Thanks to everyone who came to the film last night and raised some money for the Constantine. If you didn’t make it watch for another screening in December.
Monthly Archives: July 2021
Drummond Family History
Welcome back. With three more weeks to go before I’m heading to the New Mexico badlands in search of UFOs, Pawhuska and the big budget movie being shot there still has my attention. I imagine it has yours as well so here we go.
As the world’s largest amateur rodeo event came to a close, the Saturday parade down Kihikah and on to Highway 60 featured well over 200 horses capping things off at the Pawhuska Cavalcade. Rodeo teams from all over the area participated along with a dozen Shriners in their little cars, western wagons, the Queen of the Cavalcade and her court, more horses, clowns and more horses. It was great! Well known trick roper Richard Heinrich performed and as an extra treat for Ree Drummond fans her son Bryce Drummond and a half dozen of his team mates from the University of North Texas were roaming the streets signing autographs and posing for photos.
During all this I spotted another person downtown who caught my eye even more. This guy wore boots and pants that showed the signs of wear that you would expect from an old cowboy and he had the face of a man who had worked outside in the elements his whole life. He was also wearing a nice gray felt western hat and when I looked at him, I knew this man had a story.
After learning his name, I did a little research and found out that this gentleman is the son of Frederick Alexander Drummond who was a direct descendant of Roy Cecil or R.C. Drummond as he was called. Friends, this old boy sitting out in the sun enjoying all the exactment is a walking link to the history of this area. I wanted to find out more about him and luckily for me I have a copy of the Drummond Family history book in my library.
His name is Charles Robert Drummond and he was born on March 12, 1943 at the Pawhuska Hospital. His first five years were spent on the family ranch eleven miles outside of town where he learned to ride a horse at the same time he was learning to walk. Farming and ranching would become his way of life but next to family, horses and hunting were his passion. I found out that as a boy “Chuck” as he is called had been active in the Boy Scouts and eventually became a Scout Master. He also played football in high school and was President of his senior class. He attended Oklahoma State University majoring in Agriculture Economics but on weekends it was always back to the ranch in Pawhuska where horses and a girl named Nan Olsen would play a big part in his life.
Chuck and Nan married on August 17, 1964 and in September 1965 their first son Todd was born. Chuck was beginning his career as a rancher and life consisted of long days of hard work. The young couple faced many challenges including ice storms, varmits and fluctuating cattle prices but they persevered growing their cattle operation from 150 cows purchased from Chuck’s grandfather to thousands more. In July 1967 Timothy was born, followed by their third son and future husband of the Pioneer Woman, Ladd in January 1968.
The cattle business continued its up and down cycles throughout the 1970s when a price freeze on dressed beef imposed by President Nixon pushed many ranchers into bankruptcy. Despite these obstacles Chuck and his family held on to their ranch and continued to grow.
His life is fascinating and Chuck’s always willing to share part of his
story so the next time you’re in Pawhuska keep your eyes open, you never know when history just might be right next to you.
Till next time I’ll see ya down the road!
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 Opera and if you use your imagination maybe even see a baby elephant on stage performing with a dog and pony act. As you settle into your seat picture professional wrestling happening here every weekend with traveling variety shows taking up the other days of the week. I hope you will be excited to be here but as the lights in the theater go down, I’ll warn you that this place is now known to be haunted. Both workers and visitors have seen the ghost of the famous opera singer Enrique Caruso walking along the balcony accompanied by a woman wearing some sort of button-down dressing gown so prepare yourself for an unusual experience.
No, this show is not happening in Ponca City at the historic Poncan Theater which by the way is on the National Register of Historic Places. It isn’t at the very old Gregg Theater in Sedan which has been restored and returned to operations with the help of local businessman Roger Floyd. The Coleman Theater in Miami will also be a good guess as well with all of the celebrated performers who have appeared there but no friends this time machine is the Constantine Theater in Pawhuska. When I mentioned the Constantine in my column a few weeks ago I left you hanging so here’s the scoop:
On July 24th at 6:30PM a documentary film called The Last Ten Tapes will be shown at the Constantine. The film is based on the extensive interviews with key characters in the 1970 murder of prominent Osage County rancher E.C. Mullendore III which to this day remains the most famous unsolved mystery in the southwest. Stars in the film will be on hand to talk about the event and will take questions after the screening. I am also happy to report that thanks to the generosity of a Kansas oilman nurses will be admitted free. All the proceeds from ticket sales along with a portion of any book sales will be donated to the Coleman Theater and tickets are just five bucks so you won’t want to miss it!
Now for your unofficial update on the filming going on in Pawhuska. Last week the entire film crew and all of the actors returned to downtown and celebrities were everywhere including the legendary singer, TV and movie star Red Stegall. My contacts tell me that filming is roughly three quarters finished in Pawhuska and when they are done it will take about three weeks to put the town back together, removing all of the period building facades and awnings, taking down the telephone poles and getting rid of the dirt they put down on the streets. I have also been told that on top of the two hundred million dollars that has been spent on the actual production of the film, millions more will be spent marketing it bringing the total to three to four hundred million. Quite a big deal I’d say.
I hope to see ya on the 24th or till next time I’ll see ya down the road!
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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 common right now in another part of the country is UFO sightings. Friends if you missed me last week, my travels to distant locales in the north central mountains of New Mexico close to the continental divide where there are many reports of UFO sightings and also cattle mutilations kept me out of range of any form of communication but before I get to all that here’s an update on Pawhuska,
Last week the dirt was reapplied to the street and several dozen extras were again kept in the Constantine Theater before being marched like soldiers down the street and behind a fifty-foot curtain that has been erected to kept spectators from seeing exactly what they are doing. Horse drawn wagons and 1920s era automobiles also came down the street, went behind the curtain and then a while out they all came again. The actors went back to the Constantine and the cars, wagons and horses went to a secured vacant lot, all awaiting their next call. This is happening several times a day and I hear from my sources that while locations may vary, the actual filming will continue for another four to six weeks maybe longer.
Here’s the scoop if you’re interested in becoming an extra: Apple Productions is looking for you as they have been advertising extensively so come to Pawhuska where you can be in a movie, eat at a half dozen new restaurants, shop till you drop, go to museums, see bison at the Nature Conservancy’s Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, and walk across the famous swinging bridge but whatever you do come early to fit it all in.
As for UFOs you longtime readers may remember that a few years back I spent two weeks tracking reports of mutilated cattle possibly related to UFOs, getting close to the locations of these events, staying many nights out in the mountains and spending days interviewing eye witnesses. Well with all the recent publicity about the government’s findings last week I got a tip on another mutilated cow so I’m planning a new trip as you read this. Santa Fe will be my home base for a couple of weeks because I know communications will be reliable and from there, I head into the high mountains for daily excursions going where most of the sightings occur. Four hours north is Abiquiu, home to Georgia O’Keefe and the famous Ghost Ranch. Another four hours northeast is Taos where I will stay over as there have been sighting in the Taos area as well as around Cimmaron, Red River and Angel Fire. There is supposedly a secret government base in this area as well that I have directions to so I will keep you up to date on my discoveries in addition to the current news I hear in Pawhuska.
Till next time I’ll see ya down the road………………
Footprints in the DeW: The Last Ten Tapes
July 1, 2021
For Immediate Release:
Documentary about the Unsolved Murder of E.C. Mullendore III to be shown at the Constantine Theater, Pawhuska, OK
Footprints in the Dew: The Last Ten Tapes will be screened at the historic Constantine Theater in Pawhuska, OK on Saturday July 24th at 6:30 PM. The film is based on the extensive interviews Dale Lewis conducted for his bestselling book Footprints in the Dew: Chub Anderson and the Unsolved Mullendore Murder and includes never beforeseen footage of key characters in the case, including Chub Anderson.
Lewis’ book is about the life of Damon “Chub” Anderson and his role in the unsolved murder of prominent Oklahoma rancher E.C. Mullendore III. On September 26, 1970 Mullendore was killed in his home on the vast Cross Bell Ranch in Osage County. Although Anderson was in the house with him at the time, he was never charged with the murder. In the following years both the murder and Anderson’s own life took on a mythic quality.
Footprints in the Dew tells the story of what really happened on the night of the murder as well as the events of Anderson’s life before and afterwards as told to Lewis by Anderson himself. Anderson collaborated on the project until his death in 2010. Since its publication in 2015, the book has been consistently listed as one of the bestselling books in Oklahoma. Footprints in the Dew is now in its 6th printing. Tickets are $5 per person and 100% of the proceeds benefit the theater. Nurses and nurses’ aides will be admitted free. $5 from the sale of each book will also be donated to the Constantine.
For more information call the Box Office at (918) 900-6161.
Contact Information:
Dale Lewis (918) 331-8423
www.originalbuffalodale.com