Oklahoma Today Autumn 1967 Volume 17 No. 4

pening words of a 59'30
klahoma, at first might have
e m e d preposterous to rkders of
I;:
the ~lclabmCity newspaper in which they appeared.
Whkh w&r7 after all, did not know that the surroundfng l a t n b p 'could claim nothing higher than an oc&%&ma1hill?
Dr, GudB's next words, however, clarified the point,
"bat thb mantain is buried under 6,500 feet of sand*B
& &ale."
T b "~momtainl'is there. today. It is a ridge of fanh t i e length, extending underground from southeastern
N&r&
through Kansas to Central Oklah011~8.A few
d l = tram its southern end, it created conditions for
om af the world's greatest oilfields-the Oklahoma City
Field,
N
&
"Nemaha" for a northern Kansas county,
the mountbtinous granite mass was formed during the
dim reaches of an ancient geologic era. It then stood
IWBthe land surface. But came the tidal seasw b m that "covered the face of the deep" and their
Immemenb deposited layer after layer of earth sedimmQ, Oklahoma City today sits atop 6,500 feet of
*has &enternore
than a mile above Nemaha.
The receding waters that had slowly deposited
those layers of earth also left animal and plolrvt r e d .
&me of these, in "nature's refinery," became t*hy oil
particles. Becaw of their light weight, they moved u p
ward along Nernaha's granite slopes until stappd by a
d i d layer of shale.
Similar "traps" at intervals along Nemaha's length
f~rmedsuch huge oil fields as Eldorado and Augista
in Kansas and, in Oklahoma, the Garber, Tonkawa,
Gushing, Seminole, and Oklahoma City Fields. Of these,
the Oklahoma City Field is the largest, having produced
729 million barrels of oil up to January 1, 1967. The industry officially ranks a field whieh has produced a million barrels as a "giant" field. The Oklahoma City Field
is 729 times a giant.
It dozed for many a eentury befom its preeenw was
guessed; until about fifty years ago-2'yatardaf
in
geological time. Then man first began to suspect there
was a veritable ocean of oil below his feet in tha Oklahoma City area. The discovery, when it came, was less
the reward of intensive search than a turn of olrame,
First to learn the truth were young practitioners of a
science then still in its infancy-petroleum gwbgy,
Several geologists thought they sniffed cmde dl at
Oklahoma City, some as many as ten years before the
opening of the field. First, perhaps, was George Morgan*
a young geologist for the Empire Gas and Fuel Cornin Oklahoma City. While visiting his girl frien4 &
Oklahoma City during World W a r I, Morm s$&id
an interesting fact. What happened is tald bp Eweref&
Carpenter, now, fifty years later, living i~ rethement i
Oklahoma City:
'The story George related to me the & day WM
M
TWO
,
THE
LOST
and $8 ttcret treasure
BY DAvfD CRAIGWEAD
of his place. He kept a keg of wine down there, and
George's girl had taken him down there to offer him
a drink. George observed an east dip in the dirt wall
of the cellar. In those days, the thinking of geologists
ran to anticlines as the placea to look for oil and gas,
and an east dip here in Oklahoma was tantamount to an
anticline- George worked up a map of sorts and brought
it to the office the next day."
Morgan's map fascinated the Empire Oil Company's
executives but they feared that the oil - if indeed it
existed - was too far down. Carpenter guessed its depth
at 15,000 feet. Drilling eventually proved that it was not
half that deep, but Empire was better off not trying anyway. Cable tools, the only drilling devices then, were
useless at such depths.
Another young geologist, Jerry Newby, sweyed the
land surface in northeast Oklahoma City for the chamber
of commerce in 1917. Newby found evidence of an oil
structure and drew a map which "showed a large plunging nose with axis east of the capitol building and northeast dips toward Eastern Avenue and Lincoln Park."
Other geologists came upon clues to Nemaha's secret
treasure. These included L. E. Trout, in about 1920; and
E. A. Paschal1 and John R. Bunn in 1926. Bunn's work
led to the drilling of a test well north of the city which
found both oil and gas, but not in commercial quantities.
Despite the efforts of professional geologists, it was the
work of a college professor which led to drilling of the )first oil well. Dr. G. E.Anderson, a mild-mannered pro- fessor of geology at the University of Oklahoma, liked to spend his summers in the outdoors. I t was while doing I field reconnaissance for the Indian Territory Illuminat- <ing Oil Company that Dr. Anderson determined the presence of a "southward projecting nose" extending through Oklahoma City.
A team of geologists verified the details and the I.T.I.O.
prepared to drill.
The Indian Territory Illuminating Oil Company already had the reputation of being a bold, explorationminded firm. Within the previous two years it had drilled
the premier wells in three oil fields--Seminole City, Bowlegs, and Little River. Now, leasing a block of 10,000
acres at the southeast edge of Oklahoma City, it set out
'after even bigger game.
I
Mclny a wild well has blown in during a "trip"(running drill
pipe out or back into the hole). So it was with Wild Mary Sudik.
When drill stem was being pulled, in she blew-200 million
cubic feet of gas and 20 thousand barrels of oil per day. For
eleven days she roared wild, while news commentators broadcast
to the world the epic struggle that brought her under control.
Thirty years ago derrick lights and gas flares illuminated residences near the Capitol in Oklahoma City. A bit noisy, but almost anyone would happily tolerate such inconvenience in exchange for an oil well i n the back yard. r wells, driUed in one of the world's most
ictive oiljielda, produce income for the
:tion of the State of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma
bl Building, as seen here, stands on the
rhoulder of the '%st mountain" which
lrues to produce i b fortune in black gold.
photo by Paul E. Lefebvre
FlVF
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The Oklahoma City assignment meant drilling to new,
greater depths. The heavy steel bits, pounding their way
deep into the earth, struck gas under such pressure that
it bounced them like toys. The drillers said they had
struck "rubber rocks." Drillers usually welcome a show
of gas but here, said I.T.I.O. drilling supervisor Pat
Sutton, was "more gas than we wanted."
Finally the drilling tools came loose in the hole and
the crew spent a week "fishing" for them. The hardships
were forgotten, however, on Dec. 4, 1928, when the No.
1 Oklahoma City "blew itself in" at a depth of 6,355 feet.
They had confirmed the existence of Nemaha's treasure.
The Wilcox Sand,
in which the Mary
Sudik well struck
both oil and gas, is a
part of the Simpson Sand
formation shown
on this cutaway.
A gusher spewing oil at the rate of 6,000 barrels a
day, as did the No. 1Oklahoma City heralds great things.
Frenzied drilling followed. The derricks marched north
into the heart of the city. For the next decade the
metropolis grappled with the joys and agonies of being
straddled by spindly steel monarchs that clanked incessantly and seemed to blacken everything around them.
The wells also pumped an economic infusion into the
city during the worst days of the Depression, providing
high salaried jobs and money in the form of royalty
payments.
Arguments over restricting drilling in the city reached
a storybook climax when oilmen announced that there
was oil beneath the state capitol building. In the governor's chair was E. W. Marland, himself an oilman and
a patron of the arts. He faced a crisis of decision. Should
he hold that the sanctity of Oklahoma's state capitol
grounds prohibited the invasion of oil derricks, as some
insisted, or allow drilling and boost state
revenues?
- - -- --- .
Marland pondered. Then he acted.
Down went the drilling bit--down to strike
oil all along Lincoln Boulevard, and beneath
the very capitol building itself. Now, a generation later, many of these wells are still producing, including the whipstocked well which
pumps oil from the dome structure beneath
the capitol building. This has given rise to the
truism that Oklahoma's domeless capitol building, "has the dome underground." And, to the
envy of other states with money problems, it
produces oil.
The Oklahoma City Field had more than its
share of "wild wells." The most famous of these
was "Wild Mary Sudik" which, in March,
1930, spouted oil like a huge subterranean
whale and roared its defiance for eleven hectic
days before being subdued. I t is claimed that
particles of "Wild Mary's" oil, wafted by the
wind, were carried as far as Norman, twenty
miles south.
The flood of oil from Oklahoma, added to
that from the huge East Texas field and other
smaller fields, caused serious over-production.
A remedy became imperative and so something
new, a system of "pro-rating" oil production,
was devised. I t curbed waste and saved many
an oilman from failure. The corrective, developed with the help of strong Oklahoma leadership, led the state to be called the "mother
of oil conservation."
The Oklahoma City Field still produces a
large amount of oil. Hundreds of derricks yet 1
dot the skyline and draw from the ground1
needed lubricants, while affording tourists a
most unusual sight.
Nature sometimes ia lavish and sometimes stingy with
her gifts. She can be cruel and destructive. But at the
place now occupied by metropolitan Oklahoma City, deep
in the earth, she improvised one of her great bountiethe "treasure of Nemaha."
OKLAHOMA TOD
t was the day after Christmas, 1927. Big-time professional football was coming to Pawhuska. The
barnstorming New York Giants, newly crowned
champions of the National Football League were
meeting the Hominy Indians, pride of Oklahoma
professional football.
The Giants had earned their title a few weeks earlier
by defeating Red Grange's New York Yankees in a New
York City title match, while the Indians were the powerhouse club of the tri-state area of Oklahoma, Kansas,
and Missouri. After running up a string of 28 consecutive
victories, one sports writer had tagged them "the terrors
of the midweat."
The game was a natural for prosperous, oil-booming
Pawhuska and an enthusiastic sports crowd packed the
stadium to overflowing. Football fans converged on Pawhuska from all across the country. The betting was heavy
with most of the "smart" money riding on the Giants.
Devoted, partisan fans at Pawhuska gave a tremendous
roar as the Indians trotted on the gridiron. For the
Hominy team, this was their first crack at a football club
with the stature of the Giants. A year or so earlier, they
had met and defeated a team calling themselves the New
York Rangers. The Rangers were beaten by Hominy
first at Pawhuska and then were beaten again at San
Antonio, two weeks later.
From the opening kickoff, the two teams battled each
other up and down the field. The superior strength and
experience of the Giants was matched by the supercharged
quickness of the Indians. Every Hominy gain, pass completion or jarring tackle brought a standing ovation.
It was inevitable that something had to give, and it was
the Hominy eleven who gave first; a touchdown. Stung by
the Giant touchdown, the Indians struck back and tied
the score when an alert Hominy end grabbed a Giant
fumble in mid-air and raced 50 yards for a touchdown.
Deep in the third quarter, Pappio, of the Indian team, outraced the Giant safety man and caught a 60 yard pass
how many Oklahomans know that one of the first
great pro-football teams was the
BY ARTHUR SHOEMAKER
KLAHOMA TODAY
SEVEN
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from John Levi, ex-Haskell All-American. The point after
touchdown was added and the Indians defeated the Giants
, by a final score of 13 to 6.
i - The idea of an "all-Indian" pro-football team in Oklahoma was the brainchild of Ira Hamilton, a young Osage
Indian of Hominy. It was through his urging that a group
of Indian boys, some experienced, some not, got together
for a series of practice scrimmages. Hamilton bought the
first uniforms and directed the team in a few basic assignments and plays until a regular coach could be hired.
' When
they felt ready to take on an opponent, a game
was set up against a team from Skiatook. It ended in the
first Indian victory.
The first coach of record for the Hominy Indians was
Pete Houser, former Carlisle and Haskell star. He guided
the team for two winning seasons against Missouri teams
at Joplin and &moxie; Kansas teams at CoffeyviIIe, Elk
City and F'redonia; and Oklahoma teams at Stillwater,
Avant, Skiatook, Oilton, Bartlesville and Fairfax. It was
the custom to play a team twice each season on a home
and home basis, the average season running from twelve
to fourteen games.
A Hominy News account of a 1924 game against Avant
relates; "Johnnie Martin, former pitcher for the Guthrie
baseball team in the Oklahoma State League, went into
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the g u m in the fourth quarter. On the first play, Martin
skirted right end for a gain of 20 yards, but Hominy was
penalized 15 yards for Martin's having failed to report to
the referee. On the next three plays the backfield hit the
line for a first down. With the ball on the 20-yard
line, Martin again skirted right end for the winning
touchdown."
This same Johnnie Martin was later to become known
to baseball fans the world over as Pepper Martin, star
third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals' "Gas House
Gang" of the 1930's. In 1929 Pepper upset the Cardinal
front office by playing with the Hominy Indians in a
game against the Memphis Tigers at Memphis, Tenn.
By 1925 the Indians were winning so consistently that
it was necessary to find new teams to play. An expanded
schedule meant traveling greater distances and would
greatly increase the expenae budget, so a group of Osage
men offered financial backing. Among those who helped
were Dick Rusk, Harry Bigeagle, John Abbott, and Allison
Webb, with Ed LaBelle acting as team secretary.
It was through the influence of these Osage tribal
leaders that Hominy was able to field teams well strengthened with players graduated from Haskell Institute. It
was a matter of pride that an Indian boy, graduating from
an Indian school, could "play for pay" with an all-Indian
pro-football team.
It was from HaskelI that the Hominy team got John
and George Levi. John became a player-mach and was
one of the all time great Indian players. Using the round,
OKLAHOMA TOD
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fat ball of the day, John would stand on the fifty-yard
line and drop kick the ball, first over one goal, and then
the other. He could kick or pass the ball 100 yards.
The Hominy club's complete historic roster lists such
colorful Indian names as Big Horse, Bird, Brave, Fixico,
Pappio, and Bear Tracks. A good many tribes were represented; Osage, Pawnee, O h , Creek, Seminole, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Sioux, Cherokee, Navajo, Kiowa, Seneca,
Sac and Fox, and Pottawatomie, among them. One long
outstanding player was George Nix, an Eskimo from
Alaska.
Payment to football players in the twenties seldom
rose higher than $150 per game. In many instances was
less than that. Occasionally it was necessary to announce
that all the proceeds of a game would go to the players.
They had to risk broken bones, torn ligaments, long hospital bills, wen unattended injuries, of every sort. But
none counted the risks-the special joy of team play
was far greater.
There was a special flavor to those haphazard times,
despite lean gate receipts and long, wearying rides. The
Indians never owned a bus, but used a caravan of touring
cars. The breakdown of a lumbering Pierce-Arrow or
Buick carrying key players, the ragged jerseys, the greasy
lunch moms, the smell of linament and sweat, the rejoicing
If we counted correctly, eleven different tribes are represented on
this Hominy Indians us New York Giants football program. Also,
there were six Oklahomans playing for the New York Giunts; Gutowsky (it's spelled wrong in the program) and Schwab from Oklahoma
City University; Sark, Sedbrook, Bill and Steve Owen from Phillips
University. Both O.C.U. and Phillips had powerhouse football clubs
in those days. And how about Stein, from the College of Hard
Knocks? Pro-football was rough and rugged then, and now.
of a team victory, were all a part of the game.
A player for the Hominy Indians had to be versatile,
as well as rugged. He never knew when he would have to
play a different position. Most of the linemen could play
any position in the line. A fleet end would fill in for an
ailing halfback. Game conditions were often miserable,
as reported by this Associated Press dispatch datelined
December 15, 1928, from Memphis, Tern.
ZNDZAN ELEVEN BEATS TIGERS IN MUD 20-13
"For the second time this season the Oklcrhona Indian
football team from Hominy, unbeaten in two years, conquered the Tigers Sunday at Hodges Field, Memphis,
in a sea of mud and water. The triumph of the Redskim
marked their twenty-seventh consecutive victory in two
years, in which time they have not been beaten or tied."
The dispatch does not fully explain that the entire sixty
minutes of the game were played in a cold, dreary, downpour that turned the turf into a swamp. Mud oozed from
every uniform and the entire game was played with just
one ball. There was no such thing as a dry ball in
those days.
The Indians did not go on winning forever. They, too,
suffered defeat which only proved that they could take it
as well as dish it out. In 1928, a hand picked team of
NFL All-Stars rolled into Tulsa and played Hominy at
McNulty Park on December 20. The All-Stars, led by
Steve Owen, who became the long-time coach of the
N. Y. Giants and a member of the Pro Football Hall of
Fame, defeated the Indians 27 to 0.
From 1929 through 1932, the Indians traveled from
coast to coast. A few games were played in California, but
the majority of them in the east. (There were games at
St. Louis, Boston, New York City, Chicago, and many
smaller cities.) One game was in Orange, New Jersey,
against the Buffalo Rangers. The Oklahoma Indians had
little trouble scheduling games in the east. They were
splendid athletes, and they were colorful.
A group of Tulsa business men once made offers to
move the team to Tulsa where stadium arrangements
and gate receipts would be more attractive to visiting
teams. Relidnary discussions were held to obtain an
NFL franchise for the Indians should they move to Tulsa.
With the advent of the thirties, the great depression
spread across the land. The golden age of pre-depression
sports was at an end. Pro teamswere disbanding in all but
the larger citiea of the east. The Indians gave up football
after the 1932 season.
But for ten amazing years, the Hominy Indians were
a big-time pro-football team in Oklahoma. They played
all comers. They played on fields that were nothing more
than chalked-off pastures, and they played in stadiums
seating fifty thousand fans. They played because they
loved the game, and because they could play as an
all-Indian unit.
I t is pure conjecture, but what might the circumstances
be today had the Hominy Indians been able to continue
in football with an NFL franchise. I t is possible that,
today, Oklahomans would be rooting for their team
against the likes of the Green Bay Packers, the Chicago
Bears, the Detroit Lions-and get this-the Washington Redskins.
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10 GREAT DAYS
TULSA-TULSA-T
ULSA-TULSA
SKYRIDE TULSA STATE FAIR COLOR PHOTO BY PAUL E. LEFEBVRE TULSA STATE FAIR
~J:ll
LEFLORE COUNTY
THE
TQURIST
1
ASSOCIATION
The Heavener Runest
ome of the most enchanting scenery in the entire
west is found in the Kiamichi Mountains. It is
a land of cold, quiet streams, sparkling isolated
lakes chock full of bass, goggle-eye, and blue
ill, with pine-clad mountain hideaways for deer,
wild turkey and quail, where early morning skies are
veiled with haze and mystic shadows.
Until now, however, relatively few outsiders have seen
it. Earth roads made this trip a rugged expedition. To
make such a trip took determination, endurance, and a
knowledge of the country. Consequently, hunters and
fishermen were almost the only ones to explore the
interior of the Ouachita National Forest. But those who
did see this untamed, untouched, natural wonderland
never quit talking about it.
Baldwin Mollhausen crossed here with the Pacific Railroad survey in 1853 and noted, "The traveler is tempted
to linger here." English naturalist Thomas Nuttall,
praised it in 1818 when he observed that the Winding
Stair Mountains "resemble the Blue Ridge Mountains
of Harper's Ferry in Virginia" and a soldier who crossed
the Old Military Road before the Civil War wrote his
sister that this looked like the "Old Catskill" country.
Now these scenic byways have become scenic highways.
You can see for yourself, from S H 88, a new nine million dollar skyline drive over the Winding Stairs and
Rich Mountain, and from US 259, a broad north-south highway dedicated at Big Cedar in 1961 by John F. Kennedy. A monument has been placed a t this crossroad
FOURTEEN
Leif Erikson, son of Eric
Red, reached the Cape
area of our Atlantic corn
10a3, almost five centu
before Columbus "discovi
America" in 1492. In 1
another Vikzng, Thorfin Karlse
led an exploratory expeditia
Amenca. These early voyc
are recorded i n the anc
Hauksbok of Norse saga
Copenhagen. Denmark.
diligent probing of scholars
eventually establish whic,
several Viking expeditions entc
the Gulf of Mexico, traveled up
Mississippi, the Arkansas, and
Poteau Rivers to erect this runes&
It is the oldest written evidend
European presence on the Nc
American Continent. From the naq
rock shelters of their base camp la
the Vikings explored the surrounq
area. The runestone is oriented nc
and south, and slanted towardl
noon position of the sun so thq
becomes both a directional marker, i
a sundial. The primitive Norse ru
carved on its flinty face
G N O M E D A L- 'Sundial D a d
"Sundial Valley." These early Vi4
explorers are receiving increari
recognition. In 1964, the U . S. Conga
set aside Oct. 9 as Leif Erikson d
Oklahoma has provided a park area t
protection for this priceless historic artifi
The Runestone is just northwest of Heave1
The park is open and you may visit it fi
9:00A.M. to 690 P.M. da
Color photo by Bill Burcha
OKLAHOMA TODA
mountain village, where the American flag flies daily in President Kennedy's honor. Free of hot dog stands and billboards, the skyline drive immediately engulfs you in a peaceful atmosphere that lets you climb right up to the clouds. You feel as though you are on top of the world. For 55 miles from Talihina to Mena this ridge road offers the excitement of climbing, looping, and dipping, yet with the safe, secure feel of a super highway.
Its official name is Talimena Scenic Drive, but "Sky- line Drive" still persists. That is the name the CCC boys gave the rough service road they cut through the forest for the rangers in the 1930's. I t served as a road bed for this one. Frequent vistas, camping sites, picnic areas invite you to linger. Smell the coffee brewing as you cook out "high in the sky." Watch the sun rise and almost burst over Holson Valley. Climb one of the ranger's towers for a crow's nest view of the Kiamichi Valley and Sugar Loaf Mountains. Take pictures of the Old Military Road that crosses the drive near the west terminal. Built in 1832, it was used to move U.S. troops and equipment from Fort Smith to Fort Towson. Pause at Horsethief Springs where Belle Starr's outlaws watered and rested stolen horses before sending them on to Texas or Kansas in Indian Terri-
tory days.
Look for the magnificent arboretum on the north side of Coon Mountain where over 600 acres adjoining the scenic drive will be devoted to some 150 species of shrubs and trees, botanically marked. In LeFlore County his- tory has its deep roots in the rich heritage of Oklahoma. This was part of the Louisiana Purchase that Napoleon
sold for less than four cents an acre.
This is Choctaw country that came to them by the
Big Cedar
View from Talime]
Skyline Driti
Eastern Oklahoma LS lon
with gorgeous skyline drivc
from which to view the glorl
of autumn. The newest ori
Talihina to Mena, far excee
our vocabulary of adjective
comparisons. We'll just say
there is no drive anywhere'
the world that can excell !
gentle, varihued grandeur. Mi
we especially recommend the
week ~n October? Anyway, t
has been a favorite viewing ti
for us. May we also recomme
U.S. 259 south to Beavers Be
State Park; U.S.59 from Sallis
to Stilwell, then Okla. 51
Tahlequah; fact is, we've found
autumn road from Grove to Brok
Bow that did not somewhere ma
us slow and pull aside, just to wa
or stand, with the certain kmwle
that, as Zsiah urges us to '%act up
the Lord," He has here ottertaken
and we were in HLSpresence. Autu
is a time when the handiwork of ti
Almighty is evident, and the pensi
atmosphere facilitates every creatil
communicatio
Color photo by Rubye McCc
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OKLAHOMA TODAJ
Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, where Choctaws agreed
to exchange their land in Mississippi for land in Indian
Territory. They named their new nation in honor of Chief
Greenwood LeFlore, who never saw it.
Even deeper in America's heritage are the Spiro Temple Mounds, recognized as one of the outstanding archaeological discoveries in North America. Scientists believe
they were built some 500 years before the coming of
Columbus. Exhibits taken from the mounds are on display a t the Stovall Museum, a t Norman, the Historical
Society Museum, Oklahoma City, and Woolaroc Museum,
near Bartlesville.
As you drive north from Spiro, look back before the
Civil War and remember Skullyville existed here. The
Choctaws received annuities here. The Choctaw word for
money is "iskuli," and so the village was named. This was
also a regular stop for the Butterfield Overland Stage
that carried passengers and mail from St. Louis to San
Francisco.
About one and one-half miles east of Heavener is the
famous Runestone on the side of Poteau Mountain.
Carved on a monument like stone are ancient runes from
the 3rd to 10th century Scandinavian alphabet. This is perhaps the earliest evidence of the presence of Euro- pean explorers on the American continent, indicating that the Vikings were here before Columbus.
You may visit Hall Cemetery near Poteau, where the grave of Choctaw Chief Mosholatubbee is found. A roof like covering of native stone shelters his resting place. You can see the Mosholatubbee District council house south of Brazil Creek where his nephew, Chief Kincaid, is buried. Deep in the San Bois Mountains the dear Fourche Maline River meanders through Robbers Cave State
Park. It enters Lake Carlton, giving fishermen a choice
Beaclers Bend State Park
At Sequoyah Memon
near Sallisc
This cabin, built in the style
early days in Indian Territq
is constructed of logs hn
hewn by Sequoyah himself. Ii
not the cabin in which Sequoy
lived. The home cabin of
Cherokee Cadmus is housed,
protection in the memorial stc
building nearby. It is spectub
that Sequoyah cut and hewed t h
logs for a new house but, befi
building it, departed on the joun
from which he never return
Color photo by Bill Burcha,
EIGHTEEN
OKLAHOMA TODP
of either stream or lake fishing. Wear your sneakers to
climb one hundred feet up the side of the sandstone
cliff to the mouth of the cave, once a hideout for outlaws.
A restaurant, swimming beaches, cottages and picnic
tables are located in the park.
On the ridge overlooking Poteau River Valley is the
sprawling home of the late Senator Robert S. Kerr. Black
Angus is the password in this valley where top breeding
brings Angus buyers from all over the world. In Poteau,
Angus steaks, Angusburgers, apple pie and hot biscuits
satisfy the hungry appetite created by the fresh mountain air.
Where fishermen once roughed it in exchange for a
good string of fish, now modern facilities and good roads
make this truly a fishermen's paradise. There is Lake
Wister, Cedar Lake, Goats Bluff, Mountain Fork River,
and Beaver's Bend State Park. When autumn tips its
paint palette on more than 70 varieties of trees including
hickory, sweet gum, oak, sycamore, pecan, walnut, and
sassafras, in luscious oranges, purples, reds, browns and
yellows it offers one of the nation's most exciting foliage
extravaganzas.
In LeFlore County is the old Indian jail at Panama;
Captain Reynold's Castle at Cameron; Cavanal, "the world's highest hill;" hand blown glass plants; and the "crane rookery" where thousands of cranes nest and hatch their broods each year. There are saw mills, a
deer park, a coal washing plant, bear caves to explore, and the Robert S. Kerr Lock and Dam on the Arkansas River. Whatever your traveling pleasure, it's here, whether it be hiking, photography, sketching, bird watching, look- ing for rocks, or studying wild flowers. As a bonus you will discover an atmosphere that seems to get progressively clearer and fresher, nature's tranquilizer a t its best.
Stop On The Old Military Road to Fort Toulson
Mountain Fork River at Sun.
The Mountain Fork sprir
up in high counhy. As it flu
south, gathering small strea
with animal names, Eagle, Oh
Buffalo, Turkey, Panther, a
Bear, it seems to beco,
increasingly frolicsome as thou
assuming the youthful anin
characteristics of these nameso
streams. As it approaches a
becomes Little River, streams w
gently rhythmic Choctaw nun
pouj in; Yanubble, Yashoo, Lukfa
Luksukla. Here, at Boktukol
mouth the river seems almost
slow, to pause, hesitating, a:
reluctant to pass this beautifid pla
The traveler, pausing, knows a 1
reluctance. Especially so, at sum
Color photo by Bill Burcha,
TWENTY
OKLAHOMA TODP
employment for over 1,000 persons. By
the end of a year a shift of 400 workers
will have been employed, with a payroll
in excess of $1.5 million. The Elk City
'
facility was built through a county industrial trust. Beckham county citizens voted 1
a $1.45 million county general obliga- ,
tion bond issue by a 5-to-1 margin. A I
lease agreement with Sequoyah is sched- '
I
uled to retire the bonds.
SWIFT, GUYMON.
The new Swift & Company meat processing plant at Guymon began operations in September. With facilities for
slaughtering 2,600 cattle per week, the
Swift plant is now adding $40 million
annually to the Oklahoma economy. Guymon built and equipped the plant through
the issue of revenue bonds, negotiating
a long term lease with Swift & Co.
,
HAGGAR SLACKS, DUNCAN.
The Duncan Haggar Slacks plant now
employs approximately 300 sewing operators and plans are in progress to add
another 100. The 32,000 sq. ft. facility
is a pace setter in the modern apparel
industry. The Duncan l ndustrial Development Committee was a key organization
in bringing this plant to Duncan.
GEMCO, TULSA.
Born just over two years ago with little
more than an idea, Gemco, producing aircrew trainers, has now passed $3 million per year in sales. Their first contract
was with Trans World Airlines. The fine
reputation of their product has spread
throughout the air carrier industry. Manufacturing cockpits for pilot training and
passenger area mock-ups for stewardess
training, the airlines themselves have
spread the word. Economy, both in time and money, result from using Gemco
training devices.
SEQUOYAH FURNITURE, ELK CITY.
Another link in the industrial organization that is the first to manufacture a
complete line of home furnishings under
one name-Sequoyah-is
now producing
bedroom furniture at Elk City. There are
two Sequoyah Carpet Mills plants at Anadarko. The Sequoyah Furniture and Bedding Mfg. plant is in Oklahoma City
Plans for a carpet mill to be built ir
Osage County, were announced with dedication of the Elk City plant. In dedicating
the $2 million Elk City plant, board
chairman Don Greve said the industry
will be able to produce in excess of $10
million of furniture annually and provide
TWENTY-TWO
I
t
-
BY HUGH SCOTT
B. F. GOODRICH, MIAMI.
This third largest single production
facility in Oklahoma is now producing
15,000 tires and 10,000 tubes per day,
more than triple the initial production of
the plant when it opened in 1945. The
payroll of the plant's 1,692 employees
now exceeds $1,250,000 per month.
Plant manager S. T. Ulmer lists nine reasons why the Oklahoma plant has expanded and will continue to expand; 1.
Electric energy available at favorable
rates. 2. Abundant water resources. 3.
Gas available at favorable rates. 4. Favor- able tax structure. 5. Responsible and mature employees. 6. Labor is available to maintain steady production. 7. Favor-
able civic climate. 8. Central geographic location. 9. Close proximity river naviga- tion three years hence. GENERAL ELECTRIC, OKLAHOMA CITY. The General Electric Company has un- dertaken a huge Oklahoma City expan- sion. The facility now under construction
will include 108,000 sq. ft. of space, and
will initially house $5.8 million in equipment. I t s 1 5 0 employees, p r i m a r i l y
skilled machinists and toolmakers, will
manufacture precision parts for computers. Company officials predict it will be
the first of several buildings on the 1,016
acre site. GE's f i r s t plant here was
opened five years ago. Now employing
1200 in its memory equipment department and 450 in other leased buildings,
the facility now under construction will
raise GE's t o t a l floor space here to
419,000 sq. ft.
OKLAHOMA TODA
MOSCELYNE LARKIN
MARJORIE TALLCHIEF
The Four Moons, an original ballet production to
be presented in Tulsa, October 28, and in Oklahoma
City, November 2 is a major project of Showcase
'67, celebrating Oklahoma's 60th Anniversary of
Statehood. Featured will be Yvonne Chouteau,
Rosella Hightower, Moscelyne Larkin, and Marjorie
Tallchief. The four world-renowned Oklahoma ballerinas, all of part Indian heritage, will be dancing
to music composed by another famed Oklahoman,
Lewis Ballard. American Indian composer Ballard,
most recently recognized for his Koshare ballet, has
utilized the songs and dances of the Five Civilized
Tribes in creating the music for The Four Moons.
The ballet is a pas de quatre, a form last used almost
a century ago. Directors of the production will be
Roman Jasinski and Miguel Terekhov, choreography
for Marjorie Tallchief by George Skibine. Rosella
Hightower now heads the Center of Classical Dance,
Cannes, France. Miguel Terekhov and Yvonne
Chouteau are Artists-in-Residence at Oklahoma University. Roman Jasinski and Moscelyne Larkin direct the Tulsa Civic Ballet. Marjorie Tallchief is
guest ballerina with the Harkness Ballet. The Tulsa
and Oklahoma City Civic Ballet companies will form
the corps de ballet; the music will be performed by
the Tulsa Philharmonic, Franco Autori conducting;
and the Oklahoma City Symphony, Guy Fraser
Harrison conducting.
TWENTY-FOUR
The above official emblem will be seen often this
autumn, as we celebrate our 60th Anniversary of
Statehood. Oklahoma's progress and accomplishments in a short 60 years are incredibly extensive.
Every item in every issue of Oklahoma Today in
some way recognizes one such accomplishment, and
new accomplishments are made by Oklahomans
daily. Just for example;
Bob Dickson, of Muskogee, in recently winning
the British Amateur Golf Cham~ionshi~.
- , has added
another International Championship to the triumphs
of Oklahoma sports stars.
The U. S. Surgeon General's report indicates that
Oklahoma's young men are in the best physical
and mental condition of any in the nation. The
national average of men disqualified for Selective
Service is 37.6%. Oklahoma, with only 20.3% of
its men disqualified, has topped every other state.
An Oklahoma City family won the national competition for designing an official emblem for the
new U.S. Dept. of Transportation. James Ashworth,
his wife Neva, their sons Mark and Rocky, designed
a seal incorporating a white triskelion on a red
background, symbolic of progress in air, sea, and
ground transportation, the triskelion's counter clockwise motion symbolizing continuing efforts to reduce travel time.
YOU BELONG TO A NOBLE COMPANY BY Betty Prim 0 , young Sooner teacher, With the glow of early Eden In your far-searching eyes, And bright new plans etched clearly in your mind, While safe in your heart Are shimmering young dreams. Keep them burnished, keep them bright; You now belong to a distinguished company .
A noble company Of men and women Who have brought across the miles, Across the years, The art of learning, of discipline, of purpose, For the youth of our land. Unroll the scroll and read their history: No teacher has ever attained great wealth, Nor has the Nobel Commission Ever chosen a teacher For their illustrious award. Too long have teachers been held back, . .
OKLAHOMA TODA
Held back by prejudice,
Disturbed by complacency.
Yet this noble company
Has made giant strides
Along the brarnbled way;
The winding road is clearer now,
Thirst for knowledge endures,
And hope and goodness live on.
And soon, soon,
May the outreach of your mind and heart
Join others of your noble company
At conference tables,
To lead discussions
On social justice and peace
For a bewildered world.
The flowering of genius has called you,
And the glory is . you dreamed and came,
0, young Sooner teacher.
. .
CZECH FESTIVAL Chairman John Kouba assures us there'll be fun for all in Yukon come October 7th. The Festival parade is set for 10:00 A.M.
Lunch with a Czech flavor along main street. View
the art exhibits. The program, bright with folk
costumes and dance, begins at 8:00 P.M. There'll
be the Czech national dance, polka, schottische,
and home-spun fun all in the Bohemian tradition.
More dancing after 7:00 P.M. You're expected, and
your visit will be welcomed.
NEW BOOKS
OKLAHOMA BIRDS by George Miksch Sutton
(University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, $9.95)
It might be contended that Dr. George Sutton is
not real, he is a legend. Certainly his research exploits, in the Arctic, in Mexico, and all over the
U.S.A. are legendary. But having accompanied Dr.
Sutton and watched him at work from pre-dawn to
after dark on a field trip, we know that he is real.
His energy and dedication are beyond belief, but he
is tangibly real. When he writes about the birds he
has observed and thoroughly studied in his far-flung
journeys, those birds become real, too. Dr. Sutton,
one of the world's most distinguished ornithologists,
chose Oklahoma University as his home base because the wide variety of Soonerland's terrain and
climate attracts an unusual range of bird species to
this state. Thus his new book is significant for an
area far more vast than Oklahoma alone. It has an
immeasurable significance for us. It is a work previously unequaled, and we will predict that it will,
in all future time, remain unequaled. A large prediction, so we can only urge that you purchase the
book, and see if you don't agree!
TWENTY-SIX
IRON MEN by C. H. McKennon (Doubleday &
Co., New York, $5.95) Using the life of U. S. Deputy Marshal Paden Tolbert, the author gives us a
fine word portrait of Judge Isaac Parker, Tahlequah
and Indian Territory Oklahoma, and the epic struggle between the law and the almost invincible willful courage of the Cherokee outlaw Ned Christie.
No dusty historical tome, this Tulsa author captures the spirit of the era about which he writes. A
rare spirit it was, and one that yet more rarely is
so well depicted in printed words.
OFF THE SAUCE by Lewis Meyer (Doubleday
& Co., New York, $3.95) What can one say about
Lewis Meyer? That he is brilliant, witty, likeable,
warm and human? He is all these, and with this
book assumes heroic stature for us. W h o has the
courage to confess his personal weakness to all the
world, remain in the city where he is well known,
and keep right on looking the world straight in the
eye from his television program every Sunday?
Lewis does. Who but the erudite Tulsan could reveal his problems as an alcoholic, to help others
wrestling the same problems, and accomplish this
without trite preachments, with no self-righteous
moralizing, but instead, in a high spirit of good humor. Lewis wins our total respect. We'll toast him
with our morning cocktail of pure apple juice, tomorrow, tomorrow, and tomorrow.
AMERICA'S WESTERN FRONTIERS by John
A. Hawgood (Alfred A. Knoph, New York, $10.00)
A virtuoso display of the author's incredible overall
grasp of the story of the American West. Oklahoma's
landrushes are well covered. An inconsistency, which
describes Oklahoma as the "center of the dust bowl"
is contradicted by the author's accurate map, showing that only a very small part of the dust bowl
reached into Oklahoma; by far the greater part of
same being in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and
Kansas. This first winner of the Knoph Western
History Prize is well illustrated, colorfully and excitingly written. Recommended reading, it is also
enjoyable reading.
COWBOYS AND CATTLEMEN by Lela and
Rufus Waltrip (David McKay Co., Inc., New York,
$3.95) Each of the thirteen chapters is devoted to a
giant of the American West; Capt. Richard King,
founder of Texas' sprawling King Ranch; John S.
Chisum, of Lincoln County New Mexico fame;
Charles Goodnight, cattle baron of the Texas Panhandle; Charlie Russell, western artist; Eugene Marlone Rhodes, western author; Burton C. Mossman,
who brought law and order to Arizuna, etc. The
authors have chosen thirteen westerners without
peer, each a colossus in western history. Three they
have chosen are Will Rogers, Bill Pickett (see page
28), and long time Oklahoman and World Champion Cowboy Bob Crosby; well-earned recognition
for three great men, and another cardinal indication
of Oklahoma's stature in the development of the
West.
OKLAHOMA TODP
1
I
I
Here is a remarkable portrait of
a man. Competent and
confident, wearing the boots, the
spurs, the uest, the expensive
but battered Stetson, the
hallmarks of the coulboy's trade.
In Bill Pickett's skzllful hands.
the lariat, in the use'of which
he was unexcelled. His arm rests
on his saddle, from which hangs
his Angora chaps. For a later
nortrait o f Bill Pickett. uiestern
s howman; please turn the page.
-
OKLAHOMA TODA
i_
I
A
y;
The steer lunged into the
arena. The rider poised behind
the barrier let the steer
L . 2
w
get a long running start then
his horse plunged full speed
after it.
Coming up on the steer's near side,
the rider leaped from the saddle. He
turned a complete somersault along
T
the length of the steer's back. flying
out and down over the curved horns to fasten his teeth
in the side of the steer's mouth.
With sheer strength he dragged the running behemoth's
head to the tanbark, thrust its horn in the ground, and
forward momentum threw the steer hocks over horns
in a somersault of its own.
Whereupon the steer was altogether happy to lie
quietly and rest awhile, with the bulldogger's teeth still
biting its lip, his arms raised aloft to show that he had
not used his hands at all, and the crowd in the grandstand which had fallen utterly silent-let loose a roar of
applause and amazement. Bill Pickett had performed his
bulldogging act with the 101 Ranch Wild West Show.
As Bill's friend Milt Hinkle has pointed out in an
article in True West magazine, Pickett was not a big
man. He was less than six-feet-tall, weighing a solid 165
&
.
I
p
The bait that had fetched the convention was Joe
Miller's offer to entertain the editors with a wild west
show at the 101 Ranch. It was quite a show. On June 11,
after three days of convention business in Guthrie, thirtyfive special trains carried the newspaper editors and
spectators to Ponca City. The coaches were loaded with
passengers, on top, inside, a few even eager enough to
ride the rods beneath.
Sixty-five thousand people from every state swarmed
over the 101 Ranch headquarters. They saw Geronimo
shoot his last buffalo. They gave the incredible Bill
Pickett a standing ovation. They were entranced by the
cowgirl artistry of the beautiful Lucille Mulhall. The
rough-riding 101 Ranch cowhands performed feats of
bronc busting, wild riding and roping that brought the
editors to their feet applauding and shouting, time
and again.
They saw bruising Indian stickball, and plains warriors
kicking up the dust in war ceremonials that had been
danced in earnest only a few years earlier. At dusk, long
after the show was over, an Indian attack on a circled
wagon train was so convincing that some editors and their
startled wives thought it was the real thing. Out of it all,
grew the 101 Ranch Wild West Show which traveled the
world, and in which Bill Pickett was a headline star.
Billboard magazine's issue for August 15, 1911, called
BILL
pounds. Bill was a Negro, a superb athlete, and as lithe
and agile as a circus trapeze performer. His sport was
rodeo. Perhaps it should be called his vocation, but he
was first and last, a cowboy.
He was not only a cowboy, he was a tophand at that
exacting, dangerous, and tough profession. Bill Pickett
had begun riding and roping as soon as he was old enough
to straddle a horse. Throughout his life he probably spent
more time in the saddle than he did afoot, working cattle
and performing in wild west show arenas.
Zack Miller, of the 101, first saw Bill perform in 1905.
He hired him on the spot, for that was the year that Joe
Miller, with Frank Greer of the Guthrie Daily Leader,
had persuaded the National Editorial Association to hold
its next convention in Oklahoma.
K L A H O M A TODAY
B U R C H A R D T
Bill Pickett ". . . the modern Urus, in a demonstration of
courage, nerve, strength, and agility in which he duplicates his feat of conquering a Spanish fighting bull,
unarmed and unaided, by forcing the largest of bulls to
the tanbark of sheer strength."
Pickett had conquered the Spanish bull in Mexico City
three years earlier, in 1908. The Tulsa World reports that
Bill had not accompanied the 101 Ranch show on that
trip to Mexico. Work had to be done at the home ranch
even when the show was on the road. The cowboys took
turns in remaining at Ponca to keep the cow work there
from falling behind.
The revolution was about to break out in Mexico. The
people of Mexico City, occupied with serious matters,
Continued
TWENTY-NINE
were staying at home in droves, and the show was losing
$1000 a day.
To stir up some publicity. the Millers started baitingnot the bulls, but the bullfighters. The combat in the
newspapers between Millers and mutadors culminated in
a bet, and a wire was dispatched to Ponca City, beckoning Pickett to Mexico. The bet, $5000 plus the gate
receipts (which tuned out to be $48,000 that day), and
Bill's funeral expenses, was that Pickett could not keep
his hands on un toro bravo, a fighting bull named Chiquito
Frijole for five minutes. Chiquito Frijole had fought so
fiercely in the Plaur del Toro the week previous that the
crowd had forced the matador to spare his life.
In Pickett's struggle with that bull, his favorite horse
Spradley was gored, but Bill clung to the bull's bloody
horns through whiplash evolutions,and though the powerful beast battered him against the arena wall.
Bill clung, not for five minutes, but for 6% minutes.
The timekeeper favored el toro. A beer bottle flung by a
r u f h in the stands broke Bill's ribs. 'When Zack Miller
and cowboy Vee Pegg rode into the arena, rescuing Bill
by raping Friole's heels, the rwvrks had to rescue the
whole 101 show from attack by the mob of ruffians who
bad been rooting for the bull.
Bill was concerned only for his horse Spradley. He
managed to stagger out of the arena to his horse. He put
his arms around Spradley's neck. The horse was quivering
with agony, and fell as Bill held him and cried without
shame. A mejicano viejo, who understood this man's love
for his horse, aent a boy running for two red, not yellow, bfmaM8.
The llcejicano peeled the bananas and thrust them deep
into the gore wounds in Spradley's haunches. Within
minutes the horse stopped quivering. Spradley's gore
wounds healed without ever swelling.
Bill Pickett was the very first bulldogger. Steer bulldogging is an event in every rodeo now, but no modern
rodeo contestant bulldogs the way Bill Pickett did. Bill
never wrestled the steer down with his hands. He would
even let them tie his hands behind him while he performed the feat. Bill accomplished it by fastening his
teeth in the soft flesh to the right of the steer's mouth,
the way a bulldog does.
In monopolizing the act for twenty years, Bill eventually lost all his front teeth. But he never gave up. Even
when the 101fell on bitter times, headed for the auction
block in the depression days of the thirties, Bill Pickett
remained loyal. When Zack Miller became ill from the
train of trying to save the 101, Bill was the only cowboy
from the old days
still
left on the ranch. They stuck it
out, together, to the last.
In late March of 1932, Bill Pickett, then past seventy
years old, went into a corral to rope out a half-bmken
mrrel home. The horse reared. Pickett, with the courage
that chara*
his whole life, went walking up the
rope toward h snuffy bronc. A flying hoof knocked him
down. Eleven days later, Bill died from the coxmlssh.
Zack Miller, himself sick and weak, spoke his farewell
to Bill at the funeral services held on the 101White House
gallery, and there stated that Bill Pickett was the best
cowboy the ranch ever had. Quite a statement when you
consider the buckaroos who rode for the 101, a rugged
breed who wore the hair on the outside.
Zack wrote a poem about Bill. Some would not call it
poetry. Certainly Zack Miller never thought of himself as
a poet. But they are words from the heart of an oldtime
rancher who had lost the friend of a lifetime. Zack wrote;
"Old Bill has died and gone away ,
over the great divide
Gone to the place where preachers say
both sinner and saint abide.
If they check his brand
like I think they will
It's a running hoss
they'll give to Bill;
Like many a man in the old time west
on any job he did his best
He's left a blank that's hard to fill
for there'll never be another Bill."
It is a hard time when a man buries his friend, and
Zaek MiIler and Bill Piekett were the kind of friends who
had raised hell together and put a chunk under it. They
had gone through tough times. Both now lay buried near
the grave of a third friend, White EagIe, once Chief of
the Poncas. The three graves are on a hill south of
Ponca City.
A far-famedorganization erected the monument over the ,
grave of Bill Pickett, a great cowboy, and the first bull- ,
dogger. The monument bears his mame BILL PZCKETT i
and, beneath it, the insignia of the Cherokee Strip Cowpunchers Association.
dI
I
I
an indust11
with adequate
mom to grow
the Wichita Mountains of the southwest and the Arbuckles of Johnston County in 1915. He reported his
findings in a bulletin published by the Oklahoma Geological Survey; "The lack of capital for the purchase of
equipment and a general lack of information concerning
the quality of Oklahoma granite appear to be responsible
for the slow development of granite resources in Oklahoma. It is believed that this industry gives promise of
becoming one of the most important in the state."
It hasn't become one of the most important industries
in the state, but the lack of capital isn't what it used to
be and the nation is finding out about the quality of
our granite. The U. S. Bureau of Mines puts the total
value of Oklahoma granite produced last year a t $687,090.
That's a lot more than the $12,000 worth produced in
1901, the first year for which figures were compiled, or
the $30,687 produced in 1913, the last figure available
when Taylor made his study.
Oklahoma granite production remains just a slab in
a boxcar though, compared to the output of Vermont
and Georgia. There were 8 granite-producing companies
in all of Oklahoma at last count. There are 56 operating
out of Elberton, Ga., alone. Elberton is where a recent
Sooner named Boadie Anderson learned about granite.
He knows the business from quarry to cemetery, and he's
had 2% years to look at the picture in Oklahoma.
"The potentials of Oklahoma granite are certainly
unlimited," he says in his soft, earnest Georgia drawl.
Anderson moved to Frederick when the Coggins Granite Co. of Elberton bought the Century Granite Co. in
1965. Since then the firm, operating under the Century
name as a Coggins subsidiary, has doubled its business.
"We expect to double it again in the next 2% years,"
Anderson says confidently.
Century is now turning out monuments in five different colors from Oklahoma granite. All five have found
wide acceptance among customers all over the nation,
Anderson says.
Since purchasing its Oklahoma subsidiary, Coggins
Granite has found it feasible to stop the costly process
of importing a rose granite from Sweden and another
red granite from South America. They've been replaced
by Oklahoma granites, which the customers like better
than the imports.
Experts in the granite field agree that Oklahoma has
a superior product going for it. Oklahoma granite compares with the best you can find anywhere. I t comes
in many colors, coarse-grained or fine-grained. I t doesn't
absorb moisture or change color so you'd notice it.
Perhaps most important of all, Oklahoma granite is
highly colorful in an age that is becoming more colorconscious. That fact is largely responsible for increasing
interest by out-of-state companies in Oklahoma deposits.
Rock of Ages, the Vermont-based firm which is the
best known name in the American monument field, has
been quarrying stone around Granite for five years or
so. I t is known for a traditional gray monument, and
To gain a concept of our tremendous granite raw material
resources, visit Quartz Mountain State Park. As you drive
through these vast granite mountains the statement that
Oklahoma has enough granite "to supply the world for a
thousand years," begins to take on real meaning.And while
you're there, you might as well check in at Quartz Mountain
Lodge and enjoy fishing, boating, swimming, sailing, go*,
s h e b o a r d , dancing on the patio, hiking, picnicing, etc.
the fact that it has decided to begin using coIorful Oklahoma red granite is significant.
So far, Rock of Ages is quarrying large stones and
shipping them out for processing, but there is a good
possibility that it will build an Oklahoma processing
plant. Officials have made a labor survey in the Snyder
area.
Okiahoma may be about to the place where things
begin to mushroom. The field is highly competitive, and
when one firm does something and makes it pay others
are likely to follow. If a Coggins subsidiary is doing
well with five colors of Oklahoma granite, it's bound
to make other big companies look out this way.
Capital, as it was when Taylor wrote his survey report
in 1915, is a problem. Equipment for every step of the
granite-producing process is expensive. The outlay for
starting a quarrying operation is the most expensive
of all. Once there are a few bigger operators quarrying '
stone, smaller firms can start by purchasing their stock
from the big ones. Some will be able to plow their
1
1
O K L A H O M A TO1
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State Capitol Building, the old postoffice building in
Oklahoma City, and a number of other public buildings
in the state came from Johnston County.
Production of structural granite requirm the finest
tolerances, and Oklahoma producers have not been tooled
for that type of production on a major scale. Anderson
sees a good market for Oklahoma structural granite, and
his company has plans in that direction once enough
skilled help is available in Oklahoma to handle it.
Finding skilled workmen will be a problem as the
expansion of the granite industry moves along here. In
statm where granite has already become a major industry, boys have a chance to learn some of the fundamentals in school. Much of the skill is dependent on
feel and experience. An apprentice must learn most of
his trade by doing it.
In most of the tight operations run so far in Oklahoma, there hasn't been a lot of time left over for a
trained man to leave the job at hand and devote time
to teaching a fine point to an apprentice. Century is
negotiating with some craftsmen from a Kansas City
firm which is going out of business in an effort to hire
them strictly for teaching purposes.
The Willis-Pellow Brothers Monument Works a t
Granite is unique in Oklahoma. It quarries its own stone,
does all the processing including engraving, then de= livers and installs the monument. Most of the monuments are trucked within a 250-mile radius of Granite,
5 but the plant has customers all over the country.
J J. R. Willis, an engineer and former utilities manager
5 for Mangum and Granite, purchased the operation about
o 15 years ago. It had been in business since 1912. Willis'
son, Bill, is sales manager and another son, Fred, is
business manager.
The Willis-Pellow Bros. Monument Co. invites "The potential is in the product itself," Bill Willis
you to tour their plant at Granite, Okh.; says.
"Some of the highest-grade granite in the world
a most interesting tour. A granite block comes from here."
in the shape of the Oklahoma map is part of the Washington Monument in our nation's capital; He'll show you a polished slab which was hit 25,920
the block was produced at the Willis-Pellow times
in the same place by a three-pound hammer as
plant. *Jutting up beside the plant is the part of a company exhibit at the State Fair of Oklahoma.
mountain from which they obtain granite. It left a shallow scratch the size of your thumb-print.
Advanced techniques in all phases of the process have
tended to keep the price of granite products from rising
profits from processing operations back into the busias fast as material and labor costs have. They have also
ness, and eventually operate their own quarries.
reduced somewhat the problem of training skilled workThose 56 companies at Elberton include only about
men.
a dozen with quarrying operations, and of those only a
Transportation remains a major factor. The product
half-dozen are major suppliers.
is heavy. Here again Oklahoma is fortunate in being
Century is now running quarries near Granite, Rooseclose to some of the fastest-growing markets in the
velt, and Cold Springs in the southwest, and a t Mill
country. What's more, the coming of water transporCreek in Johnston County, with its plant and headquartation in the years just ahead is expected to give state
ters at Frederick. The rock is quarried in 6, 8, 10, and
producers a better break on freight rates. Anderson
12 inch slabs. Some goes out as sawed slabs, some as
I polished slabs, and some in finished form. About 100
estimates Oklahoma will reach its potential as a granite
producer sometime in the next 15 or more years.
different types of finished monuments are produced a t
Local monument works, which contribute to the econthe Frederick plant. Century granite monuments go to
omy of every town of any size in the state, are another
wholesalers all over the United States and in some
part of the granite industry in Oklahoma. Bill Willis
foreign countries.
estimates 95% of the monuments sold in Oklahoma are
Most of Oklahoma's granite deposits are suitable for
1 either monumental or construction work. The big part granite. But he also estimates that more than half of
the granite monuments sold in the state are still made
of the state industry has been involved in production
from out-of-state granite. Something ought to be done
of granite for monuments, but considerable building
granite has been used in some periods. Granite for the
about that, and it looks like something will.
4
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I
In September, 1966, Oklahoma City University's, Laverne's, Oklahoma's Jane Jayroe became Miss America.
Now, her year of reign has ended. Here are her comments, her candid reactions to the problems, the pleasures, the pressures she encountered, being Miss America.
G&f
hen I went to Atlantic City I didn't
expect to win. For that matter, I didn't
even anticipate being one of the final
10 contestants. I was like any of the other
49 contestants in one important respect
I wanted to do my best.
The entire week was one of hard work and a great deal
of tension. I think it's important to state at the beginning,
though, that all of the girls enjoy it tremendously.
They're all so proud to be there, to be representing their
states, that it seems much less difficult. I think it's equally
important to state that all of the girls are received very
well throughout the entire week, by judges and audience
alike. I never felt, even during the last few minutes of the
pageant, that there was any difference in the quality of
personality or ability in any of the 50 girls.
The Saturday night on TV is just one of four nights of
competition. Of course it is the most exciting night, the
whole week has been building toward it, and we were all
excited that night when we got dressed and faced the
audience to hear the names of the ten semi-finalists.
From that moment on I had very little time to think.
With just ten girls competing, the pace was much quicker.
When it came down to the top five, I was very
thrilled. I honestly expected to be the fourth runner-up.
I was thinking of all the people a t home who were
watching on TV, relatives and all my OCU classmates,
and how excited they must be getting. In fact, I don't
even remember the question Bert Parks asked me, and
I only vaguely remember giving an answer. Then it
started narrowing down . . fourth runner-up . . . third
runner-up . . . second runner-up. When it came down
to the first runner-up and myself, I was nervous and
excited. I did feel quite certain that I was first runner-up.
Then . . after Bert Parks announced my name as
Miss America I'm very sorry to say that I remember
very little of what happened. My main thought was
don't think about it because it was so overwhelming.
I walked the runway, but I don't remember Bert Parks
singing. I just remember thinking, "You'll look awful if
you cry too much."
Later that night the phone messages and the telegrams
started; and even now I enjoy that night more than I did
then because I have time to look back through the messages and cables I received, many from total strangers
who just wanted to tell me how proud they were that a
girl from Oklahoma had accomplished this.
There were many personal adjustments to be made.
Nothing is quite as sudden as the crowning of Miss
America. She is a celebrity all at once, literally within a
few seconds. So it was quite an adjustment for me, since
my previous surroundings, both my hometown and the
OCU campus, are quite small. But I feel that it would
be a tremendous adjustment for any girl, no matter what
size town or school she was from. Of course it meant giving
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T H I R T Y '-""
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up a personal life in many areas, as well as sacrificing my
home life and postponing my education. I knew almost
nothing about what duties would be required of me, and
this only served to add to the confusion. To sum it up, I
was very frightened. At that point I didn't feel that I
could hold up to the responsibility of being Miss America,
that I possessed neither the poise nor the stamina. And
while I still feel the same way to some extent, I have since
realized that the Miss America title would never go to a
girl who felt entirely qualified to accept the title. I think
this is one of the major qualities that the judges are
looking for.
While many of my original fears vanished as I became
more used to my new life, there have been day-to-day
difficulties which have accompanied me throughout the ,
year. For instance, I always cringe when I'm introduced
as the most beautiful girl in America. I'm certainly not,
and I hate to be compared as people come to see me and
go away saying, "Well, if this is the most beautiful
girl . . ." I feel that what's inside a person, what she
feels about the people around her, what she thinks about
herself, are so much more important. The Pageant officials always try to help the girl maintain her individuality, '
but many people persist in thinking that Miss America
attends a training school where she is taught to walk, sit,
and stand. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The title of Miss America is something which each girl
can more or less create in her own way. Each girl who
wears the crown gives the title a little more meaning
Maybe it's something small--one girl's gift of relating
to children, for example, or another's ability as an excellent public speaker. There are many things which I
cannot do, could never hope to do, which other Miss
Americas have done. But I hope that in some small way,
I too have contributed something to the title.
One of the most exciting things about the Miss America
title for me has been the marvelous opportunities I've had
to gain some experience as a professional entertainer.
Since my talent presentation in the pageant was a type
of conducting, last spring I had the privilege of conducting the Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert
with Skitch Henderson. After gaining some insight into
the professional's viewpoint, it's much more exciting to
be a spectator, with some knowledge of what's going on
behind the scenes.
It's not often, though, that I've had the opportunity to
be a spectator. Traveling is probably the most tiring
aspect of being Miss America, but in many ways it's also
the most rewarding. A little more than a year ago Oklahoma City was a large city far away from my hometown
of Laverne. Then New York seemed like such a far away
place. When I returned from Europe, though, landing in
INTERVIEW WITH JIM BURROUGHS
O K L A H O M A T O D
I
1
New York I felt that I was almost back in Oklahoma!
While I know that I have grown in worldly knowledge
during the year, I also feel that my inward faith has taken
on new dimensions. Being Miss America is a full-time
job, and the tension involved is not something that you
can bear alone. Learning to share with God has been as
important to me this year as learning how to handle a
rigorous schedule of personal appearances.
Our schedule was very difficult, often taking us to six
~klahoma.city- ~niverkty, Mrs. Toni Spencer, the
director of the Miss Oklahoma Pageant, to all of you.
So may I just say-thank you!
THIRTY-FIVE
A S P E C I A L S O M E T H I N G T O S E E IN S O O N E R L A N D BY BEATRICE STEBBING
May we suggest a new
kind of autumn b u r for Oklahoma? A tour of "singing
windows" can add variety to
autumn foliage along the way. The contrasting cascades
of color can be an ins~iration.
In the Oklahoma showcase are examples from the major stained glass studios of the United States, windows
imported from Europe, windows designed and made in
Oklahoma, and at least two examples of glass more than
400 years old. Every style is represented, from the traditional and conservative to the extreme in contemporary
design.
Windows of mouth-blown glass, the material used for
the finest leaded windows today, can be found in all
parts of the state. There are also many examples of the
newer faceted-windows in which thick chunks of glass
are set in concrete-like epoxy compounds. In both types
the glass appears almost black when viewed in surface
light from the exterior of the building. In contrast, machine-rolled opalescent glass, widely used during the
first part of this century, has milky swirls of color
visible from both sides.
Those who prefer the traditional should surely visit
the First Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City. One
of the largest installations in the nation of windows done
in the medieval manner is found here. Twenty-four
THIRTY-SIX
The Oklahoma History window, John Wesley Raley ChE
Oklahoma Baptist University, Sha
color photo by Paul E. ~ e
A t lower right, LaSalle, who claimed this area for
i n 1682. Lower center, the signing of Doak Treaty,
Above the center is the first Baptist church in the tern'
and two Indian. Will Rogers is a central figure. Above
Cherokee Advocate, first territory newspaper, and our c
city skyline. A t the crest of the window is the Oklahoma
and the American Flag as it was on November 16,
when Oklahoma became a s
OKLAHOMA TOD
1
windows, by Willet of Philadelphia, were installed in
the main nave in 1964. They are marked by strong
rhythms suggestive of their 20th century origin. Willet
windows of a period approximately ten years earlier
are in the chapel of the same church; the more restrained design and smaller pieces of glass give a mosaiclike quality, an interesting contrast to the later work.
In Tulsa, at St. John's Episcopal Church, are windows skillfully designed in medieval style by Connick
of Boston. Medallion groupings with rhythmic repetition
of figures are characteristic of the designs which carry
the brilliant reds, blues, and ambers of ths Gothic palette.
Other fine traditional windows in the state are by
Jacoby of St. Louis, as well as by Willet. Many of these
are named in the appended list. Not all works listed by
the two studios are in the traditional manner, as both
also work in contemporary styles.
An Oklahoma City landmark for the enthusiast of
contemporary design is St. Luke's Methodist Church.
Eight 40-foot windows in the circular nave wall are
combined with tiles so that each window from the exterior appears to contain a great figure from the JudaeoChristian tradition, starting with Abraham on the southeast and ending with Paul. The actual glass begins a t
the shoulder of each figure; in the symbolism of the windows from the interior, the hands of the outer figures
become the hands of God. Inside the building each window has two pictorial sections, one a t the balcony level
and one at the main floor. The windows were produced
t., ,s' in the SC Louis studios of Frei Associates, Robert Har- mon designer. Typical of Harmon works is the use of
painted linear details of great delicacy against dominant
. 5-?
.- . - <.' abstract color movements.
-. - ' , . y
Enid's First Methodist Church has unusual exterior
,.: .!.. panels by Robert Frei, third-generation head of the Frei
" .'
studio. Mosaics of Byzantine tesserae are combined with
faceted glass, the latter forming a dark background for
-'*
,
- the mosaic symbols by day, and changing to sparkling
abstract color by night from interior illumination. Faceted windows imported from France have been in+
.
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stalled in at least three Oklahoma churches; All Souls
Episcopal Church in Oklahoms City, St. John's Catholic
Church in Bartlesville, and Sharp Memorial Chapel at
Tulsa University. Except for the abstractly designed side
windows of the TU chapel, the French windows are interpretations of traditional subjects, necessarily broad in
treatment because of the nature of the thick glass in
heavy matrix.
One of the largest installations of faceted glass in
Oklahoma is at Christ Methodist Church in Tulsa. The
windows are designed in sweeps of color with recognizable Christian symbols caught in the larger patterns.
These were created in 1966 by Orco Studios, San Antonio, Cecil Casebier designer.
A major leaded-glass work by Orco is at Shawnee.
I n Raley Chapel of Oklahoma Baptist University are
twelve large windows designed by Ruth Dunn. The
central window, 12 by 36 feet, is based on the history
of Oklahoma. Beginning with figures of Coronado and
LaSalle at the base, the design weaves together in ascending processions, personages, peoples, and movements of
Oklahoma's history. Highlighted in conservatively bordered side windows of the auditorium are various areas
of learning included in the university curriculum.
Elements of Oklahoma history also appear in English
made windows at Grace Episcopal Church in Ponca City.
The iconography of the windows is unusually extensive
both in scope and in detail, reaching from "Creation" to
"The Church in Oklahoma." Largely designed by Frederick Cole, the nave windows were made by J. Wippell
and Company. First windows were installed in 1953
and work on the west clerestory openings is still in
progress. The chancel windows by J. and R. Lamb
Studios of Tenafly, New Jersey, were designed by
George de Riis. The windows are protected by a textured
outer glass which casts uneven shadows in direct sunlight; viewing is best on a cloudy day or when sunlight
is not striking the glass.
Windows of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church
in Pawhuska also touch on local history. Made by Bavar-
e
. ".
'I
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THIRTY-EIGHT
OKLAHOMA TOD
ian Art Glass Company, Munich, and installed between
1910 and 1916, the twenty windows include a panel showing the arrival of the first Jesuit missionary to the Osage
Indians. Photographs of members of the Osage tribe were
used by the artist in designing the panel.
Oldest stained glass in the state is probably a fragment
attributed to the 13th century, installed in a background
panel at Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa. The glass can be
found a t the head of the stairs leading to the lower floor of
the museum and shows a group of horsemen and hounds.
Also at Philbrook is a 1926 window by Nicola D'Ascenzo
of Philadelphia.
A 16th century window may be viewed at Nowata.
Originally in the chapel of the Duke of Choiseul near
Chaumont, France, the window was brought to this
country by William Randolph Hearst. It was purchased
by Mrs. J. Wood Glass, in memory of her husband, for
the chapel at First Presbyterian Church. The window is
an example of colored enamel techniques developed during the early Renaissance and suggests the Flemish school
of painting. In the nave of the same church is a 12-foot
rose window designed and made in Nowata.1
A number of other windows designed and made in Oklahoma can be seen in the state. In the chapel at Central
State College, Edmond, are windows designed, painted
and fired in 1942 by art students of the college. At Disciples Christian Church, Bartlesville, are windows made by
Gate City Glass of Tulsa.= At Church of the Madalene,
and at St. Pius X Catholic Church, both in Tulsa, are
windows made in that city by Ludwig Schermer. At
Tulsa's Southside Christian Church is a window by Jose
Mendez, combining leaded-glass with faceted sections, and
made a t his Tulsa studio. Formerly associated with
Schermer, Mendez also worked on the Pius X windows.
The Oklahoma designer-craftsmenare represented in other
works in and out of the state.
Even so brief a survey as this should help convince the
potential window connoisseur that the familiar "lost art"
designation for stained glass is a misnomer. Some forty
studio members of the Stained Glass Association of
America could reproduce medieval windows quite accurately today if necessary. Most, however, would prefer
to work in contemporary style, to express the spirit of the
present century.
Stained glass artists are enjoying a renewed emphasis
on light and color, qualities inherent in the raw material.
There are now more ways of combining glass and color
than could be accomplished by the medieval guildsman
who made his own glass, cut it without benefit of sophisticated tools, fashioned his own leads, solder and braces,
and who might work twenty years in one cathedral.
Oklahoma is sharing in the renaissance of stained
glass. New installations are constantly being made in the
state - your first tour may bring you to an unexpected
"find." Our list of Oklahoma windows of mouth-blown
and faceted glass is necessarily incomplete, but it is
inclusive enough to start the stained glass viewer on a
tour from any part of the state.
This window is the work of Beatrice Stebbing, author of this article. 2 Designed by Mrs. Stebbing. 1
K L A H O M A TODAY
THIRTY-NINE
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