Oakie's Heart To Heart

24 March 2001, Vol. III, Iss. 12

Council Grove, Oklahoma...

This is a correction on that location of Council Grove, Oklahoma.

The Council Grove elementary school and community center, across the street from one another on Melrose Street in Oklahoma City is the former townsite. Some of the words on the Community Center Plaque were hard to decipher from my photo, but the jest of it is readable over at my Council Grove site.

There are two buildings in the vicinity that date to the town's heyday. One is used by Integris Health on the SE corner of Council Rd. & Melrose and the other is owned by a building materials business.

Located on the northeast corner of Council Rd and Melrose Lane, in Oklahoma City is the Council Grove Elementary School with a fantastic bell and plaque out front of the school entrance.

I have a friend that collects photos of these old bells. If you run onto any old Oklahoma Bells, send Butch a photo to add to his Oklahoma Bells website.

The text on the Bell plaque reads... "This bell, long a symbol of gatherings is dedicated to preserve the memories and the history of the Council Grove community."

"It's presented in loving memory of William A. 'Scooter' Wilson by his classmates, friends and family. This historical old school bell dates back to the late 1890s. When it was first used in the Council Grove District School, located on the southeast corner of Melrose Lane and Council Road."

"This schoolhouse also served as the Union church. When a new school was built in this location in 1938, the bell was moved to the new school and again used. The bell remained at that school until May, 1970 when it was brought to the present Council Grove school by the 'Scooter' Wilson memorial fund."

"This bell is also dedicated to its own precious memories of Council Grove School children for over 70 years."

Gumbo Pit Info...

Gumbo Pit was named probably for the gumbo pit there that served the Union Pacific and other railroads between1880 and 1910.

A large pit was dug and a HUGE fire was made into the pit. Lots of workers would shovel gumbo (mud) into the hot fire to harden it like brick. The burned gumbo, as it was called was used as ballast for the railroad grade (Large rocks are now used).

This usually was done when replacing the old ties -- they would be used as fuel for the fire. The practice ended about 1910 as railcars got heavier and labor became more expensive.

McKeever School District #23....

Just west of Alva on hwy 64, on the northeast corner of the highway, is the McKeever School District #23 building.

For the last few weeks it has been getting some needed repairs and a fresh coat of whitewash.

I ran across a history book written about Woods County that listed W. J. McGill (Grandpa Bill) has a teacher there at one time.

I found the following photograph showing Grandpa Bill and his students posing out beside an old school house,... but it did NOT have any names, dates or a mention of which school district it was. Could this have been the McKeever School District #23?

I know my Grandpa taught in the Capron and Burlington area schools in the early 1900s, also.

If anyone out there has any knowledge of this McKeever School District #23, Woods County, Oklahoma or has any info concerning this photograph, please contact Linda.

I have also been reading up on the Sac & Fox Native American tribes that settled in Lincoln County, Indian Territory.

Did you know that... The Sac (or Saukie) is from the French word for people of the yellow earth? The Fox (or Mesquakie) is people of the red earth.

The Sac and Fox were two separate, neighboring tribes and their earliest known habitat was withing the eastern penisula of Michigan.

Its been told that the Sac and Fox banded together because their language and customs were similar and also for protection and survival.

After being forced from their original homes in Michigan by migrating settlers, the Sac and Fox lived in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and finally moved to Indian Territory in November, 1869 in what is now known as Lincoln County, Oklahoma.

The Sac and Fox boarding schools... were begun by Quaker missionaries in 1872 and located on the eastern edge of the reserve land and many Sac and Fox children were forced to attend. Sac and Fox elders remember the government sheriffs' coming to their villages to catch children, load them into wagons and take them to the Sac and Fox school and other Indian schools as far away as Pennsylvania. They were forced to learn English and were often punished for speaking in their native Indian language.

There was the St. Mary's Academy... A boarding school for Indian girls which admitted local farm boys as day students.

Oakie's Column...

Another great, Spring, windy week in Oklahoma this week. It reached in the the 60s, 70s and 80s for most of the week.

The trees are later blooming than those down in the southern parts of the state. I'm still waiting for my fruitless pear trees to bloom. The silver maple trees have buds on them. The jonquils have popped their tiny little blades above ground, but have yet to bloom.

Ernest sent me a picture of everyone's favorite wild flower, the Dandelion, that is blooming in southern Oklahoma now. My Dandelion garden has yet to bloom, but we do have some fresh plants growing on the west side of our yard.

As you drive the rural blacktop and dirt roads in our part of Oklahoma, you might have spotted the cowboys beginning to take their cattle off of their wheat pastures and rolling up their electric fences -- The farmers have been waiting for mother nature to dry out the fields so they could get in to fertilize their crops.

I've been feeding and pampering my colt this week. Okie Moon rooms with seven other colts of mixed gender. Each of the colts shows some signs of jealousy when I brush, speak and stroke another colt. Especially, Moon!

I have received many responses concerning the picture of Moon & Sugar in last week's E-Zine.

Some of you have even reminded me, "That old colts can hurt you faster than you can bat an eye. Just be sure you have firm control at all times. WE NEED YOU!"

Some of you are waiting with baited apple breathe to see what happens next. Let me reassure you that I am will be alert and cautious and will not put myself in any danger of the colts. Thanks for your concerns and interest. :-)---((hugs))<

-- Linda - "Oakie"

Linda K McGill Wagner
c/o WWW Publishing Co

Thanks! You can also view The OkieLegacy online. Copyrighted © 2008 by WWWPubCo & OkieLegacy.  All Rights Reserved.

One Lane Bridge...

On a north/south bumpy, blacktop road (N2830 Rd) east of Loyal, Oklahoma there is an old metal one lane bridge that crosses the Cimarron River.

It has been awhile since I was first traveled across that old bridge with my sister, Dorthy. AND... Back in the 1980s, it was kind of rickety, rackety. I made it across the other day in my V8 Tundra Pickup and I also snapped a few shots looking south across the Cimarron River.

They have a speed limit sign of 20mph and a 7500lb weight limit sign posted on either side of the bridge.

If you head north after crossing the Cimarron River, the blacktop road connects with hwy 51 west of Hennessey and a mile east of the Hennessey Golf Course.

Remembering the 1957 Era...

In 1957, I was 9-years-old, living down on the sothwest corner of 7th & Church St., in Alva, Oklahoma.
      A reader sent me the following items concerning memories of 1957..... What 1957 memories does this jog for you?

      "I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, its' going to be impossible to buy a weeks groceries for $20."
      "Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long when $5000 will only buy a used one."
      "If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous."
      "Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?"
      "The Government is wanting to get its hands on everything. Pretty soon it's going to be impossible to run a family business or farm."
      "If they raise the minimum wage to $1, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store."
      "When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 50 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage."
      "Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls."
      "Also, their music drives me wild. This 'Rock Around The Clock' thing is nothing but racket."
      "I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying 'damn' in 'Gone With The Wind,' it seems every movie has a 'hell' or a 'damn' in it."
      "Also, it won't be long until couples are sleeping in the same bed in the movies. What is this world coming to?"
      "Marilyn Monroe is now showing her bra and panties, so apparently there are no standards anymore."
(13)"Pretty soon you won't be able to buy a good 10 cent cigar."
      "I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century.,They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas."
      "Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the president."
      "Do you suppose television will ever reach our part of the country?"
      "I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now."
      "It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where some married women are having to work to make ends meet."
      "It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work."
      "Marriage doesn't mean a thing any more, those Hollywood stars seem to be getting divorced at the drop of a hat."
      "I'll tell you one thing. If my kid ever talks back to me, they won't be able to sit down for a week."
      "Did you know the new church in town is allowing women to wear slacks to their service?"
      "Next thing you know is, the government will start paying us not to grow crops."
      "I'm just afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business."
      "Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to congress."
      "Why in the world would you want to send your daughter to college? Isn't she going to get married? It would be different if she could be a doctor or a lawyer."
      "I just hate to see the young people smoking. As I tell my kids, 'Don't take a cigarette from ANYONE. You never know what might be in it.'"
      "The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on."
      "There is no sense going to Lincoln or Omaha anymore for a weekend. It costs nearly $15 a night to stay in a hotel."
      "No one can afford to be sick anymore, $35 a day in the hospital is too rich for my blood."
      "If a few idiots want to risk their necks flying across the country that's fine, but nothing will ever replace trains."
      "I don't know about you but if they raise the price of coffee to 15 cents, I'll just have to drink mine at home."
      "If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it. I'll have > my wife learn to cut hair."
      "We won't be going out much anymore. Our baby sitter informed us she wants 50 cents an hour. Kids think money grows on trees."
      "Cars which dim their lights by sensors, automatic transmissions,and who knows what else? Pretty soon they will drive themselves."
      "If underwear ever goes to $1.00 then I'll not be wearing any"

Mailbag & Links....

"Take it from an old worn out horse lover (used teams to farm) & spent my cowboy days on Lazy-T in north Texas. That old colt can hurt you faster than you can bat an eye. Just be sure you have firm control at all times. WE NEED YOU!" wc