Duchess Mtn Spring Domain

Does anyone out there remember when Sand Plums ripen?

It seems like it is around the last of June or first of July when the sand plums are ready for picking, but I could be wrong on that. I am only a Pug Dog, you know!

If anyone from Kansas or Oklahoma knows for sure when sand plums ripen for the pickin', please inform us! The Prairie Connection would also like to have your sand plum recipes, stories, etc... for a future issue in The Prairie Connection. Contact: Rosalea Hostetler at Email: wepreserve@balmerfund.org with your sand plum recipes and stories.

A 7.2 earthquake shook up northern Mexico along the border between California and Mexico this weekend.

Los Angeles and San Diego were fortunate to escape Sunday's 7.2 earthquake without much damage, BUT ... Calexico, the California city right along the Mexican border, was not so lucky. Calexico, Mexico took more damage than any other American city, with old buildings from the 1930s and 1940s taking damage.

They say, "Buildings are tipped up. Cars are smashed. It's horrible. Everyone is running," said one eyewitness. Things were even worse in its twin Mexican border city, Mexicali, where both of the earthquake's reported deaths occurred.

As we leave you to finish off this first full week of April 2010, we leave you with the memory of a great civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated over forty years ago (42 years), at 6:01 p.m. on April 4, 1968, as a sniper shot rang out in Memphis, Tennessee, as Dr. King, Jr., was standing on the balcony of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. That sniper's shot left Dr. King sprawled on the balcony's floor, with a gaping wound that covered a large portion of his jaw and neck.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a great man who had spent thirteen years of his life dedicating himself to non-violent protest.

The quote we leave you with today from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is, "Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it."

Good Night and Good Luck!
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Rollie Lynn Riggs (1899-1954)

Perhaps some of you Okie's around Claremore, Oklahoma might remember this famous author, poet and playwright, Rollie Lynn Riggs, born August 31, 1899 – died June 30, 1954, who was born on a farm near Claremore, Oklahoma. You might remember Riggs for his play, Green Grow the Lilacs. (Do lilacs really grow green, though?)

Lynn Riggs mother was 1/8th Cherokee, and when Lynn was two years old, his mother secured his Cherokee Allotment for him. Riggs was able to draw on his Allotment to help support his writing. Riggs wrote 21 full-length plays, several short stories, poems, and a television script.

Lynn Riggs was educated at the Eastern University Preparatory School in Claremore, Oklahoma, starting in 1912. Riggs graduated from high school in 1917, and travelled to Chicago and New York. He worked for the Adams Express Company in Chicago, wrote for the Wall Street Journal, sold books at Macy's and swept out Wall Street offices. Returning to Oklahoma in 1919, he wrote for the Oil and Gas Journal.

Travelling to Los Angeles, Riggs worked as an extra in the theatre, and a copyeditor at the Los Angeles Times, which published his first poem. Riggs entered the University of Oklahoma in 1920, and taught English there from 1922-1923. However, Riggs did not graduate after he became ill with tuberculosis during his senior year.

Riggs then moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico for health reasons and soon joined a group of artists. However, in 1926 Riggs moved back to New York hoping to work in the Broadway theatres.

His first major production was a one-act play, Knives from Syria, which was produced by the Santa Fe Players in 1925. He began teaching at the Lewis Institute, Chicago, while continuing to write. In 1928 he received a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and travelled to Europe.

Riggs began writing his most famous play, "Green Grow the Lilacs" in the Cafe De Deux Magots on the Left Bank in Paris. He completed this play five months later in Cagnes-sur-Mer, in Southern France.

He then lived in Santa Fe, Los Angeles, and New York, and was a screenwriter for Paramount and Universal Studios. After serving in the military 1942-44 he worked on an historical drama for Western Reserve University, published a short story, Eben, The Hound, and the Hare (1952), and worked on a novel set in Oklahoma.

He moved to Shelter Island, New York after he started receiving a steady income when Green Grow The Lilacs was adapted into the landmark musical Oklahoma! in 1943.

He died on June 30, 1954, of stomach cancer in New York City. Claremore, Oklahoma is home to the Lynn Riggs Memorial. Rollie Lynn Riggs - American Playwright>
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Green Grow the Lilacs (A Folksong)

One version of Green Grow the Lilacs, the lyrics opens:
Chorus
Green grow the lilacs, all sparkling with dew
I'm lonely, my darling, since parting with you;
But by our next meeting IU'll hope to prove true
And change the green lilacs to the Red, White and Blue.

I once had a sweetheart, but now I have none
She's gone and she's left me, I care not for one
Since she's gone and left me, contented I'll be,
For she loves another one better than me.

Chorus
I passed my love's window, both early and late
The look that she gave me, it makes my heart ache;
Oh, the look that she gave me was painful to see,
For she loves another one better than me.

Chorus
I wrote my love letters in rosy red lines,
She sent me an answer all twisted and twined;
Saying,"Keep your love letters and I will keep mine
Just you write to your love and I'll write to mine.

This ballad was based on a similar song, Green Grows the Laurel, that was popular in 17th century Scotland. The American ballad tells the story of an American soldier's love for a Mexican lass. Though we do not have the words for the earlier version, it evidently had a similar theme, with different nationalities. There are countless versions of the song.

One story of the songs origin speculates that Cowboys in South Texas loved to sing the song. Across the way, Mexicans, who could not understand the words, could only hear "GREEN GROW." So white Americans became known as "Gringo" by the Mexicans. However ... other scholars date the term to the incursion of American troops in Mexico to search for Pancho Villa.

"Green Grow the Lilacs" was a 1931 play by Lynn Riggs and named for the popular folk song of the same name, Green Grow the Lilacs. It was performed 64 times on Broadway, opening on January 26, 1931 and closing March 21, 1931. It also played January 19, 1931 through January 24, 1931 at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C.

It was produced by the Theatre Guild and directed by Herbert J. Biberman.

The debonair, ultra-sophisticated actor Franchot Tone portrayed cowboy Curly. June Walker was seen as his sweetheart Laurey. Theatre Guild board member Helen Westley, who had appeared as Mrs. Muskat in the original Broadway production of Ferenc Molnár's Liliom, played Aunt Eller. Lee Strasberg, later to become a renowned teacher of method acting, played the part of the Persian peddler.

The play also toured the Midwest, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. It appeared at the "Dallas Little Theatre" during the week of March 7, 1932, and again in Dallas at the "Festival of Southwestern Plays," on May 10, 1935.

Green Grow the Lilacs was a folk song of Irish origin that was popular in the United States during the mid-1800s. The song title is familiar as the source of a dubious popular etymology for the word "gringo," supposedly being a Hispanicization of "green grow," which Mexicans certainly could have heard U.S. troops singing during the Mexican-American War.
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Green Grow the Lilacs: The Play

Green Grow The Lilacs: The Play, written by Lynn Riggs, Samuel French Inc., 1931, ISBN 0573609624. Green Grow the Lilacs (01/26/1931 - 03/21/1931), was a play in six scenes.

The song list consisted of and was sung by the following:

Act 1
Whoopee Ti Yi Yo -- Curly McClain
Goodbye Old Paint -- Curly McClain
Green Grow the Lilacs -- Curly McClain
Miner Boy -- Laurey William
s Sing Down, Hidery Down/Wo, Larry, Wo -- Aunt Eller Murphy
Sam Hall -- Curly McClain

Act 2
The Entire Little Brass Wagon -- Entire Company
Custer's Last Charge -- Old Man Peck
And Yet I Love Her Till I Die -- Curly McClain
My Lover's Gone Off on a Train -- Ado Annie Carnes
Skip to My Lou -- Crowd
Green Grow the Lilacs (Reprise) -- Curly McClain
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Oklahoma! (A Musical)

The midi file - Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! was the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical was based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, "Green Grow the Lilacs." Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance with farm girl Laurey Williams.

The story had a secondary romance concerned with the flirtatious Ado Annie and her long-suffering fiancé Will Parker.

The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943 - The Rodgers & Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma!" opened on Broadway. It was a box-office smash and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances, later enjoying award-winning revivals, national tours, foreign productions and an Academy Award-winning 1955 film adaptation.

This musical, building on the innovations of the earlier Show Boat, epitomized the development of the "book musical," a musical play where the songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story, with serious dramatic goals, that was able to evoke genuine emotions other than laughter.

In addition, Oklahoma! features musical themes, or motifs, that recur throughout the work to connect the music and story more closely than any musical ever had before. A special Pulitzer Prize was awarded to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II for Oklahoma! in the category of "Special Awards And Citations - Letters" in 1944.

Oklahoma! (the lyrics):
They couldn't pick a better time as that in life
It ain't too early and it ain't too late
Startin' as a farmer with a brand new wife
Soon'll be livin' in a brand new state
Brand new state!
Brand new state, gonna treat you great!
Gonna give you barley, carrots and pertaters,
Pasture fer the cattle,
Spinach and termayters!
Flowers on the prairie where the June bugs zoom,
Plen'y of air and plen'y of room,
Plen'y of room to swing a rope!
Plen'y of heart and plen'y of hope.

Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain
And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain.
Oklahoma, Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I
Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk
Makin' lazy circles in the sky.

We know we belong to the land
And the land we belong to is grand!
And when we say
Yeeow! Ayipioeeay!
We're only sayin'
You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!
Oklahoma O.K.

Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain
And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain.
Oklahoma, Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I
Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk
Makin' lazy circles in the sky.

We know we belong to the land
And the land we belong to is grand!
And when we say
Yeeow! Ayipioeeay!
We're only sayin'
You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!
Oklahoma O.K.

Okla-okla-Okla-Okla-Okla-Okla
Okla-okla-Okla-Okla-Okla-Okla...

We know we belong to the land
And the land we belong to is grand!
And when we say
Yeeow! Ayipioeeay!
We're only sayin'
You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!
Oklahoma O.K.
L - A - H - O - M - A
OKLAHOMA!
Yeeow!

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Pony Express Debuts - Apr 3, 1860

It was one hundred and fifty years ago this April 3, (1860 to be exact), the first Pony Express mail, traveling by horse and rider relay teams, simultaneously left St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California.

Ten days later, on April 13, (1860) the westbound rider and mail packet completed the approximately 1,800-mile journey and arrived in Sacramento, beating the eastbound packet's arrival in St. Joseph by two days and setting a new standard for speedy mail delivery.

AND … Today, in 2010, it still takes a week to get mail from Oklahoma to Colorado!

Although, ultimately short-lived and unprofitable, the Pony Express captivated America's imagination and helped win federal aid for a more economical overland postal system. It also contributed to the economy of the towns on its route and served the mail-service needs of the American West in the days before the telegraph or an efficient transcontinental railroad.

Also … The Pony Express debuted at a time before radios and telephones, when California, which achieved statehood in 1850, was still largely cut off from the eastern part of the country. Letters sent from New York to the West Coast traveled by ship, which typically took at least a month, or by stagecoach on the recently established Butterfield Express overland route, which could take from three weeks to many months to arrive.

Compared to the snail's pace of the existing delivery methods, the Pony Express' average delivery time of 10 days seemed like lightning speed.

The Pony Express Company was the brainchild of William H. Russell, William Bradford Waddell and Alexander Majors, owners of a freight business. It was set up with over 150 relay stations along a pioneer trail across the present-day states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California.

Riders were paid approximately $25 per week and carried loads estimated at up to 20 pounds of mail. Riders were changed every 75 to 100 miles, with horses switched out every 10 to 15 miles.

Remember "Buffalo Bill" Cody? Cody was among the riders who reportedly signed on with the Pony Express at age 14. The company's riders set their fastest time with Lincoln's inaugural address, which was delivered in just less than eight days.

For every half-ounce of mail the initial cost of Pony Express delivery was $5. The company began as a private enterprise and its owners hoped to gain a profitable delivery contract from the U.S. government, but that never happened. With the advent of the first transcontinental telegraph line in October 1861, the Pony Express ceased operations. However, the legend of the lone Pony Express rider galloping across the Old West frontier to deliver the mail lives on today.
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Reported Death of Jesse James

The Minnesota Newspaper Headline, dated 6 April 1882, reported the death of Jesse James was mentioned in the Rice County Journal, with the following Headlines: "SHOT BY ROBERT FORD, MISSOURI, RICE CO. JOUR. 06/APR/1882; DOUBT EXPRESSED AS TO WHETHER OR NOT MAN SHOT WAS REALLY JESSE JAMES, RICE CO. JOUR. 13/APR/1882."

Another headline in the Rice Co. Journal purported: "FORD BROS. SENTENCED TO BE HANGED FOR DEATH OF JESSE JAMES, RICE CO. JOUR. 20/APR/1882."

We found these headlines on Ancestry.com when we did a search through the old newspaper archives for Jesse Woodson James. This is the source Information: Dalby, John. Minnesota Newspaper Headline Index, [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 1999. Description: Index of over 31,500 names which appear in Minnesota newspaper headlines.
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The James-Younger Gang

The James-Younger Gang had its origins in a group of Confederate "bushwhackers" who fought in the bitter partisan conflict that wracked the divided state of Missouri during the American Civil War.

This group's postwar crimes began in 1866, though it did not truly become the "James-Younger Gang" until 1868 at the earliest, when the authorities first named Cole Younger and both the James brothers as suspects in the robbery of the Nimrod Long Bank in Russellville, Kentucky.

The James-Younger Gang dissolved in 1876, after the capture of the Younger brothers in Minnesota after the ill-fated attempt to rob the Northfield First National Bank. Three years later, Jesse James organized a new gang and renewed his criminal career, which came to an end with his death in 1882.

During the gang's period of activity, it robbed banks, trains, and stagecoaches in Missouri, Kentucky, Iowa, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, and West Virginia.

See Also: James & Younger Gang: Outlaws for more information and members of the James-Younger Gang: Thomas Coleman (Cole) Younger, James Hardin (Jim) Younger, Robert Ewing (Bob) Younger, James Harrison (John) Younger, Alexander Franklin (Frank) James, Jesse Woodson James, Arthur C. McCoy, John Jarrette, George Shepard, Oil Sheperd, Fletcher Taylor, Arch Clements, Jim Cummins, Dick Liddil, Clell Miller, Charlie Pitts, Bill Chadwell, Allen Parmer, Bud Pence, Donny Pence, James Wilkerson, Clarence Hite, Wood Hite, Bill Wilkerson, Red Monkers, Joab Perry, Frank Gregg, Ben Cooper, Tucker Bassham, Ed Miller, Hobbs Kerry, bob Ford, Charlie Ford, Bill Ryan.
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The American outlaw Jesse James

Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847 – April 3, 1882) and his brother Frank James were Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War. They were accused of participating in atrocities committed against Union soldiers.

After the war, as members of one gang or another, they robbed banks. They also robbed stagecoaches and trains. Jesse Woodson James was born September 5, 1847, in Clay County, Missouri, USA, died April 3, 1882 (aged 34), at St. Joseph, Missouri, USA. Jesse's was an American, who was known for his Banditry.

Jesse's spouse was Zerelda Mimms; Children: Jesse E. James, Mary James Barr; Jesse's parents were Robert S. James and Zerelda Cole James. See more of the James family connections at Stray Leaves - Official website of the James Family.

Zerelda Mimms James (born Zerelda Amanda Mimms on July 21, 1845–November 13, 1900) was the first cousin and wife of Jesse James. Her father, pastor John Wilson Mimms, was married to Mary James, sister of Robert S. James, Jesse's father.

Jesse James and Zerelda Mimms married on April 24, 1874, while the James-Younger gang was still in full force. Jesse was first of the Jameses and Youngers to be married.

Jesse and Zerelda James had four children:

* Jesse Edward "Tim" James (born August 31, 1875 - died March 26, 1951)
* Twins Gould and Montgomery James (born Feb. 28, 1878 and died in infancy)
* Mary Susan James (born June 17, 1879 and died October 11, 1935)

One of America's most famous criminals, Jesse James, wasvshot to death by fellow gang member, Bob Ford, who betrayed James for reward money. BUT … there are some that think that it was not Jesse James that was shot that day, April 3, 1882. OR … Was it?

For 16 years, Jesse and his brother, Frank, committed robberies and murders throughout the Midwest. Detective magazines and pulp novels glamorized the James gang, turning them into mythical Robin Hoods who were driven to crime by unethical landowners and bankers. In reality, Jesse James was a ruthless killer who stole only for himself.

The teenage James brothers joined up with southern guerrilla leaders when the Civil War broke out. Would the James brothers be called "Domestic Terrorists" today?

Both James brothers participated in massacres of settlers and troops affiliated with the North. After the war was over, the quiet farming life of the James brothers' youth no longer seemed enticing, and the two turned to crime. Jesse's first bank robbery occurred on February 13, 1866, in Liberty, Missouri.

Over the next couple of years, the James brothers became the suspects in several bank robberies throughout western Missouri. However, locals were sympathetic to ex-southern guerrillas and vouched for the brothers.

Throughout the late 1860s and early 1870s, the James gang robbed only a couple banks a year, otherwise keeping a low profile.

In 1873, the James gang got into the train robbery game. During one such robbery, the gang declined to take any money or valuables from southerners.

The train robberies brought out the Pinkerton Detective Agency, employed to bring the James gang to justice. However, the Pinkerton operatives' botched an attempt to kill James -- leaving a woman and her child injured and elicited public sympathy for Jesse and Frank James.

The James gang suffered a setback in 1876 when they raided the town of Northfield, Minnesota. The Younger brothers, cousins of the James brothers, were shot and wounded during the brazen midday robbery. After running off in a different direction from Jesse and Frank, the Younger brothers were captured by a large posse and later sentenced to life in prison. Jesse and Frank, the only members of the gang to escape successfully, headed to Tennessee to hide out.

After spending a few quiet years farming, Jesse organized a new gang. Charlie and Robert Ford were on the fringe of the new gang, but they disliked Jesse intensely and decided to kill him for the reward money.

On April 3, 1882, while Jesse's mother made breakfast, the new gang met to hear Jesse's plan for the next robbery. It is alleged, when Jesse turned his back to adjust a picture on the wall, Bob Ford shot him several times in the back.

His tombstone reads, "Jesse W. James, Died April 3, 1882, Aged 34 years, 6 months, 28 days, Murdered by a traitor and a coward whose name is not worthy to appear here."

See Also: Jesse James My Father, written by Jesse James, Jr. It begins in chapter one with, "THINGS I REMEMBER OF MY FATHER."

It goes on to say in the first paragraph, "I was born August 31, 1875, in Nashville, Tenn. I recall with vivid distinctness an incident that occurred in Nashville, when I was about five fears old. At that time my father, Jesse James, was away from home. Dick Liddill was staying at our home during the absence of father. It was the night of St. Valentine's day. While mother and myself and sister and Dick Liddill were at home there was a sound as if someone was throwing rocks against the front door. Dick started to open the door, but mother suspected that it was someone who had discovered who we were and were trying to entice Dick out to capture or kill him. She would not allow him to open the door. Dick then got my father's shot gun from a closet. Both of its barrels were loaded heavily with buckshot. Before my mother could interfere to prevent it, Dick aimed at the door and fired the charge of buckshot, tearing a great hole through the door panel and splintering it. Dick rushed to the door and threw it open and ran out on the porch. In the darkness he saw a man running around the corner. Dick fired the second barrel straight at him, barely missing him, the charge rattling against a lamp post on the street. We lived in the suburbs, and a great crowd that had heard the shots gathered to see what was the matter. Dick told them simply that he had shot at a burglar."
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Claud Baird (Poet)

Memories of Claud Baird by his grandson, Chuck Baird, "I was looking for something about my grandfather, Claud Baird, and came across your page where you had found some of his poetry (Claud Baird Patriotic Poems). I remember the patriotic poems booklet from when I was a kid, and I think I may even have a copy of it packed away out in the garage.

"He wrote one poem to Eisenhower when he was elected (he had a strong dislike of Truman), and I remember my mother doing the calligraphy for a poster which he sent to the White House. He received a nice letter back saying his poem had been hung in the White House, which thrilled him no end.

"I don't know if you want more information or not, but if you do let me know and I can either track it down or put you in touch with some of my relatives who will know more. I was looking for his date of death when I came across your entry. I was in college, so it was approximately 1967 or so, but I don't remember exactly. He's buried, with his wife, in Stillwater. He was a wonderful, kind, and gentle man, the best the Bairds ever produced in the 20th century."
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First Assembly Lines at Ford Plant

Ellis Raymer sent this video showing the first assembly lines at the original Ford auto plant. Neat to see those guys making the old wooden wheels, mostly by hand. Watch near the end and you shall see where the model-T could go … let's see any regular auto of today do that. Wonder how many of these are still in running condition?



Here is another link that shows someone's Grandpa's Old Ford Garage, DeSo, Kansas
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Another Warwick Descendant Connection

Andrew Cameron Blandford (Email: blandford@eastpoint37n76w.com) says, "I, too, am a descendant of the Warwick's through the Rachael Primrose and Charles Edward Cameron side (4th grand). I am just a beginner in this study and have attempted to bridge the "Dr. John Cameron" to Scotland gulf. The sketch of family history by Mrs. Sterrett is great for reading but has a few inaccuracies. I would like to know of any successes in making the leap! Thank you for any information."
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Request For Sand Plum Jelly & Other Recipes

The Prairie Connection (Email: wepreserve@balmerfund.org) through Rosalea Hostetler is requesting, "Sand Plum Jelly and other recipes to feature in the near future issue of the Prairie Connection.

Rosalea also says, "Yesterday (Easter) I took the slow, back road south of Anthony, thru Manchester, Nash and Carrier on my way to OK City for Easter dinner with my sister-in-law, Lawanda McClaflin Hostetler Allison (my brothers widow). The roadsides were filled with the most amazing lush large bushes of blooming sand plums! They were simply stunning and beautiful, like a gigantic picture book!

"I can't remember what month they will be ripe for plucking, but my mouth was watering thinking of some of the jellies, jams and butters I've had in the past. Also, does anyone have any recipes where they are used in baking?

"Yes, I could probably get some off the Internet, but it's a lot more fun to have REAL people make the suggestions! Also, if there is a small rural gift shop that sells jars of the goodies, it would be fun to mention it!"
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