Oklahoma Today Volume 50 Issue 1 Subscription Version

76 Pages·2000·15.4 MB·English

by  Oklahoma Today

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The 1890s:A PLAINSGALLERY

GOLDBERG AND OTHER LEGENDS OF THE FALLS

THE COTTAGES AT EAGLE CREEK

ROBERT HENRY ON VAN'S PIG STAND
our new M aBfg 22 dlgibl phones.
Bell Wireks. Wresureto match whatem r
Nowrnber 5,1999 East Gate Construction
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WE RAISE A NATION'S LASTING TRIBUTE.
The 168 Days Campaignhonorsthe 168Americanswho diedin the bombingof
theAlfred I?Murrahbuilding.It is alsoraisingfundsto completethe OklahomaCity
National Memorial.Tohelpbuild,dltoll-free1-888-542-HOPE.
And shareaplace inhistory.OnAmericanSoil"
Pleasesend checkor moneyorderto P.0.Box 323,OklahomaCity, OK 7310~
Contributionsaretax-deduaible.Visitwww.168days.com
1 0l9kl9OKC NalbnaiMerwMFdn.

O K L A O D A Y

JANUARY . FEB. RUARY 2000

VOLUME 50 NUMBER I

FEATURES
Plains Gallery 24
The story of Oklahoma settlers told
through the eternally honest lens of
pioneer photographer Andrew Forbes.
By John Lovett
Instant Snow 30
How one tenacious photographer
wished for snow and got a blizzard.
By David Fitzgerald
Legends of the Falls 32
The no-holds-barred world of
professional wrestling in Oklahoma.
By Gordon Grice
Best in Show
A champion show dog handler, a
breeder, and a judge offer insight into
the rewarding sport of showing dogs.
By Mike Brake
DEPARTMENTS
Contributors 4
From the Editor 6
Letters Sam Eason Branscum 8
Market Place Knitting 101 10
Across the Range I2
Weekends Duncan 22
Food Van'sPigStand 50
Calendar 65
Back Page Coaage @ 72
COLLECT BOTH COVERS!
The January-February 2000 issue has two
covers. Wrestler Bill Goldberg-photo-
graphed on October 3,1999, in Oklahoma
City-is available on newsstands only.
Oklahoma Today subscribers received the
Plains Gallery cover.
-
Goldberg
..dwll.L.,.mLI.II*r.U.
I OKLAHOMA
T O R S
Oficial Magazine of the State of Oklahoma
FRANK KEATING, Governor
-L
When photographer Tom Luker
(pictured here with "Chief Red Eagle")
first met wrestler Danny Hodge at his
home in Perry, he thought he'd offended
JOANHENDERSON
the former Olympian by asking if he still
Publisher
got down on the mat. "Then he turned his
LOUISA MCCUNE
back on me and started clearingthe living Editor in Chief
room," Luker says. "He proved his point
STEVEN WALKER, WALKER CREATIVE,MC.
for about fifteen minutes." Luker, an Art Director
Oklahoma Today contributing editor, shot
JENNIFERBREEDLOVE, Associate Editor
the "Legends of the Falls" (page 32) cover AI&E J. DOWNS, AssociateEditor
PRISCILLA MOHNKERN, EditorialAssistant
I story last fall. A sportsman himself, he MELINDA LONG, Editorial Intern
spends much of his spare time with at-risk
ContributingEdttors
kids, and last year he took several on a BURKHARD BILGER, SHEILAHBRIGHT,
STEFFIE CORCORAN,JOELEVERE'IT,
seven-day camping trip to the Continental
DAVID G. FITZGERALD, GORDON GRICE,
GEORGE LANG, TOM LUKER,
I Divide in Colorado. MAURA MCDERMOTT, J. D.MERRYWEATHER,
W.K. STRATTON,MICHAEL WALLIS,
AND NANCY WOODARD
As author and co-author of numerous MELANIE MAYBERRY, GeneralManager
articles about the Oklahoma frontier, BRIAN C. BROWN,AdvertisingDirector
ROGERJOHNSON,Account Executive
JohnLovett was familiar with the subject
GINA STANLEY,Account Executive
in "Plains Gallery" (page 24). But Andrew COLLEENMCINTYRE, ProductionManager
Forbes posed an extra challenge for the LISA BRECKENRIDGE,Accountant
assistant curator at the Western History BECKY ISAAC, offie Manager
MELANIEHOLT, Ofice Assistant
Collectionsat the Universityof Okla- THOMAS STEWART, Information Systems Specialrst
PAM FOX, ContributingStaff
homa. With very little published informa- PAM POSTON, Contributing Staff
tion about Forbes, Lovett was left to his
Tourism and Recreation
investigative and deductive skills to JANEJAYROE,Executive Director
present a snapshot of the pioneer
Tourism and Reneation Commtssion
photographer's life. Lovett is an Arkoma LT. GOV. MARYFALLIN, Chair
ROBYN BATSON
native and has been with the Western
STAN CLARK
History Collectionsfor sixteen years. MEREDITH FRAILEY
JONATHAN D. HELMERICH
BOYD LEE
JOE MARTIN
JANISRICKS
HAL SMITH
Oklahoma Today, winner of the
I 1999Folw Editorial Excellence Award
Governor Keating (he's been his chief
IRMA Magazine oftheyear, 1991,1993,1994,1996
writer since 1995),he might be found 1998Wllbur Award
in the competition ring with his two . Oklahoma CityAdvming Salesmce,P .O. Box53384,Oklahoma
cocker spaniel show digs. Although he City, OK 73152, [phone] or [phone]. Subscription
prices: $16.95 per year in the U.S.; $26.95 per year outside U.S.
admits that his wife Leslie "is the U.S. copyright B2000 by Oklahoma Today. Seepage 71 for postal
information.Re reduction in whole orin pact without permission
driving force behind the dog showing," is prohibited 0khoma Todayisnot responsibleforthe careand/or
return of unsoliatedmanusai ts, artwork, photography,books,or
Brake doesn't shy away from the sport. any othermaterial submitted kr possible publication. Never send
In "Best in Show" (page 42), he takes . original photography, manuscripts, or artwork. In no event shall
submiss~onof suchunsohcitedmaterialsubject Oklahoma Todayto
us deep inside the dog show world anyclaimforholdingfeesorothersimilar charges.Payment is upon
' publication. Visit Oklahoma Today on the Internet at
both in Oklahoma and nationwide. ' www.oklahomatoday.com.
Brake began his writing career with the
Daily Oklahoman as a crime reporter
in the 1970s and has since written for
the Wall Street Journal,the New York Wn
Times, and Newsweek.
MAQAIINE ASSOCIATION
4 1 OKLAHOMA TODAY JANUARY I FEBRUARY 2000

DENTAL CARE
w FourteenYears Dental F R O M T E D I T O R
- .
Implant Experience L
C J .
5
3 Dogged
Ten Years Teaching:
* Crown, Bridge, and *
3 Crl
Restorative
T'S TRUE. SOME PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND THE JOYS OF OWNING A DOG.
1ama dogperson. I come from a long, proud line of dog people, my maternal grand-
w
mother having been a long-time cocker spaniel breeder and author of a newspaper col-
0 .
8 Bricktown 0 . umn about dogs for thirty-six years. My mother-known in her neighborhood as the
FI , , , 4 puppy midwifehas placed the ashes of Tango, our most recently deceased golden re-
EP s CI :
triever, atop the china cabinet in the dining room. Several beloved canines rest in peace
*
in thebackyard under the pine tree: Maggie, the two Bucks, Ping (named for the duck on
JeffreyT. >
Yangtze River),and several representativesfrom the cat side of the equation.
McCormick DDS
. For my dad's birthday last month,
y CharterCommonsOffice Park 1 my sister gave him a plaque saying, 2' A
PC; 304 NW 13thSt. W . "This house owned and operated $<
3 solelyfortheconvenienceofourdog."
Suite 100
OKC, OK73103 She was not kidding. That "dog"
W
405-232-0303 wouldbe two,in fact: Pie, theGerman
,
shorthairedpointerwho isexpectedto
COMPREHENSIVE :
speak English any day now, and her
. "sister," Abbey, mygolden,now aper-
' manent visitor at Chez Parents (an
. apartment is no place for a retriever).
' I can't say I ever read any of Lewis
. Grizzard's columns, but I remember
' the day after he died, when a solemn
. cartoon depictedhimbeforethepearly
:
gateswherehisbelovedblacklab,Cat-
fish,satwaiting.nat, --,.toon gets Nine-year-old Abbey preferstennis balls to
' to me. I ama dog person. rawhide, and back seats to back yards.
. Thesedogs contributeto an equilibrium in our lives unmatchedby human companion-
ship. They mark time with us, standing steadilyby during the ups and downs. We know
. theirloweringeffect onhigh blood pressure and aboutthe successofthe EdenAltemative-
' nursinghomeswhereovermedicated lonelinessis chasedawayby a gardenfull of pets, dogs
. playing the most sigdicant role.
Experience La DoldVita
' On page42, Mike Brake has written a terrific storyabout the achievementsof dogshow
T&ajpwmim boutique hotel offers luxury . professionals right here in our state. But there's more to Oklahoma's canine subculture.
' Countlessorganizationsdevotetheir energiesto finding good homes for abandoned pets,
acrornrnodztions, meetingmom, personalized
setvice, ana'arnenities suitabk@r the most dis- . groups like Yukon's Pets and People Humane Society. Since 1992,the rescue volunteers
have found good homes for more than 13,000 animals-242 last September alone
cerning business orpleasuretrauekt:
(www.petsandpeople.comor 4051350-7387). Paws with a Cause, a personal favorite of
:
14&Main Tulsa 1.888.408.8282 our advertisingaccount rep Gina Stanley,trains shelter dogs for people with disabilities.
. Though they may lack pure-bred genes, these dogs have no shortageof wagging tails.
Membet: HistoricHotels ofAmeriicd
' For sometail wagging of our own, Oklahoma Todaywon the Folio Editorial Excellence
. award for best regional magazine last October (other winners include Travel Q Lei-
' sureand CigarAficionado).Congratulationsto mybrilliant team of editorsand contribu-
cr%%%L- . tors, and thank you for all the hard
Zha2h i e rB outique Hotel
Featuring The ChakboaardRestaumnt, a dining hndmark
6 ( OKLAHOMA TODAY JANUARY I FEBRUARY 2000
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- offer the latest in
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Southwestern Bell
friendly. neighborhood. glob.,.-
Call 720-0411or visit www.swbellwireless.com.
A Monk in Full
I cannot put into words the delight that
I feel when I open a new edition of Okla-
homa Today! My great-aunt Florence
rank of Oklaho&acityfound the perfect
Christmasgift.It is especiallynice, sincewe
now live in Kansas, that we get a little bit
of home seven times a year.
I was surprisedwhen I opened the No-
vember-December issue to find another
relative featuredin the splendid article, "A
Monk's Life," by Kathryn Ledbetter.
Having grown up seeingsome of Father
Gerrer's sculptureson tables and paintings
hangingon the walls at my grandmother's
house, I think that I had a distorted per-
spectiveof how fantasticaperson he really
was. I had grown up all mylifehearing sto-
ries about him from my grandmother
and her sisters,allnieces to Father Gerrer.
According to these relatives,the magnifi- in Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio, and Louisi- ing-it must have been all that good food.
cent Pope PiusX portrait was his greatest ana, besides Oklahoma. Sara Eason Branscum
accomplishment. It turns out that his We, the Gerrer, Maney, Holden, and Oklahoma City
greatest accomplishment is still being Braniff families, have a colorful family his-
given to the people of Oklahoma through toryhere in Oklahoma, and I was sopleased Memory Lane
his lifetimeof work at St. Gregory's. to see an article about Father Gerrer. The September-October issue of
I can't wait to see what is in January's Thank you, Oklahoma Today. Oklahoma Today with the Across the
issue; hope I can wait that long. (Didyou John P. Braniff Sr. Range story "Ding! Ding!" brought back
ever think maybe,just maybe, a monthly?) Oklahoma City memories of my childhood when I rode
Thank you, Oklahoma Today and the streetcars and interurbans. How 1
Aunt Florence. Thank you for your excellent "A Monk's loved to ride them.
Phil Braniff Life" article on the art of Father Robert I spent much of my life in Oklahoma.
Derby, Kansas Gerrer O.S.B. at St. Gregory's in Shawnee. I graduated there, married there, and
In years past, I spent many happy days our son was born there. When Okla-
I believe my son's (Phil Braniff) com- on retreats at St.Gregory's, and I always en- homa Today arrives in my mail, it's time
ments speakfor all of us in my family. We joyed Father Gerrer's arthangingin the ab- to stop and read it and go back and read
are very delighted with the article, "A bey and in the quite excellent museum. some more.
Monk's Life." Lyell H. Carver Keep up the good work.
I am the great-nephew of Father Gre- Grover Beach, California Margaret Blazer
gory Robert Gerrer, O.S.B., and I know Glendale, Arizona
St. Gregory's very well. I spent quite a Good Eats
few hours visiting with Father Gerrer at The response to the "Home for the Wright's Still Right
his place of business-"the museum" Holidays" (November-December) article The article on the Price Tower ("Bi-
that he is known for so well, as por- has been great. I have heard so many com- ography of a Building," November-De-
trayed in the article. pliments from friends and cooking class cember) by George Lang was so well
I thank you for your outstanding pub- participants. It has been avery positive ex- done, and J.D. Merryweather's photos
lication, the splendid article, and last but perience and an honor to be included in were outstanding.
not least, that my aunt, Florence Frank, the story. We appreciate the time and effort
has seen fit to send your Oklahoma To- I thought the cover was striking-defi- that went into this publication.
day not only to me, but also to my chil- nitely eye-catching.Thewhole storywas in- Carol Wofford
dren and my cousins and their families teresting to read and had a nice warmth to Executive Director,
each year at Christmas. Our children are it.And in the photographswe were all smil- Price Tower Arts Center
8 1 OKLAHOMA TODAY JANUARY I FEBRUARY 2000