Volume 13 , Issue 4

NW Okie's R & R - The Good Old Days of 1920's

This week we are going to share a photo that I believe was taken in the 1920's (maybe mid to late 1920's), in Alva, Woods County, Oklahoma at the old Presbytarian church that stood on the Northeast corner of Seventh & Church Street. My Dad, Gene McGill, is the young boy standing on the left end, frontrow. Does anyone recognize any of the other young children in this photo and the teachers?

We venture this week into the late 19th century memories of Oklahoma and Indian Territories with excerpts taken from the Langston City Herald, Langston City, O. T., dated October 5, 1895. Was there really Gold found in the Wichita mountains of the Wildlife Refuge located in the southwest part of Oklahoma?

Here is some 1895 information about the Woods County Fair, in Northwest Oklahoma Territory, October 1895, "At the Woods county fair it was decided that Minnie Reaves is the handsomest girl in Woods county under 12 years of age."

Anyone have any ancestors who might have known and/or remembered Minnie Reaves, who was 12 years old in 1895? Minnie would have been around the same age, if not a year younger than my grandmother, Constance Estella (Warwick) McGill. Grandmother Constance McGill was born October 10, 1882 and died in 1968.

Back to 1895 ... You can also read a short paragraph about the notorious outlaws, "White Horse Doolin" and "Zip Wyatt." Zip Wyatt was also known as "Dick Yeager" and "Wild Charlie," the most notorious outlaw in the Territory of Oklahoma. Nathaniel Wyatt acquired the nickname "Zip" from a man who lived near Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Back in October, 1895, there were some Kingfisher county people still prowling around in the Wichita mountains "camping" until they could come back with the black sand. What was the "Black Sand" and the Gold Fever in the Wichita mountains?

According to Oklahoma Gold Prospecting / Panning Treasure, "Prospectors say the hills near Turner Falls have gold deposits from the days when glaciers cut through the landscape and left the gold behind. Since Coronado's explorations for the Seven Cities of Cibola in the 1500s, gold has been sought after in Oklahoma. The Wichita mountains in SW Oklahoma are filled with tales of lost treasure and small fortunes being made. Even in the 1700s, Mexican miners, following earlier explorer's footsteps, still traveled from Santa Fe to mine an area known as Devil's Canyon next to Soldier's Peak. During the height of the Indian Wars in the 1870s, cavalry troopers from Fort Sill had more problems with illegal miners trying to get in to the state than they probably ever did with Native Americans fighting just to keep their land."

I found this link on Google Books when I did a search for "black sand" and "wichita mountains": The Historical Atlas of Oklahoma by Charles Robert Goins, Danney Goble, James H. Anderson, John Wesley Morris. Scroll down to page 25 to see the historical atlas of Oklahoma.

Remember when "Girls in bloomers" would play ball at the Payne county fair?

Remember when "A prairie fire" eight miles wide swept across Garfield county the last week of September, 1895?

Hope some of this has jogged some memories out there! Have fun learning, preserving and exploring our Oklahoma & American heritage!   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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