerful and undeniable expressions of the person you are. Find and nurture them, and they will energize your efforts. Be the most effective person you can be by truly being yourself." -- Ralph Marston See

You All Next Friday (((hugs & *S*)))
Linda (Oakie), Columnist

 

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