Way Out In Western Oklahoma

I was recently traveling in the western part of the state…

Welcome back. This past weekend Joe Washington and I had quite a party on campus corner in Norman with some of the many fans who consider Joe to be the greatest running back in Oklahoma history. We were both autographing books but Joe signed anything people brought to him. Footballs, hats, shirts, towels and baby clothes, Joe gladly signed them all, posing for dozens of photos in between. Several other well-known players dropped in and before I knew it we had a whole team of past players along with several other current OU athletes, both men and women. Bob Stoops’ restaurant, Louie’s Grill, which is next door to Balfour’s, provided free hors oeuvres. If all this sounds like fun, Joe and I are going to do it again on Friday October 29th which is the day before the Kansas game and once again you’re all invited. There will be free food, past ball players, music and fun for all I guarantee. Hope to see you there.

The party ended about 5 for me as I had to drive to Woodward which I figured was about half way to Guymon, Oklahoma where I was scheduled to for a radio interview at 8 AM Saturday morning. Woodward is the largest town in a nine county area and it is located in an isolated part of Oklahoma. European settlers came to the area in the mid-1800s and at one time Woodward had the most important cattle shipping depot in Oklahoma Territory.

Of course a number of Indian tribes were the first to enjoy the boiling hot springs in the region including the Kiowa, Comanche, Apache, Cheyenne and Arapaho but that was before the U.S. Army built Fort Supply. As it happened, a young Lt. Colonel named George Armstrong Custer was stationed at Fort Supply during the early days of his career. There were many outlaws in the area including Bill Boolin and Bill Dalton who robbed the Woodward train station. Through the years other famous people came to Woodward as well. Charles Lindbergh made an emergency landing here in 1934, staying for two days while another plane was sent for. During a major drought in 1957 President Dwight D. Eisenhower flew in to inspect the disaster. At night the sky outside of town is lit up with lights from hundreds of wind turbines and oil and gas rigs. Woodward also boasts the largest deposits of Iodine in the world. The town has a population of 12,000 and in my opinion it is a neat place to visit.

Two and a half hours west along the George Nigh Northwest Passage lies Guymon which was my destination for the rest of the weekend. One of the first things that caught my attention about the town was the rodeo grounds and the fact that they hold the fifth largest outdoor rodeo in the country which draws elite competitors on the PRCA rodeo circuit. I learned Guymon has a diverse economy with farming, livestock production, manufacturing and of course, oil and gas. Although many consider the town to be out of the way, I found the folks in Guymon are very hospitable and enjoy their place on earth. It is another interesting place to visit and there are lots of highway motels that are quite reasonable. I think you might like it as well as I did.

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

 

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