Hummingbirds & Elk Gathering

The Elk came down to our pasture, May 8, Thursday, the evening before the hummingbirds gathered for their feeding frenzy.

This is rather a large "wmv" file and if you have limited dial-up internet or low-broadband, you might have trouble viewing the embedded video. OkieLegacy - YouTube

The whistling of hummingbird wings (Black Chinned & Ruby Throated Hummingbirds) were in the air early Friday evening (May 9, 2008) as they flitted around -- having a feeding frenzy in the SW Colorado valley. If you login into your Yahoo! Messenger and add "okielegacy" to your list, you can see our "Okielegacy" webcam of our SW Colorado Hummingbirds.

Friday evening there were at least 4 to 5 hummers with standiing room only at our feeders. I tried to count the fast flying little gems and thought I had a good count of 9 (maybe closer to a dozen).

Here is a link to hummingbirds.net that seems to be a great site to check out anything you wanted to know about hummingbirds. The ones that have ventured to our feeders so far are the Black-Chinned & Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds. From what I have read you can tell the females from the males by the female's white tips on their tails and they are larger than the males.
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Doby Springs (Bellaire), OK

Last weekend or so we mentioned the passing of an old family friend from Waynoka, OK, Celinda Kelsey (Obituary).

We know she was born around Doby Springs, Harper Co., OK. I am told that our dad (Gene McGill) used a unique pet name for Celinda, such as the, "Squaw from Doby Springs" ... Or something like that.

In our hardback book, published in 1977, Ghost Towns of Oklahoma by John W. Morris, page 69, states that Doby Springs (Bellaire), Oklahoma, was located in Harper County, Sec. 10-27N-24WIM, 7-1/2 miles West of Buffalo.

The Post Office was established January 13, 1908 thru April 29, 1922. The newspaper was The Monitor.

The Doby Springs area was well known to cattlemen before the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in 1893. Drovers following the Great Western Cattle Trail to northern markets often camped near the springs. The first patent to land around Doby Springs was issued in 1901, but the townsite was not surveyed until 1907.

When land in the Cherokee Outlet was organized into counties, all of what is now Harper County was included in Woodward County. The Oklahoma Constitutional Convention, however, outlined the boundaries for Harper County and named Buffalo the county set. As soon as this fact became known, several towns, some newly organized, prepared to contest Buffalo.

After its founding in 1907, Doby Springs continued to grow and expand. Plans for future growth were carefully kept before the public throughout the county by columns printed in The Montior, especially since the time was drawing near for the selection of the county set by popular vote. By 1909 Doby Springs had a population in excess of 250. (Buffalo was not much larger.) In addition to the usual stores and shops the town had a telephone exchange, a foundry, a cotton gin (probably the most northern one ever built in Oklahoma), and a doctor.

The Congregational Academy, although it existed for only one term, offered good educational advantages in 1908. Buffalo, however, won the election probably because it was nearer the center of the county. The decline of Doby Springs started shortly thereafter. By 1912 population had decreased to fifty persons and within a few years the town ceased to exist.

The Doby Springs are now owned by the city of Buffalo and furnish water for that community. A well-kept park has been developed around the springs and is well used.
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Vina Rae's Cafe - Avard, OK

With the rising of gas prices, groceries, medical and other life necessities, it seems like hard times are hitting our small towns & businesses -- making it hard to make ends meet and bills barely paid month to month.

One of those businesses (the only Cafe in Avard, Oklahoma) is feeling the effects of the economic woes of today.

Have you heard of the "haunted old gym" in Avard, OK? Do you need an excursion to hear about the ghosts of Avard Gym? Do you want to see and hear some history of Avard, Oklahoma?

Then stop by Vina Rae's Cafe in Avard, Oklahoma, in the old gym in the South part of this Northwest community. If you are in the area between Alva and Waynoka, Oklahoma any time soon -- during lunch time, stop in and patronize "Vina Rae's Cafe." AND... give her a big monetary tip for being the only eating establishment in Avard, OK. It's hard to get those old ghosts to pay and leave tips ... LOL!

Speaking of the "haunted ghosts"... we found some online links through the Google search engine concerning the hauntings around the community of Avard and the old gym. One of those ghosts is allegedly the ghost of Mildred Ann (Newlin) Reynolds.

Mildred Ann Reynolds was a young woman who died under mysterious circumstances on March 13, 1956, 1:40 p.m.

The case has since gone cold, except for a few hauntings at the old Avard Gymnasium. It (the murder) has been listed as "unsolved" and placed in the "Cold Case" files of this northwest community. Ann's full names was "Mildred Ann Newlin Reynolds." She was 22 years old, a petite (5' 2", 100 lb.), and a student at Northwestern Oklahoma State College at the time of her death.

Her husband of nine months was R.D. "Dee" Reynolds, a teacher/coach at the Avard schools and was coaching a game at the gymnasium at the time of Ann's death. Dee was also a good friend of the Wheatley family who owns the Avard Cafe located in the Old Gym. It has been stated several times that Ann was on her way home from college when her death occurred. Also... It has been told that Mrs. Reynolds suffered blunt trauma to the head, and her car burned so ferociously that one of her legs burned off. Her husband's 1949 Chevrolet Tudor Sedan was set afire on the Old Avard road, about a mile or so Southeast of Avard. Mildred's body was found lying across the front seat with her head away from the steering wheel.

Why did this newly married young lady have to perish in this way? Was it Murder? Or... an accident? Who was the mysterious man with the 9mm semi-automatic pistol at the scene of the crime? If anyone has heard anything more of the 1956 death of Mildred Ann (Newlin) Reynolds, we would love to hear your story and share it with our readers.

Google Search: Vina Rae's Cafe & Old Gym Ghosts...
Investigation conducted, Feb. 22, 2003.
Avard, OK - Haunted Gymnasium & Cafe.
Avard Cafe, February 22, 2003
Tulsa Ghost Investigators
Oklahoma Ghosts in Avard: Vina Rae's Grill & Graze
Halloween "Ghost Hunt" Avard, OK, October, 2006
Vina Rae's ghosts & hauntings - Avard
Oct. 29, 2004, Vina Rae's Grill & Graze, Avard
Trippin' to Glass/Gloss Mountain, Feb. 19, 2007
The Okie Legacy
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Clouds & WWII Memories

Is it an alien Spaceship ... Or Clouds?

About a week ago we were traveling hwy 160, headed East, just outside of Durango, Colorado, when we spotted this interesting, cyclinder cloud shape in the sky (SEE photo on the left). It takes an imagination to see what each cloud formation could resembled, don't you think?

Have you ever, as a child, young adult or older, looked to the heavenly, partly cloudy skies and played the game of identifying the imaginary shapes of clouds and what they resemble? Like boats, mickey mouse, people, spaceships, etc...

Well! These clouds last Sunday looked an awful lot like one of those oval cyclinder alien spaceships. Were they legal aliens? Illegal aliens? ... LOL...

WWII Love Letter & Poems (1944)

In the past issues of the OkieLegacy I mentioned that we had been cleaning out our garage, basement at our Alva residence. One of those treasures was a military identification card issued to Mrs. Robert L. (Helen) McGill, September 1944, as seen in the image on the right.

There was also a letter dated 1944 from our Uncle Bob McGill to his 1-st wife, Helen, while he was stationed overseas during WWII. There was also a couple poems that Bob & Helen had written for each other. I included a link to them below: Uncle Bob's Legacy - WWII Love Letter - WWII Love Poems Overseas.
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Avard, OK

The following information was taken from Ghosttowns of Oklahoma, by John W. Morris, page 20-22.

Avard, Woods County, Sections 26 & 35-26N-15WIM, 7 miles south, 6 miles west of Alva, Oklahoma. The Post office was established June 1, 1895 thru November 22, 1963. The newspaper was the Avard Tribune. The railroads that ran through Avard, Oklahoma were the Southern Kansas Railway (Santa Fe); Arkansas Valley and Western Railway (Frisco).

Avard was incorporated in 1904 when the Frisco tracks were extended westward from Enid to tie in with the Transcontinental line of the Santa Fe.

From the beginning the town was well supplied with mercantile establishments as well as two hotels, a bank, a livestock exchange, an elevator, and a weekly newspaper. Stock pens were adjacent to the tracks, and the town was the cattle shipping point for a large area. By 1909 some 250 people were reported living in Avard.

Since the town was both a railroad town and a cow town, it was a rough and tough place. many exciting events were reported to have happened in Avard during the Gay nineties. The town was wide open, and the saloons kept going all night. It was not uncommon for dead men to be found in the street after a gun battle.

During the years from 1910 to 1930 Avard became an important agricultural center and rail transfer point for both passengers and freight. The Santa Fe passenger trains through Avard made direct runs from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Frisco passenger lines from the East connected with the Santa Fe time schedule. Both lines kept agents and full crews stationed in Avard.

In addition to the livestock market the town had a large broomcorn warehouse, elevators for wheat storage and shipping, and a cotton gin. During this period the town built a community building where plays and concerts were given and public meetings held, churches were active, and an accredited school was developed. For a brief time there was a dance hall in operation, but after one brawl it was closed.

Avard continued to grow until the mid-1930's. Like many other Oklahoma agricultural towns, however, it became a victim of the economic depression, dust storms, farm consolidation, and changing methods of travel.

In 1943 and 1944 the town was struck by tornadoes, each time on a different site. Soon thereafter a tornado-conscious community got busy and, with donated materials and labor, completed a 10 by 20-foot underground shelter. It was made of solid concrete and was big enough to hold the entire population.

In 1973 the Frisco upgraded its line from Tulsa to Avard, at a cost of some four million dollars, so that it could interlock with the main line of the Santa Fe. There were now five or six transcontinental freight trains a day highballing through Avard. This change had little effect on the town. A few unused store buildings remain, but the only services offered were those of a cafe and an elevator. One church continued to function, but the school had been closed.
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Stormy Days & Rainbows of Oklahoma

We are in the process of taking down Kenneth Updike's stories and ramblings of "Growing Up In Oklahoma" because Kenneth asked us, "To remove all of my previous writings to you about my Ramblins. Personal stories that I told you and your readers. My Son has had all of my writings, and notes copyrighted so that we can put them in a book or booklet. His idea. I really have no objections to this, but he insists we can be viewed by more people. I leave it up to him. Thanks for your help in the past, and I still read your Okie Legacy nearly every week."

If you find some of Kenneth's Ramblings that I have missed, Please email me the link with Vol. and Iss. numbers so that this NW Okie can remove them. Thanks for your help!
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Sod Town, Beaver Co., OK

Some NW Oklahoma ghost towns can have wild, interesting legacies that still haunt parts of "No Man's Land (Oklahoma Panhandle)." One of those ghost towns is Sod Town, in Beaver County, the first county you come to when you enter the Oklahoma Panhandle from the East.

Sod Town is located in Sec. 22-1N-26E, Cimarron Meridian, 19 miles south, 15 miles East of Beaver. Sod Town was unique among the early settlements of the Panhandle. It was the first town to be built in the eastern part of "No Man's Land," and all of the buildings were constructed of blue creek sod.

The village was described as "standing irregularly and nakedly on the prairie." It had one store, Blacksmith shop, two saloons with pool halls, restaurant, a shack that served as a school. Doors and windowsills were unpainted and often broken, refuse littered the space between buildings, and building interiors were little more than dark, bad-smelling rooms.

The town was noted for the characters -- horse theives and badmen -- who loafed around the saloons. Most of the Chitwood gang, notorious horse thieves who lived nearby and frequented the saloons and were eventually hanged by vigilantes. However, the thieves would not steal from neighbors who treated them in a friendly manner.

Harry Parker, who as a pioneer youngster attended school in Sod Town, once said, "I do not recall the name of my first teacher in No Man's Land, but I do remember that two or three of the older students carried six-shooters to school. They would remove them and hang them on the wall by their hats."

Sod Town, spawned in poverty and crime, has passed into oblivion leaving only the ghosts and haunts of the past as its legacy. The land where the town stood has been cultivated for a number of years, but the ruins of old sod buildings have left ridges that can still be seen from the road east of it." -- Ghosttowns of Oklahoma, by John W. Morris, page 180.
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Happy Mother's Day From Oklahoma

We are in the process of taking down Kenneth Updike's stories and ramblings of "Growing Up In Oklahoma" because Kenneth asked us, "To remove all of my previous writings to you about my Ramblins. Personal stories that I told you and your readers. My Son has had all of my writings, and notes copyrighted so that we can put them in a book or booklet. His idea. I really have no objections to this, but he insists we can be viewed by more people. I leave it up to him. Thanks for your help in the past, and I still read your Okie Legacy nearly every week."

If you find some of Kenneth's Ramblings that I have missed, Please email me the link with Vol. and Iss. numbers so that this NW Okie can remove them. Thanks for your help!
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Quinlan, Woodward Co., OK

If you travel East into Woodward county, you might run into another ghost town that was developed as a supply base and shipping center for cattlemen after the railroad crossed the Cherokee Outlet in 1887.

That Woodward county ghost town was Quinlan, Oklahoma, located in Sec. 20-23N-17WIM, 1-1/2 miles North, 19-1/2 miles East of Woodward. The post office was established April 29, 1901. The newspaper was the Quinlan Mirror. The Southern Kansas Railway (Santa Fe) made whistle stops to the "cow town" of Quinlan, Oklahoma.

Before the opening of the Outlet for settlement, the area around Quinlan had been a part of one of the large leases where cattle were grazed before being shipped to market. After the opening of the Outlet many farmers settled in the vicinity and started growing wheat.

Some of the land was not well suited to this venture because of rough topography -- small ranches were formed by farm consolidation. Land that was suitable for growing wheat was used for that purpose. Quinlan remained a cow town but added elevators to handle wheat shipments.

Quinlan was somewhat isolated and developed a larger commercial core than was usual in frontier farming and ranching regions. In 1907 there were twelve stores in addition to a weekly newspaper, two hotels, two elevators, two livery stables, two lumberyards, a bank, a cotton gin, and a blacksmith shop.

Grain dealers and cattle buyers made Quinlan their headquarters. Two churches and a school were organized. The town had a population of approximately 325 persons. It maintained itself until the late 1920's. Just like today, economic conditions caused many Quinlan residents to move from this small cow town. State Highway 15 bypassed the town about two miles to the south. No businesses, except two elevators, now remain open.

The school closed and one church was used part time. There was a two-story hotel that was torn down, and many homes and buildings have burned, with very few replaced. Much wheat land in the area has been returned to pasture. The once prosperous town is almost deserted, but "trains still whistle at abandoned buildings as they hurry past."
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No Man's Land Bulldogs

".....Probably the worst of No Man's Land's towns was a woebegone settlement called "Old Sod Town," a refuse-littered dump of about a dozen sod buildings. It's gone now -- today, only the wind remains. But in its heyday it was a center for the moonshine trade and exported -- illegally -- a considerable amount of firewater across the line into the area of Indian Territory known as the Cherokee Outlet, or Cherokee Strip. Old Sod Town was also the center of operations for an outfit of horse thieves called the Chitwood Gang, who stole anything with four legs until a citizen blew a hole in one of the gang members and vigilantes ran the others out of the area....." -- No Man's land Bulldogs
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WANTED: David John Tolle Memories

"Does anyone have any information on the David John Tolle buried in the Alva Cemetery in 1966?" -- Lita Tolle Lauber - Email: litalauber@frontiernet.net
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Frieda W. Wiersig (105), Alva, OK - Obituary

Frieda W. Wiersig (105), Alva, OK - Obituary -- Frieda Wilhelmine, daughter of Lena (Detmer) and Benjamin Meier was born near Lincoln, Kansas, on October 29, 1902. She passed away at the Alva Share Medical Center on 9 May 2008, at the age of 105 years, 6 months and 11 days. She attended the Elkhorn Township School and the Lutheran School near Lincoln, Kansas, where she learned German. In 1920 the family moved to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

Miss Meier was married to G.H. Wiersig at the Lutheran Church in Broken Arrow on August 21, 1927. To their marriage three children, Hubert, Arlene and Virgil were born. G.H. passed away on November 25, 1975.
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1947 Criminal Case #1091, 1947, Alva, OK

"I'm not sure what this might be about ... simply a guess, since McGill, Brown, & Gardner were all landowners along State Hwy 14. It might have been over the purchase of right-of-way for highway. Nels Nelson was the sheriff & Randall was the deputy. When you are in Alva go to the COURT CLERKS' OFFICE. I think the old records are available. I was the County Clerk ... so I'm not sure about court records!" -- Eleanor

[Editor's Note:The Fall Criminal case of 1947, W. B. Hull vs. State of OK... If Nels Nelson was Sheriff and Dewey Randall was Deputy Sheriff at the time during this criminal case #1091, in Woods County, Oklahoma, a squabble over pruchase of right-of-way wouldn't be on the criminal docket, would it? If anyone has any information concerning W. B. Hull criminal case we would love to hear from you. If you get to the Woods County Courthouse, could someone check out the 1947 criminal court records in the Court Clerks Office and see if they can find out anything on Criminal Case #1091, OK State v. W. B. Hull? Thanks for your help! Did W. B. Hull also go by the name of "Bertie?"]
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Memories of Downtown Alva, OK

"I was born in Alva in October, 1940 and had a great time growing up there. Horace Mann Elementary School was only three blocks from our house and I remember walking to school with my brother, Jerry, through waist-high snow in the winters. He would break the trail while I followed close behind all bundled up in my rubber buckled-down goulashes, two layers of pants, fur-lined jacked, and flyers hat. In the summers Carl Wilson, Eugene Heart and I would play in Murray's Canyon where the NW Oklahoma University football stadium is now located. My first grade teacher was Ms. Lyday who ruled the class with an iron hand. John Scott Smith and I would make faces at one another and she would make us go into the back room for timeout. We loved it. In fourth grade Mrs. Hickenbotham (Higginbotham) thought us long division. One day we all stayed out in the rain furing recess and she gave everyone of us a spanking with her paddle as we walked into the classroom. Morese Irons was our football coach and science teacher in 7th and 8th grades. Tom Coffman was our quarterback, Billy Conn Dobbs was right end and I played left end. Paul Coppets was shop teacher." -- Neil Crenshaw - Email: neilwc60@hotmail.com -- Okielegacy Comment
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Orion Stories & Photos

"The outhouses and benches north of the Orion cemetery are there because there used to be a program held there each 'decoration day' with local talent performing. I was raised 1 mile South of the cemetery and the cemetery was a gathering place every year on that day." -- Wendell Shaffer - Email: aggieacre@sbcglobal.net - Okielegacy Comment
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Nathan Boone Passing Thru NW Oklahoma

In Northwest Oklahoma there is a historical marker with Nathan Boone's name and information of when he passed through this parts. If you travel hwy 64 West of Alva, OK -- go past Camp Houston near Freedom, OK -- keep going West on hwy 64 a few miles to a curve on hwy 64 ... there is a historical marker on the left with mention of Nathan Boone's passing through northwest Oklahoma.

Check out the following Flickr web sites: Flickr - Idswart - Photos of Oklahoma Panhandle
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WANTED: Floyd H. Anthis Memories

"My father was Floyd H. Anthis who attended Northwestern at Alva (Oklahoma) and was one of the three who escaped the fire which destroyed Queen's Castle. If anyone remembers my dad, or the fire, please let me know. Thanks." -- Joe Anthis - Email: joeanthis@sbcgobal.net
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Gas Prices & Stormy Weather - Oklahoma

"Gas prices have been up and down like a see-saw recently here in Perry. The last time I checked (yesterday/Friday, May 9, 2008), regular unleaded was posted at $3.51.9 which I understand is still a ? LOW ? price. The recent storms this week gave us 2.12" of moisture in my rain gauges but no local damage.

I guess the price of gas really was too low yesterday because they decided to raise it another dime today (for the Mother's Day travelers no doubt) to $3.61.9! I wonder if it'll go up some more tomorrow?" -- Roy K.
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Kansas Gas Prices

"Gas in Kiowa, Kansas went to $3.75 today, 10 May. Sure costs a lot to mow the yard. Farm diesel $3.80. Bad storms in southeast Oklahoma." -- Bud
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