Welcome back. When reading a book I often find something that I think you, my readers, would find interesting and in my library as you long time readers probably could have guessed are shelves filled with the life stories of men like Jack Drummond a guy from Oklahoma.
Born in Osage County in 1896 when Oklahoma was part of Indian Territory, he grew up in Hominy and went on to get his college education starting at what was then Oklahoma A&M and going on to the University of Illinois. During World War I Drummond enlisted and became an officer in a three hundred-man Calvary unity. In 1920 after the war he came back to Oklahoma and bought his first ranch. He was on his way to fulfilling the dream many say he had of becoming the largest landowner in Osage County, the largest county in Oklahoma. In a matter of ten years Drummond’s first two-hundred-acre ranch had grown to almost one hundred thousand acres adding some land in Texas along the way as well. By the late 1940s Drummond had expanded his business interests to include oil and gas leases, feed lots and sales barns just to name a few. Ranching from the Front Seat of a Buick: The Life of Oklahoman A.A. Jack Drummond is a great story and its available at most Oklahoma libraries.
Another biography of local interest concerns a man born in 1899 in the small Kansas town of Horton where his dad was a train engineer. This boy, who earned the nickname “Boots” because from the age of three he always wore a pair, would go on to become the head of one of the largest oil companies in the world. He became friends with presidents and kings and queens around the world but he never forgot his roots and that man’s name of course was Kenneth “Boots” Adams. The book about his life has the same name.
Frank Eaton or “Pistol Pete” as he was called was a cowboy, scout, Indian fighter and deputy United States Marshall and his life story, simply entitled “Pistol Pete”, is another library book that’s worth your time.
I recently got a rare book which tells the story of John Wayne’s life aboard his famous boat, The Wild Goose. If you don’t know about Wayne’s boat, it was a converted 136-foot U.S. Navy mine sweeper. This is where Wayne called home during the last sixteen years of his life and the book was written by the boat’s Captain and Wayne’s close friend Bert Marshall. It gives the reader an insider’s look at the life of this beloved star and his many famous friends. On Board with the Duke is hard to find but it’s a must read for Wayne fans.
One friend of Wayne’s who appeared in many of his movies is Woody Strode. Strode was a black man who along with Jackie Robinson broke many of the color barriers in their respective careers and paved the way for others who came after them. Strode’s autobiography is Goal Dust and it is a fascinating story.
My book shelves are full of books like these but luckily you don’t have to buy them all like I did. Just go down to your local library and you will find most of them. Happy reading and till next time I’ll see ya down the road….
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