This is the second and final installment of my May 5, 1985 Daily Press article about the tornado which destroyed Peggs, Oklahoma on May 2, 1920. In 1920, Walter Neel lived with his parents, brothers and sisters on the Gid Morgan farm, two and a fourth miles southeast of Peggs. The storm went a mile […]
The Intriguing Mystery of History
Old houses fascinate me. If they could talk, what stories they would tell of the people who have lived within their walls, of the good times and bad, of historic changes they’ve witnessed. Old houses are a part of history and I like to dig out the mysteries within them. For a time, quite a […]
The Weight of Many Years
·The weight of many years was too much for an historic building in my hometown of Tahlequah. The back end of 120-year old Masters’ Hardware, collapsed. Judging from the pictures, it just let go and crumbled to the ground. Luckily, the store had been closed for a while and no one was inside. What caused it? A 3.0 […]
Fiddlin’ With the Facts
·Remember the old, black and white TV series, Dragnet and the phrase, “Just the facts, Ma’am.” This unflappable team of Jack Webb and Harry Morgan spent a whole thirty minutes ferreting out the bad guys and getting to the facts of the case. But, fiction writers can have fun fiddlin’ with the facts. In writing By […]
The Blight of Progress
·Sure, I know “you can’t stop progress.” I’ve heard that many times and fear it may be largely true. Question is, where is this march of progress leading? I’m all for progress in medicine, in doing things better (not necessarily faster) and for headway made against the ills of mankind. What I’m not for is senseless […]