Spring Debut & Other Things

By mid-week the Official Calendar Spring made its debut with rainy, chilly weather here in the valley south of Bayfield, Colorado that totaled an inch since yesterday. AND... it was foggy, cloudy this Saturday morning when Duchess woke me up early to do my chores in the falling mist.

I noticed when I looked west and north towards the mountain peaks yesterday, it looked as if the peaks received a hint of fresh snow during the wet, chilly front that passed through on the first day of Spring.

AND... Let us not forget the herds of deer that come down from the mountains to graze in our front pasture (yard). The photo to the left was a digital taken around dusk earlier this week with the nightshot setting on my camera. That is why it is dark. These last few years have seen some strange weather changes! How does that affect the wildlife? Or does it?

This Friday, March 23 was an important MCGILL family date. Our Grandpa Wm. "Bill" Jacob McGill and Grandma Constance Estella Warwick were united in marriage, in Ashley, Oklahoma on this date in the Spring of 1910, at the ages of 29 and 28 years, respectively. They were married for 34 years and divorced July, 1944. Grandpa Bill remarried in the early fifties, but Grandma remained a single boss lady of the farm/ranch manor. Grandpa & Grandma's legacy can be viewed at okielegacy.org.

We have an inquiry that we are helping another lady to find if The Bank of Nashville, (a.k.a. Farmers and Merchants Bank), Jct. US 64 & Main, in Nash, Oklahoma was still standing? We understand it is/was listed on the National Register of Historical places. But we think it was razed with nothing remaining that even remotely looks like an architectural significance of the building. We are trying to find the name of the big corporation who built a huge plant (or building) near Nash (Oklahoma) recently. AND... What is/was the name of the president of the bank in Nash?

Just a Minor Warning... We wanted to let you know just in case you try to connect to our OkieLegacy web site Sunday, you might have a minor connection problem. Our hosting server will be performing their scheduled quarterly server maintenance between 12:00 a.m. midnight and 8:00 a.m. EDT on Sunday, March 25, 2007. During this time, our Web site may be inaccessible. For the majority of the duration of their server maintenance, visitors who try to access our site will be greeted with a brief message that explains the maintenance and invites them to return after 8:00 a.m. EDT.
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The Freedom Call Goes On-Line

Do you subscribe to The Freedom Call newspaper out of Freedom, Oklahoma? Do you live out of state with a computer and internet connection? The Freedom Call will soon be available on the Web. That is according to the front page article in The Call's March 22, 2007 issue.

As I was reading this week's Issue of The Freedom Call, Volume 86, Number 12, Thursday, March 22, 2007, one of the front page headlines read, The Freedom Call Soon To Be Available on Web. Subscriptions Go On Sale Next Week. Grab next week's "Freedom Call" for more details.

According to the editor (Donna Hodgson), "The Freedom Call is upgrading to the worldwide web and will be availble on-line, ready to read the same day the paper is mailed each week. Instantly, The Call's online subscribers will be able to catch up with news of their hometown paper."

The Call article mentioned that the on-line, one year subscription fee will be $25 with a free version of the weekly product available soon. We are told to watch next week's newspaper for the dates. The article goes on to state, "One-year subscription to the on-line paper will allow subscribers to look at the past three months' newspapers as well as the most current issue."

The front page article also says, "The Call and many other newspapers throughout Oklahoma have joined in a partnership with ColorMax located in Payneville, MN, and have taken advantage of a process that makes PDF files of the newspaper text searchable. Oklahoma Press Association, a statewide newspaper group, recently introduced OPEN (Oklahoma Press Electronic News) to newspapers throughout the state in an effort to make on-line subscriptions available. Numerous newspapers are taking advantage."

If subscribers want access to issues further back than three months, they will be required to pay an additional fee. It sounds like that eventually subscribers will be able to research previous Freedom Call files all the way back to 1906. This would be great for genealogy researchers. Way to go Freedom and The Freedom Call for making yourselves available on the World Wide Web! We wish you much success now and in the future!
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Two Mabel Oakes! ? !

I was organizing my research for the 1910 Murder of Mabel Oakes (daughter of George & Carrie Oakes of Alva, Oklahoma) and ran across a four page document that I had requested from Northwestern State Teachers College when I was looking for information concerning Mabel Oakes of 1910.

I did not receive the 1910 information, BUT... what I received instead was a transcript of a Miss Mabel Louise Oakes of Goltry, Oklahoma (daughter of William Oakes), dated October 13, 1927. Among the records was a "Certificate of High School Credits issued by the high school superintendent R. N. Wall, dated July 27, 1925, showing Mabel Louise Oakes had attended/completed four (4) years. [Mabel Louise Oakes' 1927 Transcripts (You will need an Adobe Acrobat reader to view this PDF file.)]

On another page of the records it shows Mabel Louise Oakes was admitted January 18, 1926, at the age of 18 years to Northwestern State Teachers College with 16 1/2 units. Miss Oakes showed her home address as Goltry, Oklahoma and her parent's name as Wm. Oakes.

The other pages of Miss Mabel Louise Oakes NSTC transcripts showed Miss Oakes entered the college as a regular student in Arts & Sciences on January 18, 1926 from Carrier, Oklahoma. Miss Oakes attended three semesters and two summer sessions and showed a total of 63 semester hours. There is another page that shows Miss Oakes record that certifies that Mabel Louise Oakes graduated May 20, 1927 in the Sixty-two hour course, and a diploma was issued May 20, 1927.

Also, handwritten on the NSTC transcript, at the top, by Superintendent Lowell, Goltry, Oklahoma and hand dated 2/22/30: "Warren Peyton, Director of Certification, Commonwealth of Kentucky."

The first Mabel Oakes (daughter of of George & Carrie Oakes) was murdered in the Old Opera House, in Alva, Oklahoma, November, 1910. The second Mabel Louise Oakes, daughter of William Oakes, Goltry, Oklahoma graduated from Carrier High School in 1925 and turned 18 years in 1926 -- attending Northwestern State Teachers College. Were William Oakes and George Oakes related?
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Sadie, Wind Chimes & Horses

If you don't have Flash player installed on your computer, you can download it from this Link: Adobe Flasher Player.
Our wind chimes were playing their musical notes, last Sunday, March 18, 2007, as Sadie found her a spot in the front yard to chew on a bone. You can view our other Flash Videos over at OkieLegacy.us/flash/.

The second Flash (swf) movie clip was taken of our horses as they were sorting out their feeding/pecking order this week.

Of course, they do this ritual everyday. Maggie, the youngest, gets pushed back in line by the paint mare (Doquoti). The Palomino, Nuggett, remains in the middle.

We used a software program called "V2F" that we found "www.easywebvideo.com" to export our mpeg-2 movie to a Video Flash. You can Click HERE to view our horses "Sorting It Out".
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Diesel Locomotive Makes Dramatic Arrival at Waynoka Station

[This digital photograph was taken from the second floor of the Harvey House. The Santa Fe Depot, locomotive, section foreman's house, log cabin, and BNSF Transcon are all in the photograph, which was taken by Carol King.]

Diesel Locomotive Makes Dramatic Arrival at Waynoka Station... "BNSF Railway and Hulcher Services teamed up to bring a big GP 10 diesel locomotive, HBRY 2511, to Waynoka Station on Tuesday morning, March 20.

The locomotive had been donated to the Waynoka Historical Society by Central Kansas Railway in May, 2001, and was soon moved to the Waynoka rail yards, courtesy of BNSF Railway. The railroad laid track for a permanent installation at the Santa Fe Depot.

Richard "Whitey" Powell, Superintendent of Operations, Kansas Division of the BNSF Railway, Woodward, was officially in charge of the move. BNSF brought the locomotive by rail to Waynoka's Broadway Crossing where Hulcher's four big heavy-duty caterpillars with sidebooms were hooked up to the locomotive for the slow 'walk' a block and a half up the railroad right-of-way to the depot.

Spectators were treated to the drama of the Hulcher equipment turning the locomotive 180 degrees, allowing it to face the depot when it was set down on the rails. The move took about 2 hours.

[Photo of the BNSF and Hulcher Services personnel taking time for a group photograph before the actual move begins.]

Waynoka Historical Society president, Sandie Olson, said, "The move was flawless. Everything was orchestrated perfectly by BNSF and Hulcher, and it required a significant contribution by both corporations who donated men and equipment, and halted traffic on one of America's busiest rail lines to accomplish the move." The Society plans to have the locomotive painted with the blue and yellow paint scheme of the historic Santa Fe Railroad.

HISTORY OF LOCOMOTIVE HBRY 2511... [Photo as The Transcon was soon opened for rail traffic. HBRR 2511 sits on its permanent tracks, a static display of the Waynoka Museum. The 1910 Santa Fe Depot is on the left, and the old water tower is seen behind the BNSF train on the Transcon later in the day, Tuesday, March 20, 2007.]

50-Year Old Locomotive Has Been Around... Retired railroader Charles King, Wellington, formerly from Waynoka, alerted the Waynoka Historical Society about the possible availability of HBRY 2511 for donation to the Society by the Central Kansas Railway. It was good news, and the Society quickly agreed to proceed with the donation. Earl Metcalf, now of Fairview, was president of the Society when the the Central Kansas Railway locomotive was donated.

King provided a history of the locomotive. It was built in 1957 by EMD, Electro Motive Division of General Motors Corp. as a GP-9 1750 horsepower locomotive, and was sold to Illinois Central Gulf Railway, whose name was changed to Illinois Central. The engine's number was IC 8227.

In October, 1970, IC 8227 was placed into a GP-10 rebuild program. The engine was rewired and overhauled, and the horsepower raised to 1850. The front high hood was lowered for better visibility. The work was done in Paducah, Kentucky.

Mid South Railway Company bought the locomotive, and gave it a new number, MS 1066. Kansas City Southern Railroad Company bought Mid South, and sold many of these units in 1995 and 1996. OmniTrax, headquartered in Denver, bought many of the units, and the locomotive became OMLX 1066, and placed in their lease fleet. OmniTrax operates about 16 short-line railroads, and OLMX was sent to Central Kansas Railroad in Wichita.

In 1997, the unit was rehabilitated and repainted, and numbered HBRY 2511, and sent to the Hudson Bay Railroad in Manitoba, Canada, one of Canada's largest regional railroads. OmniTrax, part of Broe Corp., purchased these lines from the Canadian National Railway in 1997.

HBRY 2511 was returned to Wichita for repairs, but was retired in 2000, and donated to the Waynoka Historical Society in June, 2001. The Society plans to have the locomotive repainted blue and yellow in a historic Santa Fe Railroad color scheme as soon as possible.

GENERAL PURPOSE LOCOMOTIVES... General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduced the GP (General Purpose) locomotive in 1949. The GEEP could be used for anything from hauling freight to transporting passengers. They were less expensive than EMD's standard freight locomotives, and were reliable and functional. They provided a better view of the railway, and allowed access to the engine from either side of the locomotive for easy maintenance. GP9s were one of the most long-lived diesel locomotives ever created, and can still be seen on railroads today. Over 70 railroads purchased more than 4,000 units of the GP9." -- Sandie Olson, Waynoka Historical Society, Waynoka, OK
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The Rest of the Story

Can't Write Poetry... "When I was a junior (or senior) at AHS (late 70's), we held a Gong Show to raise money. I denied this then, but I will admit to it now. Five of us dressed up in choir robes and high top sneakers. Four of us danced and the fifth played bongos. We put pantyhose over our heads to hide our identities, and performed a semi-original composition, entitled Huguley in honor of teacher Doris Huguley, to the tune of Jubilee. I just happen (grin) to remember the lyrics... not that I had anything to do with them or anything... (smirk).....

Can't Write Poetry... "I have a story about Miss Faye Duke. I had her for English Lit as a senior in the 65-66 school year. I wasn not, repeat NOT a good studier and as such, I would just get by with as little as possible. Miss Duke didn't like that in me and one time pretty much read me the riot act. She told me that I'd better start studying or I'd fail the course. I of course then crammed for the next test and when we got the papers back, she had written at the top of mine, HPM. Not knowing what the meant, she told me in front of everyone in the class that meant "High Point Man". Now she knew what I was capable of and so did everyone else. However, I still only did what was necessary to pass the course. However, I will never forget Miss Duke and her HPM."

Can't Write Poetry... "I graduated in 1960, and I had Miss Duke for Senior English. She also submitted our poetry to some Anthology, and I remember getting mine published in it. I think I still have a copy of the Anthology somewhere..... Thanks, Miss Duke! And... Thank you for your work on the Journal. I always look forward to getting the latest issue. Anyone else have a story about Miss Duke? She was one of a kind." -- Gary T.

Greener Pastures Coming... "I did not have it done in time for this weekends newsletter, but I have just added some Shockwave Flash (swf) files over at our NW OkieLegacy - Flash site. If you do not already have a Free Adobe Flash Player install, You will need to download one of the Flash media players - Adobe Flash Player.
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Freedom Call Online

"I am putting an article in this week's newspaper. We should be up and running next week...I'll keep you posted. I was hoping that I could get all the old, old Freedom Call's up...but that is going to require more thought and a lot of time. It's amazing how the newspaper has progressed in the last seven years. As you well know when you were involved, we have done away with waxing and splicing, all done on computer now and sent to a host. They simply retrieve and shoot the plates. My how times have changed!" -- Donna H.
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Pittman/Osburn Request

"I would appreciate some help. My Grandparents and their families live in Alva, Woods Co, Oklahoma and I would appreciate any and all info that can be provided. My Grandfather was Richard Harold Pittman, born 3/2/1916, in Alva, OK. He had siblings Rollie O., born 7/17/1897 in Saline, Missouri; Fred, born 10/04/1899, in Alva, OK; Alvin, born 5/26/1904; Pansy, 3/19/1908, Alva,OK; Jim born 3/23/1910 Alva, OK; Nellie, born 8/25/1913, Alva,OK; Leonard, born 5/13/1921, Hartner, KS; and Phillip, born 12/25/1987, Hartner, KS.

My Great-Grandmother also had family that lived there, too. Her name was Ida Mae Osburn Pittman. Her brother, George Harvey Osborn, born 1876, Missouri. His children: Gladys; born 1900 Alva,OK; Grace E, born 1902 Alva,OK; Daisy, born 1902 OK; Edith, born 1905; Alice, born 1908, Alva,OK; Dolly, born 1908 Alva, OK; Oscar, born 1911; and Galen, born 1913.

George Harveyy and his son died in a house fire 1924. I know they all went to the same church and the 2 families owned land. I would love info about the house fire? The wife might have started it. The other children, except Daisy, died in the Flu epidemic. Please e-mail me at vglover776@sbcglobal.net - Thank you." -- Vickie J Glover
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Jet & Nash (Oklahoma) Banks

"Linda, I will have to do a little research on that Nashville Bank (a.k.a. Farmers and Merchants Bank). My husband and I remember about a year ago that someone was going to put in some big business in Nash but we can't think what it was. The last time we was through Nash they were building a large building there and we were commenting about it." -- Marty
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Negatives of the Roxy Theatre

"I found these negatives in my stuff Saturday and want to know if there's an easy way to convert the images to positives, or do I need to get some chemicals and start processing film photos again? I can tell that the movie playing at the Roxy starred Barbara Stanwyk and Pat O'brien but will have to research it to figure out what year the pictures were taken (I'll probably know within the next 20 minutes). I want the positives to see if the folks in the pictures can be identified." -- Roy K.
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Oklahoma Weather & Gas Prices

"Unless the gasoline prices change in Perry (OLhom) today, they are the same as last week with unleaded regular priced at $2.49.9 and we did have some welcome rain on Thursday evening, March 22, that totaled 2.2" in my rain gauge. Farther north has gotten about 7" this week and there was some flooding twice at Red Rock, Oklahoma.

If she were still living today, my grandmother, Martha Elizabeth (Burdick) Kendrick would have been 121 years of age. She was about 90 when she passed away. She was born March 24, 1886 in a covered wagon at Stonewall, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. Her dad was a "sometimes" deputy marshal who brought his family with him while searching for outlaws." -- Roy Kendrick
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Last Week's JFK Quote

"Hi, Linda! Really liked your quote from John Kennedy. Have you seen Al Gore's TV special: An Inconvenient Truth? He responds to your concern about spring coming early ... and points out causes and consequences that should be known to everyone in the world. I recommend it highly. Thanks for all your fine journalism!" -- Joel
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Baby Boomer Blues

"It was fun being a baby boomer... until now. Some of the artists of the 1960's are revising their hits with new lyrics, to accommodate aging baby boomers. They include: (We Do NOT know the original author of this "Baby Boomer Blues" piece. Does anyone out there know?)" -- submitted by Susan C.

• Herman's Hermits--- Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Walker.
• Ringo Starr--- I Get By With a Little Help From Depends.
• The Bee Gees--- How Can You Mend a Broken Hip.
• Bobby Darin--- Splish, Splash, I Was Havin' a Flash.
• Roberta Flack--- The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face.
• Johnny Nash--- I Can't See Clearly Now.
• Paul Simon--- Fifty Ways to Lose Your Liver
• The Commodores--- Once, Twice, Three Times to the Bathroom.
• Marvin Gaye--- Heard It Through the Grape Nuts.
• Procol Harem--- A Whiter Shade of Hair.
• Leo Sayer--- You Make Me Feel Like Napping.
• The Temptations--- Papa's Got a Kidney Stone.
• Abba--- Denture Queen.
• Tony Orlando--- Knock 3 Times On The Ceiling If You Hear Me Fall.
• Helen Reddy--- I Am Woman, Hear Me Snore.
• Leslie Gore--- It's My Procedure, and I'll Cry If I Want To.
• And my favorite: Willie Nelson--- On the Commode Again