bmonthly October 2023

 Required minimum distribution (RMD) age has increased to age 73 in 2023 and to age 75 in 2033. If you turn age 72 in 2023, yo ur RMD is not due until 2024.

 Beginning 2023, a one-time $50,000 QCD paid directly from your IRA to certain split -interest entities, including charitable rema inder annuity trusts, charitable remainder unitrusts, and charitable gift annuity. The $50,000 is part of the $100,000 QCD annual l imit. Beginning 2024, the $100,000 QCD annual limit will be indexed for inflation.

 Employers can offer matching contributions to qualified employer sponsored retirement plan (QRP) 401(k), 403(b), and governmental 457(b) designated Roth accounts

Starting 2024

 You no longer have to take RMDs from QRP designated Roth accounts

 Beginning in 2024, 529 designated beneficiaries can make a rollover contribution from their 529 to their Roth IRA if certain conditions are met: • 529 must have been maintained for 15 years • May not exceed the aggregate of contributions and earnings in the account more than five years before the rollover • May not exceed $35,000 lifetime limit • Are subject to annual Roth IRA contribution limits • The Roth IRA owner must have earned income at least equal to the amount of the rollover

 Allows 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b) and SIMPLE IRAs to “match” student loan payments

 You may be able to contribute to an employer -sponsored emergency fund savings account

Starting in 2025

 Starting in 2025, if you are aged between 60 -63 you can contribute the greater of either $10,000 or 50% more than 150% of the re gular catch-up contributions to 401(k), 403(b), and governmental 457(b)plans. For SIMPLE plans the catch -up contribution for the same age group will be the greater of $5,000 or 50% of 150% of the catch -up contribution limit.

Wells Fargo & Company and its affiliates do not provide legal or tax advice. This communication cannot be relied upon to avoi d tax penalties. Please consult your tax and legal advisors to determine how this information may apply to your own situation. Whet her any planned tax result is realized by you depends on the specific facts of your own situation at the time your tax return is filed. Wells Fargo Advisors is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, Member SIPC, a registered broker -dealer and nonbank affiliate of Wells Fargo and company.

what’s inside...

upfront

Welcome to October, friends, and the official start of Fall. You really never know what kind of weather you will have in October. One day it could be 90 degrees, and 3 days later it could be snowing and 30 degrees. It is definitely the month of change. Here is some information for you…from October 1st to Christmas Day is 85 days. Wow…in less than three months we will be putting milk and cookies out for Santa. Later in the Upfront I will talk about what the month of October means to this family and the impact and change it made on our family.

In this month’s feature story, Debbie Neece from the Bartlesville Area History Museum writes about a man named David Grann. He was researching the area for information, pictures, and  individuals who could help him with a book that he was working on and to publish in the next year. Little did Debbie know that this book was going to be called Killers of the Flower Moon. Within a year the movie rights were sold and a major movie company was coming to Pawhuska. This area was about change in many ways. When the actors and the director were announced, you were like WOW this is going to be a blockbuster! Names like multi-award winner director Martin Scorsese and actors Leonardo Dicaprio, Robert De Niro, and Lily Gladstone. Apple became involved to get it produced with a budget over 200 million dollars. This movie is three and a half hours long. I will go ahead and predict that it will win Best Movie of the Year, Best Director will go to Martin Scorsese, and Best Actor will go to Leonardo Dicaprio. Bartlesville and this whole area will benefit by the many thousands coming to see where the movie was filmed. This means a lot of them will be staying in Bartlesville and eating in our restaurants. Get ready Bartlesville, it’s coming!

As you read the rest of my Upfront, I want you to just close your eyes and remember what you were doing in 2009 and more importantly the month of October. I can always tell you when this month is coming a few months ahead of time because the air gets heavy, and Christy starts to get a little sad.

Well, in 2009 there were a lot of things going on…the population of the world was 6.9 billion people… today we are at 7.9 billion. The top name for a girl was Isabella and for a boy it was Jacob. America elected and history was made when the first black president Barack Obama defeated American hero John McCain to become the 44th President of the United

States. We lost Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcet, guitar maker Les Paul, and Walter Cronkite. Twitter and Facebook were new and taking the world by storm. Avatar was the blockbuster movie and gas was $2.73. The Bitcoin Network was created. US Airways Flight 1549 ditched in the Hudson River and became famous where people called it “The Miracle on the Hudson” where all 155 passengers survived the frigid landing.

What does 2009 mean? What does the month of October mean to Christy and me and our whole family? It’s a reminder of the loss of our oldest son, Tyler. Christy’s firstborn child, who was a little over a month after he turned 17 years old, went to Heaven on October 8, 2009. I have written stories about Tyler and the loss we experienced as a family, but more importantly, the loss Christy faced on that day. That day the world stopped, and we were faced with the incredible loss of a son, a brother, a cousin, a grandson, and a friend to many. Words will never explain what the month of October means to this family, but for me, the month of October is a reminder what life means and how so many take it for granted. No one knew when Tyler walked out of our house around 5 in the afternoon that day would be the last time we heard his voice, his contagious laugh, and the smile that would light up a room. People ask if it gets any easier each year. Really my answer seems to be always the same…time might heal a little, but the time without him still is the same. It sucks! We miss him more today than ever because it’s easy to close your eyes and see what could have been. We also know that he walks in Heaven, and we were blessed to have him here for those 17 years. God bless and we miss you like crazy, Tyler.

Volume XIV

Issue X Bartlesville Monthly Magazine is published by

ENGEL

PUBLISHING

Offices located in Downtown Bartlesville in the historic Price Tower 510 Dewey Ave, Suite 400, Bartlesville, OK 74003 P.O. Box 603, Bartlesville, OK 74005 www.bartlesvillemonthly.com facebook.com/bartlesvillemonthly

Publisher Brian Engel brian@bartlesvillemonthly.com

Graphics

Copper Cup Images design@coppercupimages.com

Director of Sales & Marketing Keith McPhail keith@bartlesvillemonthly.com

Community Liaison Christy McPhail christy@bartlesvillemonthly.com

Project Manager Andrea Whitchurch andrea@bartlesvillemonthly.com

Administration

Shelley Greene Stewart

Delivery and Distribution

Tim Hudson

Calendar/Social Media calendar@bartlesvillemonthly.com

Contributing Writers

Debbie Neece, Kay Little, Kelly Hurd, Lori Kroh, Jay Hastings, Sarah Leslie Gagan, Brent Taylor, Keith McPhail, Jay Webster, Maria Gus, Joe Todd, Eddie Fisher, Randy Standridge, Tom O’Connor

Contributing Photographers Washington County Cherokee Association, Becky Burch, Kristin Curd, Cody Meade, Bartlesville Area History Museum, Bartlesville Art Association, Agape Mission

Kids Calendar

Jessica Smith

ABOUT THE COVER

How Mollie Burkhart and the Osage overcame the Reign of Terror.

Creative concept by Keith and Christy McPhail

Design by Copper Cup Images

Managing Editors Keith & Christy McPhail.

We live, work, and play in Bartlesville, and we’re proud to serve our neighbors with integrity

Experienced, Honest, Local

P.R. “Pat” Ritchie Local Tennis Pro Enjoys His Fulfilling Career

by Sarah Leslie Gagan

It’s the goal of all of us to live out our passion through our work. Pat Ritchie has had the good fortune of living out his passion for tennis every day for the past forty-five years and beyond. His love for the game started as a child in the third grade, and his enthusiasm has never left him.

Growing up in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, the son of a prominent veterinarian and third born of 10 children, Pat first found his love of tennis when he was eight years old. He immediately took to the game and his talent and prowess was evident. As third oldest sibling, he recalls his father taking him and his seven brothers and two sisters to play tennis for fun after dinner and weekends. He immediately fell in love with the game. He has much gratitude to his father for introducing him to the game that would shape his life.

Ritchie grew up playing tennis both on the Oklahoma and national junior circuits. In 1972 and 1973 Pat Ritchie reigned supreme in the Oklahoma high school tennis ranks.  In both his junior and senior year, he was the #1 singles player in the state and won two state singles titles. He fully credits his late father, Dr. T.A. Ritchie, who played tennis for OSU, for teaching him and his nine siblings the game.

Pat graduated high school in Sapulpa and went to the University of Tulsa, accepting a scholarship to play both tennis and basketball.  Pat’s college tennis career was nothing short of fantastic. He was a four-year letterman and was twice elected captain of the team. He played #1 singles for three years and was the MVP his sophomore and senior year. Pat was also voted to Missouri Valley All-Conference team three straight years and was named to Oklahoma’s All-Decade team for the 1970’s. After college he continued to play in some professional tournaments throughout the U.S.

In May of 1978, Pat graduated and started working at Bartlesville at Hillcrest Country Club in September 1978, just three months after graduation. This was Pat’s first full-time job, and it was doing what he loved, teaching tennis. This position has satisfied Pat’s passion for 45 years now. In his tenure he has seen 35 students go on to play professional tennis.

To this day Ritchie is the only professional tennis coach in the Bartlesville area and he has worked with many successful junior players in the Oklahoma and Kansas areas. Numerous students whom Pat has coached have gone on to play college tennis and received athletic scholarships. Most notably both Pat’s children had national success in junior tennis and both earned scholarships at Division I universities. Pat is a member of the U.S.T.P.A. and continues to remain one of the most sought after and respected tennis professionals in the state.

Pat reflects, “Regarding my siblings or my parents, if asked that I spent my whole life in tennis, they would not be surprised. If asked that I would keep the same job for 45 years, probably they would all be surprised.”

“Tennis had paid for my education, and my children’s education. I get a lot of pleasure for having done something that I’m good at, and teaching came very natural when I started really young. You know, I was teaching in high school, when I started.”

Pat’s wife of 40 years, Linda, works with him at the Hillcrest Tennis Pro Shop and plans on retiring at the end of the year from a job she truly enjoyed. Pat’s retirement is currently in “phase two,” meaning in phase one he cut his hours down from 6 days a week to four, and now a replacement has been hired and he plans on spending Spring 2024 working with him before retiring for good.

Pat is incredibly proud of his tennis career, but he considers that his greatest accomplishment is his family. His children followed in his tennis footsteps and have enjoyed success at the game. Pat and Linda have two children, son J.P. Ritchie and daughter Kaitlyn Ritchie, and three grandchildren. Pat is truly proud of the entire Ritchie clan, which has grown to over 80 family members, all with whom he remains close.

Pat and Linda love Bartlesville and have no plans on moving once retired. Although Pat has strong Sapulpa ties, and Linda’s original ties to Maryland, Bartlesville will always be home. They enjoy the quality of life they find here. The Ritchie’s love the people and the small-town atmosphere they cannot find just anywhere. Together they enjoy financially supporting their favorite Bartlesville charities and organizations. Pat coached student’s basketball and baseball teams when his children where growing up and involved, and cherishes those years.

Pat is honored to get the opportunity to get pleasure out of helping others excel at tennis and go on to play professionally. “To know you’ve had an input and change someone’s life to a degree, that is always a reward of the job.”

As far as awards, Pat has received a few. Pat Ritchie has been a fortunate man from premier player to prodigious coach

to pioneer club pro to prime-quality husband and father to Hallof-Famer to proven Hall-of-Famer. Pat has been inducted into the United States Tennis Association Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, as well as the Bartlesville Hall of Fame.

Pat’s first job turned out to be his dream job, one that has lasted over 45 years. He has made an everlasting impression upon the sports community of Bartlesville and Oklahoma. Pat, we thank you for your dedication and passion that you so freely share with all of us who are honored to know you. You have shaped more than one generation of tennis and are so valuable to our community. Thank you for sharing your passion with us.

JEFF HALL REAL ESTATE

The Osage People

Our Friends, Our Neighbors, Sharing A Tragedy

By Debbie Neece, Bartlesville Area History Museum

The Burkhart Sisters

The Osage people were guided by wise leaders when faced with purchasing their reservation and retaining their subsurface rights, which were divided among 2,229 hereditary headrights. That wisdom paved a path for overwhelming oil wealth; resulting in racism and greed; and ending in death, destruction and a war for survival in the dark shadows of the Osage Nation.

The development of Indian Territory oil was the quest of many men. When Quaker brothers, Henry and Edwin Foster, acquired a Blanket Lease of the entire Osage Reservation, they had no idea their entrepreneurial efforts would evolve into such a sinister plot. After their deaths, Henry’s son, H.V. Foster forwarded the family mission and I feel quite certain these businessmen shook in their graves knowing their oil exploration brought forth the Osage “Reign of Terror.”

Pawhuska’s Million Dollar Elm was the gathering place of many inspiring oilmen; a gathering place where great fortunes were found; and, a gathering place where devilish schemes were formulated. A place where the likes of Frank Phillips and his brothers Lee Eldas and Waite Phillips, William G. Skelly and Ernest W. Marland unknowingly shared space with evil men like William “Bill” Hale and Ernest Burkhart.

Now…the stories have been told, research has been documented and books have been written; but reality is about to slap us in the face from the “silver screen.” The Osage Nation has spoken and will

deliver a hellish dose of violent factual drama, a product of oily greed that cost the Osage people much more than money and lives, it cost generations of futures. In some instances, all traces of some family roots were extinguished, buried at the hands of unrelentless criminals. Now…their voices are silenced no more.  Blending the histories of Nowata, Washington and Osage Counties is vital to finding our roots and educating the public of all ages about the foundation of our nation and our First American neighbors. When the staff of the Bartlesville Area History Museum created our Osage Tribal Exhibit, Katherine Red Corn and Supernaw’s Oklahoma Indian Supply took a special invested interest in assisting us with the creation of an exhibit that well represented the Osage people. Mineral Council Chairman Everett Waller and his wife Marian Waller generously donated their time to the process of becoming exquisite “life cast” mannequins for the exhibit, which were donned in exceptionally detailed and symbolic regalia. And, the late Gary Gibson artistically enhanced, printed and installed a full-length Frank Griggs panorama photo of the Osage Drum Dance taken in 1924. Then, after painstakingly dedicating months towards the exhibit creation, the final details were committed and the Bartlesville Fire Department turned the fire suppression/ sprinkler system off to the century old Maire/ Burlingame Hotel, which is currently City Hall, allowing the Osage Chief and Tribal Council to perform a “smoke” blessing of the exhibit.

For the love of money is the root of all evil.

1 Timothy 6:10

An Oil Lease Sale at the Million Dollar Elm in Pawhuska

Mondays are often quiet at the Bartlesville Area History Museum and when visitors arrive on the 5th floor of City Hall, we are always pleasantly surprised by the plethora of conversations that erupt. One Monday, in 2015, such a visitor arrived. I greeted him with my usual introduction and detailed the highlights of what he would discover during his selfguided tour of the museum. I explained that Frank Griggs was a local photographer for 70 years who had taken photographs of all area happenings since his 1908 arrival. The visitor was particularly interested in the Griggs 1924 Osage Drum Dance panorama in our Osage Exhibit.

To document the significance of oil in Osage and Washington County, in 2016, the staff of the Bartlesville Area History Museum acquired funding from the Martha Jane (Phillips) Starr Field of Interest Fund, Greater Kansas City Community Foundation and the Bartlesville Area History Museum Trust Authority to create a 12-minute video, “The City That Oil Built.” The film was directed and produced by Jay and Ann-Janette Webster of PioneerDream with commentary from Mike Bush, Everett Waller, Bob Fraser, Darian Doornbos-Kedy and Harold Price, Jr. The video is viewable at the Museum and on YouTube.

This Monday visitor was David Grann, who had been in conversations with Katherine and Charles Red Corn of the Osage Nation and traveled to Oklahoma for an in-person visit with them. During his visit at the Osage Tribal Museum, Katherine Red Corn showed him their exhibited 1924 Drum Dance panorama with the left portion removed. From the archive, she produced the full-length image to show Grann the “devil man,” Bill Hale, on the missing corner.

David was staying at the Hilton Garden Inn

in Bartlesville with a Monday afternoon return flight to New York. After visiting the Phillips Petroleum Company Museum, he made his way next door, to our History Museum. The goal of his Oklahoma visit was to gather additional information and inspiring photographs for his book research and we did not disappoint him.

Ellsworth Waters

I had met George Weston when I accepted a challenge from local historian Bill Alexander to write a book about the famed Dewey Roundup in 2012. I scoured Washington County for all possible photos, finding some at Yocham’s Custom Leather that were treasures of Rhonda Yocham and a “mother lode” at the Weston home. You see, George’s father was Edgar Weston, a hobby historian who knew all Washington County history by heart and collected physical and photographic artifacts to support his knowledge. George invited me to his home to see the collection and allowed me to borrow the images I needed for my book, which I scanned and returned to him. My husband, Steve, and I treated George and his wife, Jan, to many delightful lunches at Clicks in Pawnee and our friendship grew. This was the perfect networking opportunity for David Grann too.

Several weeks after my first meeting with David Grann, he returned to Oklahoma and we spent an afternoon at the Fairfax home of George and Jan Weston. We poured through a large collection of photographs which I scanned at the History Museum to send to David, while returning the originals to George.

Then, a book arrived, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” with a note from David telling me he was scheduled for a book signing at

“When I visited the Bartlesville Area History Museum, in 2015, I was looking for any additional archival records, and Debbie was so kind to share with me photographs from the museum’s collection, which were invaluable to my research. I still remember meeting George Weston, who had an extraordinary archive of photographs. They allowed me to glimpse what these places looked like during the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century.”

- David Grann

Pawhuska’s Water Bird Gallery, “Bring this book and I’ll sign it for you.” It was a gloomy, rainy Saturday morning and we conversed at least 45 minutes while David signed his books, including one for George Weston and one for me… “Thank you for all the help with the book, David Grann.” Monday morning, David was our museum guest again, with an introduction to his publicist before their afternoon flight back to New York.

A week or so later, a package arrived with another signed book, “To Debbie, I couldn’t have done this book without you! David Grann.” My heart melted! Then came the exciting news…David Grann sold the movie rights to the Killer of the Flower Moon. A major motion picture was coming to northeastern Oklahoma!

The “movie crew” established their work home on the 4th floor of City Hall and we became friends with some of the set and costume designers with residences across the United States. Kay Little and I took great pleasure in showing some of the movie crew around Washington and Osage counties and they were amazed by the vast open prairie we call Osage County. Standing upon Lookout Mountain, one experiences a 360-degree panoramic view of Osage County in the company of a 10-foot-tall granite marker. This

is the memorial site of Chief Fred Lookout, last hereditary chief of the Osage Tribe, and his wife Julia.

When First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited the Osage Nation on March 19, 1937, she joined Chief Fred Lookout in a Pawhuska parade and wrote in her diary: “The thing that impresses anyone from the East is the amount of space there is out here.” That sentiment was echoed by Marianne Bower, Martin Scorsese’s Executive Producer and Researcher, as we explored the Osage Nation together.

“The landscape of Osage County was something of a revelation. I still recall the very special feeling of standing in a seemingly endless field of tall grass amazed by a giant cloud in a blue blue sky. I was alone but felt very connected to everything around me. This feeling gets into you and in my case really helped inform the work that I did on the film. And I honestly would not have known where to begin without the hospitality and generosity of the people of Osage County and Bartlesville.”

- Marianne Bower

Under the umbrella of the Osage Tribe are the Pawhuska, Grayhorse and Hominy Indian Villages, each with their own reign of terror experiences. During the research gathering and writing of the book, the Grayhorse people were silent observers; however, they called a meeting with the movie producers to discuss the excruciating terror they had also experienced. A walk through the Grayhorse Cemetery with massive memorial stones, some adorned with weeping angels, crosses and wrought iron fences, brings embracing chills as if walking among the

lost souls who wanted their voices heard. During the Covid period, the movie crew withdrew from the area, creating time for the script to be greatly enhanced with the Grayhorse stories as well.

Fred Lookout

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visiting the Osage Nation

My friend and mentor, George Weston enjoyed reading David Grann’s book and he beamed with delight in telling the history, sharing the photos, and watching the excitement unfold as he joined our exploration adventures throughout Osage County with the movie crews. Unfortunately, God called him home December 18, 2019, before he could experience Osage County’s history unfold for the world.

Education must be much more than the elementary three “R’s” and, of recent, we have learned the tragic lessons of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and the devastation of Black Wallstreet, a once prosperous community, wiped out in one horrendous event that created nightmarish memories and a legacy of history to be learned. These lessons were not shared in the classroom or high school history books.

The Killers of the Flower Moon began as a curiosity that blossomed into a historic novel and is now erupting on the movie screen as a story deeper than the oil that flowed to create the deep-rooted crimes detailed in the story line of the Osage Reign of Terror. I often say, “It takes an army” and the filming of this movie has taken an army of little people who could not possibly all be recognized.

The movie production was a community event and all things happened at the right time and in the right order to allow the event to unfold appropriately. When you hear the names Martin Scorsese, Leonardo Dicaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone as Killers of the Flower Moon headliners, remember it took an army. It took extras walking the street (white men and Osage alike), artists

who created the scenery, choreographers, set designers, seamstresses who assembled the appropriate lineup of clothing and networking that gathered automobiles in one place at the right time. It took carpenters who recreated the Fairfax Depot and false-fronted businesses in Pawhuska, refaced the church in Fairfax, the painters and designers who created the setting for Bill and Rita Smith’s house to exploded across the street from Jan Weston’s home. Oh, and Jan Weston who became known as the Cookie Lady for serving her homemade cookies and goodies on her porch during filming.  Insert: “To the crew of the Killers of the Flower Moon movie, you will never know how much you touched Jan Weston with your friendship. Thank you!”

We owe a standing ovation to Maria Swindell Gus of Visit Bartlesville, Reba Bueno-Conner and Joni Nash of the Pawhuska Chamber of Commerce, the Osage Nation and, of course, David Grann. Without your exhaustive collaborative efforts, this massive project would not have happened.

It took the efforts of city staff from Bartlesville, Pawhuska, Fairfax, Ralston, Grayhorse and more. It took ranchers, countless store keepers, restaurants and everyday folk who greeted production staff who were far from their homes and we made them feel welcome. It took Osage families and Museum staff across Osage and Washington County to open their archives with supporting photos and documents, and who motored the set design teams across the two counties in search of the “best” locations…creeks, ravines, waterfalls, dirt roads, well sites, etc. across open prairie where once terror reigned. And “Movie Mike” Fantasia and Chad Gavellas who explored the back roads and valleys where murder and mayhem once occurred

“He who feeds a hungry animal, feeds his own soul.”

- Charlie Chaplin

Osage Department of the Interior Agency

It took the patience of hotel staff and bed and breakfast operators and the area tourists who were turned away because our lodging was full. Washington and Osage County residents even offered their homes and apartments. It took bulldozer operators and the street department, who lined the streets of Pawhuska and Ralston with inches of soil and then cleaned it up again. It took a team of exceptional cooks, servers and caterers who fed all of the actors, extras and staff. And you… Mr. Sanitation Collector…you were a hero too. And how did that early era locomotive make its way to Pawhuska and become placed at the recreated Fairfax Depot? It took a team effort of all area residents, many of whom will never be recognized but they know their part because IT TOOK AN ARMY!

This history details a true loss of trust, the stolen innocence, and the betrayal of a people, our neighbors. Their history is our history although a county line separates us. The reign of terror was a cancer that consumed families from within with the bone chilling suspense of who would be the next victim…who was trust-worthy and who was not.

David Grann brought the reign of terror to the forethought of the WORLD through print. Then, when the dust cleared, the Osage tragedy became an explosive, world-renown, 3½ hour movie that received a 9-minute standing ovation at the red carpeted Cannes Film Festival in France on May 20th…not to

sensationalize the tragic reign of terror, but to educate, in a sensitive manner, about horrific events in history that indeed occurred and must not be repeated. And, among our Osage friends in the movie, Everett Waller was indeed a “WARRIOR.”

About 1906, Wilson Kirk, an original Osage allottee from the Grayhorse area, donated 3.02 acres to be dedicated as the Grayhorse Cemetery. This picturesque area, overlooking the gently rolling Osage Hills, is the resting place of many of the victims whose lives were cut short in the name of headrights, in the greedy pursuit of oil money. The cemetery is filled with stunning statuary and large granite stones, many with photos incorporated into the grave marker, lest we forget their face.

Strolling through the Grayhorse Cemetery, the elaborate markers are engraved equally with Osage and English names, the names we have read in David Grann’s book. One granite marker holds the Osage translation of The Lord’s Prayer, echoing through the valley, “deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever, Amen” and the peaceful silence is broken only by the song of birds and, ironically, an oilwell pumping in the background.

The Osage People, Our Friends, Our Neighbors, have been hailed as the richest tribe per capita in the world and they have poured their riches upon the remembrance of those stolen souls. During

“The movie production had a great economic impacted on Washington County. We had three hotel properties filled with production staff. Celebrities like Brendan Fraser, Jesse Plemmons and Sturgill Simpson felt comfortable out and about in our community. And, cast like Cara Jade Myers and Lily Gladstone have developed strong, lasting relationships with the people of the Osage Nation and have returned to visit many times. We were fortunate and honored to have what amounted to a mid-sized corporation making a temporary home in our area and it is truly humbling to have been able to offer some support to our Osage Nation neighbors as the production helped them tell their tragic story.”

- Maria Gus of Visit Bartlesville

The 1875 Osage Delegation

the movie filming, a new fence and gate wrapped the cemetery in a blanket of security as numerous after sundown sightseers converged upon the cemetery with destruction in mind.

“Greed is a ruthless animal that hungers … for oil and for blood.”

Why is this book, movie and conversation so important? Because history is domed to be repeated if not brought to the forethought and a platform of knowledge deemed from it. There is saving grace in history through education and the best way to prevent this series of tragic events from ever happening again is to broaden our knowledge. For your research, additional Osage Reign of Terror books: Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann; The Osage Indian Reign of Terror: The Violence of Bill Hale, 1921-1923 by Lonnie E. Underhill; Bloodland and The Deaths of Sybil Bolton: Oil, Greed, and Murder on the Osage Reservation by Dennis McAuliffe; A Pipe for February by Charles H. Red Corn; Mean Spirit by Linda Hogan; and others. Also seek the John Joseph Mathews collection of books.

In addition, visit museums in Osage and Washington County: Osage Nation Museum in Pawhuska; Osage County Historical Society Museum in Pawhuska; the White Hair Memorial, an Oklahoma Historical Society facility near Ralston; Bartlesville Area History Museum in Bartlesville; and others. There is power in knowledge, please arm yourself.

In most instances, this horrific history happened to the very ancestors their descendants are portraying before the camera. Imagine the emotional heart tugs they experienced in recreating the scenes that the Osage Nation has spent generations healing from…only to relive the turmoil that wreaked havoc on their people. Thank you to Chief Standing Bear and the Osage People, our friends and neighbors, for allowing the world this

insight that we may learn and not repeat. Our gratitude, “U-we-hnoⁿ”

Thank you, Joe Don Brave and Carolyn Mock for reaching deep into your creative souls and bringing forth beautiful artworks of remembrance…true artistry!

The explosion at Fairfax

Around Town with Edgar Weston

by Debbie Neece,

Bartlesville Area History Museum

Welcome back … Named for early pioneer George B. Keeler, the 300 block of South Keeler Avenue has seen the transformation of transportation. As early livery stables faded to auto dealerships, residents began to realize the dirt-based streets were too cumbersome when the rains arrived creating mud gummed auto tires and stains on ladies’ flowing dress hems. Just as the first street to fill with businesses was Second Street, that was the first street to receive brick paving between Keeler and Dewey Avenues.

Traveling brick paved street is a favorite childhood memory, the tires clanking across the brick created an unmistakable rhythmic song. Paving Bartlesville streets was a slow and arduous process. As the all-weather, hard-surfaced streets spread across downtown Bartlesville, Keeler was brick paved from Second to Third Streets in 1905 but the pavement was not extended south until 1909 in connection with the paving of Johnstone, Dewey and Osage Avenues, plus all four alleys, and Third Street connecting the four Avenues. The first paving material was brick, followed by bitulithic (a dense mixture of stone, asphalt with enough cement to hold the particles strongly and permanently together) and then, concrete. As repairs were needed, downtown businesses called for a “noiseless brick” of vitrified vertical fiber to be the replacement.

Just one block south of the Santa Fe Depot and in the shadow of the remaining west Phillips Tower, Keeler Avenue was often the first street railroad visitors explored. Over the years, this block has been occupied by multiple auto companies (O.F. Siekman, Fred Keeler Motor Company,

Bart Motors), the St. Clair Hotel, grocery stores (Keeler Avenue Grocery, Q Store, Hess Mercantile Grocery), the Guinn Feed Store, Western Telegraph office, Dr. Pepper Distributer, the Kerr Roller Rink and the first location of Montgomery Wards.

The Jane Phillips Sorority Federal Credit Union was rooted in 1939 to offer their membership saving and borrowing options outside traditional banking. Between April and June that year, 137 members had invested. The first treasurer was Mildred Hunt, a position she fulfilled during breaks from her desk in the pipeline department of the Frank Phillips Building. In 1940, the membership was opened to all Phillips employees and, the following year, the Credit Union had an office in the First National Bank with a name changed to the 66 Federal Credit Union.

In 1939, JPS leased 208 S. Osage Avenue as their “clubhouse” and after the five-year lease expired, JPS operated from 115½ E. 3rd Street. The Adams Building was home from about 1952-1961 and then the Sixty-Six Credit Union operated at 108 E. 4th until the smoke damage from the 1964 “Gray Brother’s fire” displaced them to the Adams Building again. Then, in 1978, at the northwest corner of 4th Street and Keeler Avenue, the 66 Federal Credit Union was constructed and operated at that corner until 1991, when they moved to 5th Street and Johnstone Avenue to occupy the Home Savings and Loan/Cimarron Federal building. In 2013, 66 Federal Credit changed its name to Truity Credit Union.

To be continued…

OCTOBER CALENDAR SPONSORED

Country Bumpkin Pumpkin Patch

Various Times

The 2023 Season is set to begin Saturday, September 30th and will run through Sunday, October 29th! Hours: Saturdays 11-7, Sundays 1-7.

Admission: $8 per person ages 3 and up

Bruin  Volleyball vs Booker T Washington

5:30PM; Bruin Fieldhouse  (JV)

6:30PM; Bruin Fieldhouse (V)

OKWU Soccer vs Friends U

5:30PM; OKWU Soccer Fields (W)

7PM; OKWU Soccer Fields (M)

Bruin  Volleyball vs Union (Sr. Night)

5:30PM; Bruin Fieldhouse  (JV)

6:30PM; Bruin Fieldhouse (V)

OKWU Soccer vs York

1PM; OKWU Soccer Fields (W)

3:30PM; OKWU Soccer Fields (M)

Bruin Varsity Football vs Putnam City West

7PM; Custer Stadium

Gathering at the Roc Car Show

10AM; Woolaroc

National Indian Taco Championship

10AM; Downtown Pawhuska

BPS Virtual Learning Day

All Day; District-wide

OKWU Volleyball vs Evangel

6PM; OKWU Gym

Bruin Varsity Football vs Stillwater

7PM; Custer Stadium Fall Break; No School

District-wide

Fall Break for BPS this year is October 12-13.

Western Heritage Day

2PM; Downtown Dewey

The tradition continues with a Longhorn cattle parade, vendors, music, and much more!

OKWU Volleyball vs Kansas Wesleyan

3PM; OKWU Gym

OKWU Soccer vs Saint Mary

5:30PM; OKWU Soccer Fields (W)

7PM; OKWU Soccer Fields (M)

Trunk or Treat

5PM; Ascension St John Jane Phillips

OKWU Soccer vs Ottawa

8PM; OKWU Soccer Fields

OKWU Soccer vs Bethany

1PM; OKWU Soccer Fields (W)

3:30PM; OKWU Soccer Fields (M)

BooFest hosted by Sunfest

4PM; Sooner Park

“BOOFest” intends to provide a 1 day fun family friendly celebration with a Halloween twist that all attendees can safely enjoy.

Downtown Spooktacular

5:30PM; Unity Square

This Halloween Price Tower Arts Center, the Bartlesville Public Library, the Bartlesville Community Center, and the First Presbyterian Church are again joining forces for an exciting trunk-or-treat and block party!

Bruin Varsity Football vs Muskogee

7PM; Custer Stadium

Truck or Treat

5PM; Church of Christ

OKWU Soccer vs Missouri Valley

1PM; OKWU Soccer Fields

OCTOBER EVENTS CALENDAR

Sun, Oct 1

Times Vary

Fall Festival

Country Bumpkin Pumpkin Patch

18500 N 4030 Rd

The Pumpkin Patch is open at various times throughout the month.

Mon, Oct 2

5 PM

Beginning Spanish Class

Bartlesville Public Library

600 S Johnstone Ave.

Free Beginning Spanish Class every Monday evening at 5 pm in Meeting Room B on the first floor of the Bartlesville Public Library.

Wed, Oct 4

5 PM

Wine Wednesday Palace Rooms Lounge

309 S Dewey Ave.

Join us for Wine Wednesdays at Palace

Rooms! Every Wednesday from 5pm to 7pm, we’re offering free wine tastings for our guests who are over 21.

6 PM Johnstone Irregulars Book Club

Bartlesville Public Library

600 S Johnstone Ave.

Thu, Oct 5

8 AM

SAFE-NOW Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Conference

Tri-County Tech 6101 Nowata Rd | Bartlesville, OK

Sat, Oct 7

8 AM

Bartlesville Farmers Market

Frank Phillips Park

222 SW Frank Phillips Blvd.

9 AM Oktoberfest OKM Music 415 S Dewey Ave.

10 AM

Gathering at the Roc Car Show Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve 1925 Woolaroc Ranch Rd.

10 AM

National Indian Taco Championship and Pow Wow Downtown Pawhuska

The National Indian Taco Championship is an annual event that has occurred over the last 19 years in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

6 PM

5:30 PM

Wednesday Citizenship Class Bartlesville Public Library 600 S Johnstone Ave.

Citizenship classes are held on Tuesdays at 6 pm, Wednesdays at 5:30 pm.

The Farmers Market is held every Saturday through the month.

Afghan We Can - Bartlesville Daybreak Rotary Timber Oaks

1639 US Highway 60 | Bartlesville, OK 74003

Fri, Oct 13

Times Vary

Bartlesville Pickleball Fall Classic

Hillcrest Country Club

1901 Price Rd.

The classic runs through Sunday, October 15.

Sat, Oct 14

9 AM Car Show

Green Country Village

1025 Swan Drive

12 PM

Dewey Western Heritage Day

Downtown Dewey and Washington County Fairgrounds

The tradition continues with a Longhorn cattle parade, vendors, music, and much more! .

Thu, Oct 19

Sat, Oct 21

8 AM

Woolaroc 8K

Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve

1925 Woolaroc Ranch Rd.

12 PM

Chasin’ Bacon 5K Downtown Bartlesville

1 PM

6:30 AM

Faith in Business Series

Crossing 2nd 215 E 2nd St.

This event features Chris Lavers, of Lavers Aesthetics.

Fri, Oct 20

5 PM

Trunk or Treat

Ascension St John Jane Phillips 3500 SE Frank Phillips Blvd

Sutton Avian Research Center Tours

George Misch Avian Research Center

393636 Gap Rd.

4 PM

BooFest hosted by Sunfest

Sooner Park

“BOOFest” intends to provide a 1 day fun family friendly celebration with a Halloween twist that all attendees can safely enjoy.

EVENTS CALENDAR

Fri, Oct 27

5:30 PM

Downtown Spooktacular

Unity Square

300 SE Adams Blvd.

This Halloween Price Tower Arts Center, the Bartlesville Public Library, the Bartlesville Community Center, and the First Presbyterian Church are again joining forces for an exciting trunkor-treat and block party! Beginning at 5:30, along Dewey Avenue, The Center parking lot and Silas Street, there will be trunk-or-treating, games, giveaways, inflatables, music, special treats, scary stories, and much more!

Sun, Oct 29

5 PM

Trunk or Treat Church of Christ

3700 SE Adams Blvd.

MAKE AN IMPACT

WITH FAITH-BASED INVESTING IN REVO’S BR STRATEGIES

Faith Integration

Many men and women are expressing their faith through a desire to align their values with their investing, finding ethical companies that not only avoid doing bad things, but impact humanity for good.

Dual Mandate Investing

MAKE AN IMPACT

WITH FAITH-BASED INVESTING IN REVO’S BR STRATEGIES

Faith Integration

Dual mandate investing is investing with two goals - profitable financial return and a positive impact on the world. Dual mandate investing adds a second dimension of the impact your investments have on the world, to investing that traditionally focuses only on financial return.

Many men and women are expressing their faith through a desire to align their values with their investing, finding ethical companies that not only avoid doing bad things, but impact humanity for good.

Metrics of Investing

Dual Mandate Investing

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Investment Strategies

We choose funds we believe impact the world for good and manage how your assets are allocated over time. Our biblically-responsible faith-based portfolios leverage these core strategies:

Social Impact: Companies and funds that may include Community Development, Medical Research, Renewable Energy, Global Economic Development, Affordable Housing, etc.

Dual mandate investing is investing with two goals - profitable financial return and a positive impact on the world. Dual mandate investing adds a second dimension of the impact your investments have on the world, to investing that traditionally focuses only on financial return.

Investment Strategies

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Our Areas of Specialization

Good Profits: Companies that may create value by means of Energy Efficiency, Clean Water Supply, Cybersecurity, Healthy Food Supply, Biotechnology, Customer Loyalty, Employee Benefits, Fair Trade, etc.

We choose funds we believe impact the world for good and manage how your assets are allocated over time. Our biblically-responsible faith-based portfolios leverage key core strategies to impact the world for good.

Corporate Advocacy: Funds that may work with corporations on known deficiencies, and engage corporate leadership with shareholder resolutions, proxy voting, and on-going dialogue.

Investor Wholeness: Companies and funds to align with your values, reflect your mindfulness and care for others, and make you proud to hold in your investment portfolio.

“We are a family of financial advisors whose specialty is faith-based planning strategies. We counsel clients

biblical stewardship. This goes from the planning process all the way to

Investors are owners in a company, and we think investments should be something

believe in and can be proud of.”

“WE MAKE A LIVING BY WHAT WE GET, BUT WE MAKE A LIFE BY WHAT WE GIVE.”

–WINSTON CHURCHILL

The Woodland Park Celebrities

Jimmie and Hans Schmoldt

by Debbie Neece,

Bartlesville Area History Museum

As summer fades to fall and winter is tapping upon the window, leaves change colors, frost covers the pumpkins and Halloween brings out the ghosts and goblins.

When Jimmie Schmoldt began her frightening witchy entertainment for the neighborhood children of Woodland Park, word of her boiling brew and tasty treats quickly spread across Bartlesville and each year brought exciting Halloween anticipation. Jimmie heavily supported Bartlesville Arts and she herself was an art! Each year, the treats were a little different, the story a little more eerie, and the imaginations she sparked created life-long memories.

What started with dressing in a black hat, cape and combat boots to greet the door-knocking spooky goblins, annually grew into a bigger presentation. The frothy caldron of boiling bluuuuuuud and pickled eyeballs (hot chocolate and marshmallows) with a side of batwing goodies adorned with dried flies and crunchy roly-polies, frosted with her special concoction of “toe jam and ear wax” (chocolate chip

cookies) brought a line of ghostly visitors and their parents who had enjoyed the visit to the “Witch of Woodland Park” in their childhood. Flickering kerosene lamps cast a glow over the spooky pumpkin-filled yard accented with the frightening echo of screeching cat fights, groans and shrilling screams in the night. The adventure was enough to bring the hair on your neck to attention. Now that is what childhood memories are made of.

As popular as Santa Claus at Christmas, the Witch of Woodland Park often made special appearances at local Halloween Happenings and even drew visitors from miles away. However, Jimmie Schmoldt was not the only celebrity of Woodland Park. Her husband, Hans was often referred to as the “Mayor of Woodland” for his astute attention to all Woodland Park happenings and code enforcement. For some, Hans was an acquired taste, for others his attention to detail was admirable.

“In 1977, Jimmie was honored by the City of Bartlesville as the ‘Witch of Woodland Park’ for riding her broom on All Hallows Eve (Halloween) for over twenty years in the entertainment of thousands of children with her witchy tales and witch’s brew.”

Hans’ father, Wilhelm Schmoldt, was a chef by trade on a ship traversing from Europe to New York where he met Gertrude Wissert and fell in love. They

married and settled in New Jersey but returned to Germany for a family emergency where Hans Edward Schmoldt was born. They returned to America so Hans could obtain his early education in New Jersey. He then earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy in 1944.

Bartlesville has been the home of many residents whom I affectionately call “Onion People” because their lives have been multilayered and Hans was indeed an onion. After graduation, he was employed by the Phillips Petroleum Company at Borger, Texas, in the production of butadiene and synthetic rubber. He transferred to Bartlesville in 1947, where he served in the Natural Gasoline Department.

Hans and Jimmie Wilson were married in 1948 and they made their home in Bartlesville where they both worked at Phillips Petroleum Company. However, eight months later, adventure came calling so they both resigned and traveled the unpaved Alcon Military Highway for an “extended honeymoon adventure” in Alaska. They found employment with the Alaska Corps of Engineers. In 1950, with Hans Karl on the way, the couple returned to Bartlesville and Hans Sr. returned to Phillips’ Engineering Department.

In September 1951, Hans Sr. again resigned from Phillips, this time to establish the Schmoldt Engineering Services Company, which he operated until retiring in 1990. However, his adventures were far from over. Hans Sr. and his children, Hans Jr. and Gretchen, were members of CEDAM (Conservation, Education, Diving, Awareness and Marine-Research). When the father-sondaughter team went on an expedition together in 1963, Hans Sr. brought home the treasure of all treasures…a brass crucifix from the wreck of the El Matancero, a Spanish merchant ship that sank

in 1741. On one of Hans Sr.’s post office visits, he noticed the elaborate crucifix postal clerk Steve Neece wore upon his neck and was astonished that Steve’s crucifix looked like a miniature of the one he had retrieved from the bottom of the ocean, which now resides in the Schmoldt family collection.

Hans Jr. said, “As children, we were treated to eye opening adventures and exposed to other cultures. Starting in 1968, Dad hiked through the jungles of Mexico and Central America, across the Mojave Desert and through Canyonlands National Park. He took float planes to remote places in Alaska; floated wild rivers in Northern Alaska after his heart bypass surgery; and even killed a bear in Alaska. Dad and mother proudly celebrated the arrival of the new millennium in 2000 north of the Arctic Circle. Dad took all three of us kids to New York City, Washington D.C., camping in Yellowstone and other National Parks, on Indian Reservations of the west and to Mexico. Life was an adventure!”

Jimmie was the family glue; and, in the Bartlesville community, she will long be remembered for her compassion for others and her generosity and thoughtfulness of the less fortunate. It was with these philanthropic values that Hans and Jimmie Schmoldt founded the Schmoldt Foundation for Education in honor of their son, Kurt who lost his battle with Leukemia in 1995, to recognize and further excellence in education. Also, in partnership with the NACE Foundation, they established the Hans Schmoldt Scholarship in Cathodic Protection to further the education of future corrosion engineers.

In addition to the Schmoldt family’s charitable community support, in 2017, the Hans Schmoldt Technology Center was created at Bartlesville’s Westside Community Center to greatly enhance STEM learning opportunities with an up-to-date and enlarged computer lab. Exemplifying the Schmoldt Family legacy of leaving this community better than they found it.

Did You Know?

There are very few certainties in life…for Halloween, it is candy and taxes. Face it parents, we all sneak our favorites from the trick-or-treat sack while our darlings are slumbering or incorporate a teachable lesson into the pounds of sugary substances that make you and the dentist cringe. In 2020, reportedly 82% of parents stole candy from their child’s Halloween loot…in the name of “Candy Taxes.”

Now You Know *

Located in the heart of Downtown Bartlesville

Located in the heart of Downtown Bartlesville

100 SW Frank Phillips Blvd

100 SW Frank Phillips Blvd

Reserve your spot at the top (918)440-6773

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www.johnstone-sare-theroomatthetop.com

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Hughes Ranch An Exceptional Steward of the Land

by Kay Little, Little History Adventures

While working at the Bartlesville Area History Museum, I had the privilege to meet many great people in our community. One of my favorites was John Hughes. He would sometimes just come to the museum, look at old photos and share stories from his life in this area, as he was an incredible storyteller. John’s death on June 19, 2013, left a large hole. Frederick Drummond was quoted as saying, “John was a generous and understanding gentleman who had the respect of everyone I know.”

John’s father, Arthur, married Elsie Tyson in 1921. She taught school for several years before she married Arthur. Arthur worked for Cities Service until he had a fight with his boss and knocked him out in 1928. He immediately resigned, after he made sure the boss was ok. Frank Phillips heard about it and hired Arthur to oversee his new office in Amarillo, partly because Amarillo was a tough place. They eventually moved to Bartlesville in 1932 and John was born in 1933. Arthur became a Vice President of Phillips Petroleum Company in 1936.

Two years later, 1938, Arthur bought the land that became the Hughes Home Ranch. He did it without borrowing any money. He was old-fashioned, in that he did not think young ladies should work outside the home. Elsie stayed home, raised their four children and was very active in volunteer work in the community.

Arthur was very proud of the fact that most of the food they ate came from their garden and their animals. Arthur also believed his children should know how to milk cows, clean out stalls, and grow gardens. John did not like these chores. Later, as a teen, he learned to love ranching from a family member and one of the cowboys on his father’s ranch.

After Frank Phillips died in 1950, Arthur bought two of Phillips’ Woolaroc pastures, increasing the Hughes Ranch to 5,500 acres. John fell in love with Woolaroc when his first-

grade class went on a field trip. As an adult, he was excited to serve on the Frank Phillips Foundation Board.

John took over ranch operations in 1955 after graduating from Oklahoma A&M with an animal husbandry degree. The next year, 1956, he married his college sweetheart, Lorna McLeod. She became a rancher’s wife.

In the 1980’s John heard the government was looking for another location for a wild horse sanctuary, because the western part of the United States was overrun with horses, after it became illegal to shoot them. So, in 1989, the Hughes Ranch had 2,000 horses. As of 2010, the Hughes Ranch was the largest wild horse sanctuary, with 4,350 horses. John would say they had an old folks home for wild horses because they were too old to break.

Under John’s leadership, the Hughes Ranch grew from 1,800 acres to more than 12,000 acres. He received many awards during his lifetime and was very well thought of by everyone who knew him. For more info, read John’s book, The Home Ranch.

Green Country Pet

Service offers private pet cremation with timely return of ashes in your choice of a decorative wooden urn with an engraved nameplate. If no return of ashes is requested, the ashes will be gently scattered on a beautiful pastoral/garden property.

We are located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and gratefully serve pet owners from a wide area surrounding Bartlesville, Dewey, and Northeast Oklahoma.

For our fee schedule, please feel free to call us at any time. 918-766-3812

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Influence. . .

We All Have It, and It’s a Great Responsibility

by Jay Hastings

As a child, I experienced many trips to my grandparents’ farm in rural Missouri. Being from the “big city,” I was intrigued by their life together. From a very young age, I realized life there moved at a much slower pace than at home.

I frequently tagged along as my grandfather milked cows in the barn, bailed hay in the meadow across the road in the summer, and hauled it out to feed in winter. I remember all the night sounds of the country and, after watching the sun set in the western sky, how dark it really got outside. Standing outside, you might hear an old car or truck approaching in the darkness way off in the distance, and it would be a long time before it would pass on the lonely highway by the farm. It was just such a different feel from the lights and sounds of city life back home. I remember venturing outside with my mother to look up at all the stars in the dark night sky. I’d listen to her stories of being a small child herself, growing up on the farm and how she loved to look at the stars.

My grandparents’ farm house did not have airconditioning, so in the summers the windows were kept open. When bedtime came, I was expected to sleep in a room by myself – with the windows open. As soon as the lights went out, I’d lay there listening to all the sounds outside the open windows and feel so scared in that darkness. Once everyone was asleep, I’d sneak into the room where my parents were and sleep on the floor beside their bed, where I felt safe for the duration of the night.

As I grew older, I discovered on visits to the farm I had the option of sleeping in the front living room. That option had both advantages and disadvantages, especially in the winter. The only heat source in the house was a wood burning stove

located in that front living room. There was a down side to sleeping in the front room of the crowded farm house, though. You were the last one to go to bed and usually the first one to be awakened in the morning!

I remember lying there on the floor one particular night, listening to the quietness of the country and my granddad talking to my grandmother. I should note, my granddad wore the hearing aids of the time and was quite deaf in his older years, so he was talking loudly, though everyone else in the house had quieted down for the night. Suddenly, I realized my grandfather wasn’t just talking to my grandmother, but was praying. Right there in that moment and with a houseful of guests, my grandparents unintentionally revealed their nightly routine of praying to the Lord together and out loud. I remember how that influenced me at the time and how I longed to have such a meaningful and close relationship with both my spouse and God someday. Suddenly, my fear of the darkness, faded away.

Life back at home in the city seemed to move at a much faster pace. Throughout the years, there would be many more people and events to influence me. Things I’d experience and see, words that would be spoken to and about me. Some good, some not as good. To this day, though, I continue to draw from the influence of my grandparents – their simple life on the farm, their shared faith in God, their joint prayers – as a foundation in my own marriage and faith journey, as well as other relationships.

The truth is, each of us has influence and how we use it, intentional or not, is a great responsibility. As you read this, I hope you feel challenged to consider the influences on your own lives and how you may choose to positively influence others.

Brad Baughman

by Randy Standridge

Brad Baughman passed away in December last year, but before he did, he wrote a testimonial on the impact that Coach Bill Holbrook had on his life. It’s interesting to see a highly successful football player in his own right writing about a football coach that impacted him for the rest of his life, including him taking on the same profession as Coach. I’m sure that Brad was a great coach as well because he learned from one of the best. Believe me, Coach Holbrook’s ability to communicate and leadership skills were evident in the way he taught the importance of planning ahead, knowing your competition’s weaknesses and strengths, being prepared, and this resulted in many of us having successful careers in whatever profession we were in.

Marty Lowe and I have a number of testimonials from highly successful businessmen, lawyers, doctors, and military officers that all share the same story about this man that we called “Coach”. Coach came back from fighting in Germany and started working on his college degree first at SMU and then at the University of Tulsa before starting his coaching career in Bartlesville, Oklahoma in 1950. He was the assistant football coach for twelve years, followed by being the head coach in 1962 at College High for 4 years before taking over the new high school in town, Sooner High, in 1966. He coached another 10 years at Sooner before retiring in 1976. He actually came out of retirement and assisted in coaching the defense at College High in 1977 and 1978 before moving to Leakey, Texas where he ended up as the Head Coach for another 10 years at Rocksprings.

On October 20th at the Bartlesville Sports Commission’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony Coach will be inducted along with other deserving people from Bartlesville who have been successful in life in one way or another. Coach will not be able to come to the ceremony as his health isn’t the best right now, but he will be 99 on October 23rd, so we will miss him at the podium accepting this award. A former sports editor at the Examiner Enterprise once wrote that Coach was a really good speaker and could go on the circuit doing speeches to the various organizations in cities if he wasn’t coaching. We will miss that opportunity to hear him but his accomplishments and inspiration will not be forgotten. Below is a testimonial by Brad Baughman that seems to resonate with many former players of this outstanding coach and man.

Coach Holbrook Testimonial by Brad Baughman

Coach Bill Holbrook demonstrated exceptional leadership for me and other players at College High. I carried his lessons through my days as a player at Oklahoma State University and through my 35 years as a high school coach. From him I learned

the importance of setting individual goals that went beyond team goals and winning.  He taught me to lead by example and by supporting my teammates. I saw that he made sure the underclassmen were coached enthusiastically as the seniors were, because he thought all players, even the younger ones, were important to the team.  I believed they were too and that realization guided me then as a player and especially later as a coach.

A great coach is not just a winning one.  A great coach is one who believes in the importance of every individual on the team.

Coach Holbrook made me a better player because I knew he believed in me as an individual as well as a team member.  Memories of talking with him in his office after practice are vivid and special.  He made it clear there were certain things you had to do to be a winner in football and life, such as being true to yourself and your teammates and leading by word and example.

He stressed football fundamentals and taught them well but just as important he taught positive and necessary character traits.  From him I learned the importance of attending every practice, setting goals for myself and the team, and being proud of my effort on the field and in life.  In those talks he reminded me of what I already knew and how I could be better. I listened to him and knew he was talking to me.  As a coach myself, four or forty years later, I remembered his kind of leadership and used it as my model.  I’m sure that is also true of lots of young men he coached.

Coach Holbrook taught me that it mattered that you strive to be a winner even as you also know winning was not the only thing.  That seems contradictory and is a lesson sometimes hard to learn but it’s so important in sports and in life.  A true coach knows how to teach that and Coach Holbrook did.  As I look back on my life I know his lessons were such a positive influence on me and I hope, through me, an influence on the young men I coached as well.

Great leadership isn’t about your own accomplishments.  It’s about what you inspire others to do and how you inspire them. Coach Holbrook deserves this honor.  He’s the kind of coach who leadership passes forward.

Sarah Armour Woolwine Winn

by Kay Little, Little History Adventures

“The work of a librarian opens a large field of knowledge to people.” This definitely describes Sarah Winn, a former librarian and teacher in Washington County.

Sarah Armour Woolwine Winn was born September 6, 1924, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This year she celebrated her 99th birthday. Sarah was named for her mother, who passed away in 1927. Sarah was 2 ½ years old and has no memories of her. Sarah and her three siblings went to live with grandparents in Morristown, TN. Her granddaddy was a local Methodist preacher. They lived there for 1 1/2 years and their father would visit on the weekends.

Her father remarried in1929 to Ruth Dowell and the children called her Mother. Sarah’s new mother took her to the library often, which was a highlight for Sarah.

Sarah loved going to school. In 2nd grade, she received a book as a reward for having the most papers with 100%. The book was about monkeys. This started a long-time collection of “The Three Monkeys.”

Christmas was a very fun time for the family. Sarah described the tree as always beautiful. Each person had a stocking, with fruit, nuts and other things. She enjoyed laying out all her gifts on her bed and admiring them.

After Sarah graduated from Peabody College in 1945, she worked as the Librarian at Sewanee Military Academy in Sewanee, TN. While there, she was able to get her master’s in library science from Peabody. Even more important was that she met and fell in love with Gene Winn. They married August 1950 in Nashville. She taught 3rd grade and oversaw the school library.

A couple of years after they married, Gene went to Peabody Library School. In 1953, the Winns moved to Bartlesville, where Gene had been hired at the Public Library. It a shock for Sarah, as she had never been west of the Mississippi. Sarah taught first grade at Dewey and eventually became the high school librarian. She started a Library club in which several students participated. They would

help Sarah, go on field trips together to visit other libraries, and were able to meet Pearl Buck in Tulsa.

Sarah and Gene adopted three children, Jim, Mary and Dianne. The family attended St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, where Sarah was very active in several programs. Sarah was also very active in many community organizations. In 1976, she was named Teacher of the Year. In 2015, she was named History Maker of the Year by the Women’s Network. One of her most fun things was being a schoolmarm for the Bartlesville Area History Museum.

Sarah and Gene were married 56 years until he died in 2005. They both retired in 1984 but continued to stay busy in the community. They catalogued all the books in Frank Phillips’ library at Woolaroc. They also owned and operated a bookstore in their home, named “Media Futures”.

When Sarah was 90, she completed her Education for Ministry degree from the Theology Department at the University of the South, through St. Luke’s. She is very proud of this degree.

After Gene’s death, Sarah moved to the Bartlesville Health and Rehab Community, where she has started several clubs. Sarah feels so blessed to have many friends. She also loves her children and is so grateful that Jim and Mary and their families live in Bartlesville.

As she says, “God has blessed me over and over again.” For more info, read Sarah’s book, MY STORY, reminiscences of a southern girl.

by Jay Webster

So, this is the annual interview with my daughter, where she talks about her summer. It’s become a fan favorite. That, of course, sort of hurts my feelings since this is the one column that includes none of my writing.

Me: For our at-home reading audience, can you tell everyone your name and approximate age?

E: My name is Evanjalyn Webster and my age is 11 & 3/4.

Me: So, overall, how was your summer break?

E: Good. Busy but good.

Me: Do you prefer the summer break or the school year?

E: Honestly, I don’t know. I like Summer Break because of the freedom and of course, it’s like summer and it’s a break. But I also like the school year because we have a schedule and we kind of know what we’re doing but we still have the weekends off. So it’s kind of like a mini summer break.

Me: Walk us through your summer. Reportedly, you graduated from fifth grade at Kane Elementary. The next morning you wake up and what happens?

E: The next morning I wake up and I go to Children’s Musical Theater’s Finding Nemo camp for the first day of rehearsals.

Me: And did they find Nemo?

E: Yes!

Me: Nice. And what role did you play in that production?

E: I played a cool fish called Gill who got to wear a spiky leather jacket.

Me: And what were the reviews like for that play? Did anyone say anything about your performance?

E: Yeah, everybody just said that they really liked it and thought I was doing a good job.

Me: So they lied?

E: Wow…

Me: OK, so you wrap (to use a theatre term) and then what happens?

E: And then I have one week off.

Me: As I recall we took that week to go camping at Skiatook Lake.

E: Yes!

Me: What do you remember about that excursion?

E: We tried fishing and it really did not work.

Me: From all our camping trips, who has the perfect record when it comes to fishing?

E: You, because it’s always zero.

Me: Is Skiatook Lake a state park that you would recommend to other people?

E: Yes, it’s very beautiful and the lake is very beautiful.

Me: At some point while camping did your dad kill a bear or anything?

E: No, you didn’t kill a bear… but in the middle of camping I did go to Tulsa to get braces put on.

Me: Oh, that’s why you look like that.

E: What?!

Me: OK, so you have braces on and your life is pretty much over, and the summer is a loss. Right?

E: No. (Laughing)

Me: Then what happens?

E: Then I had one day to get ready before I started rehearsals for CMT‘s production of The Wizard of Oz.

Me: What’s the basic storyline of The Wizard of Oz?

E: A girl gets lonely and this old person takes her dog Toto away.

Me: And then what happens?

E: So…Dorothy gets lonely and then this tornado comes to her farm and like she gets scared and she goes to the house and when the tornado flies over, she hits her head and she finds herself in the magical land of Oz…

Me: OK, wow. So, what were the rehearsals like?

E: The rehearsals were honestly fine. I think it’s the best director that we’ve had for a MainStage musical.

Me: And where did you do these rehearsals?

E: We rehearsed at Madison Middle School a.k.a. the MidHi.

Me: So what’s your review of that facility?

E: I think it’s a very nice place. And I think it’s good because we got to just kind of have breaks in the Commons area and we used the gym for our rehearsals and so I think we made a pretty good use of the space.

Me: What did you guys do during your rehearsal breaks?

E: We basically played card games. I think I learned like over four new card games this summer.

Me: And why didn’t you use that time to work on math or advancing your reading or getting ready for school?

E: Because I didn’t care.

Me: Was there anything unusual about this play?

E: Yeah, I was the flying monkey Lieutenant and I got to fly, so we had to go to extra rehearsals. But those are really fun and I liked those.

Me. Was there anyone special in your life that helped with the flying process and enabled you to leave this earth and pursue your dreams?

E: No. (Laughing)

Me: Wow. What was flying like?

E: It was really, really cool. Like the first time, I was kind of scared. And then I looked down and I wasn’t really scared, it was just kind of really cool.

Me: Did you just fly straight?

E: Well, the random guy (that’s me) pulling me made me go up and down and it was really fun. It was like a roller coaster ride!

Me: What was it like to be in the air and look out into the audience?

E: It’s honestly really cool, but it was also kind of hard because like flying takes so much energy because you have to like, you know, pull your shoulders back and stuff and make sure your harness is working and blah blah. So I kind of had to master the flying part of it but then I also had to work on my acting and that was kind of difficult because looking out into the audience is just kind of captivating. Sometimes it’s kind of hard to act like that.

Me: How did you feel when Oz wrapped?

E: It was kind of sad, but I was kind of ready to have a break after all the energy that I put into it.

Me: After the cast party, did you just go to school the next morning?

E: No. Then we went to Chicago!

Me: Oh my gosh, what a Summer you’ve had. Your parents must be amazing. So what did you do in Chicago?

E: (Laughing) First, we went to two Cubs games!

Me: Did you do anything else?

E: We went to Harry Potter Magic & Play because I looove Harry Potter!

Me: What was your review of that event?

E: Merlin’s beard, it was great!

Me: Was there shopping in Chicago?

E: Yes, so much shopping.

Me: Was there anything special about your hotel?

E: Oh yeah, it had a pool on the third floor, and like you could see out and see like the whole city and all the tall skyscrapers. And they have a Starbucks in the hotel!

Me: So even though you and I talked about earning a living now and contributing to the family you are…

E: We never talked about that.

Me: …You went back to school instead. Where are you in school now?

E: I ’m in school at Central Middle School.

Me: This is very disappointing. So what’s your review of Central so far? Do you regret going back to school?

E: I didn’t have a choice. I had to continue my education…

Me: So you went back to school and…

E: I like the freedom of it.

Me: What does that mean when you say freedom?

E: Well, we’re kind of on our own and we don’t always have like somebody on top of us.

Me: So you’re kinda more responsible for getting to your classes and now instead of one teacher, you have a bunch of teachers?

E: Yeah!

Me: So you’re taking band and orchestra…

E: And Science of Technology.

Me: And what about language arts? Are you still reading things?

E: Yes, I’m still reading Harry Potter!

Me: Is that working out OK?

E: (eye roll)

Me: Well, do you feel like you’re gonna be happy with going to school at Central?

E: Yeah, I really like it.

Me: Is there anything else from the summer that you’d like to tell readers about?

E: I can’t think of anything.

Me: Should we sign off at this point?

E: Yeah.

Me: OK, thank you. I appreciate it. Good job.

•

• Restaurant-style dining or you can have meals delivered directly to your apartment

• Planned activities; to include regularly scheduled happy hour

• Scheduled transportation for shopping

•

The Search for Truth

The First Place to Look is Within Yourself

by Lori Kroh

In searching for the truth, you must search within yourself. I found that to be true while reading one of the most poetic and tragic novels I have ever read. Although the beauty of Oklahoma will be seen, I hope that what is noticed is that justice is served then to inspire us for today. Many of us took notice and knew others here in town that got to participate in the movie. I have been eagerly following the release date and I cannot recall a time where I read a book three times over and eagerly awaited for the movie with so much anticipation. Not because of the heinous, cruel and most serious issues that will unfold but by the way they portray the hero. In my opinion, standing up for what is right is never wrong. I asked myself many times, would I do whatever it took for truth? Would I risk it all?

Killers of the Flower Moon is based on the bestselling novel by David Grann about the real events surrounding the brutal murder of Osage citizens for their money and land. It opens in theaters nationwide on Oct. 20, 2023. I will be sitting in the seat ready to witness history retold. In the heart of Oklahoma, where the winds whispered secrets through the tall prairie grasses, there existed a tale as haunting as the winds themselves. It was a story of Indian princesses, their land, and the relentless march of progress driven by greed. Long ago, the land was home to the Osage Nation, a people whose territory was rich with oil beneath its serene surface. The Osage possessed a deep connection to the land, and their women were known as the “Osage Indian Princesses” for their grace and resilience.

With the discovery of oil, the land became a coveted treasure, and it attracted the attention of powerful oilmen. Among them was a man named William Hale, whose insatiable greed knew no bounds. Hale saw an opportunity not only in the oil but also in the Osage princesses. These princesses were revered for their wisdom and beauty and Hale devised a sinister plan to marry them and gain control over their valuable headrights—the mineral rights to their land. He married many Osage women and those who resisted his advances often met tragic ends. One such princess was Mollie Burkhart, a woman of extraordinary beauty and strength. She had the misfortune of marrying Ernest Burkhart, who was related to William Hale. Mollie’s sisters and relatives also married men connected to the oil industry and their lives took a dark and ominous turn. As the Osage princesses began to mysteriously die one by one, their

land and headrights fell into the hands of those who sought only wealth. The Osage community lived in fear and despair and no one seemed to care. Yet, there was a glimmer of hope! A man named Tom White, an experienced former Texas Ranger, was appointed as the lead investigator to uncover the truth. White was resolute in his pursuit of justice, and he had the integrity and determination needed to unravel the web of conspiracy and corruption. He had this unwavering resolve and Tom White delved deep into the dark heart of the Osage murders. His investigation revealed a network of betrayal, deceit, and murder, orchestrated by those who had married the Osage princesses for their fortune. The evidence he gathered was staggering and it shook the foundations of Oklahoma society. The trial that followed was a turning point. William Hale and his accomplices were exposed for their heinous crimes and justice was finally served. The nation watched in horror as the extent of the Osage murders was revealed, yet they also witnessed the triumph of truth over evil. There are many lessons from this tragic chapter in history and they resonate across time and place. It teaches us that justice, though delayed, can eventually prevail. It reminds us of the enduring strength of communities like the Osage Nation and their ability to overcome even the darkest of times. But above all, it serves as a poignant reminder of the consequences of unchecked greed and the importance of standing up for what is right.

The catalyst for justice in this story was Tom White, a man of honor and integrity, who showed that one person can make a difference in the face of overwhelming corruption.

As the winds continued to whisper through the Oklahoma prairie, they carried with them the legacy of the Osage Indian princesses. I hope to see more than anything that the resilience in their tragedy brings hope to us all. It is a noble honor to hold space for those that can not speak for themselves and even more so to act on their behalf. Even though I know how it ends, I cannot wait to see the ending. I will be the one clapping and cheering all the way from the middle row near the top. May we come away with hope instead of fear and the inspiration to never be afraid to be that one person. The one who looks around and says something needs to be done and I am just the person to do it!

BiB! Kicks Off Next Month

New Season Opens with Jesus Christ Superstar

The Center for arts, events, and community is excited to kick off the new Broadway in Bartlesville! season with Jesus Christ Superstar!

Following critically acclaimed, sold-out engagements in the UK, the reimagined 50th Anniversary tour of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR will open the Broadway in Bartlesville! season on Sunday, November 5th at 7:30 p.m.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR is set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series of events during the final weeks in the life of Jesus Christ, as seen through the eyes of Judas. Reflecting the rock roots that defined a generation, the legendary score includes ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’, ‘Gethsemane’ and ‘Superstar’.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR is a proven musical phenomenon with a world-wide fan base. As demonstrated by NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, this epic work attracted over 9.6 million viewers, earned the highest ratings in its time period, and received the highest critical ranking of any live musical event on network TV. On September 17th, 2021 a variety of special edition Jesus Christ Superstar albums, remastered at Abbey Road, were released. These special anniversary editions are a celebration of the original 1970 double concept album and its continued success spanning an incredible 50 years.

Tickets for JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR , the first show in the Broadway in Bartlesville!’s 2023-2024 series, are available by phone at 918.337.2787 and in person at The Center box office, Monday through Friday from 9am – 5pm. For 24/7 ticket sales, visit bartlesvillecenter.com.

Generous donations from The National Endowment for the Arts, the Oklahoma Arts Council, and the following local sponsors make JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR , possible: Albright Consulting * American Heritage Bank * Arvest Wealth Management * bMonthly Magazine * ConocoPhillips

* Copper Cup Images * Cortney McClure Design * Mr. and Mrs. Paul Crawford * Diversified Systems Resources

* Examiner-Enterprise * Green Country Village * Keleher Architects * KGGF KUSN KQQR * KRIG KYFM KWON KPGM

* Melody’s Creative Cuisine * Nowata Road Liquor * Phillips 66 * Price Tower Arts Center * Robinett/King * Dr. and Mrs. Richard Rutledge * Dr. and Mrs. William D. Smith * Sparklight

* Stumpff Funeral Home & Crematory * Truity Credit Union

* Visit Bartlesville

Get in the holiday spirit at The Center!

The heartwarming holiday musical, Million Dollar Quartet Christmas , is set to play The Center on Wednesday, December 6 at 7 p.m. as part of an 18-city national touring production.

In Million Dollar Quartet Christmas rock ‘n’ roll newcomers, and soon to be legends, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley come together again to celebrate the holidays. Inspired by the true story of their December 1956 homecoming at Sun Records, this heartwarming rock n’ roll musical rings with sounds of the season and the chart toppers that made the Million Dollar Quartet famous. The gang is up to their usual antics as we journey through stories of Christmas past, present, and future in a joyful evening filled with nostalgic holiday hits including “Run Rudolph Run,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” and more.

Members of the original Million Dollar Quartet team, Tonynominated book writer Colin Escott and original orchestrator Chuck Mead, reunite with director Scott Weinstein for this new musical holiday celebration. The design team for Million Dollar Quartet Christmas includes scenic design by dots, lighting design by Ryan J. O’Gara, sound design by Diego Garzón, costume design by Izumi Inaba, and prop design by Douglas Clarke.

GET READY TO ROCK AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON! Tickets to Million Dollar Quartet Christmas go on sale October 9th and can be purchased by phone at 918.337.2787 and in person at The Center box office, Monday through Friday from 9am – 5pm. For 24/7 ticket sales, visit bartlesvillecenter.com.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

Pressure. . .

Life is All About How We Respond to It

by Kelly Hurd

When I need to think and sort a few life issues out, I’ll go for a walk and sometimes a jog. Wide open country, long distances, and sweat seem to make me smarter and more creative, at least in my own mind.

Today, however, I decided to do my thinking while wetting a hook somewhere west of Pawhuska, south of Highway 60, in a pasture stocked with Corriente cattle that has a pond stocked with bass and perch. One of the first northers of the season was approaching, so I thought maybe the fish just might be biting ahead of the front – and they were.

Now y’all, I have my theories on fishing. One of the best days of fishing I have ever had was down in Texas during a tornado warning. I caught channel cat I didn’t have the strength to lift that day. I was way back in the pasture fishing by myself. I had the pickup windows rolled down and the radio turned up, and a couple minnows on a hook in the water. About the time the weather warnings starting interrupting George Strait on the radio, my cork went “plop” and my whole pole nearly went into the stock tank before I could catch it.

I knew I should head for the house and possibly the cellar, but what I had on the other end of my line had me walking the banks of that west Texas stock tank trying to keep my line from breaking as I was sweet-talking that fish to the banks where I could run my stringer through its gills.

I theorized after my tornado fishing success that a good fishing day is all about the pressure – the barometric pressure. It drops when tornadoes form. It also drops ahead of a norther packing rain – and I’ll spare you the story, but trust me, right ahead of a front, those fish will almost jump out of the water and catch your baited hook in mid-air.

So as I was reeling them in, I got to pondering on pressure this afternoon. It doesn’t just affect fish, you know. Life’s pressure affects us all. Pressure to please. Pressure to perform. Pressure to conform… And don’t forget the bait - which usually comes seeking an immediate knee-jerk reaction, rather than a well-thought-out response in due season.

On the other hand, pressure can also be like a cooker, which when used properly, brings about transformation much quicker and also allows for preservation and longevity. (I know because my grandma used one when I was a little girl in her kitchen making peach preserves.)

It made me think. Maybe in life it’s all about how we respond to the pressure. Fish - end up on a hook and in the frying pan. Peaches - get even sweeter and last longer.

When pressure comes calling, maybe instead of taking the bait to react, we should take the time to respond. Maybe, instead of drowning under it, we should use life’s pressure to our advantage and allow ourselves to be transformed by it into something sweeter than we were before – preserving character that will stand the test of time.

Well, I didn’t have a stringer with me today, so I threw all the fish back. You might say, every fish today got a second chance. Second chances … May your life be filled with second chances too.

This is me, smiling at you from my favorite fishing hole. Thanks for going On the Road with me!

Where it all Began

The Legend of James Bigheart

by Debbie Neece, Bartlesville Area History Museum

When you hear the name Barnsdall, do you think about former residents Miss Oklahoma Anita Bryant, Hollywood’s Clark Gable or Naval Rear Admiral Tom Hall who was born and raised in Barnsdall? Or does your mind summon thoughts of the Barnsdall Oil Company with the “world’s only Main Street oil well, completed in 1914?” Once called the town of Bigheart, Barnsdall, with a 2020 population of 1,034 has a story to tell…

Where did it all begin … Kansas born, full-blood Osage, James Bigheart served in the 9th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry during the Civil War and mustered out March 1865. Ten years later, the Osages appointed him chief and he signed the first Osage Reservation blanket oil and gas lease with Henry Foster in 1895.

As railroads forged across Indian Territory, the Midland Valley Railroad laid track between Muskogee and Wichita. The township of Bigheart was formed March 1905 and the Midland Valley established a rail-stop at Bigheart in September that year. A post office was assigned January 1906 and the Bigheart Star newspaper shared area developments.

James Bigheart was a brilliant Osage leader, champion of education and tribal sovereignty, and became notable for his Osage Reservation property rights fight. Bigheart and Fred Lookout traveled to Washington, D.C. and addressed Congress during the 1906 Allotment Bill discussions. The Osage leaders successfully reserved rights to the mineral estate of the Osage Reservation and paved the path for tribal wealth. Unfortunately, James Bigheart died in 1908, just before the Osage received their first headright payments, never witnessing the fruits of his labor.

As the Osage wealth rolled in, Congress passed a March 1921 law requiring Osage citizens to prove competency. Failure was most certain and required the assignment of a non-Osage guardian to oversee the money creating an opportunity for sinister activity. If the Osage citizen died before they were deemed competent, the guardian could petition the court to inherit the estate…and did. Many of the Osage died from alcohol poisoning, “suicide” or other accidentally on purpose occurrences.

In June 1923, James Bigheart’s nephew, George Bigheart had been investigating the rise of accidental Osage deaths when he fell ill himself and was hospitalized with poisoning. Just before his death, George summoned his lawyer friend, William Vaughn, to his bedside to discuss his investigation and who he believed had poisoned him. Shortly thereafter, George died and Vaughn was found dead the following day, having been thrown from a train. Just two deaths in the string of murders in the Osage “Reign of Terror.”

The Bigheart legacy stands strong in Osage County. In 1916, Barnsdall Oil Company discovered the Bigheart Oil Field and purchased the Bigheart Refining Company in 1921. Then, in January 1922, the town of Bigheart was renamed in honor of oilman Theodore N. Barnsdall. However, the community annually celebrates Bigheart Days with a fishing tournament at Lake Waxhoma, parade, live music and dances. Barnsdall has two sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places: The Bank of Bigheart and Barnsdall’s Main Street Oil Well. And, in 1995, the Oklahoma Historical Society placed a historical marker at the Bigheart Cemetery, where Chief James Bigheart rests for eternity.

Macvk Brumfield Attack on Pearl Harbor Prompted Military Career

by Joe Todd

Macvk Brumfield was born July 18, 1924 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His family had a farm and he did his chores on the farm. He graduated high school in 1941 and was home when the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor came over the radio.

After the war started, a friend and he began collecting scrap metal and selling it to a metal yard on North Peoria. This gave him a little spending money and he felt like he was doing something for the war effort.

He joined the Army March 7, 1943 and was sent to Fort Reno, Oklahoma for Basic Training. He joined the Army because he never thought of the Marines and never learned to swim and didn’t want the Navy. He had a farm and ranching background, so Basic was easy for him.

After Basic, he was held over at Fort Reno and assigned to Company A, Quartermaster Remount and broke horses for the Army. Guys were brought in from Michigan and New York and said they had never seen a horse and didn’t know one end from the other. He said the boys from the north rode the horses but only after they had been broken.

He spent several months at Fort Reno then was sent to Camp Ansa, California and went aboard the USS General George M. Randall and left the US from Los Angeles. He had never seen the ocean and the boat trip was a new adventure for him. The ship was out 4 or 5 days and in a formation everyone was told to sign a paper then they were informed they had just volunteered for Jungle Warfare and if they didn’t want to fight in the jungles, they could get off the ship and walk back to the states.

The ship landed in Melbourne, Australia, spent a few days there then went on to Bombay, India. He was put on a C-47

and flown to Myitkyina, Burma. He was told to have his equipment ready and get off the airplane because the Japanese controlled half of the airfield.

He was assigned to the 4075th Infantry, Merrill’s Marauders as a Rifleman and given a mule he named Judy. He put everything in the packsaddle and began combat operations.

He recalled meeting Lord Mountbatten who gave a speech then told everyone “To repeat after me.” He said, “I am the sorry SOB that is the reason you are here.”

He said he walked over 300 miles across Burma and Judy pulled him over the mountains and said she was a good mule. He slept on the jungle floor and had to carry all his supplies on Judy.

His unit worked with the Gerka Tribe and said they were the best soldiers he had every met. The Gerkas traveled in groups of 4 or 5 and were experts in killing the Japanese. He recalled the Japanese had a large artillery piece, which could not be located. He was on patrol when the gun was fired and it was hidden in a large bamboo clump.

The Japanese cleared the center of the clump then tued the tops of the bamboo together so the gun could not be located. He helped destroy the gun and the breech was brought back to the colonel.

He was in Burma about one year one of his most vivid memories was fishing with hand grenades in the I Irrawady River. From Burma, he was sent to Kunming, China then to Shanghai where he pulled MP duty then came home and was discharged January 4, 1945 at Fort Riley, Kansas.

Honoring an Icon

Bettye Williams to Receive BSO’s Bruce Price Cultural Award

by Tom O’Connor

On October 15, Bettye Williams will turn 90 years of age; two weeks later, this Bartlesville legend will be honored with the Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra’s prestigious Bruce Price Cultural Award.

Anyone who knows Bettye Williams knows that community service has been her life’s work.

Bettye Williams grew up in a family with deep religious beliefs, saying that it was God’s will that has shaped her life. In 1955, when she and her husband, Shelton, came to Bartlesville, there were still discriminatory Jim Crow restrictions in housing and employment. African Americans were not allowed to enter white restaurants, including lunch counters at five and dime stores.

The two of them had to live in a house without running water because there were few homes for rent or purchase for African American people in Bartlesville and redlining was still practiced here. They were relegated to living on the west side of town beyond the railroad tracks. They had to bring their water into the house from an outside faucet for their basic hygiene. This alone could have caused extreme bitterness and resentment for most people, but not Bettye Williams.

She thanked God for what she had and immersed herself in the community, doing what she could to make it better, for blacks—and for whites. She helped bring the NAACP to Bartlesville, worked tirelessly with 17 churches and their affiliates playing a role in the creation of the Concern Center. She was on the board of the West Side Community Center, headed up the Parent Teachers Association at her daughter’s

school, and was a service member for the Daybreak Rotary Club.

Eventually she would be asked to join Pillips Petroleum company where she worked in their personnel department until her retirement in 1998. Her influence in that company was felt by many and she was given the opportunity to travel to many of the countries where Phillips Petroleum had a presence.

A longtime believer in education, Williams was a mentor for Bartlesville Public Schools’ Academic Interest and Mentoring Society (AIMS), where she helped students at Central, Madison Middle School, and the Mid-High improve their self-esteem and academic performance.

She served on the Washington County Election Board, as well as the Dewey Pilot Club, the Jane Phillips Society, the Oklahoma Junior Miss board of directors, the Salvation Army, and the board of the Agape Mission—all while raising four daughters and holding a full-time job in the personnel department of Phillips Petroleum.

Now as she enters her 90th year, she loves her time with her children and grandchildren, while still maintaining a presence in the community.

For her lifetime of volunteerism to improve the educational, cultural, diversity, and equality of our community, the Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra is proud to present Bettye Williams with the Bruce Price Cultural Award for 2023 at their annual banquet on October 28th at the Bartlesville Community Center. The public is invited to attend by calling 918-336-7717.

Live Music + FREE Bingo

2023 is our 16th year!

Where: Frank Phillips Park, 222 SW Frank Phillips Blvd. (Just South of the train depot)

When: Every Saturday, May 7 - Oct 15 • Time: 8-11:30 am

Proven. Committed.

Convenient.

Arvest proudly supports many of our Bartlesville non-profit organizations who help keep our community strong. Local involvement means we are invested in you. We’ve got you covered.

Nearly 40 Years Strong. . .

And the “End of the Road” is Not in Sight!

by Eddie Fisher

Dane Warner has been in the audio video business for over 37 years. At the start of his career, he ran live audio production for artists such as Glen Campbell, Ronnie Milsap, Roy Clark, Sandi Patti, and others. In 1990 Dane formed  Warner Audio Video, designing and installing systems in churches, schools, performing art centers, football stadiums, basketball arenas, and corporate facilities. Warner AV quickly became one of the premier AV contractors in the area.  They have completed over 1000 installations. They have traveled nationwide, including Texas, Colorado, and California. Their target market area is Oklahoma, SE Kansas, NE Arkansas, and SW Missouri. In 2010 they added theatrical lighting to their services which has grown into a large part of their business. Warner AV also offers equipment rental and live production services for your special events. Dane Warner also conducts on-site training seminars for various areas of technologies.  These training seminars are very popular with churches and schools.  They would love the opportunity to work with you on your next project.

In 2019, with the film industry exploding in Oklahoma, Dane formed  End of the Road Productions . This was to bring people with ideas and dreams together, networking and supporting each other.

Dane started researching a story from his hometown of Nowata. A story about a high school basketball homecoming in 1972 dealing with a black captain and a white homecoming queen. He quickly found out the bits he had heard though the years were not correct. He also found out that the story stretched far outside Oklahoma borders. The development of a full-length documentary, “Full Court Press: The Ken Zacher Story ” began. He started interviewing people across the country, traveling

as far as Virginia to get people’s stories. What he thought was a story about an amazing coach and a racial issue that occurred, grew into much more. The story started tuning into an awareness project for mental illness and suicide prevention.  Yes, this is a story about an amazing coach. Nineteenyear head coach of the University of Kansas,  Ted Owens is in the film. He describes Ken Zacher as one of the most brilliant coaching minds he has ever seen at the high school level. Yes, Ken Zacher fought for racial equality. But very few knew that Ken secretly battled a life of mental illness.  Ken committed suicide at age of 36. For the very first time, his family is sharing the behind closed-door details about what happened to the family away from the public eye. The story kept growing and Dane knew this was over his head!  He put out a post to find more help. He was contacted by  Chuck Price who asked Dane to share details of the project. After a few minutes, Chuck said I’ve heard enough. I have a “LITTLE EXPERIENCE” and you need my help.  Dane had no idea what “Little Experience” meant. Chuck had worked in Hollywood for nearly 20 years mostly for Ridley Scott and Associates.  Ridley Scott is one of the biggest directors in the industry.  Chuck worked on many of Ridley Scott’s blockbuster films. Chuck art directed 10 commercials that made it to the super bowl. He also art directed music videos for George Straight, Shania Twain, Guns-n-Roses and others. Chuck had retired from the Hollywood scene, bought a ranch east of Bartlesville and settled back into family life. Dane describes Chuck as a God send to this project. Chuck took over as director while Dane pressed on as the producer.  The premiere of “Full Court Press: The Ken Zacher Story ” will be October 14th at 6:00 pm at the Bartlesville Community Center. Dane and his wife Eraina, Chuck Price, and over 60 volunteer crew members hope you will come out and support this film.  This will be the first step in pushing it out to mass markets. They hope to touch many lives while sharing mental Illness awareness, suicide prevention, and racial equality. The world needs to show love, compassion, and forgiveness, just as Christ has done the same for us.

B the Light Mission

Local Shelter

Offers a Hand Up ... Not a Hand Out

by Keith McPhail

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “

I start this story with one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It speaks of what Christy and I have embarked on. Four years ago we were feeding people at Agape for just one day for bmonthly magazine while they were closed for cleaning. During this time the temperatures were desperately cold, and we did not want them to be eating outside. The weather for the upcoming week looked horrible as the temperatures would be very low. We asked Laront Carney at the Westside Community Center if they could eat their lunch inside. By the evening we had 10 homeless guests spend the night. Temperatures were expected to be down to -15 degrees. For the next 12 days we housed over 20 men, women, and even children through this unbearable cold. Christy and I didn’t know at the time, but this work with the homeless was the beginning of B the Light Mission . God had HIS plan for us, and at the time we didn’t even understand what was about to happen in our lives.

Fast forward four years, 13 warming centers, and many changed lives to today. Those years and experiences led us to a 54,000 square foot building, which was donated to us by Ascension Jane Phillips Hospital. If you would have asked us four years ago if this was possible, we would have laughed and said no way. God had other plans, though. He took our hearts and our prayers, and today we stand with the lost, the broken, the homeless, and the lonely to let

them know we will walk this journey with them.

Many ask us why? Why do you do this? Our simple answer is if not us…then who? Is this what we envisioned when we started to slow down in life at the age of 54, focus on bmonthly magazine, and enjoy our kids and four grandbabies? HE had a different plan for us. If you have lived here in Bartlesville for the last 5 years, you have seen our homeless population explode! We, as a community, can turn our heads, look the other way, and pretend that this problem is in other cities - not ours. But it’s here. Christy and I have made a decision to be their voices, their advocates, and to give them a hand up. Let me say that again…a HAND UP…not a HAND OUT! This is not a Keith and Christy problem - it’s a Bartlesville problem. We, as a city, have to stand up and make a difference. Sure it’s easier to sit in your home and say it’s not my problem. Has it always been this way for you? I believe with all that I am that no one wakes up one day and says I want to be homeless, wander the streets, live in the woods, or dig in dumpsters to eat. Look, I have been homeless. I lived in my car. Yes, it was due to circumstances that I put myself in. Did I not deserve a second chance? Did I not deserve a hand up? God placed people in my life who gave me a second,

third, and fourth chance. It changed me but look at what else it did. Look at the lives I have helped change because someone didn’t give up on me. Someone was willing to reach down and say it’s okay, let me help you. Life’s not pretty. Most of the time it’s down right ugly, but  JESUS WILL LEAVE 99 FOR 1 . I stand in front of you today and say I was that one. Christy and I will go through 99 to help that one who wants to change. The one who wants to have a better life, to have a purpose, to be what God made them to be…a reflection of HIM!

What is B the Light Mission? Christy and I had a vision and began looking around for other places that might share a similar vision. We found Watered Gardens in Joplin, Missouri. Christy and I heard about this place from one of our guests we had at our shelter, so we visited. What they have done over the last 21 years is incredible. We thought what they’ve done could work in Bartlesville. We visited several more times and started to dig into what they were doing. They opened everything to us and encouraged us to duplicate what they have done. After almost 2 years, we did exactly that. We have also brought our own ideas and personal experiences to bring this to Bartlesville.

There are 3 phases to our plan, and the first one starts with the Mission. It will have 20 beds for men, 6 beds for women, and the ability to help women with children. When our guests check in, they will be met with love and no judgment. They will have a shower, fresh clothes, a hot meal, and a bed to rest in. When they wake up the next day, they will meet with a care coordinator to share their story and get help finding a solution to what they are going through. We don’t want to just throw them a blanket and pillow but to dig deep in what they need to find their purpose. To stay at B the Light  Mission you will have to work either offsite or at the shelter to earn your stay. You have to put skin in the game and want to get off the streets to start a new life.

Will everyone want this? No. We already know that, but everyone deserves a chance to be better, do better. Look back at your life. Can you say you never struggled, you never went without, you never lived paycheck to paycheck? Can you say no one ever helped you? You did it all on your own? I doubt it. We can’t do this without you - without Bartlesville - to step up and volunteer their time, their prayers, and monetary help.

Our immediate need is to get a steady stream of donations. We need 400 residents of Bartlesville, which has over 37,000 residents, to give just $20 a month to meet our cost to keep the doors open. These 400 donors - less than 3% of our population - will help someone in need and change someone’s life. This isn’t an experiment. This concept has been proven in Joplin and other places across the country. When you give someone

a purpose, self-worth, and invest in them, generations can be changed. Over the last 4 years of having the warming shelter open, we have seen so many lives changed. For a lot of us $20 is nothing. How much do you spend at QT, Starbucks, or eating out?

We pray that you will find it in your heart to say you will be that person who will give that $20 every month. If you’d like to give in other ways, we’d love for you to donate your time to the Mission. Do you have 2 hours a week to give? It will take all of us in this city to change it, not just 2 people who refuse to stand by and say these people are not worth it. Everyone has a worth because God made all of us from HIM. When we were born, He had a plan for us all. When you sit and talk to the less fortunate, you will likely find out that you know someone in your family, a friend, or maybe yourself who has a similar story.           Our community has been through many difficult times over the years, and when we came together as one, we succeeded. This is a time when we can all come together and make a difference. We can make a change. Other cities will look at us and say they want to do what Bartlesville did. They will see that B the Light Mission made it work and look at the lives they have changed.

Please go to our website at b-thelight.org to donate your $20 dollars every month or to sign up to volunteer. You can also call 918-288-0009 for more information. Christy and I are blessed to have so much love and support from what I have always said…the greatest little city in America. God bless and thank you Bartlesville!

ALL THE TALK HAPPENING AT TECH

The deadline to apply for our January Practical Nursing program is September 29. In-house financial assistance is available! Apply online today! Start your healthcare career in as little as ten months!

Come check out Tri County Tech’s Emergency Services Live Fire Training Facility on October 26 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm! This is open to the public and any first responders who would like to utilize our facilities to train their employees. We’ll enjoy hotdogs, hang with first responders, and give you the inside scoop on all the #fiery happenings!

Visit the University of Oklahoma Dental Hygiene Clinic at Tri County Tech and get your smile refreshed for as little as $25! Our faculty and a licensed dentist supervise treatment provided by students. Services include: FREE screenings, teeth cleaning, scaling & root planing, x-rays, sealants, and more. New patients will be screened in person (45 minutes).

Call 918.331.3218 or visit TriCountyTech.edu/Dental to schedule an appointment today!

DENTAL CLINIC APPOINTMENTS

Nowata’s Woody Crumbo Canvas

by Debbie Neece,

Bartlesville Area History Museum

There are six Nowata County locations on the National Registry of Historic Places and among them are: Cemetery Patent 110, also known as the Bezion Cemetery with the majority of the interments of prominent Delaware families; the historic Diamond Point One-Room School used 19191968; a portion of the Moore Ranch; 1910 Nowata County Courthouse; 1913 Opossum Creek Bridge; and Nowata’s 1938 U.S. Post Office.

Standing ten-steps above street level, the Art Deco designed Nowata Post Office is a single-story plus basement, buff brick building with an original five-sided wood and glass vestibule just inside the entrance. Nowata serves as the county-seat and the Nowata Post Office was recognized as a historic building mainly for the Woodrow “Woody” Wilson Crumbo wall mural that adorns the interior wall.

Woody Crumbo (1912-1989) was a Creek-Potawatomi Native, born near Lexington, OK, on his mother’s allotted land. Four years old and fatherless, his mother relocated them to Kansas Potawatomi land where he attended grade school. He became an orphan in 1919 and returned to Oklahoma where his artistic abilities were recognized and encouraged. After attending Chilocco Indian School, he was awarded a scholarship to the Wichita American Indian Institute where he studied mural techniques and graduated valedictorian. Then, at the age of 20, the San Francisco Museum of Art purchased several of his paintings. In 1936, he enrolled at the University of Oklahoma before becoming the Director of Art at Muscogee’s Bacone College (1938-1941) occupying the seat vacated by Acee Blue Eagle, noted Creek-Pawnee artist.

Offering a glimpse of hope during the gloomiest days of the Great Depression, one of the federal government’s earliest New Deal programs was the Treasury Department’s “Section of Fine Arts” which employed artists to create about 1,300 wall murals and 300 sculptures between 1934-1943. In 1939, the Department of Interior commissioned Crumbo to paint six wall murals in their Washington D.C. building, followed by a curation of Native American art at Gilcrease in Tulsa, where his “peyote bird” design, symbolic of the renewal of life, became the Gilcrease Museum’s logo.

In 1943, Woody Crumbo was selected to paint “The Rainbow Trail” on the walls of the Nowata Post Office as part of the “Section Art” program.

Insert: The Rainbow Trail, depicts an image of nineteenthcentury Plains life. Three Indian riders have stopped suddenly to admire a rainbow: one points to the rainbow, another, with his jaw dropped, gazes in wonder, and the third rider, just arrived, pulls back on the reins to stop his horse.

Woody Crumbo’s artwork is now held within the collections of the Smithsonian Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa and others. In 1978, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame and appointed “Ambassador of Good Will” by Governor George Nigh in 1982. Woody’s Rainbow Trail ended in Cimarron, NM in 1989 and he now rests in the Pierce Cemetery, McIntosh County, Oklahoma.

Of the 32 Oklahoma post offices with “Section Art” murals, only five have been listed on the National Register: Coalgate, Hollis, Madill, Nowata, and Watonga. Selected for their public access, post offices across the United States were adorned with the abstract expression of many varied artists, conveying visions of American history and lifestyle. Visit Woody Crumbo’s art at the Nowata Post Office or purchase at Windle’s Rock Shop in Bartlesville.

Are You SUPER Excited?

by Brent Taylor

I am super excited. It is a departure for me as I’m typically prone to be understated, like Larry David of  Curb Your Enthusiasm fame who believes that some folks live their lives projecting false enthusiasm which is used to imply that “they are better than you.” Nonetheless, I’m joining the super excited movement. And besides, if I’m not super excited, doesn’t that make me staidly stoic, or at worst, barely conscious? So count me in as one of the super excited. Which started me thinking about Superman. Back in the days of black and white tv, Mom would call out to me while I was playing in the backyard, “Superman is on television!” That was so super exciting that I let go of my baseball bat in mid-swing, hitting my friend Wayne in the shin as I ran for the living room console.

I know what you are saying, especially if you are always super excited. Isn’t it supercilious to mock excitement? There is, after all, little room in our modern culture for namby-pamby banality. We live not in a skim milk world, but rather a super hyper jalapeno lemon zest seltzer world where status is measured by clicking on Tinder “super like” and affirmations of “Absolutely!” are uttered to any declarative sentence since there is no reason to display lack of certainty when uncertainty can be killed with a single word.

While I once thought the overuse of super to be annoying, I now find it comfortable. Embracing a one size fits all adverb (Bob is super nice) and sometimes adjective (Bob is super) is as easy as slip-on Skechers. Super flavors everything, even more than an everything bagel (how presumptuous of bagel bakers to presume that they have used every seasoning). Even the restrained and proper Mary Poppins used super to bake her own everything bagel, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

But all levity aside, is the constant use of super really that obnoxious? It can be useful. Super can often be used to soften the complex explanations that are only understood by software code developers who resort less to the stringencies

of Strunk and White and more to the nebulous to explain the unexplainable. Let’s say a code writer wants to describe a complex new website. Simply use super for any hard to understand elements and it sounds like precise language:

“Our website is super easy to navigate, although our super high level security keeps you super safe as you surf our site.” And, here are two further examples to improve your communication skills, using insipid sentences followed by super improved ones. “That cup of coffee was sublimely smooth,” pales in comparison to, “That cup of coffee was super good.” And, “Your father is criminally annoying,” just won’t do when you can say, “Your father is super annoying.”

We’ve lived through an age of American superpower and exceptionalism which bubbles up in language through word magnifiers like superstar and superhero and superhighway and superfood. It is everywhere! I wonder if through overuse, super will lose its luster and vanish into the vocabulary dustbin alongside rad and stoked and groovy and gnarly. One day, Clark Kent may step into a phone booth only to emerge as Jimmy Olsen. That would be super uninteresting!

To paraphrase the writer of Ecclesiastes, for every thing there is a season, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to cast away words and a time to gather them in. I am searching for a new word to replace super. Maybe an acronym can be the ascendant word du jour, the G.O.A.T. of all words is goat. I can watch the G.O.A.T. Bowl and buy my grandkids a Wham-O GOAT ball. Even my wife can be a G.O.A.T., not to mention my dog. The possibilities are endless. It could be a fresh language supercycle. What a time to be alive! Of all the ages to live in, this could be the Greatest Of All Time.

Icarus Shades

Bringing the Stars Closer to Home

by Maria Gus

In 2017, Andrew Oleson and his sister traveled to Kansas City to get a prime view of the solar eclipse. It was on that trip Oleson realized solar eclipse glasses were a hot commodity, and retailers were unable to keep the glasses in stock while eclipse enthusiasts awaited the cosmic event. Enter Icarus Shades, a remarkable initiative born from the realization that everyone deserves a chance to gaze upon Earth’s biggest star.

Oleson’s experience in Kansas City led him to utilize his resources at his local marketing agency, PDG+creative. “I wanted to be sure that future solar eclipse experiences could be more accessible for everyone,” said Oleson. Oleson remembers always having an interest in space, even as a child. “I have a drawing of me in a spaceship as a child,” remembered Oleson, “my dad was a scout troop leader and I remember camping, looking up at the stars in wonder.”

A Million Shades of Awe

The cosmos has something truly special in store for much of the United States, including Bartlesville. While April 2024 will bring a total solar eclipse, an equally breathtaking annular solar eclipse is set to grace the skies in October 2023. Icarus Shades is perfectly suited for both of these celestial events, promising viewers a safe and unforgettable experience.

Andrew and his team at PDG+creative set out to design and produce one million solar eclipse glasses in preparation for the upcoming events. The October annular solar eclipse will begin in the northwest corner of the United States and make a path to Texas. Oklahoma residents should be able to see approximately 80-90% of the eclipse. In April 2024, the total solar eclipse path will cross from Mexico, through the United States from

Conclusion

Texas to Maine, and up through Canada. Once these two solar happenings take place there won’t be another total solar eclipse seen in the United States until 2044.

Andrew Oleson said Icarus Shades is particularly excited about quality that the glasses provide. All of the glasses are ISO certified for direct viewing of the sun, which means the filters are as powerful as level-12 arc welding helmet filters!

Icarus Shades is not just about watching an eclipse; it’s about fostering a deeper connection to the universe that surrounds us. Thanks to the vision and dedication of Andrew Oleson and the team at PDG+creative, the skies have never been closer to home. So, as the sun and moon align to create celestial magic in April and October, remember that Icarus Shades is here to ensure that everyone has a chance to witness these cosmic wonders safely. Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of a celestial journey that will be remembered for a lifetime. Contact Icarus Shades today and prepare to be awed by the universe’s grandeur.

For more information go to www.icarusshades.com or come to PDG+creative at 319 Dewey Ave. Ste 200. Glasses are only $5 each and purchases at PDG+creative mean no shipping costs. Cash and credit cards are accepted. Be sure to pick up glasses today while supplies last!

Store pick up times are Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Pick ups can also be made after hours and on the weekends by appointment only. PDG-creative is located at 319 S. Dewey Avenue. Please bring your ID when you pick up your order.

Mount Rushmore . . .

A Look at Our Shrine of Democracy

by Jay Hastings

The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie was signed between the United States General William T. Sherman and the Sioux tribe, promising the Sioux undisturbed use and occupation of its territory, including the Black Hills in what is now the state of South Dakota. However, the discovery of gold in the area led non-Native prospectors into the region, and soon after the U.S. government began forcing the Sioux to relinquish their claim on Black Hills.

Warriors like Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse led resistance against the actions of the States. In 1876, General George Armstrong Custer was killed in the related Battle of Little Big Horn. Federal troops eventually effected a massive and deadly offensive against the Sioux in a brutal massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. Sioux activists continued to protest the United States’ confiscation of their ancestral lands and demanded the return of the Black Hills, called Paha Sapa in the traditional Lakota language.

Charles E. Rushmore was a New York Lawyer who began to explore the Black Hills in 1885, inspecting the area for mining claims. When Rushmore asked a local man the name of a nearby mountain, he reportedly replied that it hadn’t yet been named but from that point forward would be known as Rushmore Peak, later called Rushmore Mountain or Mount Rushmore.

South Dakota’s State Historian Doane Robinson developed an idea to sculpt “the needles” into the shapes of notable personalities of the west as a way to promote tourism into the state in the early 1920s. For instance, Robinson suggested Red Cloud, a Sioux Chief who signed the Fort Laramie treaty. However, as planning progressed, Robinson found his originally hoped-for sculptor was not available, so in 1924 he contacted Gutzon Borglum, an American sculptor of Danish descent. Borglum visited the area in 1925 and chose the site on Mount Rushmore to begin his sculptures. Local native peoples and non-native environmentalists alike expressed opposition, deeming it a desecration of the Sioux lands and heritage as

well as a disruption of the natural landscape. Despite the opposition, Robinson continued to raise funding for the sculpture.

During his presidency, Calvin Coolidge spent a summer vacationing in the Black Hills. Local politicians and the sculptor Borglum convinced Coolidge to deliver an official dedication speech at Mount Rushmore on August 10, 1927, and soon after, carving began. In 1929, during the last remaining days of his presidency, Coolidge signed legislation dedicating $250,000 in federal money for the Rushmore project and also created the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission. By that time, though, the project had changed significantly. Rather than leading with Chief Red Cloud, and heavily influenced by Borglum, the project had shifted to depict that of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and later Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, to give the project a “national significance”.

To complete the project, Borglum used then-innovative methods involving dynamite and pneumatic hammers to blast through the rock, in addition to drills and chisels. Approximately 400 workers removed 450,000 tons of rock, which today remains in a heap near the base of the mountain. Despite how dangerous the work was, there were reportedly no lives lost during the project.

A dedication ceremony was held for the sculpture of Washington on July 4, 1930. The sculpture of Jefferson, dedicated in August of 1936, was originally to be to the right of Washington’s. However, workers found the rock unstable so had to place the Jefferson sculpture to the left of that of Washington. The Lincoln sculpture was dedicated in September 1937 and that of Roosevelt in July 1939. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum died in March of 1941, leaving the project to his son, Lincoln, to complete the final details of the sculpture. Mount Rushmore, as the sculpture is now known, was dedicated on October 31, 1941.