1947 TORNADO: THE UNKNOWN AND UNIDENTIFIED

Old Mooreland Hospital -
Victims where taken to several hospitals
in the region of the Tornado path.
Mooreland is ten miles east of Woodward.

In the wake of natural disasters, there is much tragedy and loss. People pick themselves up, cry of the loved ones gone, the property lost, and the dreams crushed by the shaking of the earth, the roar of the flood, the power of the winds, or any of a dozen other natural disasters. 

Memorials are erected to recall the lives lost and the families cut apart through misfortune. It is hard to even imagine the pain and agony of loved ones finding their families and friends in the wreckage. Worse, is the need to identify loved ones after such a catastrophe.

Yet, one of the most heartbreaking and puzzling has to be the people who remain after the disaster, after the identifications, and after the families and located their loved ones.  The ‘unidentified’ that linger on and cause a person to wonder how can a person, a adult or a child, remain ‘unidentified’?

On April 9. 1947, a massive storm front came up from Texas and crossed Oklahoma before moving northward. In northwest Oklahoma, one community would never forget the date or the aftermath.  Woodward would lose at least one hundred, see only their courthouse remain standing.

The mystery normally mentioned is the tragedy of Joan Croft, a 4 year old who was taken from a hospital by two men and never seen again.   Equally tragic, however, was the fact that there were at least two unidentified children in the wake of the monster of wind and debris.

Today in Woodward, Oklahoma there is a memorial honoring  the victims of the tornado of April 9, 1947 includes three females.  Unknown the victims were aged 6 months, approx 3 years, and one 12 years.

At one point, family and school teachers from around the region came by to view the bodies to try and identify the children.  

Yet, no one could identify the children. No one. In all of these decades those names have, apparently, remained unidentified.

MYSTERY SOUNDS AND BOOMS - 2012

The dawning of the new year has been punctuated by stories from around the globe of mysterious booms, explosions, and rattles for which no clear answers have emerged.  Some videos are clearly hoaxes but others are catching something but it is not clear what.

In January reports came from rural Poland, Indiana, Budapest, the Czech Republic, Romania, Arvada in Colorado and Toronto.

In February came reports from Alabama and in March from Savannah and from British Columbia a rumor of a barn leveled by noise and mystery sounds from Clintonville, Wis.

Is it just coincidence that on Jan. 18 came reports of sounds in two locations which can be linked by a straight line?  

Draw a line - a pretty straight one at that - from Arvada, Colorado to  Toronto, Canada and you see if passes very near the area of Clintonville, Wisconsin. This was the site of the very recent mystery booms.

Reports of booms or explosions reported from Savannah can also produce a straight line to the area north of Montgomery, Alabama where unexplained explosion sounds were reported.  A year apart - but still reported and on a straight line.

So - are the sounds then man made from some unknown craft flying at supersonic speeds? How many other reporting sites can be connected on a straight line? 

 Are they harbingers of  subterranean activity?  Clintonville is just north of the location of Wisconsin's largest earthquake. Are the recent unusual earthquake activities reported all up and down the Mississippi corridor part of a widespread and as of yet unidentified motion of the earth?

In 1997 in the South Pacific, off the western coast of southern tip of South America the 'Bloop' was discovered (50 degrees S, 100 degrees W).  This strange sound is unidentified with some thinking it is biological noise while others believe it is sound generated by the earth. Are changes in climate setting some acoustic action in motion unknown until now...just as the sounds from the bottom of the ocean  were unknown until 1997.

For an interesting discussion of Lovecraft and the Bloop click here.

A BLOT IN HISTORY: Tulsa Race Riot of 1921

Citizens gunned down on city streets, low flying planes dropping incendiary devices and passengers firing at people fleeing on the streets, and a community demolished.   A scene from some action film of WW2?  A fantasy of some unimaginable time of madness?  No, the year is 1921 and the place a prosperous area of the greater Tulsa area known as Greenwood, and by some as the "Black Wallstreet." Today it is known simply as "The Tulsa Race Riot."

The events of May 31-June 1 of 1921 was the result of a collision of bubbling racism from southerners who had settled in the northeastern part of Oklahoma, jealousy over the economic achievements and prosperity of "those" races (the African American and Native American), fear, and plan old greed.   As a result, many people died, were arrested, beaten, frightened, and an entire section of an American city was destroyed due to the vile evil of racism.

How many died? Official counts have always been low, and due to the wholesale racism at play, highly suspect.  Conservative figures are at around 300 but some suggest it might be closer to the four digit count.  Mass burials and no records create a fog over the truth of the matter.

What is needed is wide spread archaeological work to locate mass grave sites in the area and discover once and for all just how horrific the event really was.  It is already the worst race riot of American history but few knew that until the 2001 report of the event was made public.  It never made it into history books so others might learn about the depths of evil to which people can sink when they are ruled by fear, hatred, jealousy and greed.  Today, impressive development is renewing this area by acknowledging the past but moving into a positive future.

Racism is a cancer of society....let's all work together to find a cure.

Patterns

Recently, in a discussion with some researchers, an interesting question was raised about the timeline of terrorism . The researcher had asked, "were there 'dry-runs' before 911?" Initially, no one could see any pattern between the 1993 attempt to blow up the World Trade Center and the successful attack on September 11, 2001.

The First Timeline:

• 1993 World Trade Center attack by Ramzi Youseff and Sheikh Abdul Rahmon of Egypt , truck bomb, killed 5 people. 
• Aug 1998: Almost simultaneously, truck bombs blow up the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, killing more than 220 people. 
• October 12, 2000, suicide boat with 400-600 pounds of explosive formed into a shaped charge, rammed into the side of the U.S.S. Cole in the Port of Aden, Yemen, and killed 17 people. 
• September 11, 2001, suicide terrorist hijack four airplanes and crash them into the WTC, Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field (thought to have been destined for the White House or Capital). Minimally 2985 died. 

Then we began to consider other possibilities, conspiracies, etc. As a result, the second timeline went like this:

• 1993 World Trade Center attack by Ramzi Youseff and Sheikh Abdul Rahmon of Egypt , truck bomb, killed 5 people. 
• April 19, 1995 OKC, attack by at least one individual Timothy McVeigh, although eye witnesses place another man or additional men with him. Truck bomb killed 168 people. 
• Aug 1998: Almost simultaneously, truck bombs blow up the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, killing more than 220. 
• October 12, 2000, suicide boat with 400-600 pounds of explosive formed into a shaped charge, rammed into the side of the U.S.S. Cole in the Port of Aden, Yemen, and killed 17 people. 
• September 11, 2001, suicide terrorist hijack four airplanes and crash them into the WTC, Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field (thought to have been destined for the White House or Capital). Minimally 2985 died. 

A rough pattern 1-3 years began to emerge....circumstantial? Coincidental?  Additional research may show the pattern a mere accident of the clustering of any data. Interesting though, whatever the reasoning, and adds to the ongoing aura of mystery and conspiracy such events always attract.

DEATH ALONG THE SALT FORK RIVER

In the post-Christmas cold of early Dec. 28, 1930, two bodies were found along theroad near the Salt Fork River near Tonkawa, Oklahoma.  

Two sisters, Jessie (24) and Xexia (36) Griffith, school teachers in Norman, had met their end along the road near the cold water. They had come north to the home of their parents for the holidays and were headed home when a deadly fate stepped in. The bodies were found by a local furniture mover, C.C. Wood,  and his two sons later that day .

A killer had lead them there or followed them and shot both. It came to light he had "attacked" the younger sister Jessie before death.  Her sister was not assaulted but her body, with gunshot wounds was found nearly frozen near her sister.

Once the bodies were found, immediate suspicion fell on a local man, Earl Quinn aka Earl Howard,  who had a reputation for trouble of one kind or another.  He had once been a convict in a Missouri prison and now, local Kay County officials focused their eyes on them.  His wife Jean Quinn was quickly arrested but was released and later simply disappeared.

It was quickly learned the younger girl feared someone and felt she was being "shadowed."   Alarm was sent all the way to Chicago and down to Norman. Quinn was caught and for nearly three years the case went on  and he languished on Death Row. Then, almost three years to the day, he was electrocuted for the killings at McAlester.

Court evidence includes the testimony of a Miss Ruby Heard, of Three Sands, that Quinn had forced her from her own car a mere hour before the other girls were killed. Others testified he had been drunk, unruly and brandishing a weapon earlier that day.

Although quickly apprehended, Quinn created fear and righteous indignation in the hearts of people from Norman to Chicago for the senseless brutal killing of two school teachers heading home to start a new semester.

Questions remain after examining the information.  There was a button found in the girl's car police tried to tie to Quinn but his rooming house landlady denied it was his.  His wife, it was noted, had bought shells.  Yet, the weapon witnesses saw with the man was a .38 and it is not clear if the weapon, shells, and the wounds support each other.  His wife is another interesting element; Quinn accused her of working with the Kansas City underworld to get him and it was clear some witnesses were not above embellishing some aspects of their stories. 

The Hard Call

The Russian Flu, 1888-1889, reached North America in 1889-90. About a million people globally died in total.

In the 1918 Flu , millions of people died from "influenza".  Nearly every community in the U.S. was impacted, churches, schools, and public events, such as Halloween parties, were canceled by civic decrees.

An Asian Flu epidemic broke out in 1956-1958 and in the U.S. just under 70,000 died. I was one who was lucky and escaped death but was rushed to the hospital .

In March of 1976, soldiers at Ft. Dix in New Jersey were suffering from an illness with few symptoms other than just feeling bad.  One solder reported feeling ill but still made a hike only to die within hours of returning. Although others were ill and in the hospital by that time, base doctors were disturbed by the fact that there was an apparent illness without major symptoms capable of causing death.  Perhaps because it came from the military their report zoomed up the channels leading to what is sometimes called the "Swine Flu Fiasco."   In a daring move President Ford ordered mass inoculations to avoid a WWI style outbreak which was believed to have been Swine flu.

In 2009 a related version of swine flu, but one with a bit more 'umph' cut a swath through parts of the globe.  The 'umph' was the flu strain was a mixture of both swine and avian flu.  In truth the WW1 variety had been more avian flu than swine flu but this was not learned until later.  Apparently, the more avian the strain is the more dangerous the flu becomes.

Although, people died and came down with disastrous side affects following the 1976 immunizations and the pandemic was a 'no show', history warns us it could have been.  Recent history also shows that our quick transportation can create a disaster in hours rather than the months or years of earlier times.  If faced with another 'hard call' will we be able to move swiftly to counteract death or be bogged down with indecision?   People should be given the choice to participate (there is always a some who may die or become ill) but the small number who may become ill should not hamper work to save literally millions of lives in the event of a real pandemic outbreak.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza_A_virus_subtype_H2N2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/qa.htm
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/influenza-epidemic/records-list.html

ICE COLD CASES: TEXAS, LOUISANA AND LONDON

In the sultry southern Texas community of Austin over the course of one year, a killer stalked the sidewalks.  His victims are thought to number seven and if all the victims were the work of one man, they were generally young and of the servant class. With the exception of a few victims most were African-Americans. 

The method was usually to drag his usually young victim from bed, rape them and then brutally slashing or hacking them to death with an axe. A couple may have also been stabbed in the ears and face by a spike or similar instrument. The dates for these atrocities were Dec. 1884 through Dec. 1885.

The axe will figure prominently in various other American killings across the continent between 1890-1920.  Logically, it was a weapon of convenience found in nearly every home for chopping wood, doing yard work, and similar tasks.  As a murder weapon, it is a weighty, awkward tool depending on brute force but deadly enough even a young person could use it effectively.  In certain regions, where it might be a standard tool of some profession or job, a man might be seen carrying one over his shoulder and none would think anything about it.  The wounds with a spike or other sharp object could be a railroad spike, a pipe, or an awl.

In 1888, in London’s Whitechapel district, someone working ‘from hell’ terrified the city by the butchering of at least five prostitutes.  His method was to silence his victims with a thrust across the throat and then to post-mortem indulge in invasive acts to the inner organs and flesh.  He is described by a witness as being dressed in a style which inferred he was a professional man or a dandy and not a “working man.”  Although it may have been a costume to disguise his identity, seeing such a man in the area seeking drinks, drugs, and prostitutes was not uncommon.  After his last victim, he simply disappeared.

 Some refuse to believe a killer who had escalated to such a level could easily slack off or simply stop. He had to have been killed or jailed on some other charge to halt the bloodshed so sharply.  Some firmly hold to the belief he fled to other killing fields.  As a result, in diverse locations ranging from Switzerland to Nicaguara to Wisconsin to New Jersey a trail of bodies is often cited to prove the “Ripper” continued to work. 

There are similarities.  In each case a particular class of society is targeted because they would be easy victims. Prostitutes in London were as invisible as African-American servants in Austin.  In both cases, several of the victims were involved in the world’s oldest trade.

 In truth, the London Ripper was merely a new class of an old crime which may have been hidden previously through regular European wars, New World conflicts, isolation, the racism of southern bigots, the migrations of several men with violent tendencies, and the beginning of the century of serial killer.

A recent theory has emerged about Jack the Ripper being a German sailor who was put to death in 1896 in the U.S. for a murder and was in areas, according to some, during the time of similar Ripper murders.  It can be pointed out that Austin is an inland community but is only a short distance from Houston, Galvaston and New Orleans.   In the 1911-1912 axe murder sprees the killer was obviously using the railroads to travel and may have traveled as far north as Iowa and Colorado.  At least one of the 1884/85 murders used something which might match the description of a rail spike.   

As more details emerge, more theories appear and the cycle goes on and the cases remain ice cold.  For now...

If you have personal information related to any of these crimes and would like to contribute to a book on the subject send your email to marilynahudson@gmail.com

MYSTERIOUS RUNESTONES

The once fossilized reading of prehistoric North America's discovery has come under increasing challenges as new facts are uncovered and new eyes approach old ideas with a fresh vigor and openness. Some of the things causing a renewed look at early visitors are stones with runes on them which seem to hint that explorers, and perhaps settlers, might have traveled into the interior realms of North America. The came, they saw, and they left stone markers?

• The Kensington Runestone is located at Alexandria, Minnesota. See book here.
• The Heavener Runestone and others associated with it, in and around Heavener, Oklahoma. See article here.
• The Vérendrye Runestone, found near Minot, North Dakota.  Apparently lost and no images of its writings were found.
• The three Spirit Pond runestones, found in Phippsburg, Maine, in 1971.
• The Leif Eriksson Runestone found on a small island off the coast of Massachusetts in 1926.

Heavener Runestone section

Recent investigations into the common elements of the other runes has uncovered the use of a "hooked x" configuration. A shape which, according to some investigators, has only recently come to light in Europe and is suggested as being linked to the Holy Grail.

History is filled with tales of explorers setting off on journeys, making discoveries or being forever lost.  It is a mistaken assumption that humans 'back then' were less innovative, courageous, unlucky, or intrepid than their modern counter-parts.  It is a modern person's arrogance that assumes we know today all that is known, or we have learned all there is to know.    Modern society looks at the back of the elephant asks, "What trunk? There is no trunk here."

Perhaps by backing up a bit to see the big picture - more will be uncovered divorced from preconceptions or limited thinking.

Ex-Slave to Preacher

The original Church of God congregation in Guthrie, Oklahoma was formed in 1905 by an ex-slave, George Winn according to Wikipedia.  It soon became and remained one of the largest churches of the group.

George W. Winn was born around 1848 in Georgia.  On the 1890 and 1900 census he was residing around Woodland in Logan County, Oklahoma. Later he is living in Guthrie township proper.  He indicated his parents had been born in Tennessee but by 1910 he, or someone else, responded with Georgia.  His wife was Caroline, also called Carrie, and was born about 1854 in Georgia or Kansas.  According to the census children included George (b.1877, Texas), Anna (b.1879, Texas), Carol (b.1884, Ks.), Stafford (b.1886, Ks.), Calvin (b. Ks), Eddie B. (b.Ks.).

In 1910 George listed his occupation as "preacher" and employer as "church."   He died in 1945 after many long years and his verbal testimonies were often recalled as he thanked God and recounted life back to when he was a slave.

You Could Not Make This Stuff Up

Why is one of the rarest finds among dinosaurs located in a North Carolina museum when it was found in Oklahoma? Why was this find revealed in a museum in the Black Hills rather than its state of discovery? 

 Until local amateurs Cephis Hall and Sid Love discovered the rare fossils, only fragments had been discovered in the late 1940's. Their find in the mid 1980's in the Antlers Formation of McCurtain County, Oklahoma was the largest such found and includes the only known complete skull and forelimb.  A recent book by Russell Ferrell (Acrocanthosaurus: The Bones of Contention, 2011) explains that the work is the "true story of Cephis Hall and Sid Love, the " 'Arkansas Hillbilly' and 'Choctaw Indian' who outsmarted the Corporation and Saved the Dinosaur."  However, that subtitle falls far short of expressing the complex tangle of greed, academic elitism, and political maneuvers filling this unique true story.  The answer to those questions is convoluted and as dramatic as a soap opera.  An engaging read.

Acrocanthosaurus - Standing about 16 ft high and 40 feet long, this predator was king of his time, with razor sharp teeth and claws.  It may date to the transition between the Jurassic and the Cretaceous. Recent studies has helped clarify its place in the dinosaur family tree.


State Symbols - Although the Saurophaganax was named the Oklahoma state fossil in 2000, its designation and species are in question, according to some sources.  It was roughly 40 feet long and about 16 feet tall. It roamed the plains in the Jurassic (about 150 million years ago).

AN EARLY INTER-RACIAL CHURCH IN PRE-STATEHOOD OKLAHOMA

This early work, ca. 1911, on the doctrine of entire sanctification, was offered in several 'conversations' suitable for reader's theaters, discussion, home discussions, and later radio ministries, was published by Faith Publishing House in Guthrie, Oklahoma.  The author of "A Religious Controversy" was Charles E. Orr.  

Research indicates the story of the publishing house is also very interesting.  The original Church of God congregation in that city was formed by an ex-slave, George Winn according to Wikipedia, in 1905.  It soon became and remained one of the largest churches of the group.

The term "Church of God" can be ubiquitous presenting the researcher with the question, "Which Church of God?"   The Guthrie group was originally related to the Church of God (Anderson, Ind) but soon separated from that group.  This was due to a belief the Anderson branch was straying too far from the original Daniel Warner teachings and the subsequent "Evening Light Reformation."    

The copy shown above has a stamp on the back cover reading: "RADIO PROGRAM", Capitol Hill Church of God...Station KLPR 1140....Oklahoma City, Oklahoma."


An interesting detour into early Oklahoma history, covering early radio programs, early inter-racial church groups (1905), and introducing a separatist group with an interesting pedigree.  See some marvelous photos of the ex-slave founder of the Guthrie church and others, including the author of the above work, at the Faith Publishing House website.      This website has digital versions of the work.

HE KNOWS WHEN YOU'VE BEEN GOOD OR BAD ....AND WILL SEND THE KRAMPUS!

Holiday traditions, like all folklore, have a marvelous tendency to change and adapt to varied cultural expectations and behaviors. 

 Everyone knows the jolly fat elf, Santa Claus.  Legend says he was adapted from the early Christian tale of the good bishop.   Yet, legends were widely adapted and re-clothed into Christian motifs at one time.   In some Germanic and Alpine countries - Herr Santa Claus was accompanied by the Krampus, (also known as Knecht Ruprecht, Certa, Perchten, Black Peter, Schmutzli, Pelznickel, Klaubauf) often depicted as a  horned and demonic entity who punished bad children. Talk about being scared straight! This 'Anti-Claus' was even outlawed in 1934 Austria but now has his own web-page.

Although often depicted as the traditional Satanic looking demon with horns, tail and pitchfork, he can be disguised as a spooky looking man in black or a hairy-man beast.   Other images show a faint resemblance to the depictions of the 'Mothman' and 'Spring heeled  jack' of American folklore.   Most definitely a non PC character most children and parents were happy to see fade into the woodwork.  But watch.....coming to a SyFy channel near you sometime soon is sure to be " Krampus: He's Coming to Get the Naughty and Nice!"  Be warned and be very afraid.....

(Get the book of postcards, The Devil in Design)

THE MYSTERIOUS UFO CASE

An alleged FBI telegram report dated July 15, 1947.  Two interpretations of the handwritten note at the bottom, alleged to be from Hoover's own hand.

(1) Transcription #1 (http://www.textfiles.com/ufo/cufon1.txt)

Memorandum for Mr. Ladd  
 
  Mr. ________ also discussed this matter with Colonel L. H. Forney of   
M
 
 ID.  Colonel Forney indicated that it was his attitude that inasmuch as   
Army or Navy experiments, the matter is of interest to the FBI.  He   
stat
it has been established that the flying disks are not the result of any    
ed that he was of the opinion that the Bureau, if at all possible,
lieve 
it should go into these investigations
should accede to General Schulgen's request. 
 
SWR:AJB   
 
ADDENDUM  
 
I would recommend that we advise the Army that the Bureau does not b
e, it being noted that a great bulk   
of those alleged discs reported found have been pranks.  It is not    
believed that the Bureau would accomplish anything by going into these
investigations.
 
                                          DML
 
(Clyde Tolson) - I think we should do this.  (Dated 7/15)   
 
(J. Edgar Hoover) - I would do it but before agreeing to it we must insist 
upon full access to discs recovered.  For instance in the SW case the Army 
grabbed it and would not let us have it for cursory examination [emphasis added]

(2) Transcription #2  

The Hoover alleged statement is interpreted to be : " 
 I would do it but before agreeing to it we must insist upon full access to discs recovered. For instance in the LA case the Army grabbed it & would not let us have it for cursory examination" (emphasis added)

Coming right after the famous Roswell, NM UFO story, it is assumed this is a complaint of that case occurring in the American south west. Around July 10, 1947 other UFO incidences were being investigated in Michigan, hoaxed event in Shreveport, LA on July 7, and five years before the famous "battle of Los Angeles" in Feb of 1942.

If the FBI memo is valid, if the scrawled was there before its release, then the item grabbed by the Army could have been "La" (Louisiana), "Sw" (southwest) or, "La" (Los Angeles).   Each one presents an intriguing possibility.

OLD MOORELAND COMMUNITY HOSPITAL (OK)

Mooreland is a small community east of Woodward in northwest Oklahoma.  The hospital at 6th and Krouth Streets (Blocks 4 & 5 of the Matthews edition), sits on about two acres and was built in an art deco style between 1940/41 when the community had some 800 in population and the ten plus miles to Woodward's hospital was too far to drive in an emergency.  Its 180' x 85' size features a flat roof with parapets, concrete construction, classic corner windows, a blue frieze running the higher borders.  The architect was Ed Hudgens and in 1985 it was listed in a Oklahoma Historic building nomination as a "Woodward WPA" site.  In 1989, a bid by a group (Rivers of Life)  to make a 60-bed drug and alcohol abuse facility was denied citing the nearness of similar facilities.

For over forty years the hospital provided crucial care and comfort to the citizens of the area.


Now, according to sources consulted, it is in private hands awaiting renovation. The possibilities are interesting, and possibly endless, for renewal of this historic building into a viable part of the 21st century and a reminder of another day and another time.  Housing, condos, care facility, office space, educational space......We shall see if this survives to enjoy another seventy years...or falls to time.

SIZE IS JUST A NUMBER

Why do women continue to allow this to happen?  A recent battle between a marketing campaign and a Dallas based blogger underscores that society is often biased, sexist, size-st and unfair.   A company was adding "plus size" fashions to its line.  The sizes were 12-14.  I have seen this on various other online catalogs where plus size, full figure, and similar terms were now for sizes under size 20.  How things change.  But have they really?  

In the 1930's "vanity sizes" first appeared as clothing for women became standardized and mass produced.  I have personally seen antique patterns for smaller women carrying the sizing of "16".  I was then a current size "12" and could not have fit in it!   My mother explained sizes changed. To say the least.

According to one source, standard sizes range from:

US    Small (2,4) Medium (6,8), Large (10,12) XL (14,16)

European Small (32,34), Medium (36,38), Large (40,42), XL (44,46)

UK Small (6,8), Medium (10,12), Large (14,16), XL (18, 20)

Note these all refer to the same body measurements!  A 36 1/2 inch bust is going to be either a "10", "40" or a "14" depending on where it was made.  Plus sizes (US sizes 18-28, European 48-58, and UK 22-32) offer equally confusing and disheartening size ranges.  The basic measurement of the 1910-1930 years was based only on bust size and all else adjusted from that.  Then standardization arrived/. 

See some vintage patterns here.

The mystery is what it is within many women which allows them to sign over control of their looks to third parties: a man, designers, fashion industry, beauty magazines?

The realization that "fashion" is a construct designed to help perpetuate an economic system goes far in freeing some women from the clutches of the annual seasonal buying, updating, redoing, and rebuying cycle designed to allow someone's warped visions and unnatural dictates to control how they will look, what they will wear, and how they will live.  Other women, simply have their own style and ignore the voices seeking to control how they look. Some other women know what looks good on them and stick with what works.

http://girlinthepinkprius.com/page/52/
Bones sticking out - yeah really sexy

Why should someone else tell any woman how to wear her hair, what clothes to wear, or how she should feel about herself?  It is the result of centuries of women being taught to need the approval of parents, other women and men.  It is a problem which often leads young women to severely abuse themselves because they have accepted the inference of their inferiority and they believe they are never good enough, small enough, or pretty enough.  Various health and mental health issues result.

While rumbles of revolt against this annual guilt trip affirming a woman is not good enough being herself have surfaced periodically, they are soon beaten back down by the fashion industry and social pressures. Women gleefully abandon themselves to yearly looks ranging from prostitute, uni sexual, and vamp not because they really want to but because it was what Vogue told them to wear, or what they saw modeled in music videos, commercials and movies. Women comprise a significant economic force in society - isn't it time women called the shots and demanded more of what they want based on their self-value and self-respect?

The Places Before the Places

Sometimes people can assume that because they have always known of an area being a certain way, it had no existence before that time.  It was vague, foggy, and a blank canvas before some magic time of development.  The huge sprawling town? Why there was nothing here but waving grass, right?

Anyone who has driven through Oklahoma City has crossed "Council" heading west out of town or into two from the west.  Nice name, has a ring to it doesn't it?   People never realize that it refers to a special portion of land from a time decades before major settlement arrived in runs or land lotteries.

"Council Grove was described as - "The area included all of Bethany south of N.W. 42nd Street and extended southward to a half mile south of N.W. 10th Street and from Council Road eastward for about three miles. It was soon deemed practical to move a sawmill from Darlington (near Fort Reno) to near the present N.W. 10th Street Bridge. (Doug Dawgz Blog)

 In the 1850's until the outbreak of the Civil War, trader Jesse Chisholm and various Native groups would meet at this historic council grounds for business (Stan Hoig. Cowtown Wichita. University of New Mexico Press, 2007, pg.47). On some old maps it is identified as the "Timber Res." and the "Timber Military Reservation". It was part of the "Unassigned Lands."

In a similar vein, Oklahoma City, "born grown" in the 1889 land run, actually replaced a supply depot called Oklahoma Station.

A survey of an old 1920's atlas of the states reveals the names of many a small town that disappeared with time: Morgan, Erwin, Silver City, Moral, Cereal, etc.   Some, never even made it to ghost town status and others were simply swallowed whole leaving evidence of their presence only in street names, depot designations, or housing developments.

It Could Never Happen Here!

Recently earthquakes occurring in out of the ordinary places bring up phrases like "such things never happening" in a certain locale.  Weather and nature, however, tend to make themselves felt where ever they want.

Hurricanes and Typhoons  can come inland to surprisingly landlocked regions.  Tornadoes have cropped up in places which still cause some to shake their heads in wonder.  And....in the 1940's a volcano suddenly appeared in a corn field in central Mexico!

So, with rumbles, whirling winds, and the end of the world forecast for Dec. 2012 - one should not take anything for granted.

THE HOLIDAY OF THE IMAGINATION

I played an exotic gypsy on more than
one occasion! Even reprised the role
for a PTA Carnival!

Why has Halloween been so popular?  Why have I enjoyed it over other fun times of the year?

I recall as a child the eager anticipation as the trees turned to gold, scarlet, and brown beneath an October sky with a unique clarity and a deep azure color. The time of fall festivals, bags of candy, parties, hayrides, mad leaps into piles of crackling eaves, and lots of plain fun.

The inspiration for dozens of daring deeds and funny pranks from older adults and siblings and delightful shivers danced up spines as scary stories and stupid jokes were shared around glowing jack-a-lanterns.

There was the giggling excitement of heading to the local Woolworths or Ben Franklin to see the long rows of shiny boxes, each with a small window of hard cellophane revealing wondrous masks for fairies, heroes, and animals. The hard decisions that followed: would it be the exotic gypsy fortuneteller or the Little Red Riding Hood, or maybe the Monster, Clown, or a Spaceman this year?  
Every child readily over looked the shortcomings of the mandatory accompanying acetate satin costume (always for some reason with sparkles detailing the seams and adding details to the costume).  Too short or too long, what did matter? 

It was Halloween!

Halloween and numerous rites of passage lay ahead with each new turning of the season. 

Arcane knowledge and childhood rituals passed from generation to generation: look for the sacred light of welcome (the front porch light casting its feeble glow), look carefully before you cross the street, and always, always say “Thank you.”

Anticipatory huddles preceded the event on playgrounds, street corners, and in back yards.  Skills were shared in excited whispers, but ultimately it was a lonely hero’s journey to be faced in solitude. A rite of passage was learning to walk boldly up the forbidden zone of someone’s front porch, climbing nervously the steps illuminated by glowing jack-o-lanterns knocking on a door that stood ten feet tall.  

A soft childish knock, a stuttering “trick-or-treat!” followed by smiling faces, mock looks of surprise or fear at your dime store or homemade costume. The handfuls of goodies dumped into plastic pumpkins, paper bags, or mother’s second best pillow cases.  Squeaky voices excitedly calling “thank you!”   Children rushing back to the sidewalk to catch up with friends. Voices mingling in squeals of delight, as they compared their booty, and autumn joined in blowing chill kisses and swirling her colorful skirt.

Halloween is a distinctly American holiday. It’s taproots stem from ancient rituals and celebrations. The manner in which it developed was unique and reflected the “melting pot” s many cultures met and mingled.

As the celebration changed, one element remained at the core : the festival belongs to the land of the imagination: that rich, fertile soil from which all creativity stems and innovation flows.

Although every decade saw some threat to produce a “Year without a Halloween”, sanity prevailed and the joys of this special rite continued, changed perhaps by contemporary influences, truncated through modern fears, but it remains as a reminder that people – of all ages – need magic, mystery, and hours of simple fun.
The answer to my question was clear - Halloween was a holiday of the imagination, of play, and stepping outside the confines of the ordinary into the extraordinary. No wonder I have always loved it!

Origins of the Holiday - Halloween

I love October...the crunchy leaves, the chilly nights...and the drama and imagination of Halloween. I was one of those little kids that lived in dress-up clothes, tripped around her mother’s heels and should have won an Oscar at some point in Kindergarten for my stellar performance of Little Red Riding Hood.

I am also an American Celt...no I have no real language or the major customs, but there were a bunch of Celts in my family tree. Despite the lack of language and a loss of many customs...the blood runs strong in other ways. The poet is alive, the warrior, the dreamer, and...Face it...maybe even a tad bit of the schemer. There is also the mystic who can step out into a night and almost see the shimmering layers that curtain us from other realities, as they ripple in some cosmic breeze.

Halloween began as such in a long distant time. It was a night when someone would leave the door between this world and the next ajar. The recently dead, and perhaps other things, could come to call. Saucers of milk would be left out as an offering to keep the visit...friendly.

So enjoy the sigh of the wind and the crackle of leaves as you walk. Set out your autumn decorations and enjoy the "October country" as author Ray Bradberry called it.....but leave some milk out on the night. Just in case.

Now some history; to understand the roots of Halloween it is necessary introduce the Celts.

The term Celts refer to numerous tribal groups occupying Europe from about 800 C.E. who shared a common language group.  From the Steppes to Ireland they were the tradesman, philosophers, artisans, and warriors who dominated the landscape and successfully challenged early Rome.   They were the ancestors of the people known as the “Gauls”, the “Norseman”, and the “Britons”.  Although they shared a common language and fundamental religious beliefs, they developed in many different ways and practices varied. 

One common belief held by many of these people groups was that on a particular night of the year the separation of this world from the next changed.  

Like a curtain billowing in a breeze glimpses between the two co-existing realities were possible.  Sometimes, the recently dead could slip back into the world of the living to say goodbyes, give a blessing, or cause a bit of mischief.  

For the Celts, most of whom believed in reincarnation, death was but another part of existing.   Customs of leaving small gifts to not offend the returning dead (and bring about problems) often developed.  Animals were favored forms for the returning dead and so leavings milk out for dogs or cats became the custom in some locations.

All of this occurred at the turning of the year at Samhaim (Sow-wain).  Harvest time the world over share similar festivals marking the end of the growing season, the successful gathering of the harvest, and celebration before the onslaught of winter’s stark chill.  

Many of these Celtic customs came to America in early Colonial days, mingling with customs from the Dutch, the English, the Germans, and the Native Americans.  There was even an element of the Roman feast of Saturnalia in how America celebrated the night; roles were reversed and chaos celebrated. Many aspects of this initially agrarian based festival would remain important and be kept alive in remote rural areas well into the 20^th century.  The greatest diversity occurs as locales become increasingly urbanized and more multicultural in the early years of the 20^th century.

In Oklahoma, which did not become a state until 1907, there is distinct evidence of the old customs and the melting pot in action as customs from various times, and places begin to mingle and what emerges is the American Halloween.  Evidence of this is revealed by the various names over the years: fall festival, harvest festival, “huskin’ time”, “begging night”, “Nutcrack Night” (a term from Britain), Halloween, and even for the more negative, “Helloween.”

IN A GOTHIC MOOD

My first copy was purchased
at the college bookstore
on clearance.

Nearly everyone has enjoyed a Gothic tinged novel or movie at some point. In this season it is common for people to return to those familiar, and well trod, elements for a little thrill.  The classic motifs of the Gothic are well known, from the decrepit  castle or manor, the mysterious and tormented hero, to the innocent damsel in distress and the lurking supernatural patina (ghost, legend, or mysterious and unexplained element).  Have you ever wondered where those all came from?  A short little novel first published in 1764 by Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Oxford.  The part time antiquarian attempted to create something new based on the Romanticism of the period and in the process did just that by forging a template of almost all Gothic works for the next three centuries.  Even to this day, those elements of the crumbling spooky house, the mysterious threat, the multi-layered leading man, and the poor innocent leading lady are standards of the genre.   Minor elements and quirks may emerge but the formula worked well for Walpole and for Gothika (2003).  Checking the shelves at the local book stores and the marquee at the theater reveals it is still hard at work as well.

OCTOBER COUNTRY: The Shadow People

They are described as blurs of smoky darkness, columns of dark thick something, silhouettes of a man in top hat, silhouettes of a man with out a house, a man like dark shape.  Sometimes with eyes glowing red.  They have been reported, and allegedly caught on security cameras, in homes, businesses, and on the street.  Most agree they emanate evil.

Some suggest there has been a spike in reports since about 2000.  Others, suggest that the reported fondness of them for closets and similar spaces means they are merely the old bogeyman in a new set of clothes. Yet, most older tales of spirits utilize different motifs and archetypes.

Are they simply the dark, elongated and upright version of the ancient incubus, succubus, ghost, vampire, or demon?  Are they simply new creations produced in response to contemporary fears of a vague "something" that will come and get us?

OKLAHOMA'S OVERHOLSER MANSION

The Overholser Mansion was the first mansion in the city and constructed by local land dealer and entrepreneur, Henry Overholser in 1903.

In the 1960's the mansion was offered to the state of Oklahoma, with all contents intact, as a historical site.

A rare glimpse into history as it was - no need to renovate or find similar styles of furnishings -  because it never changed inside and was maintained by the same family from construction til it was given over to the state.

Learn more here and plan to attend an event or take a tour of the grand lady of early Oklahoma City.   

OCTOBER COUNTRY: MORE FACES IN THE NIGHT

On  "Coast-to-Coast AM" (10/1/2011) a called reported going to sleep and seeking faces coming at here as she tried to go to sleep.  They morphed into one another and then she felt something or someone wanting to 'get into her' and take her over.

I found this very interesting because of an incident reported to me from this last spring.  A woman lay down to sleep and as she closed her eyes attempting to rest she noticed a whirling dark black, yellow and orange mass evolving and from this emerged faces - clear, unique, and totally unknown to her!  She said it seemed that it was a doorway and if she kept focusing she would go through that entryway to where the faces were emerging.  Part of her wanted to in order to see what it was and if there was some psychic experience waiting there.  Another part of her held back and purposefully closed that door and shut out the faces...

ECHOES OF GIANTS

A recent internet hoax played up the giants among us theme with some patently unbelievable images.  They suffer from the 'Godzilla Syndrome' - being so huge it is impossible to suspend belief long enough to wonder if they really did exist. 

However, through history, there have been alleged findings of larger than normal skeletons which might bear more study.  A list here.  

Giantism is not an unknown condition, as well, and some people groups tend to be very tall, slender limbed, and with fine features while others tend to be  shorter, sturdier, and heavier bone construction (Big bones run in the family, right?).

With recent research claiming all people with non-African genetic background are desceneded from the Net

OCTOBER COUNTRY: THE DREAM MAN

In honor of the season author Ray Bradbury called the October country 'Mystorical' will present some strange and mysterious stories for your enjoyment.

1.  The Man in Their Dreams

Back in 2006 people started reporting dreams of a man's face and words.  One patient of a counselor sketched the face and another patient recognized it from his own dreams!

Others reported similar 'sightings' or 'dreamings'.   Although some argued it was all an elaborate hoax, others suggested tapping into a mythic common mind, or responses to suggestions.

Apparently, since the start of 2011 his appearances have peaked and occur strangely at the start of the month and appear to have no relation to media stories.

Is he a presentation of the "Shadown Men"?  Is he an alien targeting audiences for a message and eventual acceptance?  Is he a devil, demon, or evil entity seeking control and manipulation?  Is this what happened to Alfred E. Newman?    

Source:  "Ever Dream of this Man?"

WILD TIMES

A tragic headline of 1933 caught my eye in an old paper.  A boy,  8, was found hanging near Sallisaw.  The community was already concerned over a missing boy of 11 who was presumed to have drowned.    Officers who first rushed to the wooded area declared without doubt it was murder. Who would murder a boy no one could identify at first and appeared to be a stranger?

What seemed to be even stranger was the ultimate ruling of the coroner and sheriff's as to the cause of death for young Buck Brannon.   Apparently, the small boy had committed suicide.     The other missing boy was Raymond Dickerson who, it was finally decided, had tried to wade the Lee Creek on an errand but left his clothes in a drift of the creek.

Through the decade od the 1930's Sallisaw was a wild and woolly place with murders, jail escapes, and enough going on to suggest there were two communities co-existing in Sequoyah County and northeast Oklahoma.

In the 1920's young men in places like Chicago and San Franciso had hung themselves in desperation of having their forged report card discovered and for other reasons only a 13,14,15 year old could have explained.

Sometimes, however, it was all too sadly a moment of play gone horribly wrong as a 'swinging' rope gained a new description as a hanging rope.

As 2033 approaches, one hundred years from that death, will we be able to say we have helped children to feel safe, secure, wanted, and valued more than our counterparts in the 1930's?   Or, have we merely traded swinging ropes for cyber bullies, abusive people, drugs,  and devalued life?   If a 13 year old, or an 8 year old, can feel life has lost all meaning, hope and is worthless, we are all at fault and all equally guilty.

SACRED SPACES: EASY WORDS - HARDER WORK

As the anniversary of 9/11 rolls around this year it will mark the opening of the memorial in NYC and in the field in Pennsylvania.  The terms used often feature the haunting words "sacred space."

After 1995 in Oklahoma City, the location of the Murrah Federal Building bombing were likewise labeled as "sacred space."

The first three days of July 1863 saw a small community transformed by the carnage of war, as citizens battled citizens over states rights and slavery.   A weary President Abraham Lincoln, penned a simple, yet so powerful speech that turned the bloody field into a symbol.  A sacred space....

"Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 

Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . . can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . . we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth. "

Yet, this Civil War era battlefield, this sacred space, has been threatened, like many other such sites, with the encroachment of development, economic envy, and non-sacred elements.    Will these new memorials one day too face the threat of people to whom these supreme sacrifices are but a distant and little understood bit of boring history?

We label a place sacred because of its deeply meaningful history and the way it has shaped some crucial moment.   We must remember and teach each generation of these moments, devoid of politics, devoid of rancor, and devoid of self-interest.  The many who sacrificed in such places deserve no less.

What Ever Happened?

Shots from A Box Car Were Fatal to A Hutchinson Man 

Wellington, Kas., June 2 - John P. Cates, depot master, and yard watchman here for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, was shot and killed early this morning in the division yards. The bullet came from the top of a boxcar. Cates was making his usual round shortly after midnight when he was surprised by a shot, which he returned. Six shots were exchanged and Cates received two wounds, one in the arm and the other grazing his heart. 

When a friend reached him and asked who did it, he said, "there were three or four of them," then became unconscious. He died about twenty minutes after reaching home. Two men were arrested near the yards and are in jail but are not believed to be implicated. The car from which the shooting was done came from the West last night. Clothes hangers thrown away near the car and wire for making them which was found today on top of the car lead the officers to believe some peddler did the shooting. 

The murdered man who came here from Guthrie two years ago leaves a widow and four children. (Kansas City Star, June 2, 1911, page 1).

One tendency of old newspapers was the tendency to often ignore followup stories about headlines they had created earlier.