The Battle Flag, General Lee And Biscuits With Gravy

Everyone has an opinion on the latest news about the South Carolina church shooting. It would seem that the story is more about a flag than the incident that took place. I'm trying to understand how a young man, that was a self proclaimed racist against the black community could get to the point of self destruction. When reading about Dylan Roof, I found his life was filled with hate. Photos of him with the Confederate battle flag have been everywhere lately, most of it pushed by the media from the evidence the police have uncovered.  He operated a web site that was filled with racial hate of blacks and a manifesto of his radical views on the Trayvon Martin case. He was also photographed burning and spitting on an American flag in his protest against the government and seen in other photos of him brandishing guns.

It's obvious that this guy had some issues about race and had means to inflict injury to others. So how come he wasn't on the radar of anyone that knew him?  Now we live with the "after the facts" story of him killing nine people. With the media, civil rights groups, gun law proponents and the government  all jumping on the band wagon they have deduced that the Confederate flag was a contributing factor to the shooters mind state.  Thanks to the media, the NAACP can now have some fuel to burn against their ongoing fight to have the Confederate flag removed from South Carolina federal property. Two days after the shooting, the NAACP demanded the removal of the flag from the State Capitol cause of it's reverence to racial epitomes.  Within a week,  the Governor calls for the removal of the flag. Her reason for the removal...the photos of Dylan Roof displaying the Confederate flag.

Since when does a battle flag of the Confederate army get blame for an individuals radical views on racial equality? It gets the blame from those that think the flag is a symbol of hate racial inequality. Much has been said about the Confederate flag lately. Most of it you hear is unfavorable, cause of the media's portrayal of the flag used as a symbol of hate.

In the Civil War the flag was used as a symbol of the Confederate States and took into battle against the Union. It wasn't a symbol of hate but of unity for the southern states that wanted to secede from the Union since the Union was using the southern states as a way to fund the government in the north. Without the products produced in the south, the north  would soon shrivel up and die. Abraham Lincoln knew this and even stated the fact. This was the reason for the Civil War. It wasn't slavery that started the war. Northerners also had slaves but not in the capacity of what the south had. It wasn't until decades later that the Confederate flag was used and misconstrued by racially biased groups as a flag that represented opposition and oppression as for the meaning of the word "confederate".

It's according to who interprets the Confederate flag as to what it stands for.  From a historical standpoint it's harmless in it's use but in the hands of a racially biased individual that wants to start a race war it's fuel for their cause. And now since the controversy has risen, more companies and people have joined the bandwagon of the uninformed. Willing to bend as the wind blows so their profits or social standing isn't at jeopardy from any backlash from civil rights groups. When did some Americans and American companies become a bunch of sniveling and spineless puppets that go with a pull of the string.

I've always seen the flag as a historical piece of American history which came about in a turbulent time. I've never seen it as being racist or hateful.

To top off this rant,

When did the Dukes Of Hazzard become filled with such racial hate, the Confederate flag that adorned the roof of the General Lee  will now be removed according to Warner Brothers.

So what's next on the media's and NAACP's agenda..... biscuits and gravy?

To add to this media spectacle, the POTUS gave a eulogy at the funeral of the slain preacher in South Carolina. As I seen it, the eulogy  for gun laws and racial equality under the guise of "grace". It was five minutes of eulogy, 10 minutes of gun and race issues and 2 minutes of scripted song "Amazing Grace". To which I say......POTUS can't sing worth a flip and I like biscuits and gravy.

James Bigheart Presentation - Bigheart Day 2015

Introduction:
When we think of Bigheart Day most people will think about families getting together, cook outs, high school reunions and the beginning of the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

James Bigheart Signature

 But Bigheart Day is more than that, it's a day of honor bestowed to James Bigheart, the towns founder and  former Chief of the Osage Nation.

What do we know about James Bigheart and why do we celebrate his life? What kind of man was he and how did he become such a prominent figure for the Osage tribe?

James Bigheart was born in 1835 in an Osage village near the Neosho River, near what is now St. Paul, Kansas. James was an active boy and quite observant, always eager to learn and help out in his tribe.

             

   Fr. John Schoenmakers

                 



In 1847, Father John Schoenmakers opened the first Catholic church in one of two log houses built by the Indian Department for use as a school. With incoming white settlers, it was necessary to build a larger church and school.

                                       Osage Mission Church / Osage Mission School
         

 

Father Schoenmaker had the idea that blending Cathoilic and Indian culture would civilize the Osages and help bring about the education of the Osage tribe members.

James met Father Schoenmakers around the age of ten. They became friends and James would soon be learning the ways of the white man, going to school and being taught Christianity. He would soon take up the Catholic faith but still hold on to his Osage culture. Upon his release from school James had become highly academic and became fluent in seven languages. In the following years James would watch as settlers were taking more of the Osage land which discouraged him. Before the Civil War began, James would have two wives and two children. All would die from disease.

As war broke out between the states, James was still with the tribe. He consulted with Father Schoenmakers about the tribe being with the Union or Confederacy. Father Schoenmakers strongly advised James and the tribe to stay with the Union.

Union Enlistment

James travelled to Iola, Kansas and enlists in the Union Army on January 19, 1862 for a period of three years. He joined 1st Lt. Cowley's Company 9 Regiment Kansas Volunteers as a Private. By March 6, 1862, Lt Cowley's Company would be organized into Company I, 9th Regiment of the Kansas Cavalry. James would hold the rank as Private and become one of the regiments teamsters.
 June, 1862, James goes on detached service to Fort Laramie. July, 1862, James was on detached service as an escort to Fort Lyon. Returning to his regiment by August 1862, Co. I, 9th Regiment participated in operations against Quantrill on his raid into Kansas including the Brooklyn and Paoli skirmishes and action at Baxter Springs, Kansas.

Kansas Cavalry Uniform

September, 1863, James was absent without leave from Fort Larned. On his return he was confined to the fort from November 1863 to october 1864. During his confinement a tranfer was requested to Fort Leavenworth since there were no facilities at Fort Larned to hold prisoners waiting for trial. November, 1864, James is released from confinement and goes on detached service to Fort Leavenworth until March 1865. Private James Bigheart musters-out of service on March 22, 1865 at Duvalls Bluff, Arkansas.

                 

   Muster-Out  /  Pension

               


James returned to Osage Mission where he marries Pauline. Together they have two children, Sarah and James. For the next few years James watched as his tribe was slowly being pushed off their land. He would consult with Father Shoenmakers about the white squaters and the new threat of the railroad that wanted the Osage land. Being a diplomatic voice for the Osage tribe James and Father Shoenmakers sent a written protest to Sidney Clark, Representative of the Southeast Kansas District Congress. As a result, the 1868 Drum Creek Treaty came about which stated that any indian tribe was prohibited from selling it's land to no other but the U.S. government. This was the first treaty signed by James Bigheart. The Drum creek treaty also brought about an Act of Congress in 1870 with Executive Document 131 which stated that the Osages would agree to sell the remainder of their land in Kansas and use the proceeds to relocate the tribe to Indian Territory in the Cherokee Outlet.

Osage tribe members at Pawhuska

In 1871 the Osage tribe moved to Silver Lake near what is now Bartlesville but it was learned later they had settled in Cherokee Territory so the tribe moved their agency to the center of their reserve and established their agency in Pawhuska in 1872. James would work for the agency as an interpreter and clerk at this time. The seventeen Osage bands settled in different parts of the reservation. James Bigheart was part of the Beaver Band and his band settled in the Bird Creek area. Fifteen miles southeast of Pawhuska, James would build a cabin on a hill on the east side of Bird Creek overlooking Rosalie Chouteau's village settlement. He also would built a two story trading post on the south bank of Birch Creek where it empties into Bird Creek. The site would also have a butcher shop, blacksmith shop with a livestock corral.

Second Delegation of Osage Indians,

Lawrence, Kansas 1874

By 1874, James began serving his tribe in many capacities. Agency Clerk, Interpreter, Councilman and Delegate. His vision and foresight for his tribe became evident as he worked constantly on trying to improve his tribes way of life.

Old Chief Pawhuska, before his death, appointed Beaver to take his place as Principle Chief. On Beavers death, his sons were too young to to assume the responsibilities of Chief. The Pawhuska band appointed James Bigheart as Principle Chief in 1875. It was also in this year James signed the first blanket oil lease with Edwin Foster for the exploration of oil and gas. As Chief, James watched as white traders would swarm the agency on payment days and collect sums claimed the indians owed them. His tribe members would also cede land for a small amount of money that never reached the Osage land owners. James would lose his son in 1876 and soon after in 1877 his wife Pauline and daughter would die in an epidemic. James would take in his nephew Jacob and niece Margaret to raise and then marry again in 1878 to Anna. During this time James would have two daughters named Jane and Agnes. Unfortunaltely due to illness, Anna died and in 1879. James married Amelia and had two daughters, Josephine and Maggie.



                                         



Upset over the years of his tribe members being taken advantage of he persuaded William Conner, a former school mate, to help organize their tribe and draw up a Constitution. It was James idea that doing so would  get the attention of Washington officals and the President. Therefore showing the truth about the agents and traders taking advantage of the Osage tribe. The two men set out to inform the tribe of their intentions and by 1881 had brought about the organization of two political parties, the full bloods and the mixed bloods. The political parties were organized and the Osage nation was divided into five districts. Each district sent three members to National Council. The National Council met at Pawhuska, drew up a constitution and organized a tribal government after the Federal government. The Constitution also stated a new chief would be voted into office every two years instead of chieftainships being passed down from father to son. James Bigheart signed the Constitution as President of the National Council. The first election was held in 1882 and James Bigheart was elected Chief of the Osage Nation.

Chief James Bigheart

As Chief, James was first to sanction appropriations for schools, alloting land for St. John School for boys near Grayhorse and St. Louis School for girls at Pawhuska. He fought the Quakers who wanted to remove Osage children from local Catholic schools and send them to government schools. James was the only indian at the time granted a license to bring whiskey into the reservation. This privilege was granted to him by the Secretary of the Interior, Ethan Allen Hitchcock. Prior to that James was arrested for serving alcohol to Washington officials at his home. During 1881, he lost his wife Amelia to sickness, he would later marry Humpsehanca in 1882 and have a daughter with her named Mary Magdalene. Both would die later of illness.

James Bigheart  (colorized)

Also in this year, as part of the payment for ceded lands in Kansas, the government would begin to ration cattle to the Osage tribe. James recognized the possibility of grazing cattle on the reservations bluestem grass and knowing that some of his tribe members did not want to be troubled with the care of livestock he set out a few days before the allotment and offered cash for their allotted cattle. When the cattle arrived, James sent cowboys to Pawhuska and Guthrie to drive the cattle to his ranch. From this small beginning with alloted cattle he built up his ranch. Along with his mercantile business, James also had ownership in Pawhuska's leading drug store, became a director in the Bank of Bartlesville and First National Bank of Cleveland and a stock holder in the Citizens Trading Company of Pawhuska. James would become the wealthiest man of his tribe. His ranch home was the center of all his activities, being a two story structure built in an "L" shape, it had a covered breezeway on the lower porch and two dinning rooms for entertaining. It was built on top of the hill near the family cemetery. The ranch served as a place to entertain his guests and government dignitaries where feasts, barbecues and dances were held. James would often be seen dancing the polka or schottische. A small schoolhouse was constructed on the Bigheart property where all the furniture was homemade. He had hired a private teacher for his children and even the cowboys on his ranch to be educated. Among all the buildings built on the property only the large barn with a hay loft remains of the original ranch.



The Osages and Cherokees had a strong dislike for each other and in 1884 James would find love in the Cherokee nation. James was known to the Cherokees as Chief of the Osages and a rancher. It was his ranching that would help in his quest for a new bride. James set out for Cherokee Territory and arrived at the home of Jennie Grass, the mother of Alice Grass. James would make the usual arrangements for the marriage with the girls mother and in the marriage settlement James gave a wagon, a team, one cow and two pigs for his bride. Upon delivery of the goods and livestock, James gathered his bride and started his return to the ranch. As word spread of the Osage Chief taking a Cherokee bride, the Cherokee "light horse" police sprang into action and pursued James and his bride back to the Osage Reservation. Unable to overtake the two, the Cherokees gave up the chase and returned home.

Alice Bigheart

At the time James took Alice for his wife, he was 41 years old, Alice was 13. With such an age difference between the two, Alice was not fond of James. Even as he showered her with gifts from his trips to Washington over the years, she would never fall in love with him. In the years to come, James and Alice would have four children, Mary, Rosa, Sarah and Isabella.


In the years to come James would accomplish a Federal investigation of the Osage Indian rolls to eliminate those not entitled to Osage property rights. In 1893 the Dawes Commission, set up under an Indian Office appropriation bill was created to try and persuade tribes to agree to allotment plans. James opposed the allotment of Osage land and fought the Allotment Bill for ten years making many trips to Washington to speak with Congress. While holding off the allotment bill, James would sign a ten year blanket lease to the Foster brothers for oil and gas exploration on the Osage reservation.



               

 Chief Bigheart Inauguration 1902

James Bigheart was voted in as Chief and in 1902 he was inaugurated on the steps of the Osage council house which is now Pawhuska's City Hall. A big barbeque was held at the expense of the Chief and a dance was held at the Indian Camp. As the year came to an end what would transform in the following year would begin the evolution of the town of Bigheart. Charles Ingersoll, an industrialist from Pennsylvania was looking for a railroad passage from Arkansas into Kansas. The route would bring the railway through the Osage reservation. As the construction began in Arkansas, representatives of the Midland Valley Railroad would  come to Bigheart's ranch to get permission to cross through the reservation. The Chief would give permission and in the matter, it would cross over the Bigheart property. 1904 saw the introduction of the Osage Allotment Bill in the House of Representatives. James, along with other members of the osage government would travel to Washington to oppose the bill.

Valentine Purchase

 During his time in Washington, James would conduct the largest purchase of valentines known at the time. With some of his tribe members James walked into a book shop and purchased all the valentines in the store. He would have them sent to members of the Osage tribe and all the prominent statesmen whom he had met on his travels in Washington. A local paper called the Inter Ocean Post, gathered up the story which claimed James spent $520. In todays money that is equal to $13,800. As the allotment bill was stalled once again, James and his delegation returned home.


In the following election, James was defeated by Progressive candidate O-lo-ho-walla. Although he was no longer Chief, James was still consulted on the affairs of the tribe, he would spend his time on the ranch with his family and conduct the affairs of his mecrcantile business and banking activities. In 1905, H.H. Brenner a Pawhuska banker, travelled to Washington to negotiate with congress to have 5 townsites built in the Osage reservation. One of which would be the townsite of Bigheart. Congress approved the townsites and surveying for the town began near the Bigheart trading post. It was found the land was prone to flooding so the townsite was moved north to where Rosalie Chouteau had her indian settlement west of Bird Creek and James Bighearts home. Bigheart would become a town on March 5, 1905 with a post office and depot set up on the Midland valley railroad line.




                 

1906 Washington Delegation

 In 1906, the Allotment bill came up in Congress and Bigheart learned that O-lo-ho-walla's delegates planned on passing the bill as it was introduced in 1904. Bigheart and Fred Lookout travelled to Washington to meet with the O-lo-ho-walla delegation. Bigheart succeeded in having the rider clause introduced that saved all the minerals below the surface for the tribe. While on his way to conduct the voting for the bill, James was attacked and beaten which cause a stroke. He would spend months in a Washington hospital before being well enough to travel back home. As a result of the attack, James would suffer from paralysis. Though his mobility was confined to his home he still consulted with the tribal government on the affairs of the Osage tribe. The bill was passed by an Act of Congress on June, 28, 1906. It would later be known as the "Osage Allotment Act" which would make the Osage tribe wealthy in years to come with the discovery of oil on the reservation.

James Bigheart

James Bigheart died on October 5, 1908. Said to be the richest indian in the United States his estate was worth 3 million dollars upon his death.  Known as the "Osage Moses", he took care of many people never turning his back on anyone that needed help. Known for his generosity, he was a mentor to many. He ushered in an educational system to the Osage tribe. Even though many honors were bestowed on James Bigheart he showed no tendency toward pompous display of wealth or power. Bigheart wore modest white men's clothing and spent his life in the interest of matters concerning the Osage Tribe. He was buried in the family cemetery along with other members of his family, cowboys from his ranch and locals that had no other place to be buried. The town of Barnsdall honors James Bigheart every year in May celebrating "Bigheart Day" for his founding of the town and his accomplishments.

 This is the legacy that James Bigheart left. The beginning of a new era.

Absolution: A movie review

I like action movies as long as they have a good plot and decent acting. Tonight I reviewed a movie that I knew was going to be a copy of all the movies this actor has made. Steven Seagal in his latest movie called Absolution. A story about a covert government agency that has their own private contract killer to rid the world  of unsavory characters. As like all Seagal movies this one is no different. Breaking out the kill counter, I sat through the 90 minutes or so run of typical Seagalisms.
 As in the past, I've written about Steven and his redundant movie plots. To amuse myself before the movie began, I made a pre-movie check  list to see if all my predictions would come true. First I wrote down all the main characters names and placed a a "K" and "F" by their name for kill or fight.
I added all minor characters, such as good guys or bad guys and their worth to the movie. Explosions, firearms and vehicles were also in the mix. I was now ready to start watching the movie. Here is what I observed:

John, Main Character (Seagal)- Kills: 17  Fights: 6  Weapons: 3 pistols, 1 shotgun, 1 knife
Chi, Main Character ( Johns Cohort) - Kills: 9  Fights: 9  Weapons: 1 pistol, 1 knife
Van Horn, Minor Character (Bad Guy) -  Kills: 1  Fights: 1 Weapons: 1 pistol, 1 knife, 1 pipe
Sergei, Minor Character  (Johns Friend) - Died of unknown causes
Nadia, Minor Character  ( Girl on the run) - Kills: 1  Weapons: 1 pistol
Woman in hospital bed  (Johns wife?) -Presumed died in hospital of some disease (only seen in Johns daydreams.
Non Essential Goons: Killed: 25

Vehicles: Trucks, SUV's, cars. All black
Explosions: 1 Building, 1 SUV

As the typical Seagal movie goes. he's a quiet guy that has his friends or loved ones die. He retaliates and kills everyone in sight to achieve his goal of not being the bad guy even though he is a bad guy (contract killer) in the movie. The only noticable thing different in this movie is that there were no military aircraft. And in all movies Seagal has made there is at least one walk away from all the chaos that he's left behind. If you like Seagal movies, by all means please watch this one. It shows an out of shape Seagal wearing an overcoat most of the time to hide his girth, plus he doesn't move like a graceful ballerina  in his fight scenes. He rarely removes his fancy shades and in all his military style invasive moves to gain the upper hand on the bad guys you can see the training he has received as a real life  Sheriff in Louisiana. It's like watching an episode of Cops. By the way, never emerge from an elevator or jump out from behind a wall or doorway. Seagal will shoot you in the head. The guy never misses. Oh....I shouldn't forget that he gets the girl in the end. Imagine that! Unbeleivable. If you do watch the movie wait for the part where he goes out to buy clothes for this run away woman. Without knowing her size or what she would like to wear, he brings back two bags of clothes and the next time the woman appears she's wear a nice ensemble of tight leather pants and form fitting shirt, all black.....of course! Steven knows about womans leather clothes. LOL

Overall, I'll give this movie a 2 out of 5 stars. And a 2 is pushing it!

The Barnsdall Mayoral Vote

On April 7th of 2015, voters will go to the polls to cast their vote on the next Mayor. Two candidates are on the ballot for this position, J.D. Cole and Brock Moore. You have to ask yourself, who would best serve Barnsdall in it's present condition. I say condition because the city is far from being a shiny spot on your local "want to visit" places. Don't get me wrong, Barnsdall is a great place to live, it's just managed wrong and when management takes a dive so does the infrastructure that the city must have in order to operate.
 Now, back to the candidates. First of all I have seen J. D. work well for the city in the past but over the last term of office I feel his dedication to Barnsdall's problems have become lackluster. Streets are in bad shape, sewer and water lines need replaced and the overall look of the town has become that of a hobo village. The way I see it, it's not the fault of the city workers. They do as they are instructed and if there is no instruction with leadership then there is a failure to improve. I also hear about the city finances being low or non existent so there aren't funds for capital improvements. When I hear this, it also comes back to management. There are grants that can be obtained for small city governments to improve their infrastructure. My question is this, has the present Mayor looked into any of these programs? And what about city finances? There was a time when the local newspaper would print what was going on the city government such as meeting minutes and monthly business tax intake. Now there is nothing, so there isn't any local knowledge as to how the city is operating.
 Do I think the present administration is doing well with it's efforts to improve the city? No, easy answer. I haven't even heard of any future improvements that are on the agenda for repair or replacement if J.D. is elected back into office and if it's the same as what is on the list of projects that he presently has, then his list is as long as a blank sheet of paper. A Mayor cannot become complacent with his job and expect anything good to come out of it.

Candidate Brock Moore took the reign of city council and has seen the present situation the city is in. He has felt the need for improvement in many areas the city is lacking in. He has also stated what he would like to change in city government. Is he the candidate that has what is needed? That is yet to be seen until he is elected but the way I see it, there is more opportunity in what he has planned than  someone that has had years of opportunity and hasn't done anything. To move the city forward a change is needed. It may not come over night but improvement takes time after things have been let go for so long. Brock wants change and improvement in the city. I agree with that. Moving forward with new ideas and management can be good for the city. The present way of doing business is clearly not working. If you want to know more about what Brock wants to improve on, contact him on Facebook. I would personally give Brock a chance in the drivers seat for four years, our present administration is driving from the back seat and we all know what happens back there, a lot of lip work and no action.

Barnsdall needs change, Barnsdall needs improvement. I guess this is my formal endorsement to vote for Brock. If he can manage and direct the city then maybe Barnsdall has a chance to become better than what it is.  I'm not going to vote for someone that has no vision for the future, the past four years has shown me that. It's time for accountability, change and improvement. It's time for a new Mayor.

Vote Brock Moore on April 7th.

Superfluous Seagal Cinema

Everyone has a type of movie that they like to watch. For me it's action movies. If the plot is good and the acting of a caliber that keeps me tuned in, I'll see a movie through to the end, but if the plot and acting is below par it doesn't take long before I will cut the film off before it's prime. There are even some actors and action movies I'll refuse to watch just because of the redundant content they continue to spurt out. Of those action movies, one actor and his movies stand out among the others. Steven Seagal.

If there any Seagal fans out there that like this genre of garbage, I'll apologize for the upcoming observations that make one of his movies just as boring and redundant as the last one he produced.

Observation:
1: Steven Seagal has starred in or co-starred in 43 movies. Of those movies he has produced or help        produce 39 of those movies.
2: Steven Seagals movie characters are for the most part associated with being in law enforcement or      the military. Such as:
     Former Navy Seal (two times)
     Former CIA Agent
     CIA Covert
     CIA Agent
     Former Covert Agent
     Interpol Agent
     Former Special Forces Operative
     Thief (two times)
     Cop (four times)
     Former Cop
     Detective (two times)
     Air Force Pilot
     Environmental Agent (two times)
     Vietnam Vet
     DEA Agent
     Military Dr.
     Explosives Expert
     FBI Agent
     Freelance Agent
     Mercenary (two times)
     Task Force Leader
     Former Russian Diplomat
     Vigilante
     Professor of Archeology (I can't beleive this one)
     Vampire Slayer (HA! HA!)
3: Steven Seagal movie posters have common things. Such as:
    Seagals Face
    Pistols
    Shotguns
    Automaic Rifles
    Samuri Swords
    Explosions
    Military Aircraft
    And.......The Three Words Or Less Movie Title
4: Steven Seagal always has at least one or two and sometimes three hand to hand fight scenes in             every movie he's in.
5: Many of the people that are associated with Steven Seagals characters die.
6: Movie titles have a dark or sinister occuring theme words. Such as:
    Dead
    Deadly (two times)
    Die
    Death
    Dark (four times)
    Shadow
    Black
    Kill (four times)
    Seige (two times)
    Man (three times)
    Fire
    Wounds
    Beast
    Mercenary
    Attack
    Fury
    Whipped
    Warfare
     Lethal
    Wars
 Here's some irony on the title words. Taking the most used words in each title I've come up with  a movie title that covers all Steven Seagals movies. ( Dark Man's Deadly Kill Seige). I think that covers all his movies in a nutshell.

Anyone can make a Seagal movie all you need to do is make a movie poster to start with. Make sure the poster has his face on it with him holding a pistol. Have an explosion in the background and place a number of military aircraft in it. Have the plot kill off anyone that knows him. Have him track down the opposing force, killing everyone in his path and destroying anything that doesn't have any redeeming value. Have at least one fight scene where he beats the crap out of some low life. And at the end of the movie have him walk away like it was just a normal day at the office.

 
 
 

   
   
 
 
 

Early Days Of The Bigheart Newspaper

With the new town of Bigheart formed in 1905, people flocked to the area looking for wealth in the Osage oil fields. others came to Bigheart with dreams of operating a business. One of those businesses was having a local newspaper to relay news to the citizens of the fledgling town. In the beginning there were a few papers competing with one another for readers. The Bigheart Spasm was operated by Ernest Putter along with his father and sister,  the Bigheart Chronicle,  with E.E. Waltman as the editor and publisher and the Bigheart Star were there in the beginning but the main paper that held on through the years would be the Bigheart Times. Though it had a late start compared to the other papers, it came to existence on May 15, 1919 with A.R. Zenor and his son Paul operating the presses. In the beginning the Bigheart Times was located on the north side of Main Street between 7th and 8th Street.

Bigheart, OK. 1919. The Bigheart Times, located near the center of the photo was ran by A.R. Zenor

The Bigheart Times would change it's name on January 1st 1922 to the Barnsdall Times. The Zenor's would operate the newspaper and move it to a new location to the west side of 5th Street between Main and Maple when a new building had been completed on the site. In September, 1930, the newspaper was sold to Art and Christine Moore, The Moore's came from Kansas where Art learned the newspaper business from his father. In 1934, Marvin Bridgeford started working at the paper as a printer where he stayed until retirement. Others including in helping produce the paper during the Moore years were Max Purdom and Harry Moore.

Barnsdall Times building, 1950.

 Christine and Art Moore with Marvin Bridgeford, 1972.

On March 1, 1972, the Moore's sold the Barnsdall Times to Bob and Yvonne Evans from Perkins, OK. Upon the retirement of Marvin Bridgeford the Barnsdall Times would change it's way of printing. By the mid 1970's the printing of the paper would cease at it's location on 5th Street and the paper would be printed at other locations. The building which had printed papers since the 1930's would soon be shut down and moved to the east side of 5th Street, across from the building that would hold the printing relics of years past. 

The Barnsdall Times would change locations  two more times and have one name change becoming the Bigheart Times once again. On February 18, 2015 a fire broke out in the building next to the old Times building. Fire destroyed the upper part of the building and damage was done to the lower floor which housed all the antique printing machines. Another piece of Barnsdall's past is now in the process of fading away. How many stories could the building tell over the past 85 years is unknown but I feel certain that what is left of the printing machines are in their own way trying to tell those cleaning up about the days gone by.

Bigheart/Barnsdall School History Video

This past Bigheart Day in 2014, I attended the annual almuni meeting at the High School. This was my second year to present some history of Bigheart/Barnsdall. For this years meeting, I chose to do a video on the history of the Barnsdall school system. The project started last September 2013 by gathering information and material for the video. With thousands of photos in my hands I began organizing them into a video along with the information to go along with them. With everything organized, I began making the video on the first of January. Working the first weekend in January, I finally had the first 18 seconds of the introduction finished. In all, around 24 hours of work went into those few seconds. As January turned into February, I realized that the final cut on the video would be about 2 hours in length. At that point I began thinking about cutting much of it out but went ahead with the original plan. February rolled into late March and it became apparent that the video would not be finished in time to be presented at the alumni meeting. The video at that time only was finished up to 1940. It was at that point I decide to edit the video severely and add in more years to get in as much information and photos as I could. Working on the video whenever I could, I managed to get up to the year 1980 but with major editing. The final result was finished three days prior to it's showing at the alumni meeting.  The heavily edited version would be 18:45 in length. In January 2015, I decided to once again edit the video showing the first 55 years of the schools existence cutting it back to about 16 minutes.  The school began in 1905 with the construction of a small wood frame building on a lot provided by T.E. Gibson, Bigheart Bank cashier at the south west corner of Vine and Third Street. 1906 would be the completion of the first year of school in Bigheart. The building would be the main school for the town until a new stone building was constructed in 1910. In 1911, the wood frame school was demolished by a tornado that swept through Bigheart. The lot would remain empty until it was purchased by the Fire Baptized Holiness Association in 1916.

It's my intention to conclude the video with the following 55 years of school history ending in 2015. It will take time to gather and edit the information into a video. When finished, a copy of the whole video will be given to the Barnsdall School Library. When uploaded to You Tube the first half of the video will be able to be viewed and a link will be posted on the Barnsdall History Page and here 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzLC0ucnMb8&feature=youtu.be.

Students walk the hall in 1958

It Was New Back In The Day

Technology has come a long way since the days when Thomas Edison first introduced his phonograph in 1877. Many innovations have sprung up along the way making it easier to enjoy your favorite music.

Thomas Edison with his invention, the phonograph.

This brings me back to my younger years when technology was beginning to expand upon it's never ending quest to better itself when it comes to enjoying your favorite music. Most specifically, in the automobile. There's is no doubt that anyone over the age of 50 can remember what entertainment was like before the advent of the "car stereo" in your auto. If your parents or you were lucky enough to own a vehicle with an AM radio you were one of the popular people on a Saturday night drag on Main Street. Listening to the monophonic sound emanating from the weak single speaker  up in the dash that sounded as if it were blown out when the static charged reception reached only half a turn on the volume dial. Though we see them now as archaic, there were two types of AM car radios. The rotary and push button tuners.  Most every body had a rotary radio tuner where you had to manually search for your favorite station but if you had a fancy car with one of those push button tuners it was like a magical genie was inside your radio, eager to tune in to your favorite music at the touch of a button. 

Rotary Tuner

Push Button Tuner

What was really cool about the car audio inventors was that they would come up with new ways to enjoy personalized music.  In the 1950's, Chrysler thought about giving their high end cars an extra edge by introducing the Columbia Turntable in the dash to play those platters of 45's you kept in your room. There were a couple drawbacks with that. The record would skip as the car ran over bumps and the makers of the turntable (Columbia) had a deal with Chrysler to only play Columbia recording artists only. No fun in that if you're wanting to hear the latest song from the Diamonds or Chubby Checker.

Chryslers, Columbia Turntable

 The  car FM radio has been around since the early 1950's but it wasn't an option on the  car window sticker until the later 1960's when the popularity of static free music was played on home stereo or High Fidelity systems. Ford and Chevrolet wanted to cash in on a new product and soon integrated a new form of listening enjoyment to the auto masses. It was called the eight track player. Coupled along with the AM /FM radio, audio enthusiasts would soon have music played through the means of a plastic cartridge  having a magnetic tape wound around an internal spool that played music over eight different magnetic tracks on an ever changing four channel system. Not a bad idea unless you like your favorite song interrupted with a channel change.

Lear Jet's under dash eight track player with AM or FM radio. Circa 1967.

Technology was ever changing and in the early 1970's the cassette was becoming a popular media. It was a small embodiment of the eight track but played two sides "A" and "B" without the channel change that always screwed up your favorite song. Most every teen driver in the 1970's owned one of these at one time. The KRACO cassette stereo system. It was cheap and the sound you got from it was about the same. Most of the time the sound emitted from this monster of audio grandeur was a high treble sound. KRACO could never master the bass in any of it's stereos. But it didn't matter when your favorite group could be heard any time you wanted .

KRACO stereo with cassette player. 1970's vintage.

  But not to worry, companies were out there looking to step in to the car audio after market and cash in on some new stuff that would soon make millions for those willing to take a gamble. In the early 1980's, BOSE was making headphones when they decided to jump into the car audio business. They introduced the first car specific audio system to auto makers such as Oldsmobile and Cadillac. Not meant for the blue collar worker, the BOSE system would usher in the era of JVC, Pioneer and Blaupunkt for those on a meager wage. No longer were American made stereos being placed in cars. The Japanese would take this market over with Sony and Panasonic leading the way in after market sales. Sony would sell it's new invention to the American masses called the CD player. At first they were only installed in Mercedes Benz but after news of the clear crisp sound that came from the system it was an all out explosion to all auto manufacturers that music was a main staple in the daily driving experience.  And to get the best sound, auto makers would flaunt the opportunity to tell you all about it in there sales ads. 

Today with bluetooth, satellite radio, mp3 with digital sound, music has come along way from catching a static filled radio station on your AM car radio. It was a simpler time, with less buttons and choices, when most of the time all one worried about was where are we going to stop to get a cold drink and a burger.

Petrolite Explosion, June 18, 1990

It was the beginning of another work week as I got around that Monday afternoon to go to work on the evening shift at Petrolite. June 18, 1990 was a warm and humid day. I can remember this day cause of the events that would soon develop over the next 5 hours. Upon arriving at the gate to clock in, some of the usual guys working the evening shift  that got there early would sit around and talk before going off to their departments. I sat down with one of the guys from the EP Plant, Rusty McLaughlin. Today was not a usual day at the EP Plant according to Rusty. The EP Plant would be making one of the new products that they had recently developed. Everyone referred to it as alcohol wax. It wasn't an ordinary synthetic wax as all the other waxes were and it was made in a different way. A way that Rusty and all the other guys that worked at the EP Plant didn't think was safe. Rusty was always nervous about the process of making alcohol wax as he pointed out to me many times.  After about five minutes of talking, it was time to clock in and go to work. As we were all leaving out the door, I overhead someone say, "Don't blow anything up tonight". Of course, this was all just joking around. Little did we realize that within hours that small verbal quote would  come back with a vengeance.

Petrolite's EP Plant.

The packaging department was working a two man crew that evening. Darrell Infield and myself were finishing up a run of 185 Amber at the Prill Tower that evening. We would later clean the tower to begin a run of C-4040. It was around 6:00 pm that my brother James "Wimp" Patrick was called out  to go to the EP Plant to check on an oxygen leak that was reported on the second deck reactor room of the EP Plant. At the time he showed up at the EP office, he was asked to wait till the batch of alcohol wax was emptied from one of the reactors. With a little time on his hands, he dropped by the Prill Tower to talk with me a bit before going over to the gate to grab a candy bar from the vending machine before returning to the EP Plant. I began to start my run of C-4040 and was in the process of going to the shakerboard room on the second level  of the tower. I had stopped for a moment to look east over the tanks where I would see my brothers truck still at the gate. He was most likely talking with Lloyd Swift since he was the evening supervisor. I had made it three steps into the shakerboard room when I heard a small and then a large explosion which shook the building like an earthquake. At first I thought it was a fork lift that had run into one of the support beams on the tower but that didn't make sense since all the main beam supports were in places a fork lift couldn't reach. I continued into the room to check on the progress of the start up. It must have been about 20 seconds later Darrell had ran up the two flights of stairs to the shakerboard room. As he opened the door he yelled at me from the doorway, "Jerry, the EP Plant just blew up"! I ran to the door to look back to the southeast to see what was happening. When I got to the doorway, the plant emergency whistle was beginning to blow. I was looking at a billowing cloud of black smoke and small bits of debris still floating around as it fell to the ground.

As we hurried down the stairs, I quickly began a shut down process by cutting off the product feed to the prill heads. Making my way to the loading dock I met up with Darrell, he had grabbed a mobile radio from the break room trying to hear any information coming out of the EP Plant. He was looking southeast towards the EP Plant trying to catch a sign of any movement. As the black smoke would clear momentarily we could see the extent of the damage. Small fires were all over the second floor of the reactor room. The north wall, northwest wall and the roof in that section of the building had been blown away. We had no idea of where they were in the process of the run so we didn't know if anyone was up stairs when the explosion occurred.Moments later a voice came across the radio calling for an ambulance and a man was down at the EP Plant. Emergency vehicles from the plant began making there way to the EP Plant. Water monitors were soon spraying water over the building. Darrell and myself were taking count of everyone that might have been there at the time of the explosion. David Moles, Ron Patrick, Rusty McLaughlin and Jim Lewis  all came to mind. We concluded it must be one of the four that had been injured. With further thought we deduced it was either Ron or Rusty since they would be the ones in the area at the time. It was later we found out that Rusty was on the second level when the explosion occurred.

Rusty McLaughlin
1976 Senior Photo

By Wednesday an investigation was underway by the St. Louis  office. They wanted to question everyone at the plant that was there during the explosion. My turn took maybe 15 minutes to answer all the questions but they were stuck on one question. How many explosions did you hear initially, one or two? I heard two explosions, a small one and then a larger one immediately after the first.
As hard as they tried to tell me there was only one explosion, I kept replying there were two. It was as if they wanted me to agree with them about the one explosion. I found out later I wasn't the only one interviewed that got that question and all of us agreed on the same thing...there were two explosions.They were also interested in the safety aspect of the product production. One of their questions centered around how safe did I think the process was. My reply was that the department manager wanted quantity over quality and safety and he pushed the issue with all shifts to produce a higher quantity of product. It was my opinion that the whole process was unsafe because of the push to attain a higher yield of product over any maintenance or safety issues.

By the end of the week, Bill Nasser CEO of the Petrolite Corporation was at the Barnsdall facility to have a meeting with all the employees about the explosion. It was at this meeting that most of the hourly employees lost respect for the CEO of the company. It was during this meeting he pulls out a bag and begins eating a sandwich and sipping on a drink. I, like many others thought it was an inappropriate gesture on his part to eat in a meeting that was very serious to us. It gave us an impression he was not sincere with all he was telling us.

The official cause of the explosion given to us was that the explosion occurred when rust particles entered into a closed line going to the reactor and when the line was opened into the reactor the rust activated an explosion inside the reactor causing it to explode. Like most of us that were there that evening, their findings didn't coincide with the information we gave them at the inquiry. There was no mention of the first small explosion that took place or the push to override any safety concerns on the production. In my mind they overlooked all the information they were given and gave us their interpretation of events.

Do I think there was a cover up of events that led to the explosion? Yes I do, just like everyone else that was there that evening. First of all, there was an oxygen leak located 10 feet from the reactor. An instrument man was called out to repair the leak which had been leaking for hours. They placed production over safety when they decided to run the batch through to the end of the run.

I believe the second level of the EP plant was saturated with pure oxygen from the leak. I feel the explosion began as one of the automatic valves opened, creating a spark which ignited the oxygen in the building causing the first small explosion. As this explosion took place it may have ruptured one of the lines leading into the reactor which when exposed to the open elements reacted with a second explosion that was more powerful than the first. This is what I think really happened.

Rusty McLaughlin was sitting in a chair on the second level when the explosion took place. He was situated around 50 feet from the reactor that exploded and only a couple feet from the main stairway that led into the reactor room. After the explosion, Rusty was able to descend the stairway to an exit that led him out to the east side of the building. He was found by his fellow employees at the EP Plant. All of his clothes had been burned off. The only clothing he had on was a part of his shirt, his leather belt with some bits of clothing attached to it and his leather boots. Most of his hair had been burned off from the flash fire that took place. Later, skin was found on the stairway hand rails that led to the reactor room. Rusty had been grabbing the rail on his way out of the building. When the ambulance arrived, Rusty was conscious and speaking. The remainder of his clothes were cut away and he was transported to the Tulsa burn center at Hillcrest hospital. Rusty died from the burns he received in the explosion.

When I left the plant in 2009, the clothes Rusty had been wearing that evening when he was caught in the explosion are still on site. They were placed in a plastic bag and stored in a cabinet and kept as a reminder of how a day at work can turn tragic in an instant. I don't know if the clothing is still on site but all of us that knew Rusty had a high regard for him. He was always one to help you in any situation and always had something good to say in any situation. He was, and is still missed, by those that knew him. An upright guy just trying to support his family. Too bad his life was cut short  from an incident that might have been avoided.

The Land Tells A Story

When it comes to local history of the early years of Bigheart, OK. I'm one to jump on it and see what surfaces. Anyone that owns property in Barnsdall in the present has a historical record of the land they own. better known as an "Abstract of Tile", it tells the story of your property from the beginning when it belonged to the United States government as a recorded entity.

The story of one of my properties is as such. Owned by the United States government, it named the Cherokee Nation as Grantee of the land which now includes Osage County in Oklahoma. President Martin VanBuren, Grantor of the land conveyed over 14 million acres of land to the Cherokee Nation on December 31st, 1838.

July 19th, 1866, Article 16 of a Treaty between the United States and the Cherokee Nation permitted the United States to settle friendly Indians on any part of the Cherokee country west of 96 degrees. With this article , the Great and Little tribes of the Osage Indians  were settled on the Osage Indian Reservation which is now Osage County. Under Statute,  on March 25th, 1873, the Secretary of the Treasury transferred the proceeds of sale from the Osage lands in Kansas, the sum of $1,650,600 or as what be necessary to pay for the lands purchased from the Cherokees by the Osages at .70 cents an acre.

June 14th, 1883,Principle Chief of the Cherokee nation, Dennis W. Bushyhead, Grantor to the United States in trust for the Osage Indians, Grantee; under the consideration of $1,099,137.41, conveyed all land purchased from the Cherokee Nation to the Osage Nation.


July 30th, 1879, the Supreme Court ordered the Osage and Kansas Indian reservations hereby be attached to Pawnee County, Oklahoma Territory, for judicial purposes. Act of Congress May 2, 1890 provides for the organization of the Territory of Oklahoma.

(NOTE) January 1905, H.H. Brenner, a banker , real estate owner and a partaker in the oil and gas business from Pawhuska, Oklahoma  Territory, travels to Washington D.C. and negotiates for two months with Congress for the setting aside of town sites in the Osage reservation. As a result of his efforts, in March 1905, 640 acres were set aside for the town site of Pawhuska, 160 acres for Bigheart, and similar amounts set aside for Hominy, Fairfax and Foraker.

H. H. Brenner

March 3, 1905. The Osage Town Site Bill was passed.  it provided for the creation of an Osage Town Site Commission to oversee the creation and of surveying the town sites into lots, blocks, streets and alleys. The lots would then be sold to the highest bidder at public auction. January 1906, the surveying for the town site of Bigheart was finished and in May 1906 lots were being sold at public auction.

                                                     *******************************

• May 1906, Frank Yingling Jr.was the highest bidder at the public auction for lots 5 and 6 in block 54 at Bigheart. (NOTE: Frank Yingling Jr. resided in Pawnee Oklahoma Territory, where he owned many properties. He amassed much of it through public auctions such as the one in Bigheart in 1906). 
• September 1911, Frank Yingling Jr. grants a lease for oil production to the Red Eagle Oil & Gas Co. of Bigheart, OK. to last 3 years or as long as oil or gas is produced on the site, for the royalty of one eighth part of all oil produced on site and receive $100 per year for the gas produced from each well on lots 5 and 6 of block 54. One rig is erected and a well is drilled to a depth of 1747 ft. Well does not produce enough oil to pay for the operations.   

  

  
  

• May 1912. Red Eagle Oil & Gas Company contract R.L. Looker to deepen well on block 54 within 60 days. If oil is produced within this time the Red Eagle Oil & Gas Company will compensate R.L. Looker with one half of all oil or gas production in addition to paying $20.00 a day for each day of drilling.
• January 1913. R.L. Looker files a release of contract with the Red Eagle Oil & Gas Company.
• July 1913. Red Eagle Oil & Gas Company transfers all undivided one half interest of lease on block 54 to Sue Mellott, Dr. Benjamin Skinner, R.W. Burr, J.R. Pearson, A.W. Hurley, Louisa F. Gibson, D.J. Dunham, William Clem, Sallie Hooper, A.L. Sugg, H.H. Brenner and C.F. Lake.
• February 1914. Sue Mellott, Dr. Benjamin Skinner, R.W. Burr, J.R. Pearson, A.W. Hurley, Louisa F. Gibson, D.J. Dunham, William Clem, Sallie Hooper, A.L. Sugg, H.H. Brenner and C.F. Lake obtain George B. Mellott as Trustee for block 54 and all property on site.
• April 1914. The Red Eagle Oil & Gas Company pays out $5850  worth of capital stock to Trustee George B. Mellott, for the undivided one half interest in the lease on block 54 owned by Sue Mellott, Dr. Benjamin Skinner, R.W. Burr, J.R. Pearson, A.W. Hurley, Louisa F. Gibson, D.J. Dunham, William Clem, Sallie Hooper, A.L. Sugg, H.H. Brenner and C.F. Lake.
• July 1914. Jarecki Manufacturing Company sues Red Eagle Oil & Gas Company for non payment of material in the amount of $2628.78 in a contact made between the two companies in February 1914. Allegations also prove the Red Eagle Oil & Gas Company is indebted to others for $8000.

  

  Original city plat from 1906. All marked properties owned by Red Eagle Oil and Gas Company  in 1914 are marked.

• August 1914.  Rufus W. Burr is appointed receiver by the court to take charge of all Red Eagle Oil & Gas Company property and to sell all property to pay off all debt by the company.
• September 1914 to July 1915. All property owned by the Red Eagle Oil & Gas Company was sold  by the receiver, Rufus W. Burr. All lease grants  for lot 5 block 54 are canceled and real property reverts back to land owner Frank Yingling Jr.
• November 1918. Frank Yingling Jr sells lot 5 block 54 property to G.S. & E.E. Waltman for the sum of $135.
• November 1918. G.S. Waltman sells property to Thomas R. & Maggie Smith for the sum of $90.
• January 1919. Thomas R. Smith sells property to Ida Bennett for $90.
• November 1920. Ida Bennett sells property to W.C. & Dellar Smith for $150.
• August 1921. W.C. Smith sells property to Charles & Mayme Smith for $500.
• March 1923. Charles Smith sells property to Ida Bennett for $400.
• April 1939. A Resale Deed is issued by Livingstone Hall, County Treasurer for Osage County. It is accepted by Mart T. Bowhan, Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners in Osage County for the non payment of taxes on property.
• January 1940. Notice of sale of county held property was printed in the Barnsdall Times newspaper. J. M. Baxter and K.Y. Cole placed bids on lot 5 block 54 property. K.Y. Cole was the highest bidder at $55.
• February 1940. The Board of County Commissioners in Osage County grant deed to property to K.Y. & Evelyn Cole for $55.
• May 1945. K.Y. Cole mortgages property for $518.04 on a promissory note to Leo C. Diehl.
• September 1945. Leo C. Diehl releases mortgage on lot 5 block 54 property to K.Y. Cole.
• April 1946. K.Y. Cole files Quit Claim Deed to Alonzo Cole.
• August 1953. Alonzo Cole files Quit Claim Deed to K.Y Cole.
• July 1956. K.Y. Cole files Quit Claim Deed to Jona Cole.
• October 1959. Jona Cole files Quit Claim Deed to Dollie Lucille Osterloh.
• August 1963. Dollie Lucille Osterloh files Quit Claim Deed to Garland D. & Opal Rhodes.
• December 1979. Garland C. Rhodes sells property to Birch lake Jiffy Mart, Inc. (NOTE): A car wash is built on the east end of  lot 5 while a home is situated on the west end of  lot 5 spitting lot 5 block 54 in half).
• April 1982. Birch lake Jiffy Mart, Inc. sells both sections of lot 5 block 54 to Dennis & Sharon Stephens for $10,800.
• February 1986. Dennis Stephens sells the east section of lot 5 block 54 to Steve Berg for $70,000. Dennis Stephens retains the west section of lot 5 block 54.
• March 1989. Dennis Stephens sells west section of lot 5 block 54 to Jerry & Linda Patrick for $8,800.

In Memory of A School

In the past two years I've been the administrator for the Barnsdall History page on Facebook I've found that Barnsdall has had little change but in the same light more than a person might realize. Looking over photos from the past, of people and places that are gone, the images and memories are still there. The image of the old three story stone school house at the end of Main and Fourth St. comes to mind. This was an image that came to me one day as I walked out of the bank, located just northwest of where the stone school was. As I was about to get in my vehicle, I took a look over at the empty lot which at one time had two different school buildings on it. It was only a split second but the image seem to last longer. In that quick gaze I could see the children running and playing in front of the school, trees slowly moving as the breeze would gently move the branches, and the glow of the stones of the school as the sun would shine brightly on it's outer walls. What a place to behold. Only through photos and memories from those that attended the school can we even get a glimpse of what the place was like. I can imagine the wood floors creaking as the students would walk to class, the heavy doors that would close with a loud thud or the faint breeze that would flow through the windows on a warm day. There are many stories the building could talk about in it's short 39 year history such as when it was being built during the later part of 1910 into the spring of 1911 and just days after it was inspected by county officials, the third floor was destroyed by a tornado. It was also during this time that around 100 people took shelter in the school as the storm passed. Even though the small school had no high school accreditation from the state, it still managed to teach those that came through the doors.

Barnsdall Elementary, 1940's

Even as the school had three floors, only two of them were used. The third floor had been condemned after it was rebuilt from the tornado damage. But it never stopped the curious to creep up the steps and take a look at it as I've been told. In it's early days there was a basketball court set up on it's south lawn. A photo of it from 1914 shows the goals raised into the air and so far apart from one another. Most likely the first organized sport for the school.

The basketball court can be seen in the upper right of the photo.

It's hard to say how many students, teachers and parents walked through those double doors at the front of the school, the generations of families that seen one another grow up learning from those that would take on a small school agenda. As the school was raised in 1949, a new school was built on the same location. I attended that school in the late 60's and early 70's. On more than one occasion during basketball practices in the grade school gymnasium, I would go into the hall to get a drink of water and hear the faint sounds of children as if they were passing through the halls and interesting noises from classrooms. At the time, I didn't know that there was a school that sat on the property before the new school was built. But these days, looking back through time , I can understand the quiet voices and noises coming from the rooms. Maybe it was the innocence of being young and not having to worry about anything that had the school filled with the joy of being young and energetic.  I'm not saying the school built in 1949 was haunted, I'm just saying there was a ambiance of youth that permeated the building that I'm certain originated in the old stone school  which by some factor attributed to the aura of the building. The days of children in the halls and the voices of those filled with joy are gone from the site now. The school built in 1949, was condemned and razed in 2004. Do the voices of those that attended this school still be heard? I guess they could, but only in the memory of those that walked the halls and played on the playground for nearly 50 years.

Barnsdall Elementary built in 1949

How Many Fingers Do I Have Up?

What does it take to come up with a subject to write about? Inspiration can come from many things, even a walk down the cereal aisle at the grocery store. As I stood there in the multitude of bran, oat and puffed rice products, I had an epiphany.  Whats the deal with three fingers and a thumb? It may sound strange but what has three fingers and a thumb got to do with the cereal aisle? Before I jump off into the quagmire of sugary delight, I wanted to start my cereal venture in an earlier time, when cereal was known as a health food. If there were four kinds of cereal on the shelf, you covered the gambit of all sales and the cereal aisle was no more than a shelf or two for all the products.

Sullivan Market, Bigheart Oklahoma 1918

But in the last 100 years that cereal has been advertised there has been a drastic change. No more are the healthy benefits of a breakfast cereal advertised as something to help in all sorts of ailments.

                                      

 

Now the choices are an aisle of grains that can overwhelm the most seasoned shopper. Welcome to the fructose induced aisle of gain goodness. Where whatever the grain of choice is there is a cereal for your choosing.

The advertising has also changed over the years. In the late 1950's and early 60's breakfast cereal has taken on a cartoonish cover of feeding the masses of children on any given morning, Especially on Saturday mornings when cartoons and sugary cereal went hand in hand and the voices of children could be heard through the house asking mom to get some Frosted Flakes or Froot Loops on the next trip to the store. All this was just the beginning to what has become a lucrative business aimed at the youth of America. 

Now...back to the epiphany in the cereal aisle.

As I stood there looking over the multitude of choices, I had an interesting observation.  All of the cartoon characters that adorn the front of cereal boxes have one thing in common. They have three fingers and a thumb.  For example: 

Only a small fraction of the selection of four fingered characters that front the face of morning sweetness. It also had me thinking of a story I wrote years ago about these two guys.

       

  That's right. They too have only three fingers and a thumb. After some investigating about the missing digit of most all animated characters it was found that Walt Disney animators were behind the four digit hand. It's been noted that the animators could produce drawings faster and have the paint cels finished quicker if the subjects only had three fingers and a thumb. Thus reducing the time it took to produce a full length cartoon.  But all isn't bad if you only have three fingers and a thumb.

You could be like this guy. He only has a thumb and a little dough as a hand, no wonder everyone is poking him in the side. It's not because he's a soft lump of dough, it's because there poking fun at his lack of three fingers.