The Monitor • Naples, Texas 75568-0039 • Thursday, April 29, 2021 • Page 4

THROUGH THE PAGES OF THE MONITOR

¥ 1961 ¥ Jack Dean, Morris County agricultural agent, accompanied Patricia and Bobby Minton, Randall McDaniel and Ricky Towler to the state 4-H contests ... Pewitt’s school trustees called for bids on a new band hall ... Naples business people had contributed $740 of a $1,200 quota to buy books for the Pewitt School library ... A 25-pound bag of flour was $1.69 at Spencer’s Grocery in Naples.

¥ 1966 ¥ Jane Ann Leeves, Holly Huddleston, Lolette Smith, Tami Huddleston and Tracie Calhoun performed a ballet for the ladies luncheon at the Lions Club district meeting ... A box of 12 moon pies was 39¢ at the Netco Store in Naples ... Lettuce was 19¢ a head at Hall’s Store in Marietta ... Sixty- seven students were in the Pewitt marching band and the school board had approved the purchase of 60 new uni- forms, not including hats, for an estimated cost of $3,600.

¥ 1971 ¥ J. Luke Collier Jr., was president of the Naples-Omaha Lions Club ... Johnny Mills, son of Wanda and Junior Mills of Naples, and a math teacher at Kilgore, had received a national science foundation grant to attend a six-week summer institute for teachers ... A half-gallon of buttermilk was 39¢ at Foster’s Grocery in Naples.

¥ 1976 ¥ Randall McDaniel, a former Naples resident, was to assume music director duties at the First Baptist Church of Omaha ... Noel Higgins fractured a hip when a load of computer paper he was carrying got overbalanced and caused him to fall ... Jyl Traylor, daughter of Nita Beth and J. Roy Traylor, was crowned Little Miss Naples of 1976.

¥ 1981 ¥ "School days, school days, Large eggs were 75¢ a dozen at Foster’s Grocery ... Home burglaries and a number of other incidents were keeping dear old golden rule days .." Morris County law officers and local officers busy ... A special Many years ago there were small country schools all around the area and this group of merit award was presented to W. L. (Doc) Dodson at the Naples Fire Department’s annual steak supper ... A 32- students took part in "picture day" at the Ballard Hill School. Former Naples resident ounce bottle of catsup was 99¢ at Vingo Foods in Naples ... Bob Scaff found this picture in some of his mother's memorabilia. He was told that his “Private Benjamin” was showing at the Morris Theater in father, Robert Earl Scaff, attended that school but wasn't identified. A note on the back Daingerfield. of the photo said Ballard Hill School was "south of Naples" and Scaff would like to know ¥ 1986 ¥ the location. If you know, come by and tell us and we'll pass it along to him. Dorothy Mathews, retired elementary school teacher, grew a cabbage that weighed 12-pounds and measured 50- inches across ... A 32-ounce bottle of catsup was 69¢ at Northeast Texas Foods in Omaha ... Sliced beef liver was 53¢ a pound at Kwik-Stop in Naples ... “The Color Purple” was showing at the Morris Theater in Daingerfield. This Week In ¥ 1991 ¥ Texas History Frances Lynn Myrtle Carpenter and Martha Rice were among degree recipients at Northeast Texas Community College ... “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys” was showing at Cinema IV in Mt. Pleasant ... Lettuce was 39¢ a head at Kwik-Stop ... Richard Kitchens was named as the new superintendent of Pewitt Schools and Randy Dungan was appointed new curriculum director ... A 6.5-ounce can of Train robber learns nothing from prison tuna was 39¢ at Vinyard’s Foods in Naples. After serving six years in the Montana state penitentiary, reputation. The culprits had to be brought to justice and fast. a train robber from Texas walked out of prison on Apr. 21, Two county sheriffs pooled their resources and with a ¥ 1996 ¥ 1901 a free man - free to resume a life of crime. combined posse of 13, including U.S. Marshal Samuel Justin Rosewell, Emily Seybert and Molly Frost won first- Orland Camillo Hanks was born in DeWitt County during Jackson, were hot on the outlaws’ trail within 36 hours. place awards at the elementary U.I.L. competition ... Family the Civil War and grew up around Yorktown. Little is known However, when five days of hard riding failed to gain any and friends gathered at Redbud Retreat to honor Martin about his childhood and adolescence other than he pre- ground, the Northern Pacific effectively canceled the chase Luther Tidwell on his 99th birthday ... A 1962 Ford ferred the initials O.C. to the tongue-twister of a name his by announcing it would no longer pay the posse’s expenses. Thunderbird, priced at $8,750, was the John Paul Jones parents gave him. Marshal Jackson went on alone and gradually closed the Motors special of the week ... “Executive Decision” was Hanks was a year or two out of his teens, when he hired gap. At a small settlement 175 miles northwest of the crime showing at the Morris Twin-Cinema in Daingerfield, and on with a long-distance cattle drive from the Rio Grande site, he learned the fugitives had purchased supplies and “Celtic Pride” was a feature at SouthSide Cinema VirGinia A. Valley to the Montana Territory. He would not see Texas played poker with the local deputy sheriff. From all indica- Fleming was in charge of publicity for the Naples again for more than 20 years. tions, they had long ceased looking over their shoulders. Watermelon Festival that was planned for July. Soon after reaching Montana, Hanks started calling him- The federal bloodhound caught up with the train robbers self Charley Jones. He also went by the name Charles on Oct. 2 near the Blackfoot Indian Agency. Thirty Blackfoot ¥ 2001 ¥ Kinkaid and, because of a hearing impairment, Deaf Charlie. police and several civilians responded to his request for Ray Richey, a '60 graduate of Pewitt, served as master of Those aliases suggest that like so many Lone Star exiles he reinforcements, and the next morning they attacked the ceremonies for the school's 50th anniversary program ... was a wanted man back home. cabin containing the sleeping outlaws. After a gunbattle that "Someone Like You" was showing at the Morris Twin- From the mid-1880’s until well into the next decade, left one vigilante dead, the gang fled on foot. Cinema and "Crocodile Dundee In L.A." was a Cinema V Hanks wandered from ranch to ranch across Montana. With a fresh posse, Marshal Jackson tracked the des- feature ... A 1998 Chevy Tracker, priced at $7,350, was the Many of his fellow cowboys were common criminals, but two peradoes through the snow. In the second shoot-out in 24 John Paul Jones Motors special of the week ... Paper towels had earned memorable nicknames — Harry Longabaugh, hours, one bandit was killed and another mortally wounded. were four rolls for $2 at Brahma Foods in Omaha where the famous Sundance Kid, and Harvey Logan, another The dying man blamed the murder of the posseman on the russet potatoes were 97¢ for an eight-pound bag ... Joe member of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang better known as Kid Texan “Charley Jones,” who had escaped into the moun- Stacks Sr., amateur meteorologist for the area, said Febru- Curry. tains with the fourth gang member. ary rain measured 13.45 inches locally and March's figure There is no telling what made O.C. Hanks try his luck at Four days later on the edge of the wilderness wonderland was 9.15, putting the area over the average. big-time crime. Money may have been the motive or maybe soon to become Glacier National Park, an exhausted O.C. he was sick and tired of being a saddle-sore cowpuncher. Hanks surrendered without a struggle. His companion once ¥ 2006 ¥ Four masked men stopped and boarded the Northern again eluded capture only to be shot and killed by a sheep- Dressed in her poodle skirt and other '50s attire, Joyce Pacific Express 20 miles east of Big Timber, Montana on the herder. Birdsong was the runner-up in a karaoke contest at the night of Aug. 26, 1893. The express car messenger guessed The deathbed declaration of his talkative accomplice and V.F.W. hall ... Lloyd Heard's choo-choo train was a highlight what was going on and stashed packets of greenbacks in his the testimony of a guide paid to lead the gang through the of an Easter party at the Cobb family park ... Cecilia Sasser favorite hiding places before unlocking the door. Rockies were enough to convict Hanks of manslaughter. was named for a CDA award ... Pewitt Brahmas and Lady When the robbers ordered him to open the safe, the With time off for good behavior, he served six years and four Brahmas were to have a number of competitors in the messenger pleaded ignorance. The railroad did not trust him months of a 10-year term. regional track and field meet ... Tyrin Evans was a member with the combination, a big lie he told convincingly. That The ex-convict did not have to think twice before accept- of the 11/12-year old Longhorns baseball team that went made sense to the bandits, who did not bother to blow the ing Harvey “Kid Curry” Logan’s invitation to a train robbery unbeaten and won the Ore City tournament ... safe, even though they had brought along plenty of dyna- three months after his release. Taking his share of $40,000 "Benchwarmers" and "She's the Man" were showing at the mite, or search the express car. in unsigned bank notes, he high-tailed it out of Montana and Morris Twin-Cinema and features at Cinema V included Instead, the foursome looted the passenger cars reliev- went on a wild cross-country spending spree. "Silent Hill", "RV", "The Wild" and "Akeelah and the Bee" ... ing travelers of their cash and valuables. According to the Hanks ended up back in Texas after a run-in with the law Women's Day events were planned at the Bethlehem Mis- victims, not a single person was harmed by the laid-back in Nashville. One night in April 1902, a San Antonio madam sionary Baptist Church ... Pewitt's band was planning a taco highwaymen, who broke the tension by cracking jokes. called the sheriff to remove a belligerent drunk from the supper and awards night program ... Members of the 1941 If the gang was disappointed by the take, a few hundred premises. When O.C. Hanks resisted arrest, he was shot James Bowie School senior class were planning a big class dollars and a sackful of cheap jewelry, they did not show it. dead on the spot. reunion. The outlaws rode off into the night laughing and shooting === bhntm === their six-guns in celebration. Bartee’s three books and “Best of This Week in Texas ¥ 2011 ¥ But their timing could not have been worse. Train robbery History” column collections are available for purchase at Larry Betts was recognized for 40 years of service and Scott was bad publicity for a brand-new state in the wild west. barteehaile.com. Order early for the Christmas rush!! McMichael for 30 ... Danny Joe Mills was a candidate for mayor of Naples ... Bishop Charlie Young Jr., invited the public to attend a spring revival at the Now Faith Ministries Baptist Church in Naples ... Pewitt High School's one-act play cast was to present "Steel Magnolias" at the school The auditorium ... "Hop" and "Soul Surfer" were showing at the Morris Twin-Cinema in Daingerfield and features at Cinema Monitor 6 in Mt. Pleasant included "Rio", "Hoodwinked Too", "Prom", "Fast Five" and "Water for Elephants" ... Bobby Abston won a $25 gift card at the annual Bryans Mill Spring Fling and 110 Main Street • Box 39 winning the horseshow pitching event were Erin and Adam Naples, TX 75568 Pate. Phone: 903-897-2281 e-mail: ¥ 2016 ¥ [email protected] Cheryl Murphy and Mariah Carney posed for a Monitor newspaper photo with an Ark-Tex COG plaque honoring PERIODICALS PERMIT dispatchers at the Morris County Sherff's Department for USPS 370-900 their services ... Robert Churchwell wandered off to Ohio to THE MONITOR is published visit some relatives and he took Ronda with him to get weekly except the last week directions for his driving ... A Mother's Day bake sale was in December at 110 Main planned at the Morris County National Bank to raise funds for Street, Naples, Texas 75568 the Naples Public Library ... Lady Chazz and the Tramps was and entered as 'periodical' a headline act to attend the annual Omaha Wine Festival ... mail with postage paid at the Approximately 50 antique automobiles were driven through Naples, Texas 75568 United States Post Office. Periodi- Naples and Omaha as part of the Texas Bankhead Highway cals postage paid under Act of Centennial tour and Rick Cobb photographed a lot of the old March 31, 1916. cars and trucks on Highway 67 as they went by Pewitt High School ... Isaac Hodges and Sam Phillips earned the Arrow POSTMASTER: of Light Boy Scout awards at a ceremony hosted at Lake Bob Form 3579 should be sent to: Sandlin Park of Mt. Pleasant. The Monitor, P.O. Box 39, Naples, TX 75568-0039 for address correction. ENJOY SOME REAL TEXAS HISTORY Morris Craig AND READ BARTEE HAILE'S Editor & Publisher Melba Craig - Bookkeeping THIS WEEK IN TEXAS HISTORY Jeremy Craig - Photography EACH WEEK IN THE MONITOR Mike Dodson - Sports Pix