Oakie's NW Corner...
Do you remember Chocolate Soldiers and other Nehi
soda pops -- walking to the country store -- buying 15-cent hamburgers
-- getting a 5-cent Grapette or Orange soda? One of my readers sent
me some of her memories from 1945-47 that you can read in the "Mailbag"
section.
This week while Spring sprang a leak during the first-half of the
week and another short arctic-front brought a few chilly days, nights
our way the last half of the week -- I could be found digging through
my treasure chest of "Grandma's Old Penny Postcards"
& "Family Photos." The Old Postcards can be
viewed at Oakie's
Webshots in the Old Postcards album, but it is only the
beginning of getting them online for viewing. As to the old family
photos, let me start here with my Grandmother's first bathing suit
at Ocean View, Virginia with "The Gang."
 1st
Bathing Suit... This photo did not have a date on it, but it
did have some handwriting written on the back of it. It reads, "The
Gang. Ocean View, Virginia. 1st bathing suit." Does anyone
out there know about what year on the east coast they were wearing
this sort of bathing suits on the beach? [Click the photo to
see larger view.]
The Lady in the Photo... the
young lady on the right is my grandmother, Constance Warwick McGill.
I am only assuming here because this was way before my time, BUT...
in those days did young girls travel with chaperones and have separate
beaches from the boys? If so, perhaps the older lady in the middle
is Constance's mother (Signora Warwick) or another relative,
friend of the family. Towards the end of the 19th century and the
beginning of the 20th century my grandmother would have been 17-18
years of age.
I have been doing a little sleuthing
concerning these cover-the-whole-body bathing suits. They say they
were very heavy to wear, very expensive and very hot. It looks like
they would certainly take a very long time to dry these suits after
using them. Women had to cover their body, they couldn't show their
body, it was not permitted. It was not accepted. AND... during that
time males and females had separate beaches.
You don't suppose the buildings in
the background of Ocean View, Virginia are still standing, do you?
I suppose not! I do not know who the others ladies of "The
Gang" are in this picture. If you look closely behind the two
ladies on the left, there is a big, soaked, black dog of some sort.
I have never been to Ocean View, Virginia, but it is on my list
of places to check out one of these days.
 Early
Day Baseball Team... What university baseball team is this?
This next picture shows six baseplayers seated down front. [Click
the photo to see larger view.] My grandfather, Wm. J. "Will"
McGill, is the third from the right. Some other players, fans, ladies
and gents are standing behind the seated players. It is NOT the
"Castle on the Hill"
in Alva, Oklahoma. BUT.... it looks like a university of some sort
to me. I believe that my grandpa went to Friends University at one
time. Could this be Friends? If the building looks familar to anyone
out there, please do not be shy -- send me an email
with what you believe it is.
Old Fairvalley building... I need your help again! This building
no longer stands out at Fairvalley, Oklahoma. Just like all the
other buildings, ghost at Fairvalley -- they are an image only in
an old photograph or a memory in some pioneer's mind, writings.
Somewhere in the "Footprints Across Woods County"
history book a similar picture exists because I remember the the
front, peaked area of the the building. I would really like to find
out more about this photo. Was it a country store of some kind.
[Click on photo to see larger view.]
I was reading some poems in Scott Cummins, "Twilight Reverie"
and found this great poem called "Retrospect."
It starts out "Backward turn backward, O time in your flight,
| Shove the man with the plow and the hoe out of sight; | Let the
buffalo grass grow luxuriant again, | Let the buffalo roam undistrubed
o'er the plain......" You can read the rest of the poem by
clicking on "Retrospect."
I don't know if any of you have cruised over to the information
that I found on the "M" (a.k.a. Woods County) Sheriff's
from the 1890s to 1975. It is located over in the Woods
County section under Woods
County Sheriffs.
That is where the next subject matter of Famous Outlaws of Oklahoma
Territory come into this little bit of Okie Legacies. According
to the article I found in the "First 100 Years of Alva",
there were two famous outlaws that had a hideout in a cave on the
Cimarron River were Zip Wyatt (a.k.a. Dick Yeager) and Isaac
Black (a.k.a. Ike Black) would use for their hideout. It
seems "M" (Woods) County warrants were outstanding
for their arrests on charges of horse stealing and gun toting. Black
was known as a two-bit bandit who was killed around Longdale, Oklahoma
supposedly by a sheriff from Kansas. Black's body was hauled to
Alva in a lumber wagon and buried in a pauper's, unmarked grave
in the city cemetery.
According to Oklahombres.org...
"The (Zip
Wyatt) Terror Begins -- On June 3rd, 1895, a gang of outlaws
raided a store and post office at Fairview. They took everything
of value and three horses. Deputy Marshals Gus Hadwinger and J.
K. Runnels, riding with Sheriff Clay McGrath and Deputy Marion Hildreth
of Woods County, took pursuit after the robbers. The next day, June
4th, they apparently surprised the gang in a cave near the county
line." -- Read more about Outlaw
Zip Wyatt (a.k.a. Dick Yeager) and our Oklahoma Territory
famous outlaws, US Marshalls and sheriffs at Oklahombres.org.
Send me your memories! Dig out those Easter bonnets and photos
of the past. What about an Easter Parade next week? Have a great
Spring weekend. See you all next weekend for Good Friday, Easter.
~~ Linda "OaKie" ~~
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15 June 1909
Dow Lake, McAlester, Okla.
Backside
of card reads... "Came down here to see about
my lot at Pittsburg. On way to Muskogee now. Leave at 2:57 Eve.
W"
The "W" stands for "Will."
The way my grandpa signed his postcards now and then.
The postmark reads... "K.C.
& Dension, June 15, 1909, R.P.O." I am assuming that Grandpa
sent it from somewhere in south parts of Oklahoma. I also assume
that the R.P.O. stands for Rural Post Office! ? Maybe some of you
older Oklahoma readers can help me understanding what the "K.C.
& Dension" stood for. It was mailed to Constance Warwick
in Fairview, Oklahoma. Was there a rural post office called K.C.
& Dension in that area? OR... was it in the southern area of
the state where Grandpa sent the card from?
Menu:
Two Wolves... by Unknown
Indian Author
An old Indian Grandfather said to
his grandson who came to him with anger at a friend who had done
him an injustice: "Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have
felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow
for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your
enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die.
I have struggled with these feelings many times.
"It is as if there are two wolves
inside me. One is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with
all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended.
He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.
He saves all his energy for the right fight.
"But the other wolf, ahhh! He
is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of
temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot
think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger,
for his anger will change nothing.
"Sometimes it is hard to live
with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate
my spirit."
The boy looked intently into his
Grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which one wins, Grandfather?"
The Grandfather smiled and quietly
said, "The one that I feed."
Linda K McGill Wagner
c/o WWW Publishing Co
PO Box 619, Bayfield, CO 81122
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