Duchess & Sadie's Mtn Domain

Bayfield, Colorado - It was mid-week that saw the golden aspens scattered in with the pines, showing their colors and brightening up the mountain sides here in the Southwest slopes of the Colorado Rockies. As seen in the photo image on the left.

The photo image on the right shows winter-type weather bringing snow to the mountain tops above 9000 feet on 23 October 2010, with Mt. Irving (known by some as "Guardian mountain") as it sets prominently showing its majestic stature, watching over the Vallecito Reservoir.

It has been eight years or so since the forest fire engulfed the Lemon and Vallecito Reservoir, wiping out huge amounts of old pine trees. This year (2010) you can see the scrub oaks and small aspens coming back slowly, dotting the mountainsides with their golden colors amongst the burnt remains of the stately ponderosa pines.

Growing up as a young child, NW Okie is reminded of Smoky the Bear and what he taught us all, "Only we can prevent forest fires!"

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Home Comfort Cookbook - Hash, Stews & Fried Cheese Sandwich

America - On the begins of the Cold Fall/Winter cycle, something simple, hot to warm you up on the inside. What about following that Hash or Stew with a Fried Cheese sandwich. Does this combo sound economically feasible to any out there?

Hash
To each cup chopped cold cooked fresh meat, add 2 cups chopped cold boiled potatoes, and mix; season with salt and pepper; moisten with water, milk or stock; for each cup hash, melt 1 Tablespoon cooking fat in frying pan, put in hash, and stew for about twenty minutes, occasionally shaking pan to prevent sticking; may be moistened to suit; if onions or celery are used, finely chop required amount with potatoes. Baked in a baking dish with a crust of pastry on top, hash may be converted into hash pie.

Stews
Any leftover meat may be made into delicious stew, if carefully prepared and well seasoned. The meat should be cut in small pieces and slowly heated in good gravy, or, if no gravy has been left over, use good stock, or melted fat, and make one; or, white white sauce may be used; add chopped potatoes and any other leftover vegetables desired. For Irish Stew, use mutton, carrots, potatoes, and onions. For Spanish Stew, use any meat, green or red peppers, tomatoes, and season with paprika or chili; for Hungarian Goulash, use beef, carrots, onions and tomatoes; for Mock Chicken, use veal and pork mixed, and peas.

Fried Cheese Sandwich
Prepare slices of bread, butter each piece and put together with thinly sliced cream cheese; just before serving, turn the buttered sides of the bread outward, leaving the cheese inside; fry first one side of the assembled sandwich, then the other in hot frying pan. Serve while warm.

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Ramblings & Rumblings of NW Okie

Bayfield, Colorado - I love the Fall/Winter weather! Especially in the SW Rockies of Colorado! For the past week, the mountains have been brightening up the mountainsides in the San Juan mountains with its hues of golden aspens with the help of the reddish hues of the scrub oaks that are coming back and mingled with the Ponderosa and other pines that survived the 2002 San Juan forest fire that sweeped through the Lemon and Vallecito Reservoir.

On a genealogy rambling nature, does anyone remember Grace Ward Smith, Tracy (Smith) Preston's grandmother? If so, Tracy would love to hear from you. Tracy says that her grandmother once ran for mayor of Alva, Oklahoma and lost by only 6 votes. If you have pictures or stories or documents, Tracy would love to hear from you. You can contact her at the following EMAIL: TracyAmazon@hotmail.com.

While we were composing this week's OkieLegacy newsletter, at about 1 p.m. MDT, temperature at 38F, to began snowing here in the San Juan mountains North of Vallecito Lake. No accumulations, though! AND . . . What about those tornadoes that rumbled through NE Texas yesterday, Sunday, 24 October 2010. Hope everyone stayed out of their path and arrived home safely yesterday evening.

Roy in Perry, Oklahoma tells us, "This week my rain gauges showed an inch of rain for Perry. I heard that nearby Enid had seven inches in just a 24 hour period." Is that so, Enid, Oklahoma?

A day before our oldest son's 40th birthday we send this HAPPY BIRTHDAY (Tuesday, Oct. 26th) to Michael!

We leave you with this message from Mark Twain to contemplate and figure out, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."

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Grace Ward Smith

Alva, Oklahoma - As seen in the image on the left that I found on Ancestry.com for Grace Ward Smith, this 1920 U.S. Federal census shows the Harry C. & Florence Ward family of five living in Alva, Woods county, Oklahoma at the residence of 507 Choctaw Street.

Harry C. Ward was listed as 43 years of age, born in Ohio; Florence, his wife, 38 years of age, born in Indiana. They had three children: John (16 years, born about 1904, in Oklahoma), Grace (8 years, born about 1912, in Oklahoma) and Louis (6 years, born about 1914, in Oklahoma).

I sent a copy of the 1920 U.S. census to Tracy and she replied, "That is them! I even looked up the address. When I was 14 years old my dad (Billy Ward Smith) and I lived in that house for about 6 months. She (Grace) never told me she grew up in that house! Thank you so much!

Tracy also said, "Awesome! I have been on line trying to find genealogy and history about that side of my family. I found her parents names but no birth or death certificates. I would love to find some photos or family members who have photos, information going back farther. Graces' son, my dad, Bill Smith died 1988 at age 45. My brother Steve lives in Oregon with his wife and 2 daughters. I live in Florida with my son who is 6. Any recommendations as to where to search online? Thanks so much for responding to me."

This is what NW Okie has accumulated so far concerning Grace Ward Smith and her legacy in Northwest Oklahoma as reported in The OkieLegacy Ezine, Vol. 9, Iss. 39, 2007-09-28. We asked our readers who was Grace Ward Smith? Many of you northwest Oklahomans might remember her as an attractive brunette, secretary-manager of the Alva Chamber of Commerce back in 1958. Others remembered her as a first cousin and other might remember her run for Alva Mayor and loosing by 6 votes.

Grace had a dream for Woods County in Northwest Oklahoma. It was to make Woods County a tourist attraction. It was also about this time that Grace brought camels to the Little Sahara south of Waynoka, Oklahoma.

The feature on Grace Ward Smith and Waynoka camels stated, "It was prior to April, 1958 tour that Grace Ward Smith arranged through the Alva Chamber for purchase of a pair of camels from the Al G. Kelly-Miller Brothers Circus, Hugo, Oklahoma. One of the camels was named Nellie and gave birth at Waynoka's Little Sahara.

"The dromedary (single hump) cost $1,300, and a double hump camel cost $1,000. both were females, and were quartered through the past winter at Oklahoma City's Lincoln Park zoo.

"Members of the Waynoka Saddle Club raised $200 to fetch the animals back to Woods county, and they were kept at the "Little Sahara's" oasis pasture, three miles south of Waynoka. Feed was donated by ranchers residing in the area."

It was also about this time that Alva moved to have 10 acres of sand dunes set aside as a state park. Lute Murrow, Dacoma legislator from Woods county, and Ben Easterly, Alva state senator for Woodward and Woods counties, had promised legislation toward this end.

April 19, 1959 -- Grace Ward Smith was quoted in The Oklahoman, article concerning the invasion of the Sheiks' of Waynoka and Camels that roam the sand dunes as attraction for second year of special tours to Northwestern Oklahoma. Mrs. Smith stated, "I can foresee Alva as the starter city for one of the largest tourist businesses in the nation. One day, air-conditioned buses will leave Alva on schedule to take visitors on a swing through our country."

Grace Ward Smith Resigns Chamber of Commerce, October 19, 1960. On October 19, 1960, the Alva Chamber received notice of Grace Ward Smith's resignation to Phil Ruch, chamber president, effective November 15, 1960. It seems that Alva was loosing this Grace Ward Smith, go-getter, energetic secretary-manager of the Alva Chamber of Commerce to Elk City, Oklahoma. Grace accepted a similar post at Elk City, where the chamber recently lost its manager to Enid, Oklahoma.

Ruch expressed his regret at the loss, but assured Grace Ward Smith that her Alva colleagues would not wish to hamper her advancement. Grace was also treasurer of the US 281 Association. Grace also promoted construction of a new chamber building in Alva and the educational fun tours that brought more than 2,000 school children to Woods county in 1958 & 1959.

We also found on Ancestry.com the Russell Family Tree that shows Grace Ward & Ray Williams Smith and their son, Billy Ward Smith. Is this the same as the Grace Ward Smith from Alva, Woods county, Oklahoma?

If anyone remembers Grace Ward Smith, Tracy (Smith) Preston's grandmother, Tracy would love to hear from you. Tracy says that her grandmother once once ran for mayor of Alva, Oklahoma and lost by only 6 votes. If you have pictures or stories or documents, Tracy would love to hear from you. You can contact her at the following EMAIL: TracyAmazon@hotmail.com. View/Write Comments (count 3)   |   Receive updates (3 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

This Day In History - 25 October 1916 & 1944

America - WWII -- On this day in 1944, the first kamikaze attack of the war begins with the Battle of the Leyte Gulf, where the Japanese deploy kamikaze suicide bombers against American warships for the first time. It was costly to both sides. Leyte was an island of the Philippines where the American fleet was based.

The first kamikaze force was composed of 24 volunteer pilots from Japan's 201st Navy Air Group. It's targets were U.S. escort carriers; one, the St. Lo, was struck by a A6M Zero fighter and sunk in less than an hour, killing 100 Americans. They reported more than 5,000 kamikaze pilots died in the gulf battle while taking down 34 ships.

WWI -- On this day in 1916, French troops rejoice after recapturing Fort Douaumont, which was the fortress quarrying the city of Verdun, under siege by the German army since the previous February 25.

Fort Douaumont was a massive structure, protected by two layers of concrete over a meter thick, and surrounded by a seven-meter-deep moat and 30 meters of barbed wire. Its fall to the Germans on February 25 became an early turning point in the struggle at Verdun. From then on, Verdun became a symbolic cause the French command could not abandon: public sentiment demanded the recapture of the fortress.

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1st Amendment - A Wall of Separation Between Church & State

America - In 1779, Thomas Jefferson was concerned about the power of the Church of England within Virginia. He felt a guarantee of religious freedom was the best guarantee that America would avoid the religious intolerance and religiously inspired bloodshed that had marked much of the history of Europe.

Jefferson wrote an Act for Establishing Religious Freedom. After a long battle, it became law in Virginia on 1786-JAN-16. Jefferson's bill gradually collected support from Baptists, Presbyterians, freethinkers, Jews, a few Anglicans, people who were tired of religious conflict and others.

This bill is often called "The precursor to the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment" of the U.S. Constitution. It is this Amendment that guarantees religious freedom for the individual, while erecting "A wall of separation between church and government."

A key part of the act, Section II reads: "II. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities."

Elsewhere, the act reads: "To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical..."

AND: "...our civil rights have NO dependence on our religious opinions ..." Religious freedom is often called the "first freedom."

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was based in part on that act.

Back in 1802, President Thomas Jefferson drafted a letter to the Danbury Baptists who had written him congratulating him on his election to the U.S. Presidency.

In the words of Thomas Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect "A wall of separation between church and state." You can view the unedited letter dated January 1, 1802, written by President Thomas Jefferson to Danbury Baptists at the following link: Jefferson's Draft of a Letter to the Danbury Baptists.

Wall of separation

Thomas Jefferson's response, dated January 1, 1802, concurs with the Danbury Baptists' views on religious liberty, and the accompanying separation of civil government from concerns of religious doctrine and practice. Jefferson writes: "...I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make NO law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."

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