Oakie's NW Corner...
This week has been a cool, cloudy, in the mid-fifties and wet.
We finally got some sunshine the latter part of the week, though.
I'm not complaining, though. I love this Fall Weather. The new sown
winter wheat is beginning to carpet the farm grounds in this Northwest
neck of the Woods. There are a few farmers still sowing their wheat,
though.
 Let
us get started with another Alva Mural popping up on the Northeast
corner of the downtown square, 4th
Street & Flynn Avenue, Chaffee building. This mural depicts
the Alva Santa Fe Depot that once stood on the North end of College
Avenue. It no longer graces that spot at present, 'cause it was
torn down years ago.
 I
have had lots of suggestions for the name of my new sorrel gelding.
You can check out some of the ideas in the "Mailbag Corner"
below. Yes! I have decided on a name for this yearling that I have
been doctoring for the past weeks. Since it resides a few miles
west of Cherokee, in Alfalfa County -- since it has a blaze on it's
face... I have decided to call him Cherokee Blaze (his Cherokee
Indian name is Tsalagi Dulvsadv) and call him Cherokee.
Someone sent me this interesting website where you can look up an
English / Cherokee Indian word and click to hear what it sounds
like and you can see the Cherokee alphabet of how to write it.
Go to cherokee.org/Culture/Lexicon.asp.
Sandie Olson with the Waynoka Historical Society & History
Museum informed me that the Sundial that once graced the Alva, Woods
County Courthouse square, in downtown Alva, Oklahoma is now in the
Waynoka History Museum. Sandie also mentioned that awhile back a
resident of Waynoka bought the Courthouse Fountain and it now is
located in a private courtyard in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Boy!
I would love to see a picture of one of our misplaced landmarks!
The next time I am in Albuquerque I may have to look up our old
landmark.
Speaking of the Woods County Courthouse fountain and the 2x4 lumber
pressed into the points on the top of the wrought iron fence to
keep children from hurting themselves... a NW Oklahoma friend of
mine told me a story of two young boys who were playing near the
fountain way back in earlier times when it (fountain) existed. One
boy (Kenneth Baker) had pushed another boy (Warner) and caused Warner
to fall over the points on the top of the wrought iron fence. Warner
was punctured in the mid-section and died. I am not quite sure of
the year, but have a feeling that was the reason the 2x4 lumber
was pressed into the points on the top of the wrought iron fence.
Another reader sent me a photo of hundreds of buzzards roosting
on OG&E's Utility tower out east of Buffalo, Oklahoma near the
Cimarron River bridge.  That
brings to mind the photo I took a few weeks back of a dozen or so
buzzards roosting just east of the crooked bridge, about a mile
east of highway 14 and a few miles west of Avard. These dozen or
so buzzards were roosting along the top row of a five-wire barbed-wire
fence. Some of the buzzards were roosting on an old dead log sprawled
horizontal on the ground near a small mound of red clay that resembled
a make-shift grave. By the time I got stopped -- got my camera out,
some of the birds had flown off. But... I did catch two of those
big buzzards roosting on the dirt mound and one on the top of the
dead log. That one buzzard on the log was about to give flight,
though. He had his wings up and partially open.
That brings us to what I promised the last few weeks... NSN
1917 Ranger Album updates... Student
Council -- Ranger
Staff -- Northwestern
Staff -- Notable
Incident in the History of N.S.N. & James Fryre -- Athletics
- Football of NSN. There is still more to come. So... Stay tuned
for future Issues.
In the near future we will be transcribing a 1920 Pow Wow high
school yearbook just as soon as I get it via snail-mail. Until then...
Have a cool, sunny or wet Fall weekend and keep those Okie Legacy
and Memories flowing this way. Thanks to all for sharing your photos,
memories and legacies. See you all next weekend.
~~ Linda "oaKie" &
Duchess ~~
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'55-'56 Eighth Grader
Who Is He?
Who is this '55-'56 eighth grader at Horace Mann
School, Alva, Oklahoma? Thanks for any help you can pass along
this way.
Menu:
Linda K McGill Wagner
c/o WWW Publishing Co
PO Box 619, Bayfield, CO 81122
Thanks! You can also view The OkieLegacy online. Copyrighted © 2008 by WWWPubCo & OkieLegacy.
All Rights Reserved.
|
Mailbag & Links Corner....
Sun Dial - Woods County Court House...
"Linda, your readers might be interested to know that the sun
dial from the Woods County Court House is on display at the Waynoka
History Museum. It's very nice. I had forgotten about the gold fish
at the Court House. Thanks for the reminder." -- Sandra Olson,
Waynoka Historical Society - 580-824-5871
Woods County Courthouse Fountain... "Linda, the old courthouse
fountain was purchased by a former Woods Countian and moved to Albuquerque
where it is in a courtyard of a private home. I believe an architect
designed the site for the fountain, and I have heard that it is beautiful.
The lady's sister-in-law said they had an architect design the setting
for the fountain. She graduated about 50-yrs ago from WHS." --
Sandie
Raven's
Tsalagi Resources... Names - The most proper name for the
Cherokee people would actually be Ani-Yunwiya, which means “The
Principle People” in the Cherokee language. Another meaning is
akin to “People of God” in English, but with a probably
slightly different interpretation of “God” in the traditional
sense.
Tsalagi - The word Cherokee or Tsalagi is
actually a Choctaw word for “cave-land-people”. The Delawares
called the tribe the same thing, but their word is “Tallageni”,
the root of Allegheny. Cherokee is the way the invaders chose to pronounce
Tsalagi. The Cherokee language itself does not use the ch sound or
the r sound as they appear in English. American
Indian Tribe - WWW
Virtual Library American Indians - Raven's
Tsalagi Resources (A Few Words in Cherokee/Tsalagi)
Indian Names for Horse... "The Chickasaw name for blaze
is kila (ke-lah). the Chickasaw word for fade is masali (mah-sah-le)
you could call him Masali Kila.
Indian Names for Linda's Horse... "A linguist in native
tongues I'm not - I've heard it said that translations are often difficult,
partly because what might be a word in English may need a phrase in
the tribal language or vice versa. And then, they were oral, for the
most part, and highly phonetic, so that writing them with the 26 letters
of the English alphabet was unwieldy and inadequate. So, just to explore
briefly some possibilities for further search, I offer some web sites.
The Five Civilized Tribes (Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek and
Seminole) were resettled in what was to become Oklahoma by the U.S.
Government, along with several smaller groups such as Sac and Fox.
For pictures of the great seals and other data, go to www.fivetribes.org.
Other nomadic groups such as the Kiowas, Kickapoos and Comanches were
in and around the area much earlier. Ardmore's location was in the
Chickasaw nation, and they remain very actively preserving the culture.
Their annual festival is in progress now and runs until Oct. 5 in
Tishomingo, with related activities in Ada. See www.chickasaw.net
for more data. For specific Indian words we can turn to the Cherokees
(www.cherokee.org.) whose most
famous citizen, Sequoyah, developed a special alphabet of 85 symbols
so that his people could communicate with "talking leaves."
He worked on the symbols from 1809 to 1821. At first many tribes people
thought he was nuts, or worse, might be trying to practice black magic,
but when he presented and demonstrated the completed work to the tribal
council it was quickly accepted, and within months most of the tribe's
members were making good use of his gift. The first newspaper in a
native alphabet began publication in 1827. You can look at the home
page of their site, Linda, and click "dikaneisdi"
(word list) for typical words in English to change to Cherokee,
where the native word's spelling is attempted with our alphabet and
sometimes shown as well in the Cherokee symbols. Good luck though
with pronunciation! I tried to get the sound for Tsalagi, the Cherokees'
name for their tribe, but could not get the phonic sound board to
run. I'll keep trying. If you don't find a word you like, Linda, you
might consider Sequoyah for a name. He was revered by his people and
the tribe tried to change the nation's name accordingly, but the U.S.
Congress declined. For that matter, "Cherokee" would be
a noble name. Or what about "Quanah" for Quanah Parker,
chief of the Comanches? There are many other web sites to explore,
too; the ones suggested here are representative. Good luck in your
search!" -- Elizabeth
Dunlaps of Goshen, Virginia... "I found this article of
interest (Alexander
and Anne Dunlap's home was on a hill overlooking the present site
of the town Goshen, VA. Anne McFarland Dunlap married Capt. Robt.
Bratton in 1745). I live in Goshen, Va. overlooking the town of
Goshen. Could you give me any information on this article. I live
in a house that used to belong to Hobson Carter, but I don't know
if the house was lived in by another family before Mr. Carter. Please
let me know if you have any information on the subject. Thank you
for your time." -- Sonja Gavio, 96 Palace Hotel Ln., Goshen,Va.
24439 - Email: agavio@vcmails.com
Augusta Circus... "I was interested in the query on your
web page about the name of the circus that wintered in Augusta, Oklahoma.
Did you, or whomever asked, ever get an answer? I have started researching
my family history. I remember vague references, by my Mother, about
performing on horseback, my Grandmother cooking for the circus and
my Grandfather apparently worked as a roustabout. It would be interesting
to find out if 'their' circus is the same as the one that wintered
in Augusta. Coincidentally, I just uncovered my Grandfather's obituary,
he died in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, September 15, 1913, but was buried
in Augusta, Oklahoma. The names: Grandfather: William Thomas (Tom)
Grant; Grandmother: Jessie Elizabeth Esplin Grant: Mother: Frances
Edna (Edna) Grant Tiffey (born 1899); her brother: Harold Esplin Grant
(born 1896)." -- Lois Tiffey, Lynden, Washington - Email: letif@fidalgo.net
Name for Horse... "Hi Linda! Here are a couple of American
Indian names for you to consider: Mukki or Kachada. Both of these
names mean a very likeable easy going and good-natured personality
with a love for people, spontaneous, and happy-go-luck. Good luck
in your search for a name for your horse." -- Linda
The Real McCoys... "I am one of the real McCoys and have
a great grandfather buried in the New Hope Baptist Cemetery in Tecumseh.
I have not found my great-grandmother's grave. Her name was Lucy McCoy
and she died on February 13, 1904. James McCoy died on June 15, 1915.
He remarried a lady by the name of Rachael. We know his gravesite
but not the wives. I found this site interesting and am copying the
RestRoom signatures to see
if they stopped there. Would appreciate any help or direction."
-- Ramona Gutzman - E-mail: ramonagutzman@sio.midco.net
Scott Cummins
(Pilgrim Bard) Poem - REVEILLE... "Hello Linda, We found
this poem by Scott Cummins, the Pilgrim Bard, while looking for something
else (isn't that what always happens) and thought you might like it.
Amazingly, it fits in with our present war in Iraq I think. Our granddaughter's
husband has been in Iraq for over 2 months now so it seemed like I
was meant to find the poem again. You can put it in the newsletter
if you think it might interest people. I tried to email a photocopy
of it; but it did not scan clear enough to read. It is on a long narrow
sheet of paper, a little heavier weight than average, and has Scott's
picture at the top. That was the only thing I had to leave out when
I typed it. We hope you enjoy it. And keep up the wonderful work you
are doing on your newsletter. I look forward to it every week!"
-- Jan
 All
You Bird-Lovers Out There... "Patty and I were crossing the
Cimarron River east of Buffalo, Oklahoma Sunday and stopped to take
this picture of turkey vultures roosting on one of the towers that
sit in the river bottom. As you can see, OG&E built these special
roosts and the buzzards are obligingly using them. Actually, there
were even more on the next tower to the east, but I would have had
to stop on the bridge to get a good shot. Thought the authorities
might frown on that. Anyway, when I magnify the picture I am pretty
sure that I can account for an even one hundred of the critters and
there could even be one or two more. I'm guessing that there were
around 125-140 on the next tower. They have been roosting on this
tower for over ten years now, and the habitat must be favorable enough
that it's expanding their numbers. Where they used to use only this
tower, now they fill up two. There are several more towers, so I don't
know where all of this is going to end. It could be an interesting
case study on just what the limit is on the number of vultures this
particular ecosystem will hold." -- Jim
1920 POW WOW Yearbook... "I found in a house I purchased,
a 1920 high school yearbook (The Pow Wow 1920). I have no use for
it, and would like to donate it to your historical society if you
have one. If you will send me a self-addressed postage paid envelope,
I would be happy to send it to you." - Thom |
Thanks! You can also view The
OkieLegacy online.
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