Cinco De Mayo Weather

This Saturday, May 5, 2007, in the early hours of the morning we awoke to a cloudy, chilly day that shortly turned to rain, graupel, snow, back to graupel and then snow again as it blocked the view of the mountains at times here in the valley south of Bayfield, Colorado.

The Sunshine finally broke through the clouds about 10:51 a.m., Mountain Daylight Time (MDT), but the clouds remained to continue this on again - off again chilly, May weekend weather.

It can not seem to make up it's mind as it continues with the chilly, May weather on this Cinco De Mayo weekend of May, 2007. AND... we are expecting freezing temperatures Saturday and Sunday evening around here this weekend.

My garden plants are keeping warm, safe in the greenhouse. The hummingbirds have been visiting the feeders this week that got hung last weekend. Almost forgot... the irrigation canals began their filling, flowing from mountain reservoirs this week to the valley below. Is it Spring or Winter? Will my garden vegetables come out from the greenhouse?

CNN-TV has been talking, showing the 75% devastation caused by a tornado Friday evening, May 4, 2007, in Greensburg, Kansas, located between Dodge City and Coldwater, Kansas.

Another memory jogger... Someone sent us some information concerning "The Butterfly Kid," but it did not really tell us how he got his name. If anyone there in the Shawnee, Oklahoma area knows the story of how the infamous "Butterfly Kid" got his name, please send us the story. Thanks again for helping us preserve our Oklahoma heritage!
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May Day 2007 Horses, Deer & Hummingbirds

After a short siesta the lower south pasture the other day, our horses have been spotted grazing and running with the deer in the north green pastures.

If you click the photo on the right, you can view the "Running With the Deer" (WMV file, 7mb) movie. Notice the young deer on the left as it jumps the fence and starts everyone to scampering to the right.

We wanted to let you know that we did get up some hummingbird feeders for our first hummingbirds that arrived, looking for their feeders and knocking on the windows to get our attention. May Day 2007 Hummingbirds (WMV file, 6mb).
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Sayre, Beckham Co., OK

Sayre, Oklahoma has this Old Historic Courthouse that was featured in the movie "The Grapes of Wrath" that sets at one end the main street near the jct. I40 & Hwy 283.

There are signs of Old Route 66 that will guide you through Main Street and you can witness historic buildings from 1901 to the 1940's being refurbished by enthusiastic building owners with an understanding of preservation through the Oklahoma Main Street Program for support of the preservation of Oklahoma history.

Not far to the east of Sayre is an ancient "Buffalo Kill Site" that has been discovered and the ruins of spear heads, buffalo bones are part of an archeological dig by the University of Oklahoma.
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An Okie Legacy Centennial Moment

Oklahoma Statehood of 1907 -- Many events led to Oklahoma statehood. The passage of the Organic Act on May 22, 1890 led the way for the formation of Oklahoma Territory. When the Dawes Commission completed its work, the Indian Territory was ready for statehood.

At various times each Territory wanted to become a state, but the US Congress did not approve this. For example, Indian leaders wanted their own Indian state to be named "Sequoyah." The Enabling Act of 1906 united both territories and paved the way for statehood.

A Constitutional Convention was held to draft a state constitution. An election to ratify the constitution and select sate and county officers was held on September 17, 1907. President Theodore Roosevelt accepted the constitution and Oklahoma became the 46th state on November 16, 1907. The State Archives has records on the Constitutional convention, Territorial Governors and the Office of Governor.
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Cottonwood Community & The Springers

"Cottonwood community is northwest of Waynoka. Cottonwood School District #26 was 3.5 miles north and 3 miles west of Waynoka. Springer relatives still live in cottonwood, and I believe there is an annual Springer reunion in Waynoka. Cottonwood is a beautiful area north of Big Timer. Big Timber is on the Western Oklahoma Wildlife Trail Loop #6." -- Sandie Olson - Email: sandie.olson@gmail.com
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The Butterfly Kid Story

"Here is a long story on The Butterfly Kid... a bad story. Most, you will most likely not want to publish. (Click Here." -- Lois
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Henry Hugh McGill

"Henry Hugh Magill is my great-great grandfather (his daughter Rose Mary Magill married my great-grandfather Clyde Taylor, who had Clifford Taylor, who had my mom.) I don't have any information on who his parents were, and I didn't know that he had a brother. I'm trying to find out more about him, but I haven't had much luck so far. You can email me at amburjoy@msn.com if you'd like to." -- Ambur Halla - Email: amburjoy@msn.com
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LOMAN & Knowles, OK

"The name LOMAN is interesting since there is a Dr. Steve LOMAN on the staff at NWOSU in Alva, Oklahoma. I was talking with him this (Sat, 28 April) at the Spring Banquet. I asked where he was raised and he said on a farm SE of Alva - out toward Dacoma. Just thought it was worth a comment here." -- James E Bradley - Email: jbrad723@bluevalley.net
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Photos of Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941

These photos were taken with a Brownie Camera, December 7, 1941 of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and stored in an old foot locker. These photos are from a sailor who was on the USS Quapaw ATF-110. We are not sure of the sailor's name. - submitted to OkieLegacy by Homer Hawkins
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HURT Genealogy

"Dear family, yesterday I found your genealogical note in the internet. You write, that your HURT ancestors are from Bohemia. On my database I also have got a family HURT in Bohemia. They lived in the little village Steben (Czech: Stebno) near Jechnitz (Czech: Jesenice), district Rakovnik in WEst Bohemia. One part of this family left the native land and went to American. Attache is a little list of this family HURT. Do you know it it is the same family like yours? My paternal ancestors are from the district Rakovnik and I'm very engaged in genealogy. Best regards from Germany." 00 Mathias Pittner - Email: mathias-pittner@web.de
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Fredrick Gayland Sandy Lineage

"I'm enclosing some pages I scanned in for the man who was researching the Sandy's (and other WWI military descendents who fought with the Canadian forces, because the U S hadn't yet entered the war).

We've had 1.6" rain in the last 2 days and more expected thru Thursday. Gas prices are "jumping around". Up up up and then back down! Presently back to $2.68.9 for regular unleaded." -- Roy
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Barten Family History

This is The Barten Family In America of remembrances as told by Annetah Rosalee Harms (Barten), and composed and written by Russell Dart.

It begins... "William F. Barten had rented ground from Christian Barten, his father. In 1898, William's in-laws were going to Oklahoma to find and homestead new lands, and he, wanting to get out on his own, decided to also go to Oklahoma. Those that went there that first year were William F. Barten; his father-in-law, Emery W. Arney; and Rebecca's (Will's wife); Brothers-in-law -- brothers married sisters -- Will and George Sauter. They drove a team and wagon all the way from Manning, Iowa, to Western Oklahoma and back to Iowa. In the spring of 1899, Will and Will Sauter rented a railroad car, loaded up all the livestock, machinery, furniture, etc. and left their home south and west of Manning, Iowa, where Rebecca had driven to Church in Irwin, Iowa, several miles to the south of their farm.

They had an old team of grays that they took to Oklahoma on the train, but when Rebecca learned that the old mare had died on the trip, she sat down at the station in Woodward, Oklahoma (the closest railroad station to their claim) and cried. She had ridden in the passenger train with her sister and her own three kids while the two Wills rode in the freight train. The rest of the Arney clan drove all their possessions that summer to Oklahoma.

But Woodward was still 40 miles from their winter home at a rented farm near Camargo. This farm was just on the north bank of the Canadian River. Papa had often used to ride his horse across the river behind the house. Well, one day he put little Dick on a horse - he couldn't have been more than 18 months old. As he put Dick on the horse, he gave the horse a slap on the rump, and the horse headed out for the Canadian River. There were two cowboys in the yard up at the house at the time and one of them roped the horse and saved the boy. The reason that they moved to this farm before going on to their homestead was that the homestead had not been improved yet, and they had to spend the winter somewhere.

The Will Barten's did improve the homestead during the spring and summer of 1899 -- they put in some crops and erected a temporary house for the winter. In the fall of 1899, either in October or in November, they did move to the homestead four and a half miles southwest of what would someday be Leedy, Oklahoma. The house was a dugout and tent affair described thusly: They dug 4 feet into the hillside and to keep the dirt from coming in they made walls and a plank floor out of 1x12's. Over this was erected a tent. It was about 24-ftx24-ft, was curtained off into a couple of bedrooms and had several poles holding it up. (This is remembered by a girl who wasn't even six at the time.) Continued on Barten Family History, Page-2" -- submitted by Roy K.
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Oklahoma Land Run - 1889 & 1893

One of the most popular subjects in Oklahoma history is the Land Runs. When homesteader made his claim he reported to one of the twelve US district land offices established in Oklahoma Territory. The collection of 1889 Homestead Registers contains specific information such as residences, names, dates, tracts of land, the number of acres, etc. These records are useful for tracing a family's arrival in the Territory. Also, the State Archives have photographs from the 1893 Land Run in the Cherokee Strip.
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Women's Suffrage in Oklahoma

Long before the Nineteenth amendment to the US Constitution, the struggle for women's rights occurred at the state level. Women worked, campaigned and demonstrated in the face of great political opposition. The Oklahoma constitutional convention in 1907 considered writing women's suffrage into the new constitution, but the issued failed at the last moment. In 1910 Oklahomans voted on an Initiative Petition seeking to give women the right to vote by simply eliminating the word "male" from the pertinent section of the state constitution. The measure was overwhelmingly defeated, but women working for it were not. Their demands for the basic democratic right to vote accelerated after World War I. In 1918, two years before the 19th amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, Oklahoma voters approved a Legislative Referendum extending universal suffrage to women. In 1920 Governor Robertson called an Extraordinary Session of the Seventh Legislature, which passed a Joint Resolution ratifying the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution on Women's Suffrage. You can research State Senate and House Bill files, and records from the Office of Governor.
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Oklahoma-Texas Boundary Dispute - 1919-1923

The south bank of the Red River became the border of the United States in a treaty with Spain signed in 1819. This treaty did not give a precise definition of this boundary. This caused many problems after Texas became a state.

The greatest troubles happened after oil was discovered in the riverbed in the Big Ben area in 1918. Indian tribes, prospectors and settlers on both sides of the river were often involved in violent incidents and legal actions. The governors of Oklahoma and Texas tried to resolve the dispute, but were unsuccessful. Oklahoma and Texas filed lawsuits. The boundary dispute was submitted to the US Supreme Court in October 1920. Much evidence was presented based on the history, physical geography, geology, plant ecology and hydrology of the Red River. You can research this case at the State Archives in the following collections: Attorney General Civil Case files, US and Oklahoma Map Exhibits and Governors papers.
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Prohibition In Oklahoma

In 1907 Oklahoma voted to make the newly formed state dry. In 1933, as a result of a special election, beer containing nor more than 3.2% alcohol was declared non-intoxicating and exempted from prohibition. Not until 1959 did Oklahomans repeal liquor prohibition and legalized the package sale of spirits of all kinds. Materials about Oklahoma prohibition can be found in the records of the Office of Governor, Attorney General, State Board of Public Affairs, and Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
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November 1910 - Democratic Landslde Sweeps Entire Nation

W. Hooper, was elected by 15,000 plurality in November, 1910 election. Democratic governors were elected in Alabama and South Carolina. In Iowa the democrats claimed the election of Claude R. Porter for governor, but this was not yet conceded. In Wisconsin the election of the republican candidate for governor, Francis E. McGovern, was claimed by a reduced majority and the return of Senator LeFollette to the United States senate was assured. In michigan, Chase S. Osborn the republican candidate for governor, appeared to have a safe lead over L. T. Hemans, democrat.

McKinley's Statement -- Chicago, Nov. 8, 1910 -- "William B. McKinley, chairman of the national congressional committee, after 11 o'clock tonight stated: 'When it is considered as now seems to be the fact that barely two-thirds of the republican vote in the middle western states came to the polls and a further fact that factional differences had aroused unusual bitterness among the republicans, the result of today's election is not at all surprising."

"Every effort to promote harmony was made by this committee, in many instances with success."

"The revision of the tariff always has proved a disturbing element in American politics and this year has been no exception. Judging by the light vote polled, the republican party yesterday had the same experience it had in 1892, two years after the passage of the McKinley bill."
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1923 & 1929 - Oklahoma's Impeachments

Impeachment of John C. Walton and Henry S. Johnston -- Oklahoma's Governor John C. Walton's term was plagued with violence and uprisings throughout the state, most of which stemmed from his war on the Ku Klux Klan. Eventually Walton was impeached and convicted in 1923.

Governor Henry S. Johnston faced impeachment charges when it was alleged that his confidential secretary, Mrs. O. O. Hammonds, had too much influence over Johnston's actions and policies. Charged with general incompetency Johnston was convicted in 1929.

You may research administrative papers from the office of Governor and State Legislature impeachment proceedings.

Resources at the State Archives are available to the public. They house the records of state agencies and state officials. Those planning to visit the archives are encouraged to call ahead to find out what is available. The address is Oklahoma State Archives, 200 Northeast 18th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73105, phone: 405.522.3579 - website: OK State Archives.
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