Oklahoma State University Collections

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

November-December '86 George Nigh, Vol. 36, No. 6

COVERS I HEV LADY DANCER. I 'SEND YE ANOTHER 4 K -IIILIIIIIlPllll WOULD YOU SET OF CHAINS' 30 DO THAT AOAIN... 1 Bump along in a '23 Dodge across Traveling artists take their talents all miles of unpaved mads and unbridged over Oklahoma to introduce students- rivers as a retired traveling salesman young, old and in between-to the recounts his experiences in 1920s joys of self-expression. western Oklahoma. PORTFOLIO 40 Photographer Jack Hammett takes you to a Miami pow wow, a balloon race in Tulsa and the Tahlequah town square. 4

Every December, Guthrie OUTHRIE'S residents turn their city into a VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS 20 territorial holiday. Photo by Jim Argo. Inside front A Join Guthrie folks as they step back cardinal weathers an early- nearly a century to celebrate Christmas winter cold snap. Photo by the way territorial Oklahomans did- Bob Jenni. Back. with plum pudding, roast goose and a Downtown Oklahoma City spirit of cooperation. gets dressed up for Christmas. Photo by Jim Argo.

FEATURES Seven craftsmen show their work, FORT SILL'S and you'll see how the pursuit of DEPARTMENTS OLD POST QUADRANOLE 8 perfection sets them apart. Today In Oklahoma ...... 4 Ghosts quarrel with each other, move Bodcs/Letters ...... 5 furniture and mingle with Army officers PLEASE PASS THE PEAS 34 Uncommon Common Folk ...... 6 and their hilies in Oklahoma's A Woodward writer finally confesses Oklahoma Omnibus: Red Earth ...... 18 oldest continuously occupied homes. her 70-year-old secret. Entertainment Calendar...... 45

- - - . . -. 7 -- -- . PUBLISHED BY THE OKLAHOMA TOURISM AND RECREATIONDEPARTMENT Okluhomu TODAY (ISSN 0030-1892) is publ~shedbi- Sue Carter, Editor-in-Chief Geri Stevens, Accounting monthly in January, March, May, July. September and Susan Bunney Tomlinson, Managing Editor Melanie Mayberry, Subscription Services November. Subscription prices: $12/yr. in U.S.; $161~1. Pat Shaner Laquer, Art Director Sheila Brock, Events Calendar outside U.S. Copyright 1986 by OkMoma rODAY maga- Camlyn Hollingsworth, Marketing zine. 401 Will Rogem Bldg., P.O. Box 53384, Oklahoma Ciq, OK 73152. (405) 521-2496. Printed at PennWell Printing, Tulsa. Abc L. Hcsser, Eranuivc Dimor Touriem and Recreation Commission Sewndclass postage paid at Oklahoma City, OK and I Tom Crcider, Phnning tY Dm/opmmt additional enuy offices. Postmaster: Send address Eugene Dilbeck, Mad&'ng Snvias Rilla Wilcox, f3ammun Bob Hinton changes to OkMoma TODAY Circuiation. P.O. Box N. Clay McDermeit, Pads Carlos Langston, Vice Gfairnran Jim Pate 53384, Oklahoma City, OK 73152. Michael L. Moccia, Adminismtion Lany Lindley, Scmtury Grace Renbarger Tom Rich, Lodp James Durham R. L. Rollins -RpW u- %-*.adtn

I - % -.

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 view of the world. Should arts become as basic as readin', ritin' and 'rithmetic? After reading Nancy's story, beginning on page 12, you may decide that leam- ing through the arts makes kids smart- er than ever. + As you select your gifts this holiday season, please remember your friends with subscriptions to Okkzhoma TODAY, a gift they will receive six times a year. And we'll send you a beautiful gift announcement card that he holiday season will soon be Beckman's story about the early days you can mail with your own personal T here, and this issue was planned of Fort Sill begins on page 8. message or hang on the tree. with a touch of nostalgia. To get into b That wonderful southern tradition This is an easy way for you to tell the mood, you'll want to set aside one of serving black-eyed peas on New others about the good life Oklahoma day to soak up the atmosphere of Year's Day to assure good luck offers, its unusual history, our beauti- Christmas in Oklahoma Territory with throughout the year is told with a de- ful scenery and interesting people. It's a visit to Guthrie. There you'll see lightful twist beginning on page 34. It a grand way to show your pride in our Christmas trees with handmade Vic- holds special meaning for writer Lessie state. torian decorations, mingle with carolers M. Daniel who at last confesses to her Okkzhoma TODAYs scenic appoint- singing on street corners and tour dark deeds committed some 70 years ment calendar, which many of you homes built during an earlier period. ago in the pea patch. have bought for gifts in the past, will Bumis Argo describes how Guthrie re- t3v Former traveling salesman Carter not be available this year. Perhaps creates ~hristmasin the state's first Goldsborough returns to Oklahoma af- some of the other Oklahoma products capital city, beginning on page 20. ter 50 years and declares the most dra- described in the magazine's center can Handmade crafts are favored by matic change in the state is the roads. substitute. many for gifts during this season. To You'll chuckle over his trip down The Okidzoma TODAY staff joins me find some of our best artisans, writer memory lane in northwestem Oklaho- in wishing each of you a joyous holiday Mary Ann Luther conducted a diligent ma that begins on page 36. season. -Sue Carter search among galleries and gift shops, b Writer Nancy Condit visits the craft organizations and various experts. schools and finds that one of the most All who Mary Ann interviewed for her popular activities for students is the story, beginning on page 25, are highly Artists-in-Residence Program. Such skilled professionals who are tops in traveling artists as dancers, writers, their field. musicians, storytellers and photogra- Although some of the artists have The WPA Guide to 1930s Oklaho- modernized their techniques, such ma, compikzi by he Wn'tm' Prvgram of crafts as weaving, jewelry, felting, pot- NBXf issue: Author Glenn Shirley he Wod Pmja Adminktnation; Uni- tery, basketmaking and wood carving takes us back a century when outlaw venity of Kansas Pm,hme, Kan- have existed for centuries. One couple gangs roamed the lawless frontier that sas 66045; $12.95. Reading this makes wonderful, authentic Native became Oklahoma and were faced 45-year-old travel book is like pulling American artifacts for tree ornaments, dawn by the steel-willed, justice-mind- one of grandmother's old dresses out of as well as tribal dolls. & Hanging Judge Parker and his hard- a musty trunk and finding it still fits. $a+ Residents of the Old Post Quad- tiding deputy marshals. Then you'll First published in 1941, the Oklahoma rangle at Fort Sill, the state's oldest meet the scientists who are working to edition was the last to appear in the continuously occupied housing area, save the southern bald eagle from ex- American Guide Series, a massive aren't sure whether their homes are tinction. And some of Oklahoma's best New Deal project to employ writers cooks will come out of the kitchen to haunted, but they enjoy the legends and photographers in every state to take a bow when Kathryn Jenson White and the history. Sherman House, the searches the state for the best home- detail the nation's cultural and geo- oficial residence of the commanding made pies. All that and more in the graphic character. general of Fort Sill, continues to be a January-Februarv issue To acquaint readers with the state's center for gracious entertaining more rnDN background, the Oklahoma Guide of- than 100 years after it was built. Jane fers chapters on geography, transporta-

4 Oklahoma TODAY tion, industry, sports, architecture, those who have just dreamed the life Help parochial school in 1929-33. She education, the arts and folkways. An- will probably enjoy spending an after- was the only child of the Isley family, gie Deb, one of Oklahoma's best- noon with a modern group of people who owned and operated a small the- known historians and an editor for the living an almost vanished lifeswle. ater, the Isis, in downtown Oklahoma project, is the author of a chapter on City. The family moved to Tulsa and Oklahoma history. Jennifer attended high school there. The book details the founding and Helen Hughes development of 12 of Oklahoma's Oklahoma City principal cities. (Did you know that Norman was named for a government Sunday afternoon in the '30s meant engineer who pitched camp there in The July-August Okkzhoma TODAY going to Hobart to the picture show 1872? The town was first called Nor- with the article about wheat farming is from our home east of Lone Wolf. Dad man Switch as a railroad marking.) so beautifully done and brought back a was behind the wheel of the family's And then the Guide takes travelers "bushelful" of memories. '29 Buick and later our '35 Chevrolet, on 16 highway tours crisscrossing the My four older sisters did their share savoring his White Owl cigar and shar- state, pointing out landmarks and at- of helping out on our farm in Canadian ing that exotic aroma with us. Mother tractions and giving brief histories of County. With no boys in the family at sat up front with him, and my sister most towns along the way. that time, they had to take their turns Grace and I occupied our separate but Readers may be surprised at the in the fields, doing chores and grading equal territories in the back seat. amount of useful information in this roads. We didn't have a tractor so they Chances were we went to the Okla- still-relevant travel book and will prob- were quite skilled in handling teams of homan Theater in Hobart to see the ably be pleased at how much the state horses. latest MGM release. The Oklahoman has grown since 1941. Florence Turner was plush and comfortable; the air was Norman fresh and sweet and cool-a wel- Cowboy Country, by John R. Erick- comed refuge from the heat of south- son; Maven'ck Books, P.O. Box 549, Per- Reading about the Big Dipper west Oklahoma. ryton, lkxas 79070; $15.95. The lure of ("Capitol Amusements," July-August) At the Oklahoman, you could be the cowboy's life is still strong, even at Springlake Park brought back fond assured of a complete program: the decades after its heyday. Erickson, memories. We were transferred to weekly newsreel, a comedy, maybe a whose writing career began as a side- Oklahoma City from Seminole during short and the feature. line when he earned his keep as a the oil boom. As new ones were trans- It wasn't unusual for a family to see cowboy, lived that dream life about as ferred in, we would introduce them to two major hits on a Sunday afternoon, much as anyone can these days. the Big Dipper and scare the h- out at two different theaters, before the In Cowboy Country, Erickson writes of them until we took an oilfield truck popularity of double-feature bills. of his stint in the late '70s as a hand on driver, who worked for Indian Territo- Those who worked at the "show" a ranch near the Beaver River in the ry Illuminating Oil Company. He were in a glamorous business. The Oklahoma Panhandle, one of a string fainted on us and scared the h- out of ticket sellers on view behind shiny of spreads belonging to the Barby fam- IXF. glass with their shiny electric ma- ilies. There, work was cooperative: I followed the oilfield to Illinois 40 chines. The ushers who got to see all during roundups, the River Cowboys years ago, and I'm still here. But I of the movies over and over. I envied gathered on one ranch and moved sneak back to Oklahoma as often as them their jobs. But the projection through all of them until the job was possible. booth-that was the place to be. done. Pete Hall I had my private rating system for He takes us through a cowboy Mount Vernon, Ill. films, usually based on the theaters in year-spring roundup, summer prairie which they were shown. The Oklaho- fires, fill shipping time, winter isola- There is a movie star ("Oklahoma man, the plushest house in the county, tion. And he introduces us to some of Goes to the Movies," March-April) showed the best quality films. My sys- the members of this independent Pan- who lived in Oklahoma City and Tulsa tem escalated all the way to the Crite- handle colony. Glenn Green, the best in her early years. I've never heard it rion in Oklahoma City, which roper in Beaver County. Hobart Hall, nor seen the fhct in print, but I know it sometimes had a stage show. Besides the aging pro. Leland Barby, the bach- is true for she was my neighbor. all that glamour, the Criterion had stars elor rancher. Jennifer Jones (real name Phyllis Is- on the ceiling. The book reads quickly, and prac- ley) lived in Edgemere Park and went Fred Schmidt ticing cowboys, former ranch hands or to school at Our Lady of Perpetual Brooklyn Heights, N.Y.

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 5 UNCOMMON COMMON FOLK I I

By Kathryn Jenson White

he is her brother's keeper. much creative effort into the former as And that her brother, Woody he did into the latter. During the '30s Guthrie, happens to be a near and '40s he sent his baby sister a legendary songwriter and steady stream of funny, touching, en- singerS is incidental to Mary Jo Edg- tertaining, informative and colorfully mon. If Woody had never picked a decorated missives that she had the guitar or written a note, she would still good sense to keep. She didn't keep talk of whatever his accomplishments them because her brother was Woody had been with the same pride in her Guthrie, however, but because Woody voice. Her brother is a legend, how- Guthrie was her brother. ever, and that makes Mary Jo's keep- In each program, she holds up a ing of him somewhat unusual. It charming letter she's just read and means she's asked to talk of him be- asks, "Now, if you got a letter like that fore large groups of people at schools, from your brother, could you throw it colleges, civic clubs and special events. away?" Quick as she can, Mary Jo then Few brothers merit that kind of atten- always answers her own question: "Of tion from strangers. course you couldn't!" In addition to Mary Jo's love for the man who gave the letters, many of which are minia- us such folk standards as "This Land is ture works of art, this dedicated sister Your Land," "Hard Travelin'" and has in her magic suitcases most of the "Roll On, Columbia," to name just a f books and articles written about few, motivates her to take her show on Woody, most of his record albums, a the road many times each year as well great selection of photographs and vari- as to welcome calls and visits from shoot, it didn't bother him." ous other mementos. She encourages people interested in knowing more Mary Jo likes adventure, too, and her listeners to pick up the letters, all about him. She feels that what people her program about Woody has allowed of which she's had laminated, handle think they know is not always exactly her to experience it in a way that no the books, touch her brother's things. what was. Mary Jo says of her efforts, other pastime possibly could. She says, She's delighted to autograph albums, "I try to clean up his image. That's "I've reached a time in my life when always putting herself in second posi- one of my chief aims, to clean up his I've tried just about everything and tion as she signs, "From Woody Guth- image whether it be that of a hobo on a done most everything and you can get rie's sister, Mary Jo Edgmon." Mary Jo train or a communist. Many writers kind of burned out on things, you flat out likes to go on about her brother have depicted him as a bum, a hobo, know? I just can't get interested in any time she can. someone from the wrong side of the new hobbies or arts and crafts. I just Place isn't a problem either. "I'd go tracks. That is the furthest thing from can't do those kind of sit down, stay- anywhere if they paid my expenses," the truth. My daddy at one time was at-home things anymore. It pleases me she claims with a smile. And that's all one of the richest men in Okfuskee because I'm proud of what I have and I she asks for her trouble, too. With a County. He was an affluent business- love to show it." more serious look, she continues, "I'm man, but hard times struck him to his She ought to be proud, for what sure not making money. When I start- knees. I don't want people to think Mary Jo has are several large suitcases ed doing my program, people told me Woody was a tramp. He traveled by full of Woody Guthrie memorabilia I ought to charge for it, but I said no. I train because he didn't have a car. He and a great memory full of stories to just can't put a price on Woody. All I was a young man, and he could easily tell about everything in them. Woody care about is clearing expenses, so I get from place to place by hopping a was a great hand to write letters as well ask for enough to do that. But many of train. He was a great adventurer, and, as songs, it seems, and he put just as our schools, especially with the hard

6 Oklahoma TODAY UNCOMMON COMMON FOLK I times right now, are being cut and they her academic subject or someone with way. I was singing every breath. I was can't afford it. So when I've given the a commercial book or film in mind, just like a bird out of a cage. I knew program in Seminole, where we've Mary Jo would pull out her collection. my time had come. I had never ut- lived for over 40 years, or Prague, Soon people began to ask her to speak tered a sound of discontent, but I where my husband worked for four to groups. She presented her first pro- think my family read the truth on my years, I don't even charge car gram about 12 years ago and has had face and between the linesofmy let-

expenses." requests coming in steadily since then. ters. I had prayed for this day, but I Listening to Mary Jo talk about her Depending on the audience, she ad- didn't know how it would ever brother without catching her enthusi- justs the mixture of music, nostalgic happen." asm would be next to impossible. Al- stories and factual discussion of Even with the upheavals that de- though she begins her program in a Woody's work she presents. With ele- fined their family life while they were fairly calm and measured voice, it's not mentary school children, for example, children, the Guthries remained a long before she begins to gain power she says, "I play more music and talk closely knit group. As the baby sister, and speed much like the rushing to them more about the pictures. I ask Mary Jo looks up to and loves all three freights of which her brother so often them if they've got a brother 10 years of her brothers, not just the famous sang. About her presentation, Mary Jo older than them so they can identify, one. Woody, however, is the one the says, "I'd had no experience in public and I tell them about my sister Clara's public wants to hear about, and al- speaking before I started this, but it death in the house fire. The teachers though her pride in him makes her wasn't frightening to me because I like have told me that the kids know death happy to oblige, her love also makes people. I think if it were something is a part of life and it's 0.k. to talk her understandably protective. Before that I had to research and quote dates about it. The children always ask more she'll help writers, she explains that and ages verbatim I'd be scared. At questions about that than almost she'll do so only if what they write is first I made notes and had a little list to anything." positive and kind. She's also careful to go by, but by about the third time I'd When she was a child herself, Mary draw the line about sharing at a certain always be off of it. I can go back and Jo experienced life's often difficult re- point. "I think I also have to protect relive what I'm telling, and as a result I alities first hand. To borrow a phrase his privacy," she explains, "I have a never do the same program twice. You one of her brother's songs made fam- letter he wrote when my dad died that could see me again and hear 50 per- ous, she did her share of "hard trave- I had to work days deciphering be- cent different stuff. I play it by ear." lin'." With the death of her mother cause his disease made his handwriting Mary Jo is modest about what she when she was just three, Mary Jo left so terrible. It's a great piece of work, offers. She says, "I don't promise the Okemah for Panhandle, Texas, to live but it was written when he was so public anything. I'm just Mary Jo Edg- with an aunt. Five years later, her fa- sickly that I don't share that." mon, sister of Woody Guthrie. All I'm ther remarried and Mary Jo had to Her concern for her brother is symp- doing is sharing my letters. I love to leave her new home for yet another tomatic of Mary Jo's feelings for all show people how original Woody was. with a stepmother in Borger, Texas, those close to her. She asked specifi- When someone asks me about him, who was, it seems, not kind. cally that the names of her "travelin' I'm happy to respond, but I want to Mary Jo is hesitant to speak ill of buddy," the woman who accompanies make sure they want to hear it. I don't anyone, it's clear, but it's also clear her on all her excursions, and of her want to bore anyone." that those nine years were long and family members appear in this story Small chance of that. What Mary Jo unhappy ones. When she was sixteen, about her. So, Maydean Lovelady of offers is fascinating, and what motivat- her oldest brother, Roy, came from Seminole gets credit for her support of ed her to offer it was, simply, demand. Oklahoma and, in effect, kidnapped her friend, and son Hugh, daughter-in- Years ago, she decided to set up a her back for the family. She left her law Susan, grandson Chris and grand- guest book in the entryway of her stepmother's home with only the daughter Christy of Edmond all get Seminole home and have the many clothes on her back, and she never saw mention for just being themselves. Ac- visitors who dropped by to quiz her the woman again after her escape. She tually, Mary Jo probably wouldn't have about Woody sign it. Quickly, she re- remembers her fear of what would complained if her own name hadn't members, "It got real interesting. I happen to her for getting in the car appeared here at all. She is, it seems, began to have movie producers from with Roy and her relief when Roy almost everyone's keeper. Los Angeles, writers and people from handed her a note from her father that other countries like Ireland and Italy." read, "Go with Roy like a good girl. Have a nomineefor "Uncommon Each time someone stopped by, Your mama will understand." She also Common Fo/RY'BWrite to Kathryn [lo whether the visitor was merely a fan of remembers that on the ride north over Oklahoma TODAY, P.O. Box 53384, Woody's, a scholar researching his or the Red River, "I was singing all the OklaAoma Cig, OK 73152.

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 7 FORT SILL'S "l CLDPOST QUADRANGLE 13

SAennan House, the traditional home of lefarnib of Fort Sills commanding oficer, provida an eltgant sem'ng for holiday enter- raining for Li1b Korpal, (below) wife of M~J.Gen. Eugene S. By Jane Beckman Korpal. In 1875, (above) the quarten built on the frontierflat- Photographs by Steve Sisney lands were still nm. Sheman House is thirdfrom the 1/40.

hey tell you these houses ed a score of ghost stories. the premises of the house that bears are haunted. Some occupants have complained of the old soldier's name. Danford House But on a winter's day, a pair of quarreling ghosts. Quarreling and one of the duplexes have been decked in pine wreaths over a woman, naturally. Others told of bothered through the years with pol- and candles and gold ornaments, the mysterious scents of perfume and a tergeists that move furniture. sturdy wood-shingled native limestone strange rustling sound that raised the And why wouldn't there be ghosts? quarters lining the Old Post Quadran- hackles of the back of the family dog This plateau on the north bank of gle look cozy and friendly. Yet, in whenever it was heard. Medicine Bluff Creek was tribal land more than a century of housing Fort There have been claims that the adjacent to the sacred Wichita Moun- Sill's officers, unexplained happenings ghost of the Kiowa warrior who tried to tains before 1869 when the Army be- in the Old Post Quarters have generat- murder General W.T. Sherman prowls gan building the frontier outpost.

8 Oklahoma TODAY sometimes with one lonely rocker empty on the wide planked porch. The most notable incident in the history of the Quarters occurred on the front porch of Sherman House, which houses the commanding officer and his family. The porch wasn't screened in 1871 when Stumbling Bear and Satanta tried to assassinate General of the In 1880, (above) the dwde-okiQuadrang (with dhmanHouse ,%id Army Sherman while he was meeting fim the n'$t) still looM like a nmhousing ana-mi1 a fm smuggling shrubs and no trees. Tod~,(below) the exten%r of Sheman House, in council with Kiowa warriors. kktdout for Ch~tmas,looks som&t liRe it &a century ago, with a Maj. Gen. Benjamin Grierson, Fort smcdpodand other comfortable additions. Sill's first commanding officer, occupied the house at the time. The Army suspected trouble, and soldiers hid be- Many of the officers housed in these acms the thick carpets and polished hind closed wooden shutters. When quarters died violent deaths in battles hardwood, past the recessed windows Stumbling Bear fired a missed arrow at with the Southern Plains Indians. with their crisp draperies to show pho- Sherman, the shutters flew open and The two single houses and nine du- tographs of the quarters in the 1870s. the soldiers poked out their carbines plexes limed up along the north and The houses sit frozen in sepia: squat, and squelched the assassination east sides of Fort Sill's Old Post Quad- rustic and much smaller before the attempt. rangle were built in 1871 and are said modem additions spread them out into Maj. Gen. Eugene S. Korpal is the m bc the oldest continuously occupied the back yards. The original houses in 76th commanding officer to occupy residences in Oklahoma. the photographs stand against the iso- Sherman House. His wife Lily is de- Thc women who are mistresses of lation of the bare prairie, sometimes lighted to be living and entertaining in these historic resideices lead visitors enclosed by a rough picket fence, a house so rich in Oklahoma frontier

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 9 I (be10w)of Shennan Home, fa,anu'~a>/o~d~ousehme modem touchk butstiffstfowthe 1~5-~e1rhktory. ( history. "Living in Sherman House is to their tepees. The bachelor Col. and ingenuity of the military families kind of a dream come true," says the Ranald S. Mackenzie kept his pack of who live in them. pretty blonde who is on her fifth tour wolfhounds in the front yard where Funds for construction were limited as an Army wife at Fort Sill. today two brass miniature cannons when the military post was built. Fort This, however, is Lily Korpal's first flank the concrete walk. Sill was so far from supply sources that time to occupy Sherman House, and "The master bedroom upstairs was building material had to be found lo- she likes to collect stories from its dis- used as a ballroom in the early days of cally. The chunks of dull gray lime- tinguished history. "Did you know," the post," Lily Korpal says. "When stone joined with rough masonry for she says, pointing toward the very win- I'm listening to the history of the the outside walls came from a quany dows behind which the Sherman's sav- house, I can just visualize the officers about a half mile southeast of the origi- iors and their carbines hid, "that the and their wives coming in the front nal post. The wood used for the Indians used to come and stand on the door, and the tramp of the boots on the houses came from stands of oak and porch and stare in the windows at the stairs and the rustle of the calico skirts cottonwood in the nearby Wichita families who lived here?" as they went up for the dance." Mountains. Bricks for the chimneys Indians invited for dinner with the Today, as in those early days of Fort were hauled overland from Fort Ar- officers' families loaded their blankets Sill, the charm and elegance of the Old buckle and Texas. with the leftovers and toted them back Post Quarters comes from the efforts In early days at the post, furniture

10 Oklahoma TODAY had to be carried 300 miles in an eight- quarters for the usually large families ' children were digging in the yard and day trip. Today, the officers and their during those early days. found a part of the old tunnel. The wives still bring furnishings collected Jo Anne Zehngraff stands in her post engineers came and sealed it off, from all over the world to decorate the kitchen with colorful fabric on the so it's impossible now to know exactly spacious, highceilinged quarters. walls and modern appliances on the where the tunnel came out." Col. Paul Weyrauch, Fort Sill's Post cabinets and remembers at the turn of Pat Stanley is fascinated by the his- Chief of Staff, and his wife Nancy oc- the century the Army stopped spend- tory of the old quarters. "Our ghost is cupy Danford House, the only other ing money to repair the quarters when supposed to move furniture, but so far single family house. "Living here is it planned to turn Fort Sill over to the it hasn't help rearrange the living just perfect for us," Nancy Weyrauch Indians. During rainstorms, it was fre- room." says enthusiastically. quently necessary for a servant to hold She, like the other women who Nancy kept her enthusiasm for the an umbrella over the head of the ofi- manage households in the old quarters, Old Post Quarters even after she cer's wife preparing supper at the stove is delighted with them. "It's a great sewed curtains for Danford House's 43 while both mistress and servant strad- place to live with lots of storage space large windows. In the den she detours dled holes in the floor. and all sorts of interesting little nooks around an antique tricycle and straight- There was one hole in the floor of and hideaways. I've never lived in a ens a colonial apple butter stirrer on the duplex now occupied by Lt. Col. house this old. Nor this large. I think the wall. "Everything is always William Stanley and his wife Pat that we're spoiled for the rest of our lives." crooked on the walls. Because of the was built into the house at construc- And there's that ringside seat from guns." tion. And for a good reason. the front porch for all the parades and One disadvantage of the Old Quar- It's been boarded up now, but Pat concerts and change of command cere- ters is their proximity to Fort Sill's Stanley can show the downstairs closet monies that take place in the Old Post firing range. Windows rattle and deco- where the trap door was that led to the Quadrangle. "It's wonderful just to rator items on the walls get jiggled underground tunnel. "In case of major walk out the front door and see the every week of the year. Indian attack, all the wives and chil- show," Pat says. And what about the poltergeist who dren were to come here to this house. Of course these days they don't caused problems for so many of the A tunnel ran underneath the house and have shows as spectacular as in the previous occupants of Danford House? down to the creek. At the creek there days of the post's first commander. "We haven't noticed any activity were to have been boats to help them Col. Grierson had been a professional along that line. Maybe the poltergeist escape." musician before volunteering in the moved out with the former occu- Pat can point out the kitchen win- Civil War. As commander of Fort Sill, pants," Nancy says with a perky grin. dow to the place where the bank of he organized black cavalrymen into a Col. Paul E. Zehngraff, an Army Medicine Bluff Creek drops off sharp- band. He dressed the musicians in fan- dentist, and his wife Jo Anne have ly. "A couple of families back, the cy uniforms and had them perform on heard the Old Post Quarters ghost sto- 1 1 the Quadrangle mounted on white ries, too. But so far they haven't had horses. personal experience with one in the Electricity, not oil lanterns, now duplex where they live. light the Quarters. Water for drinking Living in the historic housing has and washing is no longer kept in bar- prompted Jo Anne to take an interest rels out back. Furniture and supplies in the history of Fort Sill, which began no longer take eight days to reach the as a lonely frontier outpost and evolved post by wagon from the nearest into the United States' largest field ar- Visitors to Fort Siff wiffhave dre railroad. tillery center. "At other posts I've al- oppor~unityto look for&os& in the Okipost But the legends of the Old Post ways done my volunteer work at the Quartets kebesone dqeach year Quarters' ghosts remind us there was hospital. But when we were assigned during "neParade of Homes." 73e euent once a time when calico rustled in the ti h& h been to these old quarters, I became so in- in April, but a date not halls and boots tramped the wooden set yet. terested in learning their history that I Hostmes and guides will be there to stairs. And on the porches came the decided to do my volunteer work at give tours and detaik about dre houm. soft pad of a visiting moccasin. Qi the Fort Sill Museum." To get to Fort Siff,fifiow 1-44 to dre In the years since their original con- Key Gatemi?. A guard at Key Gate wiffgive Jane Beckman ti a nmlrSt and struction, bathrooms, an upstairs and dimtiom to the Quartets. nonficlron writer who lha in Walim, additional rooms have been added to For tick& or other infomation, whitJI h 18 mihfrom Fort Sill. Sttve the duplexes, which originally had contact Bea George at (405)355-5352. Shnq frequent4 hmek b+e stafe to taRe only three rooms and a hall-crowded pAoiognaphs for Oklahoma TODAY.

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 11 grant bread-into stale l~ttleb.1115 ~t 15 g""rolled. Frosty milk-30 old." les." To tell his story, he'll bring a seven-foot walking staff and wear a beige ankle-length Greek robe and sandals with turned up toes. To round out the glimpse of ancient Greece, Hinkle will play a carved wooden flute and his handmade bowed psaltry-a triangular, 30-sainged ancestor of the violin. While Hinkle mesmerizes young au- diences with his tales and songs, photographer Hal Adamson uses his art to do the same thing with another group of children in another school. One of Adamson's most popular projects is teaching kids to make photograms-photographs made without a camera. At James L. Dennis Elemen- tary School in Oklahoma City, 35 ch& dren chose their materials, composed them into a picture on photographic paper, exposed them with bright studio lights and developed the phoro- grams with photographic chemicals, all within 45 minutes. The process seemed almost assem- bly-line &it, but the children didn't see it that way. Fourth grader Gary ~5.*1~~nlrt.~r~~~~~~k0ll*~nrm* Smith even wrote a short essay about the relaged pace. "Mr. Adamson was nice because he didn't pressure us. He gave us a lot of time so we did out photograms a lot better. If he pres- sured us we would have messed up a lot, but we didn't. The end." Azure Anderson explained how she created her photogram: "I thought of doing a forest in my picture because I like animals. I was womed that it wouldn't come out good, so I added some things to it. Then, when I got it back, I redid that it was good." Developing the studerits' own point of view is Adamson's main concern with any photographic technique. At Eisenhower Elementary in Norman, first graders used 35-millimeter earn- ems. ''They (photograph) their friends, which is usually humom because they love to have their pictures taken and to take pictures," Adamson said. He also sends them out to the playground to shoot scenes without people. "I often tell them to shoot parts of things or to shoot from unusual angles, like climbing up or ly- ing on the ground to establish their

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86

r-W.7. -1 . r -. Holiday Gift Subscription Special ... OkMoma TODAY is a beautiful gift for family, friends and business associates. And during the holiday season, you can save on gift subscriptions. You pay the regular price of $12 for your first gift or your own renewal. All other subscriptions cost only $101 To order, fill out the information below and return it to us. We will mail gift announcement cards to you so you may sign and send them personally.

My name

Address

city State Zip Renew my subscription

Please send gift subscriptions to: Name

Address City State Zip

Name Address

City Stare Zip

1st subscription ...... $12 additional subscriptions...... $10 (odd $4 if ouaidc U.S.)

Total amount of order $ Check or money order enclosed Via Mastercard Card # Exp. date

Signature Day Phone # Clip and mail to: &idoma TODAY P.O. Box 53384 ..$, Qklph~maCiw, OK 73152 Spcial hdidg, in rff~through D#ck31, 1986. I JEFF BRlLEY By Linda Shalaway

he red earth. It lays exposed in This red soil is the lifeblood of Oklahoma's land mass-close to 24 T the deep furrows of plowed the state whose very name includes million acres. This includes the en- fields. It blankets the unpaved sec- the Choctaw word for "red." Okla- tire western half of the state, plus tion roads crisscrossing Oklahoma homa soil nurtures wheat, peanut the eastern quarter of the Panhan- like long red ribbons. It sticks to and cotton crops. It grows abundant dle, says soil scientist Robert Reed shoes and stains pantseats. It coats grain sorghum and grasslands. It of Oklahoma State University. the banks and covers the waters of supports pottery and brickmaking Mapping soil types, topography the Red River, the Cimarron and industries. And it covers rich depos- and vegetation, scientists label three other rivers which carry it from the its of oil and natural gas. distinct regions where red soil oc- red plains and prairies. Red soil covers more than half of curs. One area is the Rolling Red

18 Oklahoma TODAY OKLAHOMA OMNIBUS I 1 I 1 I Plains of western Oklahoma; anoth- on the other hand, can best support until we could find a red firing clay. er is the Reddish Prairies of central native grasslands. Trees cannot tol- The red makes the color of our Oklahoma. The Cross Timbers, erate these poorly drained and com- glazes much better." where wooded lands dissect the pact soils, and their roots have The Sapulpa Brick and Tile prairie in the east central part of the trouble penetrating the hard clay. Company uses clay from the same state, is the third concentrated area Silty soils are a combination of red bed. of red soil. sand and clay. These are the most The Oklahoma Brick Company of And just what makes the soil red? fertile and productive of Oklahoma's Union City uses clay from another It has to do with iron, says Reed, red soils, according to Gray. He red bed to produce 52 million bricks who prefers the term "soil" to points out that the state's wheat belt per year. The soil there is just the "dirt." includes a region of rich, silty soil right combination of clay and shale "Dirt is soil out of place," he tells from Alva east to Newkirk and south for brickmaking, plant manager his students. to Perry and Stillwater. Another fer- Lealan Hicks says. Reed explains that an iron oxide tile wheat zone occurs in Kingfisher While the red soils dominate in compound, hematite, colors the soil County, and a third is in the south- Oklahoma, the state has a good vari- red-the red that's so resistant to west, Gray adds. ety of other types. laundry soap. Wheat production is also high in Several soil types in the southeast "Reddish soils don't necessarily the Panhandle. But the soil there are yellowish in color. These moist have a higher iron content than comes from rocks of a younger age soils come from the same sandstones darker soils, just less organic mat- and is not red. and shales as the red soils but are ter," Reed says. "Organic matter Oklahoma's wheat farmers must colored by the iron hydroxide com- (decomposing vegetation and tiny add nitrogen and phosphorus to pound limonite, Gray says. invertebrate animals) masks the red- their red soils, Reed explains. He Darker soils characterize an area dish color." He explains that in adds that there is usually a good between Ponca City and Enid. In Oklahoma, high heat and low mois- supply of potassium, the third ele- the far south between Madill and ture slow the decomposition of or- ment critical for plant growth. The Durant are the blackland soils ganic matter, and less of it ends up Hard Red Winter Wheat planted formed from limestone and other in the soil. here grows during the winter and "limey" materials. Here, Gray says, Not all red soils are alike. There requires less water than other crops. the clay cracks so deeply that cattle are several different types in Okla- Farmers can run cattle on their can get caught and break legs. homa, each developing from sedi- young wheat fields in the fall, then Maintenance of paved highways is mentary rocks formed 270 million harvest the grain in the spring. Last difficult in this area. years ago during the Permian Geo- year, Reed reports, Fdrmers grew There are other soil types as well. logical Age. 175 million bushels of wheat on five Seven of the ten major soil classifica- "Oklahoma was under water dur- and a half million acres. tions in the world occur right here in ing the Permian," says Fenton Grain sorghum, another dryland Oklahoma, Gray says. As author of Gray, professor emeritus of agron- crop used for cattle feed, is generally Soih of 0kMoma and an extensively omy at Oklahoma State University grown during the summer. used soils classification system, Gray and an international soils consultant. Oklahoma's soils of a higher clay is familiar with all of them, all im- "That's when the state's red beds of content are valuable for pottery and portant in different ways. sandstones and shales were brickmaking. The red earth, though, is Oklaho- formed." Frankoma Pottery Company of ma's lifeblood. It is directly related Permian rock reaches depths of Sapulpa uses local red clay for its to two of the state's top industries- 6,500 feet in some parts of western production needs-about 300 tons a wheat and cattle. Oklahoma's Anadarko Basin. Gray year, plant manager Ted Steeples But the red earth is more than the explains that deposits of sand, mud, estimates. And there's lots more heart of industry. It is the soul-the gypsum and salt from the inland sea where that comes from. essence-of a unique place. Okla- formed these rocks, which are the The red clay comes from Sugar homa ri the undulating rhythm of a LLparentmaterials" of our present Loaf Hill, an area just one block sand dune along the Cimmn. The day red soils. The soils develop from Main Street. It is combined harmony of a red prairie rolling un- when these rocks weather and break with other materials from around the der an infinite blue sky. The stark down into small particles. country to produce Frankoma's dis- image of a red canyon. The red Sandstones, like those found in tinctive line of earthenware. earth. BI Caddo County's Red Rock Canyon, The company moved from Nor- produce sandy red soils. Trees are man to Sapulpa in 1938 in search of usually the native vegetation in the special clay. Linda SAahay Is a Wat Kfst'nia- sandy areas, where the soil is well- "Our clay used to come from Ada, basedfmknce wriiter who spend sum- drained and aerated. but then it turned too yellow," Stee- mers at dre Unriversio of OkMoma The clay soils formed from shale, ples explains. "We kept searching Biological Skzrion near Kingston.

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 19 I,.

By Burnis Argo Photographs by Jim Argo

t's Christmas, 1896, in Guth- To help the families who will rie, capital of Oklahoma Ter- not be able to afford any kind of ritory. Christmas celebration, the Elks Winter snow scenes decorate Lodge and the Ladies Benevolent I Society are organizing benefit con- downtown merchants' shop windows, and lots of businesses are certs, dances and parties to raise ~efYY'ro?ial6'~fimasTask Fof@:from 'Iizes awaiting the money for food baskets and a /&, Rosettlary Smj& Jane nommand Swn lucky winning shoppers include a ~ ~ ~ 'WeYddream~ ~ / andsay,r . y won&ifm for children. new suit from Cohens, a gold can do thii,' and it just came into being." And residents, dressed in their watch from Lillies, a picture from long, heavy dresses and thick trou- Tingles. sers and shirts, wait eagerly for one of the most special Guthrie's children are entering a Letter to Santa sights in the tiny capital of the nation's newest fron- Claus contest sponsored by the State Capital newspa- tier. Candles and lamps illuminate Guthrie so down- per, and a panel of teachers will judge the results. town merchants can open their stores during the First prize is $3, a sum that will help considerably to evening for last-minute shopping before doors are cover a child's Christmas list. closed on Christmas. Most churches are planning Christmas Eve parties, and a Santa will be on hand to help pass out the Ni s s e dsince the Christmas of presents and treats everywhere except the Congrega- 1896, and a lot has changed in Guthrie. The territory tional Church where fie Santas are expected. became a state, and another- city became its capital. The community Christmas tree has been put up However, thanks to the hard work of a group of indoors, as usual, to protect the decorations from the present-day citizens, the past has been carefully re- territory's untrustworthy weather. Cedar, holly and created. For one month a year, visitors to Guthrie can mistletoe-easily found on a foraging trip-decorate see Christmas as it was nearly a century ago. the inside and outside of homes and shops. Near downtown, a group of adults and children- Territorial homemakers have worked since No- the women dressed in lace-up shoes and ankle-length vember baking "cookies and cakes that will keep" and dresses and the men in heavy trousers, suspenders and planning menus for Christmas dinner. thick coats-hurries around a corner to join other

20 Oklahoma TODAY I

I- - Mon hn2,500 li@ outline downtown Guhrie at ni#, including the Vu... 3uih - built in 1893 as an I

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 21 shoppers. A newsboy calls headlines, and a street may have started one of the state's most elaborate sweeper wields his broom. On the next block, carolers community Christmases. gather with their songbooks and muffs for a nightly "Our Christmas decorations were made for the outdoor concert. old light poles, not the new lamp posts, so when the Groups of laughing, chattering visitors stroll up light poles went the decorations were sold to another and down Guthrie's residential neighborhoods, enter- community," says Jane Thomas, chairman of the 1986 ing turn-of-thecentury homes decorated in cedar, hol- Territorial Christmas Task Force. ly, mistletoe and candles. The lack of decorations brought comments from Downtown shop windows are decorated with an- out-of-town visitors who expected to see Guthrie look- tique toys, dollhouses, hat boxes, Victorian clothing ing special. Armed with an idea of a special holiday and Christmas trees-territorial-style, of course. celebration, Guthrie businessman and Thomas' boss, A huge indoor community tree stands in the Gary Weeks, first found support from the Guthrie Pollard Theatre. and other decorated trees are in the Chamber of Commerce. Weeks then asked Thomas to State Capitol Publishing research early Christmases Company Museum, along in Guthrie for ideas that with early-day postcards, could be recreated for a pre- antique ornaments and sent-day celebration. toys. In front of one of the Thomas and a com- downtown trees, visitors mittee of local historians notice the strings of clear spent five months reading glass, electric lights. "Is old newspapers and perio- that authentic?" one asks, dicals and asking long-time and indeed it is. The first residents for their child- electric Christmas lights be- hood memories about came available in Guthrie Christmases in Guthrie be- in 1902. tween 1889, when the town On one night in De- was settled, and statehood cember, ladies waltz with in 1907. their partners during the "One of the things we Victorian Christmas Ball. discovered was that the The women wear full-skirt- Christmas season in Guth- ed gowns made of velvet, rie lasted well over a month taffeta and lace or a newer with parties, dances, con- style dress with an ankle- certs, plays and social length, narrow skirt. The events of some kind menu for the evening offers R0nnel.I Come// was in hrge of dtxorig h communiry bee p la n n e d ever y day," roast goose, Waldorf salad, * i'hzm. Its omamenn wen Thomas says. squash and plum pudding. n'hem-from numng home Mia to fint-grd schookdiMm. Thus, they decided to And, most dazzling of plan a celebration that last- all, at nightfall a five-mile string of lights illuminates ed a full month. Guthrie's restored Victorian downtown. Realizing she would need help, Jane Thomas Territorial Christmas begins November 29 this recruited Rosemary Smith, a collaborator on other year when the lights outlining the downtown buildings civic projects. And Smith brought her business part- are turned on and lasts until December 31. During the ner, Susan Hannah, into the venture, and the three Christmas month visitors can attend an arts and crafts became the Christmas Task Force. festival, a Christmas parade with early-day transporta- From the first, organizers tried to include the tion up to a Model A, variety shows, concerts and a entire community in the celebration. And even they tour of homes decorated in turn-of-the-century were unprepared for Guthrie's wholehearted response Fashion. as residents jumped to the task of making authentic The idea for a Territorial Christmas came about, decorations for the trees in the downtown area and surprisingly, because of the lack of an outward show of especially the community Christmas tree at the Pollard holiday spirit in Guthrie in 1984. Theatre. For the past 10 years this Logan County town has "Last year we decided to ask if the ladies in our been involved in a preservation effort that will eventu- nursing homes would make crocheted snowflakes for ally restore the downtown to its pre-statehood appear- us to use on the community tree," Thomas says. "We ance. Part of the restoration included Victorian lamp didn't get much encouragement that they would ever posts along the downtown streets, an addition that do this but when we asked them, we couldn't believe

22 Oklahoma TODAY CHRISTMAS EVENTS No~ombor29 Opening Night. The Docombor la Christmas Ball, a illumination of historic downtown with recreation of the formal, mid-Winter 25,000 feet of tiny, white Christmas Ball, Masonic Temple. Admission is 1 lights. $50 per person. Novombor 2649 National Finals Docomber 14, 28 Territorial Homes Steer Roping, Lazy E Arena. World's Tour featuring six turn-of-thecentury top ropers will compete for $48,000. homes decorated in Victorian fashion. Tickets are $7 and $10, with children Hours are 1 to 5 p.m., and tickets are $4 under 12 admitted free. or $3.50 for senior citizens and groups of 10 or more. Docombor S Operation Care Variety Show, Pollard Theatre. Masonic Temple Tour Camegie Library Tour D.t.mkr 5-7 Am and Crafts Festival, downtown Guthrie. hcmnbw 1s Star Dance Swan, a contemporary dance company Docmnbw 6 Peter Nero and the Tulsa Flforming an original chistrnas Philharmonic, featuring saxophonist prog,m, ~~~~~i~~ ~xckets~an ~ l ~ . Larry Elgart. Tickets are $30, $15, $30, $15, $10 and $7.50. $10 and $7.50. Dally Evonts Choral Readings, Candle Christmas Parade with horse-drawn Tour, Victorian Decorations, Antique vehicles and other transportation no late1 Toys, Carolers, Live Skits, Victorian than a Model A, downtown Guthrie. Dollhouse, Period Dress, Victorian Christmas Trees, Tum-of-the- Musicale, State Capitol Publishing Century Cuisine Museum. More infomation about i$e 1986 Docember 12 Handbell Concert, TmioriaI Chnhus ti avaikrb/e by confachn Pollard Theatre. i$e Cud& Chmber of Commerce at 1405) the response. We received many, many times the "illumination" started by the Welcome Store. This number we asked for." consisted of lighting up the downtown during evening Next, the women asked schoolchildren to help. shopping hours with candles, lamps and electric lights. Students in the lower grades set to work making The Task Force trio decided it would be no trouble at chains out of colored paper while older children made all to duplicate that idea, only more elaborately. paper fans and cornucopias. The girls in the high That's how Rosemary Smith's husband, Dwayne, school home economics classes-using an original rec- assisted by Hannah's husband, Jay, and Peter Hack- ipe found by Guthrie historian Helen Holmes-made bert and a few other "volunteers" came to spend cookie cutouts for the tree. The women in the exten- November 1985. They climbed up and down ladders sion homemakers clubs provided other handmade and crawled across the tops of the downtown stores to decorations. drill holes for more than 2,500 cup hooks to hold the "All of the decorations made last year were care- five miles of lights the ladies thought adequate for the fully saved and this first year's illumina- year will be used on 1 tion. The people of the trees in the homes Guthrie paid for the on the house tour," lights, donating $1 per Thomas savs. "The I foot. same groups will "We (collected) make new snow- $8,000 with donations flakes, fans, chains ranging from a few and so on for the com- pennies for a part of a munity tree with ex- r foot of lights -up to a tras going to other donation of $250," downtown trees as Thomas says. "The needed. important thing, "The high school though, was that it horticulture depart- was a project that ev- ment is growing flow- eryone in town could ers in their green- participate in no mat- house especially for us .,-'astea ..--.-,, -pU,. "- ..,H..., UU.-- ..,..,. .. -- --.-.,------YI ter how they to use at christmas, banimmigmnt and Cd& par F&k Jhnn Himi. could afford." she says. "I think people are always surprised to see The first Territorial Christmas centered in down- how much fresh flowers were used back then at town. This year, the Task Force will begin drawing Christmas." the residential areas of town into the celebration. The Last year's shop classes made wooden cutout biggest addition to the lengthy roster of festivities is a Christmas ornaments to be hung on the Pollard tree candle tour along Guthrie's streets. and this year they will be placed there once again. "The driving tour will be through 30 blocks of The shop classes are making a wooden toy to go under the residential areas and every window on the facade the tree this year. facing the tour route will have a lighted candle," During the first present-day Territorial Christ- Thomas says. "That's about 2,000 candles." mas, Guthrie residents were encouraged to dress in Jane Thomas, Rosemary Smith and Susan Han- turn-of-the-century clothing and walk through the nah spent much of 1986 providing momentum to bring downtown area to add an authentic touch to the scene. the second Territorial Christmas to reality-only this "We now have in Guthrie a lady who does noth- year they had a much larger committee. "We noticed a ing but create Victorian-style hats and one dressmaker big increase in the number of people who want to be who makes turn-of-the-century clothes," Thomas part of this year's celebration," Thomas says. says. "Guthrie also is probably one of the few towns That's good news for the three, who said every around where you can easily find gloves, hats, sus- place in Guthrie was decorated for last year's Christ- penders and muffs for sale. One of the stores here got mas except their own homes. in a shipment of hat boxes recently, and they were all "Last year we worked hard creating the illusion snatched up almost before they were unpacked." for everyone who lived in Guthrie or visited here," During her research, Thomas discovered one Thomas says. "This year I think we are going to be highlight of early Christmases in Guthrie was the able to live and enjoy the illusion, too." lI8

Jim and Bum& Atgo are a husband-wife, photoppher-writertcam who contn'buk ngwkrd~to Oklahoma TODAY.

24 Oklahoma TODAY By Mary Ann Luther Photographs by Steve Sisney and Phillip Radcliffe

early 7,000 years ago, craftsmen in ancient civilizations Nused the earth's resources to weave baskets and cloth, carve wood into utensils and form pottery. Even then, when these skills were necessary for practical, everyday life, they were expressions of handmade individuality, an artistic record of life. Although the need for handmade works gradually declined, the craftsman's desire to create excellence didn't. Oklahoma has its share of remarkable craftsmen who strive for, as one put it, "going further." Oklahoma TODAY writer Mary Ann Luther set out to find the best, and she did-several dozen artists whose names were mentioned again and again. The seven presented here were chosen for the variety of their disciplines- a weaver's hands yield a far different heirloom than a woodcarver's chisel-and because they represent Oklahoma's finest.

faces of gold, silver, pewter, brass, steel, bronze and copper. is an integral part of manipulating the medium into the beautiful body ornaments and met- alwork he produces. He'll stamp, en- DERREVERE grave, pierce, repousse, file and hammer-anything to make his mark. hey put bread on his table, keep "You can teach technique and pro- T the bill collectors at bay and fuel cess. You can't teach the love of the his creative fires. You might say sur- material and the relationship you can hce relationships are the only kind have with it," says the 42-year-old full- worth having-when the parties in- time art instructor at Tulsa Junior Col- volved are William Derrevere and his lege. "I like the resistant quality of the metal. metal. Each one sets up its own set of Putting his jeweler's imprint, impos- circumstances." ing his metalsmith's will on the sur- Likewise, working with the unique

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 25 ' elegant. And it's anything but predict- able. For example, some of his neck- laces are reversible, and sometimes he sets stones on both sides. "I like to have a little surprise on the back," he says. "If it's turned over, nobody would know it's upside down 'cause there's activity on the back. Some- times I write messages on the back, sometimes on the front." According to Ann Barker, an Okla- homa City jeweler and owner of the Oklahoma Design Center Gallery, Derrevere's work reflects his deepest self. "Anytime you're looking at a piece of artwork.. .you are looking at an expression of that person's personality," she says. "Bill just has a unique way. He puts things together in a jux- taposition that is different from what anyone else would do." Although he started making jewelry at 17 by watching someone else, as the years passed his ability to make the ordinary into the sublime was en- I hanced by his formal art education. (He's got bachelor's and master's de- grees from the University of Tulsa and a master's degree from Illinois University.) Now he credits the state of his craft to "a lot of hard work and isolation and making a lot of mistakes ...and expect- ing a whole lot out of myself." This includes learning to look beneath the surface of the environment. 6 While Nature's designs are funneled :X E into his brain, it's his interpretation of Fmh uses of ornamental standards-faceted stones such as diamonds and rubies, agates and them that comes out in his jewelry and pearls-are only a fm of William Demere'sf/oun'shes. Y'l/ try to dream up ways of going further with the materrah. Sometimes it's my own penonal concern to make me gm." "I don't deal in realism, but I do react to my environment and what I see," he says. "For me, it's a means of communicating. And I love to see peo- personality of each requires the appro- lot easier. It's a definite equalizer. It ple wearing body ornamentation, and priate set of what he calls "thought can jerk you back and kind of remind it doesn't necessarily have to be jewel- processes" that he employs to master you, 'Maybe you're not as slick as you ry." the metal. think you are.' Silver to me is just an But when it's his, all the better. "Gold's like polished sunshine. all-around cool metal ...and more casu- "It's meant to be on someone. It's not Steel is the most resistant and stubborn al-not as formal a material as gold meant to be in a bank vault or a box metal that you have to physically con- would be." somewhere." vince. It says, 'You have to dominate Whether fabricated from sheet met- Bill Dmm's work can be seen at dre me or I will dominate you.' Pewter is a1 or wire or cast from wax models in Okkzrioma D~ignCenter Gallky and dre always soft, pliable; it will do anything his home studio, his jewelry and met- Jan Mame Gal@, hdr in Oklahoma you make it do with tools, but a whole alwork tread the territory from fun to City, or dre Carlin Shop and Le Marpni

26 Olrlahoma TODAY in Tuha. Prim usua/ly range from $100 to $2,500. For more information, contact , -, - n .a Dmmat 1347 East 19rfi Street, Tuha, OK 74120, (918) 749-6032.

MONTEE HOKE

or potter Montee Hoke, the clay's F the thing. But Shakespearean twists don't end with that message. How he arrived at the present state of his art took a social revolution, a resur- rection of long-latent talent and some Bard-like quirks of mind and matter. Nudging clay into craft, both utili- I1 tarian and otherwise, is a relatively re- cent pursuit for Hoke. Before this 59-year-old artisan fired up his first kiln ; in his mid-30s, molding athletes- 1 both himself and the high school wres- . tlers and football players he coached- had been his only craft. "I whnted to be a superjock," says the assistant art professor at Southwest- ern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford. "Art was for.. .sissies. Physical things were more important to me." After high school, he buried his boy- hood flair for sketching stained glass windows (a talent that calmed his fid- gets during church), forfeited a scholar- ship to the Kansas City Art Institute and joined the Marines. The trip from Continuous change is Montee Hoke's artistic signature for his pottery, anddrawing, he says, is soldier to jock-maker to potter to uni- the basis of what he tries to accomplish. Sketching on pottery has producedsome of his best work. versity art teacher began its evolution "Drawing is leultimate," says the Oklahoma City artist. But ')pottery fits me physically. " with the social revolution of the '60s. By 1968, "I no longer felt I was forceful enough to accomplish what I needed to. Long hair was a problem As a result of his teaching at SOSU drew a lot of people into art that would for me at that time. I was a redneck." for 14 years, he and students share an never have gotten into art. I see a lot of The man with the glint in his shocking artists' network that connects much of connection between football, dance blue eyes pauses. "I've grown." America's mid-section. "There are no and drawing." What he grew into was a gifted ma- secrets," he says. Students are his Like his transfer in discipline from nipulator of porcelain and stoneware eyes, his ears, his hands, his inspira- athletics to art, his craft is ever-evolv- clays, which he hand-throws, hand- tion. "Teaching's probably what I do ing-a marriage of old forms and new builds and transforms through firing best. I like to see that all my potters, processes. and glazing techniques into stoneware, when they come out of the school, are "I am a very traditional, vessel-on- raku, salt glaze and crystalline. To technically sound." ented potter," says Hoke, who also has name a few. Because of his sports background, "I a home in Oklahoma City. But don't

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 27 count on anything but excellence: with I Ithe hel~of students' research and ex- periments, Hoke can take off on fresh twists every year and make noticeable changes every five. According to Kate Hammett, public relations director of the Arts Council of Oklahoma City, "Montee is always growing and changing. There's always Isomething a little different about his work than the last time you saw it." What you can count on are the beautiful, the incongruous, and the beautifully incongruous-such as his lovely egg-shaped vessel the height of two basketballs, its delicate colors and glazes belying its size. Whether it's a craggy-lidded table- top piece or a color-washed landscape plate warmed under a high fire reduc- tion glaze, the kernel of a good idea reproduces-one pot transforms into another idea. "The results are always based on one thing-the fire," he says. "Every piece is one of a kind. No way to plan and say, 'Yeah ...I know what's gonna happen."'

The creative and -physical- challenge- presented by clay suits Hoke and re- Oher W~U-VCTJ CUM run~~~~~mky'swork asto~~nding,and one says she ik an amit who '% places ,.he outlet wrestling once gave one of the hardest working people I've mer seen ... who docs everyfig to get *~(~ct/rwhat she him. wants." Says Husky: 'Td /ike people to hang onto nry dings as heir/ooms." "I no longer go out and look for a fight," Hoke says wryly. "I just find more clay." Montee HoRe's po&q k shown at the la Husky weaves dreams-the kind wool, rayon and linen she usually spins OkMoma Art Center or by appoinment. that last a lifetime. and dyes herself, or from rags and Hk pica vary from $50 to $500. Mom Two looms, one with eight harness- scraps she turns into rugs and wall infonnaton k avai/abfe by contacfinghim es, occupy the living room of her tiny hangings. at 3130 Venice, OR/ahoma City, OK home lodged in the midst of southeast- The fruits of Oklahoma soil go into 73112, (405)942-0393. em Oklahoma's extravagance. Here her dyes-onion skins, marigolds, cor- the 33-year-old weaver clacks her iopsis and sumac-as well as such for- looms' beaters into the night as insects eign fare as tropical insects. After and frogs keep time outside. producing incredible shadings and col- Weaving is a centuries-old art, so, or ranges and hand-dyeing her yam, "If you're doing a loom-shaped piece, she coaxes from her loom intricate cus- PAMELA it's bound to have been done before," tom designs or traditional patterns. HUSKY 4 Husky says. But that doesn't stifle the Serendipity pops up in 3-D in her urge to create her own custom colors work-bits of mink and polished and patterns. "I try to design garments stones for clutch bags; custom dyeing he storybook thickets, wide that are timeless," she says. to match home furnishings. T swaths of green and roller-coaster And what she produces is undeni- "I'm a real stickler for finishing roads that bind Stigler and Eufaula ably exquisite. Tapestries, clothing, techniques," she says. "I'd liepeople seem like a glimpse from some obscure table nlnners, place mats, napkins, to hang onto my things as heirlooms." outback. purses, potpourri bags, pillows, chair Making "heirlooms" full-time, like With this backdrop as fodder, Pame- cushions are woven from silk, cotton, her style, just evolved. Although she

28 Oklahoma TODAY earned a bachelor's degree with a ma- this blue-eyed basket weaver prevents Everything that goes into his bas- jor in ceramics from Central State Uni- amnesia about the cultures of the Five kets is as organic as the Earth itself. versity in Edmond, her minor, Civilized Tribes is working his craft Sometimes with a class in tow, he weaving, has allowed her to make a and teaching it to others. gathers natural materials, such as buck- full-time living as an artist. And that's According to 39-year-old Croslin, brush, honeysuckle and white oak, largely because she and her husband, the Cherokee culture in its purest form from a farmstead or his own backyard. Andrew, once moved around a lot. was nearly obliterated by smallpox and To treat white oak, he uses a pocket "I never was able to set up some war with English settlers. "Our culture knife and wooden maul (most of h kilns. Instead, I invested in a loom," effectively was destroyed. And we tools are handmade) to split the wood 5 Husky says. have a remnant of it in Oklahoma," and suip the bark. For honeysuckle, That loom has demanded much says Croslin. "What little we keep is in he twists a web of vines into a wreath from her, especially when she tackles crafts, art and language." and dunks it in water to boil. Then he tapestries. One in particular is called Others interested in preserving strips away the outer sheath from the "Source: Birds in Flight9'-a wide vis- America's Indian cultures appreciate vines with a handful of bark and hangs ta of wheat fields inspired by Oklaho- Croslin's commitment. "What makes it up to bleach in the sun. Selected ma homesteaders. his work so unique is he realizes the strips are cooked in a broth with roots "I think that these are fiber paint- importance of his heritage.. .and the or nut shells, such as black walnut ings, not what people traditionally traditional values of it," says Debra hulls, bloodroot and dyewood, produc- think of as weaving," she says. Synar, director of the Five Civilized ing shades of brown, orange and Husky's craft is art, subtle and be- Tribes Museum in Muskogee. "The yellow. lievable as a watercolor, hues melting quality of his work is excellent." "Sometimes the material takes long- into one another like Nature's own. Born in California, Husky often uses the Sooner State as her model and considers it her home. "Just being Lany Cmslin constantly reseamha Indian weaving pattms and their variations. 'Yf I can from Oklahoma, that's the kind of walk in a museum...give me fwc minutes.. .and the design will leave with me. If you can give me landscape that's close to my heart. the material, I can make a bdet out of it." Weaving's something that you live with night and day. A lot of thought and feeling goes into it. It's easier to spend that energy on something you're familiar with than a photograph of a place you've never been to." i'h John Porn Cathy in Oklahoma Go shows Pam& Husky's work, and it ofen can be seen at he Johnson Atelie7 Gal@ in Tuka and he Findowe An Cenw Gal& in Norman. Pnca vary fiom $200 to $2,000. ZZe weaver may be contactd at Bmoh Mountain Weavery, Route 4, Box 2385, Shgkr, OK 74462, (918) 799-5883.

LARRY CROSLIN

arry Croslin is a man with a mis- Lsion, a prophet on a pilgrimage. And the message this part-Cherokee trumpets to fellow tribesmen and the populus at large? Never forget. How

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 29 er to prepare than it does to make the basket," says Croslin, who began making Welsh baskets 25 years ago buc became more interested in the weaving of his ancestors. rhen comes craftwork. When indoors, he spreads a plastic cloth, and then his fingers fly. Surrounded by an array of tools-everything from s pocket knife to a deer antler-he twists the natural materials into strong as-steel vessels in both traditional anc contemporary styles. His double-weave honeysuckle baskets are one intricate piece, woven ta produce the look of a basket in a basket, sometimes with a special design and a splash of color hidden on the inner layer just for "orneriness," he says. Although his white oak baskets are all traditional weaving pattems- peace pipe, Cherokee star, double- chiefs daughter and more-the other materials may be used in themes tried and true or variations thereon. For this OG&E communications foreman who earns his daily bread thanks to 20th Century high technol- ogy, private time is spent in retrospec- tion, bending Nature's offerings into his own. "You can step back 3,500 years when you walk through the door and start on this stuff," he says. Lany Cmslin's opic baskets are shown at fie Five CkilidTrik Museum in Mushg~.HHis prim vary from $20 to $600. For more infomation, contact him at P.O. Box 2608, Mukogee, OK 74402- 2608, (N8)683-5363.

EDDIE

ddie Caperton is a man who can't E forget the past. Nearly 600 years of it. For this antique restorer, furniture Eddie Caperton, who may be Oklahoma's only antique nfuhher specio/iing in Gothic designer and wood carver, prime Earth rwtoration, does all his caming by hand, using he same ma~enal,finishing andprocesses as the time so far is Gothic, from about 900 sriginal work. His mtoration of one piece t~pledits value and fooled antique deaIm.

Oklahoma TODAY I I through 1500 A. D. That's an appropri- Being handmade, you expect it." with beaded knife sheaths. Navah ate period to be stuck in, considering And if he's unfamiliar with a style or and Pawnee cradle boards. Rawhide that Caperton creates, among other wants to check the fine points, he tepees. Tiny rawhide figures repre- things, thrones. That's right. Uphol- heads back to his books. "From there I senting 24 tribes. And more, each stery-panelled, handcarved and hand- can create my own designs," he says. smaller than the height of an hunt rubbed, Gothic-inspired thrones that "If I'm lucky, I'll find the very piece measuring cup. are collapsible (a modem-day conces- I'm having to restore." "It's really kind of like a history sion to mobility). Such intricate handwork in such an lesson," says Pattie, a Harvardeducat- "A lot of my friends tell me physi- automated age is his counterpoint to ed teacher, trainer and consultant for cally I'm in the 20th Century but men- what he calls the "cookie press" archi- preschools and kindergartens. "A little tally I'm in the Middle Ages," says tecture of today. But that doesn't pre- kid's not gonna take that little drum Caperton, 51, owner of Ye Olde Wood clude his concession to livelihood; after and hang it up without asking what it Shoppe in Oklahoma City. "I really all, he'll follow the stiff lines of mod- is." love that period. What I love about it is em furniture when necessary. Indeed, preserving Indian history the art. And how art's developed and His heart, however, remains unadul- and heritage, both for their tribes and branched out into other art." Such as terated by the present. others, play a major role in their craft- his own. "If I had my way and the means, I'd making. For John, 44, that history is Although Caperton took correspon- build myself a castle and all the fumi- also personal. dence courses in mechanical and archi- ture that goes into it," he says. He started making crafts in 1942, tectural engineering, his carving and EcMe Capertn may be conkzctcd at Ye when his family members supported restoration skills are largely self-taught, Okde Wood Shoppe, 1751 No+t 16d, themselves by working for Pawnee honed on his meaty personal art library Okhhoma 670, OK 73106, (405) 525- Bill's Trading Post. "Back in the '40s and perfected by practice. Lots of it. 3007. His prim vaty. in Pawnee," he says, "there were no He'll reproduce or repair anything job opportunities there except for from such Greco-Roman staples as or- working for Pawnee Bill's Trading namental acanthus leaves to brackets Post. If one person worked you bearing mythological figures to styles couldn't make enough money to eat. including German Renaissance, PATTIE So it was a family project." French Gothic, English Tudor, Chip- John learned craftwork by watching pendale or custom-built one-of-a- & JOHN his mother and spent much of his childhood fashioning goatskin drums kinds. Not to mention staircases, HOWELL- - Geman flax spinning wheels, grand- for 8 or 10 cents apiece, turning out 10 father clocks and architectural on a good day. millwork. f necessity is the mother of inven- NO; he ad Pattie divide the re- His hallmark? Authenticity. His I tion, the urge to create is surely its sponsibilities of their craftmaking. In handiwork always keeps with the style cousin. the bedroom workshop of their Ada of the piece he's restoring or creating. Or so it was in the case of Indian soft home, amid boxes full of beads and When he restores missing limbs to old doll and ornament makers Pattie and baubles, in the company of any of their furniture or woodwork, he takes pains John Howell. About five years ago, the eight dogs, the couple often works to use the same material, finishing5 couple-John, half Pawnee and a upon awakening until 1 a.m. Back- and processes as the original piece, quarter Cherokee and Pattie, a quarter ground music is often the TV, conver- down to hand-cutting dovetail joints, if Chickasaw-decided to fulfill a simple sation runs the gamut from their tribes necessary. holiday wish. to the morning news. Fidelity to this philosophy pays off. 'We wanted to have an Indian Produced in this comfortable con- One of Caperton's best projects was Christmas me," says Pattie, 33. "Indi- clave, their soft dolls include an old- his restoration of a turn-of-thecentury ans have always done things to orna- style Pawnee in 1879 dress with fully French Gothic china cabinet. He had ment, to decorate." beaded yoke and a buckskin body to add missing wood to a door and And the Howells are no exception. stuffed with sage and cedar and horse- hand carve a piece to style. "Nobody Already up to their scissor tips in mate- hair braids. Most dolls, however, are ever even noticed the repair," he says. rial for the soft dolls representing 18 made of cloth and dressed in buckskin, When it comes to carving, his most tribes, 11 Indian games, rattles, buffilo their outfits authentically and appropri- important tools hang from the end of robes and decorated knives they make, ately adorned. his arms. First, he outlines the perime- they began fashioning Christmas orna- Although both Pattie and John are ter of the design, then draws details ments that are Indian-inspired artifacts interested in preserving the heritages freehanded. "If there's a slight devi- in miniature. Bow and quiver (the of their own tribes, the fruits of their ation there, it doesn't hurt a thing. pouch for arrows) sets. Rawhide knives labor transcend a strictly colloquial ap

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 31 peal. "Both of us are interested in In- dian uibes-all Indian tribes, not just our own," says Pattie. "People tend to think of Indians in this really reverent sort of way. What we do is just bring- ing a little 'Indian-ness' into everyday life." i% i% HoweIk' soft dolk, omatnena and oder wod an offered at die Okkahoma Indian Art Ga//ety and de Kidpatrick Center, bod in Okkahoma (24,and oder ga/.es in he sm. Prices for omamen& beg> at $6, and soft do/h an priced to $300. i2e Hmek may be mhd at Running Dog Crafa, 1413 East 14d, Ma, OK 74820 or (405) 332-0733.

4STEPHANIE,

here is art in Stephanie Grubbs' T craft-art that's as textured and bumpy as the veins of a leaf, as three- dimensional as a cube. But this felter is more a craftsman by design than one who claimed the title at birth. "I never really thought about being an artist," says the former home economics teacher who quit to raise children, only to be pestered by her creative muses. "I suppose I was looking for an outlet." She found one 13 years ago: weaving. But after eight years, "The weaving just sort of went by the wayside." Fiber, however, kept a firm foothold in her and is integral to her latest venture-felting-which she feels gives her more freedom. "I think fiber artists relate more to texture and color than to shape," says the 45-year-old Purcell resident, one of the handful of professional felters in the state. "I used to follow a lot of rules about materials. Now I look to the result first and use whatever material will bring that result." Felting-a technique believed to l2 e -worrsnop. rattre nra meamning ana aerau work-making have been first used by the nomads of cIotha, accexsorieJ and beadwork-andputs together a// of the women dolls. John concentrates on Central Asia at least 3,000 years ago- the men doh but doa a// the sming for both. recently resurfaced as a modem-day

32 Oklahoma TODAY art form. But an object of reverence it Bid, PumeII, OK 73080, (405) 527- OkMoma Ciry magazine photograph, is not. L'Vigorous" is how Grubbs de- 5327. and Phi//$ Ra&/;ye ti afmhm scribes the calisthenic craft she first photographer and vi&o producer who read about in a magazine. Mav Ann Luder is an Okkahoma Cily- wo& from his studo, 15 hkt First, carded (combed) fleece laid based fmhtxe writer. Stme Sting ti an Pmdumotts, in Tuha. out in a premeditated design is basted between layers of muslin. Her materials most commonly in- Felting mentLy resurfaced as an art form, and Stephanie Gnrbbs, a former waver turned clude wool fleece for backgrounds, fir//-timefeitw, pmduta wa//pim, g/wa and otherfet creations.One Okkdoma City jber with wool, silk or rayon threads artist appbUlAF GW'work: "Evqthing she does is jnished to the nth aktai/."1 worked in over the top. Then the muscle-making part of the process begins. Grubbs dunks the muslin package in hot, soapy water, then cold water, and back and forth- vigorously rolling, agitating and wring- ing the material by hand as the scales of the fibers tangle and mesh together. "That's why felting is fun," Grubbs says. "You break all the rules you have when you're a weaver. You treat the material as roughly as you can." After giving the fleece a figurative one-two, she pops the parcel into the dryer; as it shrinks, the fibers become thicker, harder, more compact and en- tangled. A piece can turn soft and flu@ depending on where the felting processlis stopped. "But you can't go back," she says. "You can never unfelt it." And then comes a Christmas-mom- ing kind of surprise: "Opening up the muslin cover after it's felted to see what it really looks like." Making mittens and vests is usually for fun-felt is warm, durable, surprisingly beautiful and, depending on her material and design, as fashionable and funky as a Top Ten album cover. But most of her time is devoted to felt wall pieces-living works of movement and color-which usually take about three weeks to create. "I work very instinctively," says Grubbs, a full-time felter. "I'm not always aware of why I do a certain thing. I just know that it is right and that's what I have to do." Sttphanie Gds' felt creations are shown at h Okkzhoma Art Centds Am Phe II in Okkzhoma Ciry, Wo& ofArt in TuLra or by appointment wid her. Cds'price range ti $25 to $900. For mom infomation, she can be wded at r?ie Bkack Sheep Fiber Studio, 620 Noh

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 33 "No, we wonk, Lessie," argued. "You know yourself and Pi don't know if these seeds will come up or not. You heard 'em so!" He took a pea from tk pail excitedly. "That seed germ is de 'n a doornail! Planting them peas - -.> -,- .,--, ,/' +' ribbon in my hand, bn&-if~d&e?j--.,;.?, minuses before, seemed -00 bsi:l-<**z much of its luster, and mY7=6@eHw - -.-,-,, up with tears. I looked at Cl@e;-f-f~; hoping for sympathy. He flashehed&k%.. ,f-'5 a menacing "you-let-me-hade- .-:% this" look, and just in time, t6o.$?&

"Get the py,--#gnted, A-4 < Dad asked. ?PG*%:

rery last one of 'em.* - %ere was no further me -tk*&a planting und several ldttkt~~lyd~and I were buck

he dves m gulp down the 1st Dad reached out and dmii$l%@g droprof warm miIk. him. "Children," he said, Then was weeping and wailing tinged with emotion, "there's a @ as the hindermost parts of two difference between planting peas 'and Rsr ardicl;? got irJ m' anatpmies took some rugged covering up lies. No matter how #m for q- . . ;--,,.z'=* l..rtx@qqt. Dad headed back mad much din you heap on lies, they ., ,A :;y$-$p$s&$ .,> fl the per motioning,foi Glyde always cmp out. in@ something big +ji2,53 *? - ,, . $$ md me m fol1owOWAt the edge of the and ugly." .#-. %sg c4 field Dad weddown the path Now that my sbry is told, I feel 324 9 SZ23 that led a, the river. Halfway down the better. This Janmr$ XSt I shall again ?fa+.- G-qx @ incline, he turned and Faced us. I sem the mdit$prial,N~y=?--(J, .< ,, & -danced m one side and a huge ,~&b~&gdlrhic;g,r$&&? ?mi- 4% -5, ,/AYA&%? mushroom-shaped m,ss of *."&9.&+++& @*F vines seemed ub leap at me like a jack @-.*-rh&M :,.-,*. 2s 175 V&, - A>& * > *,,

If that plumed b6t&ropp%g 'dy ' -/- - plants m-half as large & ber -@ it m be, the seeds were $2 ,A undoubtedly of the meprolific strain f14- - ' $3.as &e beans of Jack-&d-the- /.. ...< -. beanstalk he. ifty years after leaving his western Oklahoma territory, former traveling salesman Carter Goldsborough returned. In a rented Mazda, he retraced his route where he sold United States Gypsum Company F(USG) building materials to lumber dealers, contractors and architects. What had changed the most during the last half century?

"The roads," he declared unhesitat- the customers was not." Most were dirt or mud, depending on ingly. "And that Mazda rode better At that time, this stocky widower the weather. Few of the section-line than my '23 Dodge." with thinning white hair was a lanky roads were direct routes between Loaded with samples of sheetrock, bachelor who was, at 22, the youngest towns. And not only were paved roads rocklath, Gyp-Lap sheathing and other USG salesman. In 1928, Goldsbor- scarce, but other essentials-like USG products of that day, the old ough's turf was Territory #I20 in bridges-were even rarer. Dodge bumped from town to town western Oklahoma. "Only the best highways had during the late 1920s. In those oil "In my first temtory, I had 19,000 bridges," Goldsborough recalled. boom times, sheetrock, which was square miles in 19 counties and only 40 "Fording streams and rivers could be a brand new, outsold the more common miles of paved roads, including the matter of merely decelerating and plaster and shiplap because it could be main streets of towns," he says. "Ten watching carefully, or it could be a applied faster. percent were in Woodward, my major ordeal." "Selling the products was easy," headquarters." Goldsborough remembers the Ca- says Goldsborough, who now lives in His Rand McNally map termed margo crossing which had a twocar Charlotte, North Carolina. "Getting to Oklahoma roads "principal trails." barge in wet weather. In the dry sea-

36 Oklahoma TODAY Afcer heq rainfall in NK spn7g 6 .L I flooded t, motorists were caudt in a fie-mile Ec jam in Se

son, a trail covered with straw and gearshift and 45,000 miles on the became a more experienced traveler, I lined with white flags led to the wide odometer. "An adjustable windshield, added a block and tackle as well as a but shallow stream. One night the trail which could be opened out was stan- small pick and shovel for stuck-in-the- led onto ice. Goldsborough's car dard as were the hand-turned wipers mud episodes. Changing tires was an- dropped with a jerk and his stomach on the driver's side," he says. "In the other chore so common that we with it as the South Canadian River case of a car breakdown, I carried some salesmen took it in snide." began to splash over his running standard equipment: a can of water, Tapping on an old photo of 'The boards. He could only guess how deep gas can, a blanket, spare tire, some Spirit of '23," Goldsborough continued

A, it was. Scared, he dared not stop, and mud hooks and at least one set of his recollections: "Because of the

?L his quick thinking got him safely chains. In the autumn, I wrote the roughness of the roads, the car frame across. main office to send me a set of chains broke repeatedly-so many times that Road conditions facing traveling every Monday. I never had over three a reinforcement smp had to be welded salesmen who roamed Oklahoma's ear- sets at any one time. Occasionally, I to the frame. A spring broke at least ly-day unpaved byways were not al- got caught with none." every other month." ways adverse. But that didn't always Tire chains, then used for mud as Then he told how his Dodge coupe mean life became easy. well as snow, were essential during occasionally showed its strength, like "Even if the road ran smoothly, my ' wet weather, and broken ones meant on a muddy mad near Sentinel, where car did not," Goldsborough says, shak- trouble for travelers. it slid down a six-foot embankment ing his head. "When they broke, the tire, as often and flipped bottomside upward. His first company car, the 1923 ' as not, would be submerged in mud," "Floorboards fell on me and a stucco Dodge, was a coupe that had been Goldsborough recalled. "I would have sample kit sauck my head, making a driven by another salesman. "The to strap on mud hooks to get the auto goose egg knot and denting my stiff Spirit of '23," as Goldsborough nick- out of the rut, so that I could remove straw hat," he says. "Acid from the named it, had four cylinders, a floor the old chains to put on new ones. As I battery beneath thc floor was dripping

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 37 inside the car. I crawled out through 1 run it all day at 45 miles per hour and his hce. So (he) drilled a hole in the the window into the rain to avoid the not hurt the engine." wooden floor and had a funnel stuck acid. Wind was spinning a front wheel. Another USG salesman, Bill Bryan, down in there for simultaneous driving More torrents fell. I crawled back in to who had a territory adjacent to Golds- and spitting." wait out the brief storm. A little later, a borough's, made his own modifications Goldsborough's headquarters town, commercial bus came into view. The to an Essex to suit his needs. Woodward, had a population of only driver stopped, and four salesmen "Bill had a ten-gallon Ford gasoline 4,000 then. He rented a room at Cath- hopped off to help. Two went back for tank welded onto the rack on the back. erine Roberts' home at 600 Texas chains, and we hooked the Dodge to Atop the car, another tank for water Avenue. the bus. We righted my car, and their was bolted. It was the size of the entire For entertainment, most of the 77 bus pulled it back on the road. top of the Essex and about three inch- salesmen who worked out of Wood- Though muddy (like me), the Dodge es high. From it ran an iron pipe to the ward joined the United Commercial was driveable, and I took it on to Sen- radiator. A hole had been cut in the Travelers, a fraternal organization tinel. At a filling station, I hosed it roof for a (valve) so that we could add which met regularly and occasionally down to get a look at the damage. One water to the radiator while riding held dances. Other than that, they quarter-sized chip of paint was off the along. On the running board of the conjured up their own fun during those body. That was all." driver's side, he had attached three Prohibition days. Several who lived in Finally, Goldsborough got a modi- small tanks, all of which held oil. That houses always had a batch of home fied Oilfield Special, a 1928 Dodge left him very little space to step out, brew setting. Often, they gathered at from Shultz Motors in Woodward. "It but at least the customer's side was the Bungalow, which had a soda foun- was advertised as the Fastest Four in uncluttered. tain, booths, magazine rack and drug- America," he says, chuckling, "just "Bill chewed tobacco, and there was store sandwiches. before Ford's Model A came out. no way he could spit out of the window "If we wanted something stronger Shultz's salesman bragged that I could without tobacco juice blowing back in than soda, we brought it in our pock-

38 Oklahoma TODAY -- -- In 1925, 0k&%oma had jurt 374 miles of p d mad and a total network of 5,156 miles. When it wm mtted in 191I, the Okhhoma SmeHi~hwmDebament had one emolwee. no monev and men less auhorihr. Since then the state's road netwod has

ets," recollected Goldsborough. I washstand pitcher froze solid. torium in Oklahoma City, he returned "Sometimes my pocket bottle held ' One unusual hotel Goldsborough to his hometown, Culpepper, Virginia, Shattuck rye purchased from a farm- frequented was in Elk City. Adver- to recuperate for 11 more months. house in 'Whiskey Canyon' outside of tised as "The Five Story House that When he resumed working for the Shattuck." is Two Stories High," it was named United States Gypsum Company, Goldsborough also took a Eancy to Story Hotel for the five members of Goldsborough was given a Noh Caro- "Oklahoma sandwiches," the kind the Story family who owned and ran it. lina territory, and in 1939, he was sent made with rye whiskey, not balogna. J.H. "Cap" Story built it from 1905 to to Charlotte to open a USG district What were the ingredients? 1908. The Story boasted circulating ice ofice, where he stayed as a district "Hold your breath, take a swallow of water on every floor and a fan-ventilat- manager until his retirement in 1969. water, gulp the rye and follow it with a ing door for each room. It was decorat- Through rimless glasses, the retir- small glass of water. You shake your ed with paintings and tapestries ee's speckled blue eyes glanced at a jaws a bit and exclaim, 'Oooh, that's between the elk, moose and buffilo modem Enco map. "People of Okla- good!' No one ever admitted it was not heads. The best rooms in the place homa should appreciate what they delicious." cost two dollars; others went for a have now. All trails have changed to Luxurious accommodations for dollar. roads; all main highways are paved. salesmen in Territory #I20 were as "It was worth it," recalled There are no streams-neither large seldom found as were smooth mads. Goldsborough. nor small-to get stuck in." Carter For three wintry nights, Goldsbor- Carter Goldsborough did not leave Goldsborough smiled. "Who says ough found himself stranded in a cor- Territory #I20 by choice. On a June those were good ole days? These are rugated metal hotel in Buffalo. There, afternoon in 1931 in front of Enid's good nm days." snow blew through cracks in the wall, Western Union ofice, his left lung col- and although the pot-bellied stove in lapsed. After 11 months in The Farm, Fmlance writer Margaret G. Bigger the hall was red hot, the water in his Dr. L.J. Moorman's tuberculosis sana- lives in Cllarlotle, Nod Camfina.

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 39 Jack Hammett had trouble with his first photographs, taken with "some kind of old Kodak": he kept getting his fingers in the pictures. Undaunted by that beginning, Hammett got his fingers out of the way and seriously pursued the art that has

Men siffing on bench in the town square, Tahlequah

40 Oklahoma TODAY made him one of Oklahoma's most recognized photographers. His first darkroom was a kitchen (after nightfill, of course) and his first subjects were dancers and actors (theater has been a lifelong ambition). He took his camera everywhere-to New York to pursue an acting career, and back to Oklahoma, where he became a journalist. Even as a radio reporter, Hammett carried a camera. Now a public relations representative for OG&E, he writes and photographs for regional and national magazines. His studies with photography masters have taken him all over the world, and the work from those trips has provided a basis for a dozen exhibits in several Oklahoma art galleries. "I'd rather be known as a fine am photographer than a commercial photographer," he says. "I'm a people photographer, but I also enjoy landscapes. I want to produce images that people are suuck by."

-. The Grmt Oklahdm Bullmn Rw, An Oklahoma autumn, Red Rock Canyon

42 Oklahoma TODAY A view from the top, Wichita Mountains

~ NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 43 I-'

Laughter at a pow wow, Miami

44 Oklahoma TODAY November 1. Relax to the sounds of the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra and special guest artist Glen Camp- bell. +November 7-8. Tempt your tasters with samples of all kinds of goodies at the annual Cheese and Sausage Festival at the fairgrounds in Stillwater. +November 21-30. Oklahomans will have a chance to honor America's heroes when a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is displayed in Tulsa's Boulder Park. *December 1-15. Dazzle your eyes with the beautifully decorated Christmas trees and gingerbread houses during Christmas Week at Tulsa's Philbrook Art Center. The celebration includes a free day for the public on December 5. +December 6. Delight children of all ages with circus acts, clowns, animals, a puppet theater and more at the 11th Annual Children's Christmas Circus and Party in Edmond.

1-Dec. 31 "Oklahoma Portrait," Int'l Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, OKC, (405) 424-4055 MUSEUMS & QALLERIES 1-Jan. 1 "History of OU Football," Stovall Museum, OU, x 1Norman, (405) 325-471 1 1-Jan. 11 "Glenda Green Retrospective," OK An Center, NOVEMBER OKC, (405) 9461477 1-19 "Pepin Collection of Molahs," Gardiner Gallery, 1-Jan. 15 "Mail Order in Oklahoma," OK Historical Society, OSU, Stillwater, (405) 624-6016 OKC, (405) 521-2491 1-23 "Bogan and Bogan," Firehouse An Center, 2-Jan. 25 "Joseph Bank's Florilegium-Botanical Prints Norman, (405) 329-4523 from the Voyages of Captain Cook." Philbrook Art 1-30 Paintings by Norman Akers and Ceramic Sculpture Center, Tulsa, (918) 749-7941 by Randall Chino, Indian Museum, Anadarko, 3 "A Personal Odyssey from Phenomenology and (405) 247-6221 Computer Drawing," OK Museum of Art, OKC, 1-30 Paintings by Jim Meeks and David Biondolino, (405) 840-2759 Individual Artists Gallery, OKC, (405) 232-5514 3-Dec. 10 Christine Vertien-wall sculpture, Kirkpatrick 1-Dec. 1 Individual Artists of Oklahoma Traveling Exhibit, Center Gallery, OKC, (405) 424-7757 Kirkpatrick Center Museum Complex, OKC, (405) 6 "America and Lewis Hine," OU Museum of Art, 427-5228 Norman, (405) 325-3272 1-Dec. 13 "Twentieth Century Art: Charles Rand Penney 14-16 Navajo Rug and Indian Jewelry Show. Gilcrease. Collection," OK Art Center, OKC, (405) 946-4477 Tulsa, (918) 582-3122 1-Dec. 14 "Spiro Mounds," Kirkpatrick Center, OKC, (405) 16-Dec. 10 J. Jay McVickertPrint and Sculpture Retrospective, 325-4711 Gardiner Gallery, OSU, Stillwater, (405) 624-6016

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86 NT CALE DAR

18-Jan. 10 "Megaliths: Photographs by Paul Caponigm," OK 12-24 "A Christmas Caml," Performing Arts Center, Museum of Art, OKC, (405) 840-2759 Tulsa, (918) T -- - -- 20 "Conversations with Willard Van Dyke," OU Museum of Art, Norman, (405) 325-3272 22-Dec. 14 "American Art in Miniature: 1986," Gilcrease, FAIRS & FESTIVALS Tulsa, (918) 582-3122 DECEMBER 1-31 Tonnia Anderson and Michael Ross- NVVZMBER Expressionist Artists, Kirkpatrick Center, OKC, 7-8 Cheese Festival, Watonga, (405) 623-5452 (405) 427-5461 7-8 Arts & Crafts Festival, Army Reserve Building, 11-Jan. 30 Judith Fisher-fabric artist, Kirkpatrick Center Ada, (405) 332-4407 Gallery, OKC, (405) 422-7757 7-9 Tulsa Am & Crafts Fall Festival, Fairgrounds, 15-Jan. 19 "Indian Paintbrush," Travertine Nature Center, Tulsa, (918) 663-3083 Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Sulphur, 8 Wagoner Co. Extension Homemakers Quilt Show (405) 622-3165 & Bazaar, United Methodist Church, Wagoner, (918) 485-2412 8 Southeastem Oklahoma Arts & Crafts Show, J.I. Stipe Center, McAlester, (918) 423-2550 8-9 Enid Art Association Arts & Crafts Exhibit, Hoover Bldg., Fairgrounds, Enid, (405) 237-1784 14-15 Arts & Crafts Festival, Hardy Murphy Coliseum, NOVEMBER Ardmore, (405) 223-5290 1, 7-8 "The Sunshine Boys," Lincoln Co. On-Stage, 22 Pecan Festival, Chelsea, (918) 789-2220 Chandler, (405) 258-2631 22-23 Osage Hills Arts & Crafts Show, Activity Center, 1-9 "Fool's Paradise," Jewel Box, OKC, (405) 521- Sand Springs, (918) 245-2248 1786 28-Dec. 4 Festival of Trees, First National Center, 1-9 "Murder by the Book," Theatre Tulsa, Tulsa, McAlester, (918) 423-2253 (918) 744-1168 DECEMBER 1-2, 5-9 "Dames at Sea," Cabaret Supper Theatre, Fort 2 Festival of Christmas, Historic Community Sill, (405) 351-4519 Center, Edmond, (405) 341-2808 1-15 "Painting Churches," Brook Theatre, Tulsa, (918) 6 Arts & Crafts Christmas Show, Washington 747-9494 Elementary School, Alva, (405) 327-1647 1-22 "Carnival," Gaslight Dinner Theatre, Tulsa, (918) 252-2566 5-9 "Gardenia," OCCC College Theatre, OKC, (405) INDIAN EVENTS 682-7591 7-8, 13-15, 20-22 "The Art of Dining," Actors Theatre, The Phoenix, Tulsa, (918) 749-6488 NOVEMBERmm 12 Open Poetry Reading, Individual Artists of OK, 11 Veterans Day Dance, Roam Chief Center, OKC, (405) 232-5514 Pawnee, (918) 762-3624 13-15, 20-22 "South Pacific," Muskogee Little Theatre, Muskogee, (918) 682-3257 13-16, 20-23 "Luv," Cameron U., Lawton, (405) 248-2200, ext. 359 2426 "Pinocchio," OCCC College Theatre, OKC, (405) 682-7591 NOVEMBER 26-30, Dec. 3-7, "The Stingiest Man In Town," Cabaret Supper 1, 6, 8 "Porgy and Bess," Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa, 10-14, 17-21 Theatre, Fort Sill, (405) 351-4519 (918) 582-4035 27-29 "A Streetcar Named Desire," Goddard Center, 7 Miles Anderson and Erica Sharp, Seretean Center, Ardmore, (405) 223-1327 OSU, Stillwater, (405) 624-6133 28-30, Dec. 5-7 "Little Women," Judd Theatre, Edmond, (405) 7 "Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo," Civic 348-1247 Center Music Hall, OKC, (405) 843-9898 28-Dec. 31 "Alone Together," Gaslight Dinner Theatre, 7-9, 12-15 "Quiltem," Rupel Jones Theatre, OU, Norman, Tulsa, (918) 252-2566 (405) 325-4101 DECEMBER 8-9 "Prairie Dance Theatre: New Moves," Stage 3-7 "The Tempest," Rupel Jones Theatre, OU, Center, OKC, (405) 842-5235 Norman, (405) 325-4101 9 University ChoirIConcert Chorale, Seretean 4-7 "Noises Off," Seretean Center Theatre, OSU, Center, OSU, Stillwater, (405) 624-6133 Stillwater, (405) 624-6094 9 "The Magic Flute," Williams Theatre, Tulsa, 4-7 "Lysistrata," OCU, OKC, (405) 521-5124 (918) 592-7122 4-21 "I Do! IDo!" Jewel Box, OKC, (405) 521-1786 9, 11 OK Symphony Classics Concert, Civic Center 10 Open Poetry Reading, Individual Artists of OK, Music Hall, OKC, (405) 232-4292 OKC, (405) 232-5514 10 Tokyo String Quartet, Seretean Center, OSU, 5-14 '"The Sound of Music," Theatre Tulsa, Tulsa, Stillwater, (405) 624-6133 (918) 744-1168 10 OK Woodwind Quintet, Catlett Music Center,

46 Oklahoma TODAY OU, Norman, (405) 325-5321 Fairgrounds, OKC, (405) 278-8900 13 OSU Thanksgiving Choral Festival, Gallagher 9-13 World Championship Baml Racing Futurity, State Hall, OSU, Stillwater, (405) 624-6133 Fairgrounds, OKC, (405) 278-8900 14-15 OK Symphony Pops Concert with Judy Collins, 16-20 Sunbelt Cutting Hone Futurity, State Civic Center Music Hall, OKC, (405) 232-4292 Fairgrounds, OKC, (405) 278-8900 15 Jerome Hines, Community Center, Bartlesville, (918) 337-2787 15-16 "Footage" with "Swan Lake, Act II" and "Khachaturiana," Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa, (918) 585-2573 17 Digby Bell and Lois Gauger, Catlett Music Center, OU, Norman, (405) 325-5321 1 Square Dance Convention, Myriad, OKC, (405) 20 OK Symphony, Seretean Center, OSU, Stillwater, 232-8871 (405) 624-6133 1-2 Antique Autumn Fest, Modem Living Bldg., State 20-23 Fall Dance Concert, Fine Arts Center, OU, Fairgrounds, OKC, (405) 751-6649 Norman, (405) 325-5321 1-30 "Black Holes, Pulsars and Quasars," Kirkpatrick 22 "The Nutcracker," McMahon Memorial Center Planetarium, OKC, (405) 424-5545 Auditorium, Lawton, (405) 248-2001 7-9 Oklahoma Grand Prix Run, State Capitol, OKC, 22-23 "The Renaissance Feast," Student Union (405) 521-3356 Ballroom, OU, Norman, (405) 325-5321 8-9 Oil Capital Cat Show, Convention Center, Tulsa, 23 "The Nutcracker Suite," Fine Arts Center, (918) 744-5568 Muskogee, (918) 683-2831 11 Veterans Day Parade, Tahlequah, (918) 456-3742 23, 25 OK Symphony Classics Concert, Civic Center 11 Veterans Day Parade, Blackwell, (405) 363-4195 Music Hall, OKC, (405) 232-4292 14 Hall of Fame Banquet, Myriad, OKC, (405) 232- 25 OSU Symphony, Seretean Center, OSU, 8871 Stillwater, (405) 624-6133 1416 Quilt Show, Logan Co. Fairgrounds, Guthrie, 28-29 OK Symphony Pops Concert with Gary Moms, (405) 282-2540 Civic Center Music Hall, OKC, (405) 232-4292 15-16 Tulsa Chrysanthemum Society Show & Sale, DECEMBER Garden Center, Tulsa, (918) 747-2192 2 OK Symphony Special Concert, Midwest City 19-22 Harvest Festival Crafts Show, Myriad, OKC, (405) High School, Midwest City, (405) 232-4292 232-8871 7, 9 OK Symphony Classics Concert, Civic Center 22-23 Tulsa Garden Club Holiday Show, Garden Center, Music Hall, OKC, (405) 232-4292 Tulsa, (918) 747-2192 8 Edward Gates, Catlett Music Center, OU, 28 Annual Turkey Stomp, Fairgrounds, Muskogee, Norman, (405) 325-5321 (918) 687-4406 11 St. Cecilia Music Club Christmas Concert, First 28-29 OK Mennonite Relief Sale, Major Co. United Methodist Church, Stillwater, (405) 743- Fairgrounds, Fairview, (405) 341-2456 3697 29 Christmas Parade and Lighting of the Square, 12-13 OK Symphony Pops Concert, Civic Center Music Tahlequah, (918) 456-3742 Hall, OKC, (405) 232-4292 29 Christmas Parade, Muskogee, (918) 682-3311 14 OK Symphony "Messiah Sing Along," Leadership 29 Pageant of the Lights, Liberty Park, Edmond, Square Atrium. OKC, (405) 232-4292 (405) 348-8830, ext. 258 16 Christmas Concert Evening, OCCC College 29-30 National Young Farmers, Myriad, OKC, (405) 232- Theatre, OKC, (405) 682-7591 8871 16-20 "The Nutcracker," Civic Center Music Hall, DECEMBER OKC, (405) 843-9898 1-31 "Season of Light," Kirkpatrick Center 19-23 "The Nutcracker," Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa, Planetarium, OKC, (405) 424-5545 (918) 585-2573 4 Christmas Parade, Bristow, (918) 367-5151 28 "The Nutcracker," Tulsa Ballet, Chandler High 5 Golden Holiday Ball, Bob Lee Kidd Civic Center, School, Chandler, (405) 258-1071 Poteau, (918) 647-8660 6 Christmas Parade, Elk City, (405) 225-0207 6 Christmas Parade, Miami, (918) 542-4481 RODEOS & 6 Christmas Parade, Chelsea, (918) 789-2220 WORSE EVENTS 6 Christmas Parade, Tonkawa, (405) 628-2532 I ern I 7-Jan. 4 "A Victorian Christmas," Norman and Cleveland NOVEMBER Co. Historical Museum, Norman, (405) 321-0156 7-9 Prairie Circuit PRCA Rodeo Finals, Lazy E Arena, 13 Christmas Parade, Sallisaw, (918) 775-2558 Guthrie, (405) 282-3004 20 "Santa at the Zoo," Rex Kennedy Rosser 15-22 World Championship Quarter Horse Show, State Education Bldg., OKC Zoo, (405) 424-3344 Fairgrounds, OKC, (405) 278-8900 20-31 "Plants to Give at Christmas," Kirkpatrick Center 28-29 National Finals Steer Roping, Lazy E Arena, Greenhouse, OKC, (405) 427-5461 Guthrie, (405) 282-3004 Although the information in this calendar is current, dates and details DECEMBER can change without notice. Please check in advance before attending 1-6 National Reining Horse Futurity, State any event.

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER '86