Wes Studi and the Western Heritage Awards

One of my favorite events, offering guests an opportunity to rub shoulders with some legendary western performers…..

                         Down The Road with the Original Buffalo Dale

 Welcome back.  Celebrating 52 years of keeping the Old West alive this week, I take my hat off to President Chuck Schroeder and his staff at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum for a top notch show this past weekend.

It was the 2013 Western Heritage Awards in Oklahoma City which are held every year at what I still call the Cowboy Hall of Fame. The Awards recognize the accomplishments of actors, writers, poets, film makers and musicians who have celebrated western life and culture in their work.

Actor Lou Diamond Phillips and Board Member Wyatt McCrea were the Masters of Ceremonies. Some of you readers may remember that Wyatt is the grandson of the famous movie star Joel McCrea and was also a Bartlesville area resident as a youth. ConocoPhillips was one of the two Major Event sponsors along with Wrangler. Other sponsors with a tie to Bartlesville included Express Employment Professionals and the Oklahoma Ford Dealers. The Ford dealers sponsored the “Outstanding Documentary” award which went to The Dust Bowl, directed by Ken Burns. In addition to prominent actors and directors, there were many famous western writers, singers and songwriters at the awards including Red Stegall and Martin Martin Murphy.

 

A highlight of the evening was the induction of native Oklahoman Wes Studi into the Hall of Great Western Performers. I got a chance to visit with Wes and I learned that this guy has led a fascinating and eventful life.  Studi was born in 1946 in Nofire Hollow, Oklahoma .Until the age of five he spoke only Cherokee. Then he attended Chilocco Indian School where he learned English and graduated from high school. After high school he served in Vietnam and then went on to Tulsa Junior School where he was a founder of the first Cherokee newspaper. Studi’s acting career began in 1983 when he appeared with the American Indian Theater Company in Tulsa. His first movie role was in Pow Wow Highway in 1988, followed by the T.V. movie Longarm. His versatile career has included appearances in Dances with Wolves, The Last of the Mohicans, Heat and Avatar. Today Studi is also a sculptor, jazz guitarist and I understand a pretty good hand at tennis.  He speaks several languages and is recognized nationally as an expert on indigenous languages. Studi and his wife Maura Dhu, a singer and writer, have lived happily in Santa Fe for years. The couple frequently performs in the area with a local six piece band called Firecat of Discord.

Two other performers who were inducted posthumously may not be as familiar to most of you. Duncan Renaldo was born in 1904 most likely in Greece although he frequently said he wasn’t sure where he had been born. He was raised in Romania and worked his way to America shoveling coal on a ship. Renaldo was working as a set painter when he got his first big break in the movies with a role in The Bridge of San Luis Rey in 1927. He played both good guys and bad guys in dozens of films before becoming a major star in 1950 with his role in The Cisco Kid.

The other inductee is of course the Cisco Kid’s sidekick, Pancho. Leo Carillo had also worked his way up in the entertainment business before he too became a star in The Cisco Kid. His civic contributions are recognized today in California where several parks and highways are named after him. Both actors were honored with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The late great actor Robert Mitchum, a favorite of mine, was also inducted into theHall of Great Western Performers. Although Mitchum died in 1997 in Santa Barbara, CA, his many wonderful films, including El Dorado with John Wayne, live on.

The Western Heritage Awards are always outstanding and next year I’ll be sure to give you plenty of notice before the event. Don’t forget that if you join the Western Heritage Museum, Gilgrease or Woolaroc, you automatically become a member of the other two organizations- what a deal!

Till next time, I’ll see ya down the road….

 

#

 

 

 

 

 

 

Down The Road with the Original Buffalo Dale

 

 Welcome back.  Celebrating 52 years of keeping the Old West alive this week, I take my hat off to President Chuck Schroeder and his staff at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum for a top notch show this past weekend.

It was the 2013 Western Heritage Awards in Oklahoma City which are held every year at what I still call the Cowboy Hall of Fame. The Awards recognize the accomplishments of actors, writers, poets, film makers and musicians who have celebrated western life and culture in their work.

Actor Lou Diamond Phillips and Board Member Wyatt McCrea were the Masters of Ceremonies. Some of you readers may remember that Wyatt is the grandson of the famous movie star Joel McCrea and was also a Bartlesville area resident as a youth. ConocoPhillips was one of the two Major Event sponsors along with Wrangler. Other sponsors with a tie to Bartlesville included Express Employment Professionals and the Oklahoma Ford Dealers. The Ford dealers sponsored the “Outstanding Documentary” award which went to The Dust Bowl, directed by Ken Burns. In addition to prominent actors and directors, there were many famous western writers, singers and songwriters at the awards including Red Stegall and Martin Martin Murphy.

A highlight of the evening was the induction of native Oklahoman Wes Studi into the Hall of Great Western Performers. I got a chance to visit with Wes and I learned that this guy has led a fascinating and eventful life.  Studi was born in 1946 in Nofire Hollow, Oklahoma .Until the age of five he spoke only Cherokee. Then he attended Chilocco Indian School where he learned English and graduated from high school. After high school he served in Vietnam and then went on to Tulsa Junior School where he was a founder of the first Cherokee newspaper. Studi’s acting career began in 1983 when he appeared with the American Indian Theater Company in Tulsa. His first movie role was in Pow Wow Highway in 1988, followed by the T.V. movie Longarm. His versatile career has included appearances in Dances with Wolves, The Last of the Mohicans, Heat and Avatar. Today Studi is also a sculptor, jazz guitarist and I understand a pretty good hand at tennis.  He speaks several languages and is recognized nationally as an expert on indigenous languages. Studi and his wife Maura Dhu, a singer and writer, have lived happily in Santa Fe for years. The couple frequently performs in the area with a local six piece band called Firecat of Discord.

Two other performers who were inducted posthumously may not be as familiar to most of you. Duncan Renaldo was born in 1904 most likely in Greece although he frequently said he wasn’t sure where he had been born. He was raised in Romania and worked his way to America shoveling coal on a ship. Renaldo was working as a set painter when he got his first big break in the movies with a role in The Bridge of San Luis Rey in 1927.

He played both good guys and bad guys in dozens of films before becoming a major star in 1950 with his role in The Cisco Kid.

The other inductee is of course the Cisco Kid’s sidekick, Pancho. Leo Carillo had also worked his way up in the entertainment business before he too became a star in The Cisco Kid. His civic contributions are recognized today in California where several parks and highways are named after him. Both actors were honored with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The late great actor Robert Mitchum, a favorite of mine, was also inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers. Although Mitchum died in 1997 in Santa Barbara, CA, his many wonderful films, including El Dorado with John Wayne, live on.

The Western Heritage Awards are always outstanding and next year I’ll be sure to give you plenty of notice before the event. Don’t forget that if you join the Western Heritage Museum, Gilgrease or Woolaroc, you automatically become a member of the other two organizations- what a deal!

Till next time, I’ll see ya down the road….

#

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Legendary Clem McSpadden

Down The Road with the Original Buffalo Dale

Welcome back.  With tickets now on sale for Elder Care’s big fund raiser of the year, The Good, The Bad and The Barbeque I thought I’d focus on cowboy history this week and the life of a man who sure enough lived it.

Although Clem McSpadden died of complications from cancer on July 7, 2008 his influence lives on in the memories of his thousands of friends and the many stories that were written about him. A rodeo cowboy turned announcer turned politician turned businessman,  like his uncle Will Rogers Clem never forgot where he came from. Today he is buried less than a mile from where he was born. Long before there was a highway named after him and before his career in politics, Clem was just your average kid growing up on a farm, riding horses, hunting and fishing. In 1944 he signed up for the navy to support his country, reflecting a patriotism that continued until he died. Another pillar in his live was his family. He was married to Donna Casity on February 11, 1962 in the First Baptist Church in White Oak. The couple had one son and they traveled the world promoting rodeo and serving as good will ambassadors for Oklahoma.

I met Clem several years before he died while researching a writing project. When you were in his presence, you knew this man was special. Clem was the General Manager of the PRCA National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City, a State Senator from 1954-1972 and the founder of the Busheyhead Roping Arena where the world’s richest roping competition was started in 1975. Two years later the event expanded to become the world’s richest roping competition and western art show. Donna created the art show to entertain the wives who attended the rodeo. Their energy and vision was unstoppable and the event quickly exceeded their greatest expectations.

As an elected official,  Clem facilitated the construction of the McClellan-Kerr Waterway, working with the Oklahoma Water Resources to insure state participation in the huge federal government project. He also launched Reba McIntyre’s career when he hired her to sing the national anthem at the National Finals Rodeo.

One of Clem’s personal highlights is described in a new book about his life, Spring Will Come, the Life of Clem McSpadden by Bob Burke and Joan Rhine. In the book Clem’s widow Donna remembers a bull called Tornado and Clem’s friend, rodeo legend Freckles Brown. Tornado was an eleven year old, 1800 lb. bull with pitch black eyes. He had never been ridden and many cowboys just passed on their ride when they drew him. Tornado had thrown off over 200 riders by the time he met up with Freckles Brown at the Oklahoma City Rodeo in 1961.

Most people thought the 46 year old Brown would be the next rider to get tossed but not Clem. After announcing Brown’s successful eight second ride, Clem would claim that this was the greatest legend making event in rodeo history. Later singer-songwriter Red Steagall approached Clem for all the facts about the ride before writing his hit song, The Ballad of Freckles Brown.

I could write much more about Clem McSpadden but I’m about out of space. Before I go let me give you a scoop: Clem’s widow, whom I’ve also interviewed, will be a guest at the Elder Care barbeque this year. Donna is just as nice as Clem was and is always happy to visit. Till next time I’ll leave you with an excerpt from the cowboy prayer which became Clem’s signature:

“Help us, Lord, to live our lives in such a manner that when we make that last inevitable ride to the country up there, where the grass grows lush, green and stirrup high, and the water runs cool, clear and deep, that you, as our last Judge, will tell us that our entry fees are paid.”

With that I’ll see ya down the road..

 

 

 

#

 

 

 

 

J. Paul Getty and the Early History of Bartlesville

The following  excerpt from last week’s column profiles one of the many people who made their fortune in Bartlesville during the early days…

“The story begin in Bartlesvile in the early 1900s. Back then the town had about 3,500 residents, most of whom were living in tents. The Right Way Hotel was the only permanent structure in the community and on most days you could find a twelve- year- old boy standing on the corner in front of the hotel hawking Saturday Evening Post newspapers.

This boy was ambitious and after a $5 investment for 100 shares of oil lease lot number 50, which ran alongside Sand Creek near Ochelata, he changed jobs,. In 1910 he was working as a roustabout and then in 1911 his gamble paid off with a 100 barrel a day well came in on the first day of drilling on lot 50. He went on to drill 43 wells on this lease and hit oil all but once. By the age of 23 he had made his first million dollars and he went on to become the richest man in America. When he finally sold lot 50, the site had netted him $336,000 and started his career in the oil industry. You may have guessed that this man was J. Paul Getty…..”

Tom Mix and The Hoxie Brothers

                Early western movie stars with ties to Oklahoma………

                        Down The Road with the Original Buffalo Dale

 Welcome back. The date was October 12, 1940 when the 1937 Model 812 super charged Cord with the 170 horsepower and 3000 dollar price tag was towed in from Highway 89 not far outside of Florence, AZ.  The car and its famous cowboy actor driver were estimated to have been traveling at 80 miles an hour when it suddenly came upon a highway construction site. The car crashed through a barricade and went flying into a gulch where it flipped over, pinning the driver underneath. According to local coroner E.O. Divine, death was instantaneous.

At the funeral Rudy Vallee sang the driver’s favorite song, Empty Saddles as many famous movie people from the era, including William Fox, Jack Warner, Cecil B. DeMille, Louis B. Mayer, Harry Cary and Gene Autry, looked on.  By now most of you movie buffs know I’m talking about Tom Mix. His wife, Mabel Ward Mix, and his many friends knew Tom was a man who pushed himself hard. Although many were in shock at his death author Paul Mix writes that Tom himself would have wanted to “end fast.” In his book Tom Mix, Paul also states that Tom wanted to be remembered as a cowboy first.

I should mention here that two years later Tom’s horse Tony, who had been in many of his movies, died of old age at 40.

On December 5, 1947 a 7 ft. statue of a rider less horse was erected on the very spot where Tom died with this engraving: “In memory of Tom Mix whose spirit left his body on this spot and whose characterizations and portrayals in life served to better fix memories of the Old West in the minds of living men.”

Tom Mix was a hero to millions of people around the world. As a top billed movie star in his day, he could have become aloof but instead he never forgot where he came from or his early friends. While on tour, he would often visit children’s hospitals where he would make a large donation or appear at a fund raising event to help draw more people. His fame only increased with his death and today his memory is kept alive in our own Tom Mix Museum in Dewey where you can watch his films, see his fancy clothes and saddles and even look at old Tony who has been preserved for display.

You can learn more about Mix at this year’s Western Heritage Days in Dewey but now I’d like to tell you a little about two other famous silent movie cowboys,  Jack and Al Hoxie. According to The Lives and Films of Jack and Al Hoxie by Edgar M. Wyatt, Jack Hoxie was born in a small cabin between Kingfisher and Guthrie Oklahoma on January 11, 1885 and he died on March 27, 1965. At the age of 80 he was long past his prime as a movie star but was still in constant demand to make appearances. Like Mix, Jack loved people and he was a true cowboy. He had started off doing ranch work and then began competing in rodeos. The rodeos led to work as a movie extra. In 1910 Cecil DeMille directed his first western and Jack was cast as an extra until he was discovered when the leading man was killed. In 1919 Jack starred in his own film called “Lightening Bryce”. His rise to stardom and that of his brother Al became legendary and at the height of their careers only Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson and Tom Mix were as well known.  After he retired, Jack moved to Keyes, Oklahoma where he is buried. Al died on April 6, 1982 and is buried in a California cemetery next to many other big screen stars. Most of Al’s memorabilia is in the Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. If you want to know more about these stars from another era check out the Western Heritage Days weekend coming to Dewy this September. It’s a trip into history I know you’ll like. Till next week, I’ll see ya down the road….

#

 

Bison and Bald Eagles in Pawhuska, Oklahoma

In my travels I’ve run across many interesting western towns….

            Down The Road with the Original Buffalo Dale

Welcome back. This week I’d like to talk about an area I often visit. It’s just a short drive from Bartlesville and offers many options for entertainment that appeal to all ages. Like to fish? Well the city lake is stocked with over 11,000 pounds of trout each year. For bird watchers, America’s national bird, the Bald Eagle, also calls this lake home. If driving across thousands of acres of pristine prairie looking at buffalo in the wild is exciting to you then the 40,000 acre Tallgrass Prairie Preserve lies right outside of town.

And speaking of town, if history is your thing this place is filled with it. Of course you know by now that I’m talking about Pawhuska, Oklahoma which is also the headquarters of the Osage Nation. Their tribal museum and historical buildings are worth the drive alone. In downtown Pawhuska the old west comes to life with over 70 buildings that were constructed between 1872 and 1930. The renowned Constantine Theater, bronze artworks and unusual cafes and gift shops draw visitors to Main Street.

If you fall in love with the area, local realtor Brenda Pierce tells me that housing costs in Pawhuska are very reasonable and she even has a listing for what every golfer wants for Christmas: his or her own golf course. Founded in 1919, the Buffalo Hills Golf course, like most everything else here, has a great history but that’s another story for another day.

This week I  also want to bring up the volunteer work that Joe Sears has taken on in our community. You may not have noticed but Mr. Sears, in his Broadway stage persona Aunt Pearl, has been popping up at many local fundraisers and other community events. His recent appearance as Aunt Pearl at the Annual Chamber of Commerce dinner in Ramona doubled attendance. At Christmas time he organized the first cookie exchange Benefit for the Lighthouse in Bartlesville and it was a huge success. With the professional success Joe has achieved he could live anywhere but he chooses to be in Bartlesville which is pretty cool.

Here’s this week scoop: if you want to meet Joe or better yet bring all your friends to meet him and get a picture, he will be a guest judge for Family Crisis  & Counseling Center’s 3rd annual “Kick Up Her Heels” fundraiser on April 16th. April is Sexual Assault Awareness month and the organizers of this event came up with the cute idea of having men wear women’s shoes and parade through downtown Bartlesville. It’s a great idea and this year City Manager Ed Gordon, Woolaroc CEO Bob Frasier and one of Bartlesville’s big supporters, Rand Berney will all be participating along with many others. It will all be happening in front of Two Sisters Pub and you don’t want to miss it.

I’ve also heard that the planning is in full swing for Elder Care’s The Good, The Bad and The Barbeque which will be held at the historic Mullendore Ranch on May 11th. The committee is working to make this year as special as always so mark your calendars.

Before you know it June1st will be here and SUNFEST will be setting up in Sooner Park. I understand that their committee has been working hard to get ready and we should all be very grateful to the new members who have stepped up to take on this big project.

This week I’d also like to thank you readers for your comments and also for your support of the Bartlesville Examiner Enterprise. Times have changed a lot but as Will Rogers said “All I know is what I read in the newspaper.”

Till next week I’ll see ya down the road…………..