Okie's NW Corner
Well! Last weekend, Feb. 1, 2003, started off on a sad note last Saturday morning as the Columbia Spacecraft was re-entering for a landing in Florida. It didn't make it! It crashed somewhere over Texas.
Towards the end of the week a slight snowstorm that hit through these parts late Wednesday evening and swept through the rest of Oklahoma on Thursday as it made it's journey to New York this Friday (February 7, 2003) as I type this week's newsletter. The sun did come out and shine, but... Brrrrr... it was chilly out there. The weathermen say that Sunday will give us another chance of snow, but slight.
I dugout my copy of The Alva Pioneer, souvenir edition celebrating Alva's tenth anniversary, dated January 1, 1904. I have started putting some photos and a little bio of NW Oklahoma Territory pioneers and founding fathers that were listed in this 1904 edition.
Speaking of Northwest Oklahoma, here are some 1909 Alva pioneer tidbits pulled from the 1904 Tenth Anniversary Edition of The Alva Pioneer. We find out that the first serious fight that occurred in Alva, was on the night of February 16, 1894, when Chas. Sollers and Ed Williams were brutally beaten in rooms over the Farmers Hotel. They recovered quickly, but their assailants got off with a light fine.
The first banquet indulged in by the Alva citizens was on March 8, 1894, in honor of H. F. Northcutt, who resigned his place on the townsite board. He was succeeded by J. B. Chapline.
You all have an Ancient Order United Workers (AOUW) lodge in your community, I presume. On November 6, 1893, S. L. Johnson got several men together and organized an AOUW lodge, the first of any secret order to organize in the Cherokee Strip.
Did you know that a group of citizens got together to organize an election and on April 16, 1894, Alva decided to incorporate. Alva was not without it's disasters... The first fire in Alva happened on February 20, 1894, when the two-room house of J. F. Simpson was totally destroyed, together with a lot of household goods.
It was on February 1, 1894 that Governor W. C. Renfrow made his first visit to Alva. The old soldiers of this Northwest OklahomaTerritory completed the organization of a G. A. R. Post and installed officers on March 8, 1894.
Here's wishing and hoping you keep warm, safe. Hope to see you next weekend for Valentines Day, next Friday. ~~ Linda "oaKie" ~~
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