Another Report from McAlester State Prison

Welcome back. Thousands of tons of concrete were poured to build the walls of McAlester State Prison and this week my story on the execution of Julius Jones is not from inside those walls but rather from outside the walls where a huge crowd had gathered in protest. I was…

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McAlester State Prison

Welcome back. Over the last three weeks you, my regular readers, have traveled with me to the state prison in McAlester, Oklahoma. Unless Governor Stitt grants clemency to Julius Jones it looks like I will be making a return trip on November 18th so I thought a little history about…

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History in the Making

Welcome back.   I often write about towns like Coffeyville, Kansas whose history, including the famous shoot-out with the Dalton Gang, has made the community a popular place for tourists. Dewey, Oklahoma is another place that draws tourists who come to see the Tom Mix Museum and the Dewey Hotel with…

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Woolaroc’s Cow Thieves and Outlaws Reunion

Welcome back.   Last week I told you about the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s annual Western Heritage Awards which is always one of my favorite events during the year. If you missed the article, the E/E still has papers available or check out my website  www.originalbuffalodale.com. This past weekend…

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The Cowboy Way

‘Welcome back.   I lived the cowboy way of life this past weekend along with actor Robert Duvall, singer George Strait and the great Red Stegall just to name a few so here’s the story of how it all happened. First up is a brief history of just a few of…

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UFOs, Nuclear Waste and More from New Mexico

Welcome back. As I look back at my atlas road map retracing all the places, I’ve traveled over the last three weeks it might appear to you that I was lost but not so. With my tent and supplies I set up camp near the Continental Divide for several days…

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New Mexico’s Enchanted Circle

Welcome back. Somewhere between the sun and a man’s last breath lies a stretch of land in north central New Mexico that many think is enchanted and many others consider to be heaven on earth. Traveling up into the Sangre de Christo Mountain range you first come to towns with…

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A History of UFO Sightings

Welcome back.  With the recent sighting of an unidentified flying object or “UFO” by an American Airlines pilot in the skies above Clayton, New Mexico, I’m headed that way. You regular readers know that I have been planning this trip to search for more information about UFOs in the north…

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Another Great Oklahoma Museum

Welcome back.  There is so much going on this week that my problem is deciding just where to start. Should it be with Pawhuska where the final days of shooting on Martin Scorsese’s well documented movie are just wrapping up? I know spending three hundred million on a film in…

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Ghosts Walk The Constantine Theater

Welcome back. 1919 was a wonderful time in local American history and on July 24th you will have the opportunity to revisit that era in a real time machine with me. Yes, you will hear stories of the stars of silent movies, listen to the leading singers from the Metropolitan…

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UFOs in New Mexico

Welcome back once again to your unofficial report on Pawhuska the town and Pawhuska the site for Martin Scorsese’s film adaptation of the book Killers of the Flower Moon which if you haven’t heard depicts a time in the 1920s when murder was common in Osage County. Something else that’s…

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The Constantine Theatre Pawhuska, OK

Welcome back once again to your unofficial report from Pawhuska on how the filming of a 200-million-dollar movie there is coming along. From the spot where Apple Films built a replica train station, I can tell you all the trains and train cars are gone. The props have been taken…

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Filming of Killers of the Flower in Pawhuska, OK

Welcome back to your unofficial report on the filming of the movie version of Killers of the Flower Moon, or Gray Horse as we have been told it will be called.  Nowadays the town of Pawhuska that you may have been familiar with is gone as construction continues to transform…

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Danny Hodge

Welcome back. Over the years I’ve brought you stories of many legends along with the lives of other men and women who I hope have been as inspiring to you as they have been to me. Now here is the life story of another man who I recently learned has…

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The Drummond Family and Pawhuska Oklahoma History

Welcome back Over the past three weeks I have been writing about local history for the enjoyment of not only you  my loyal readers but also the new hires moving to town and the dozens of film crew employees who are here temporarily. These stories include Bill Hale who was…

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Killers of the Flower Moon Filming in Pawhuska, OK

Welcome back to the unofficial report on the status of the filming of Killers of the Flower Moon. Although it looks like most of the actual filming will take place in Pawhuska, the majority of the journeymen working on the project are calling Bartlesville home.     Local hotels are housing most…

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Welcome back.  During the next few weeks while filming starts up on Killers of the Flower Moon on weekdays, I plan to be hanging out in Pawhuska to bring you, my readers, the most up to date information on the progress of the movie. Starting with this week. I hope…

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Mermaid Sitings

Welcome back. Traveling along the Gulf of Mexico around the Corpus Christi area for the last four months I’ve brought you stories about Boots Adams and Phillips 66, museums and all the different species of birds among many other subjects I hope you found interesting. Though my time here is…

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The Loss of Another Legend

Welcome back.  Legends and heroes. Yes, my friends, with the passing of sheriff, war hero, cowboy and plain good guy, George Wayman fit the bill when he was inducted into the Osage County Hall of Fame. Born August 5, 1923 George started off working as a cowboy and as a…

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Exploring the Padre Island National Seashore

Welcome back. Over the years I’ve highlighted the places to see not only in Bartlesville but in all the surrounding towns. I’ve also taken you to New York City to the east and L.A. to the west. You regular readers have also followed me north to Helena, Montana and south…

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Rest in Peace George Wayman

I just learned that former Osage County Sheriff George Wayman died yesterday. He was a great guy and also a great help to me when I was writing Footprints in the Dew. He was one of the last people still around who worked on the Mullendore murder case and was…

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The Bass Brothers’ Private Island

Welcome back. With lots of ground to cover first up will be the fabulously wealthy Bass family of Fort Worth.  In 2020 Forbes Magazine ranked the Bass brothers as the 30th wealthiest people in the United States and provided the following biographic information: The four Bass brothers, Sid, Edward, Robert…

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The Value of History

Welcome back. From New York City to Los Angeles, from Alder, Montana to Rockport, Texas, I’m always on the lookout for an interesting story but you my friends don’t have to travel thousands of miles to learn about noteworthy people and places because there’s plenty of stories in your city…

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Mermaids and Magic in Rockport, Texas

Welcome back Continuing from last week’s column, I hope you are keeping up with the ongoing story of my siting of two mermaids which took place two weeks ago along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico near Rockport, Texas. Friends I have been researching these mythical creatures and I’ve…

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Millionaires to Mermaids

Welcome back.  Millionaires to mermaids, you’ll find it all in Rockport, Texas and friends there’s a tie to the Bartlesville area that this week I thought you might find interesting. Water Street in Rockport is only a mile long and runs right along the edge of the Gulf of Mexico….

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Leave A Legacy

Welcome back.  Traveling the country in search of interesting stories for almost 18 years I have had the opportunity to meet many fascinating people. I was recently in the company of one such person, an eighty-year-old friend of mine who thanked me for being part of his legacy. After looking…

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Travel in the COVID 19 Era

Welcome back. Recreational vehicles or RVs as they are commonly called, over the years I’ve owned about a dozen of them and camped out in RV parks across the country. On the west coast Mugu State Park was my home for two weeks while I was investigating the Whitey Bulger…

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A Unique Venue for PBR Event

Welcome back.  Over the years I’ve brought you readers many stories I hope you’ve found interesting from Whitey Bulger’s trial in Boston, the American Sniper trial in Stephenville, Texas and even the heartbreaking trial in Aurora, Colorado where a deranged kid killed dozens of people in a movie theater. I’ve…

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Hurricanes on the Texas Coast

Welcome back. With hundreds of ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66 employees in the Houston area and many more located along the Gulf of Mexico down to the big shipping center of Port Aransas, the impact of Hurricane Harvey has had is in many ways still reaching all the way to Bartlesville….

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San Jose Island-A Retreat for the Rich and Powerful

Welcome back. You may not know their names but down in Rockport, Texas where I’m “chasing a ghost”, Sid Richardson, Clint Murchison and the Bass family represent money, big money and yes there’s a tie to the Bartlesville area. But first I’m taking you back in time to 1937 when…

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Ghost Writing

Welcome back. Giving Up the Ghost is a book written by my late friend Sanford “Sandy” Doty, a man whose writing career spanned over fifty years. Sandy lived in New York City where he was the ghost writer for the biographies of numerous famous people including Bette Davis, Helen Hayes…

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Jim Halsey, Legendary Music Promoter

Welcome back. One was born and one died, this week it’s the story of two famous men from this area and I hope you enjoy the ride. On October 7, 1930 a male child was born in Independence, Kansas who would go on to establish the largest country music management…

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Jerry Poppenhouse, World Traveler

Welcome back. First the scoop, and if you’re a rodeo fan you’d better listen up. The BOK Center in Tulsa is going to open up to the general public for the first time since the pandemic started in March to host the Express Ranches PBR bull riding championships on October…

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Camping in the Time of Covid

Welcome back to my sixteenth Labor Day lake report and weather-wise what a great weekend to be out! Up first, the town was first called Lawton, then changed its name to Weldon and finally when the railroad came through the name Copan stuck. A boom town in 1905, it’s a…

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Woolaroc

Welcome back. Over the years much has been written about Woolaroc, both as a world class museum and a truly great wildlife preserve, but this week I’m taking you backstage at this terrific place for two reasons. First of all, every year for roughly the past twenty years I have…

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The Texas Coast and the King Ranch

Welcome back.  Over the past sixteen years you readers have followed me down the road to many of the great ranching empires in our country. Locally, the Drummond family name is well known by many of you and the Land Report ranks the family as one of the twelve largest…

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The Big Event 2020

Welcome back.  Pawhuska three times, Tulsa twice, Oklahoma City and Edmond once with Nowata, Caney and Barnsdall and there’s is no end in sight for my travels this month so you can count on some interesting stories. Arcadia Lake in Edmond is a place where I often spend the night…

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The Nonprofit World During Covid19

Welcome back.  Nurses, fire fighters and cops. They all play important roles in our life’s journey and as we age there’s another group of people that is just as important. Can you imagine being a senior citizen still living at home on your own but unable to get out because…

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Rodeo Season

Welcome back. Founded in 1947, the world’s largest amateur rodeo is back in Pawhuska this week and friends if rodeo is your sport the Pawhuska fairgrounds ought to be your destination. The fairgrounds itself sits three miles outside of town and you won’t miss it because there will be hundreds…

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A Fallen Hero

Welcome back. The good guys and the bad guys. One wants to protect us, the other wants to take advantage of us and a week ago this past Monday one of the good guys paid the ultimate price for protecting us. It was a day that not just the brave…

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Lake Tenkiller, Oklahoma

Welcome back. Over the past several weeks I’ve written about nurses and the fine job they do for mankind with their dedication and love. I know most of you readers have experienced this at least once in your lives. There’s another group of people that is just as dedicated which…

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Aftermath of the Trump Rally in Tulsa

Welcome back. President Trump didn’t show up at the Tulsa Fairgrounds where I was autographing books on Saturday but everyone else did and the well-advertised gun show drew one of the biggest crowds in years. The show was held on the lower level of the big Expo Center and the…

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Oklahoma Coming Back To Life

Welcome back. Brenda Maness from Franklinville, North Carolina got one, so did Katie Craft from Eastlake, Ohio and Lynn Smith in Hamilton, New Jersey got one as well. For me, what was going to be a four-month book signing tour on the east coast starting in May turned into a…

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Coming Back to Life

Welcome back. Trade shows at the Tulsa Fairgrounds are starting up again on June 20th with a big two-day gun show and I’ll be there to give you all a report not only on the size of the crowd but also on all the coronavirus prevention measures being put into…

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Pawhuska, Oklahoma

Welcome back. In 1875 Pawhuska got its first post office and not long after that what had been Indian Territory became the State of Oklahoma. in 1909 one of my favorite organizations, the Boy Scouts of America, established its first troop in Pawhuska. The town is also the capital of…

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Book Signing In Pawhuska

I had a great weekend in Pawhuska signing books at Lorec Ranch. Even wearing a mask and social distancing it was great to see people out and about again. I plan to be there again next Friday and Saturday.

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Oklahoma Memorial Day

Welcome back.  Memorial Day weekend 2020 is history now but before it slips away in our memory here’s a few places I went you might find interesting. First, I took a spin down to south central Oklahoma to Tenkiller Lake on Saturday to see if folks were getting out and…

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Bob Funk’s 80th Birthday Parade

Welcome back. The date was May 4, 2020 yes friends this past Thursday, the time was 6PM and the location was on the old Chisholm Trail where Texas cattle were brought to Oklahoma and then shipped by Kansas railroads to folks on the east coast to eat. Sitting just a…

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More on Nurses, Woolaroc and the Cowboy Hall of Fame

Welcome back.  From Montana to Texas, California to New York nurses have heard about the book Footprints in the Dew and learned that they could order a free copy by emailing bestofbooks@sbcglobal.net or calling the store at (405) 340-9202. Dozens of books have already been mailed out and the giveaway…

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Another Drummond

Welcome back to part two of the history of the nursing profession, who started it, when, where and how we should all show our appreciation during National Nurses Week which starts today, May 6th. From your history books you may have learned about Florence Nightingale who established nursing as a…

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Celebrating National Nurses Week

 In recognition of the brave work of nurses across the country during the coronavirus pandemic, I am partnering with Best of Books in Edmond, Oklahoma to give nurses a free copy of my best-selling book during National Nurses Week starting at 12AM on May 6th and ending at 12PM on…

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National Nurses Week

Welcome back.    It’s a profession that is overlooked by most of us until we need their services and that’s when we learn just how important these people are. This week I am bringing you their story. First let me take you back in time again, back to May 12, 1820…

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Welcome back. Breaking news and long overdue is the announcement of a new museum in Pawhuska but friends this time it has little to do with Ree Drummond. Born on June 13, 1918 in Foraker, Oklahoma this man who the museum is dedicated to grew up on what is now the Nature Conservancy’s Tallgrass Prairie Preserve but back then it was the Chapman Barnard Ranch and it was huge! It is said that he could ride and rope by the age of four and in Pawhuska where his dad was well known, most people just called him “son.” Millionaire film maker Howard Hughes first noticed “son’s” skills in 1940 when he hired him to bring a load of horses to Hollywood to make the film Outlaw. Hughes gave “son” more work taking care of the horses and that led to doing stunt work for the stars of Hughes’ films. John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Joel McCrea, James Stewart and Henry Fonda all called on “son” to do their stunts and double for them riding horses. In 1953 this man who often came back to visit the place he called home set the world record for professional calf roping, also winning the world championship in team roping along the way. By this time in his life he was acting as well, co-starring with the biggest box office stars of the day and even starring in his own pictures. His first starring role in Mighty Joe Young was filmed the same year “son” and John Wayne were in She Wore A Yellow Ribbon and they went on to make many other movies together. Dozens of film and T.V. roles came his way along with numerous awards and then in 1971 he won the biggest award of all for his performance in The Last Picture Show. This man had done something no other person has accomplished before, winning both an Oskar and a world rodeo championship. Yes, by now I hope most of you know I’m talking about Ben “son” Johnson, Jr. He is in the Western Heritage Center and Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City and he also has a star on the famous “Walk of Fame” in Hollywood. In his later years, in addition to supporting everything he could in Pawhuska, Ben worked to raise money on a national level for many causes including disadvantaged and disabled children, cancer research and the fight against cystic fibrosis. Ben died on April 8, 1996 while visiting his mom and it was a day when family, friends and fans from Pawhuska to Hollywood all cried. Now you know why this museum is long overdue. I hope you are wondering when and where is the Grand Opening so here’s your answer: June 12-15th from 9AM-6PM each day. The museum is located at 201 East 6th Street which is right around the corner from the Pioneer Woamn’s Mercantile. I also heard that the actor Buck Henry of Gunsmoke fame and several other old Hollywood friends will be around town during this period. As for me, I’m bound for Haskell, Texas for the Wild Horse Prairie Days which is a huge sanctioned ranch rodeo and I’m told by the organizers that all the top ranch teams from around the country will there . I’ll tell you all about it next week. Till then, I’ll see ya down the road….

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