Caddo- My Home Town

Guthrie Drug

Year unknown. I love the little table. 

Julia Grayson

March 15, 1935

Pioneer Mother Dies at Age of Ninety-Six

Mrs. Julia Grayson died Wednesday night at 9 o’clock at the home of Mrs. C. A. Hancock, aged 96 years past.

The funeral was held at the Hancock home Thursday in the afternoon at 5 o’clock, conducted by Rev. J. M. James and Rev. E. Hotchkin, interment in Caddo Cemetery.

Mrs. Grayson was indeed a Mother in Israel. She came to this country sixty-odd years ago, and has seen it grown from a wild prairie into a country of numerous farms, villages and cities. For many years she ran the Sims Hotel, since gone into ashes, under whose roof many celebrities of the past were entertained, among them being General Lawton, and Frederick Grant, in the days when goods and soldiers were sent via Caddo to Fort Sill.

Deceased is survived by Mrs. C. A. Hancock, a daughter, and C. H. Grayson, a son. She has made her home the past twenty years with Mrs. Hancock, feeble but taking lively interest in affairs of the moment.

September 30, 1937

From Indian-Pioneer History Project

Interview with Mrs. C. A. Hancock

by Lula Austin

“Caddo was a thriving little city with a trade radius of several hundred miles and it was wild and wooly. Plenty of whiskey was brought over the Red River but there were no open saloons. There were no gambling houses, but plenty of gambling. I am proud to say there was no red light district, but plenty of shooting and fighting.

Many desperadoes rode in from other states for they were comparatively safe. I remember one in particular, a young man, tall and slender, very handsome who went by the name of “Hurricane Bill”. He could shoot the light out of a candle without rocking the candle.”

 

September 1933

Show Day, 1900

A few of the other towns visited by Sells and Gray in the summer of 1900 were Carmen, Mulhill, Pawnee, Ponca City, Mountain View, and Eufaula. According to the ringmaster, the crowd at Ponca City was the largest assembled “since we left Kentucky”.

The Caddo Herald

September 28, 1900

Show Day in Caddo

            Tuesday was show day in Caddo and as a result the town was well filled up with people as towns always are on show days.

            Sells and Gray’s circus held down the boards that day, giving two performances, one in the afternoon and one at night, with a street parade preceding the former.

            The street parade was ordinary and the show itself was ordinary. While there were some good points about it, yet on a whole it was not up to the standard of railroad shows. There was some very good tumbling acts, the trapeze work was not so good, the bareback riding was moderate, and the clowns were no clowns at all and the only way they could be distinguished was by their clothes, and some of their disgusting efforts at trying to be “funny”.

            The dog trick was good, these animals showing themselves to be well trained. The ladder climbing feat and the high jump of one of the dogs was as good as we have seen in that line. The horses were moderately well-trained.

            The usual number of shell games* and other devices followed the show and as a result, quite a number of those who came in to see the show went home poorer, but wiser. All of those who donated, however, were not from a distance, but some lived here.

            The red lemonade man was on hand dispensing refreshments at 5 cts. per refresh; the balloon man was here too, and brought joy to the heart of the small boy with the ten cent piece, and distraction to the man who had to listen to the “music” produced by the youngsters from six to twenty-five years old.

            The show went north from here and will scatter sunshine and gladness in its path no doubt. Everyone who attended here is glad that they did, so it seems, and if the show were to return tomorrow we would all go again—that is, those who did not go up against the shell games, etc. These will have to save up for a few days in order to recover their lost wealth.

            There were ten cars of the show and they seem to have enough men, horses, etc.to put up a very good show if they would try, and it may be that the wet weather, muddy roads, etc. threw a damper over them and they were not at their best here.

                Apparently, shell games and their operators were a major problem of the day. Most were “followers” of the circus rather than part of it. A man at Carmen, OK reported losing $100. The newspaper article about the show in Mountain View mentions “fakirs and confidence men”; there were two arrests after the show. At Eufaula, Doc Ryan “badly carved” a shell game operator after losing $65.

Note: I don't know the date or circus depicted by the photo. 

Basketball, 1925

The Caddo Herald

January 9, 1925

Basketball

                At 7:30 Saturday night, January 10, the Durant Lions will take the floor against the fastest and best balanced basketball team that has ever represented Caddo High School. The game will conclude a week of hard work for the Durant team as it played Sherman High Tuesday night, losing to the Texans by a score of 22 to 16. It will meet the Tishomingo team on the Durant Court Friday evening.

                Coach Dendy has been running his squad at top speed since its excellent showing in the game Friday and it is rapidly rounding into a bunch of first-class basketball tossers. Faudree has greatly improved in goal shooting and since missing several sure shots against Roberta he seems to have his eye on the basket and tosses from all angles. Dunham is a veteran basketball man and excels in guarding and team work. His presence on the floor encourages every player to work hard and he fights to the final whistle. With Briggs, A. Downing, and Pirtle going in good condition and keeping up the pace Caddo should give the more experienced Durant aggregation a run for the money. With Davison, Henninger, and Coffey in reserve, Coach Dendy has some good material in case one of the regulars should be unable to go a full game.

                At 8:30 the O.P. C. girls will arrive and play the local girls’ team. The Caddo girls have lost only one game in the past two years and that was to O.P.C. last year by a margin of one point so the fans may rest assured that they will exert every effort to win this game. Eugenia Sargent, Rosie Smith, Marilee Styron, Beth Moore, and Luda Mae Ware are the members of last year’s team who are back in the game and Coach Chiles has excellent new material in Odessa Faudree, Retta Jones, Doris Maytubby and Minnie Herod. It looks like a big year for our girls’ team too.

                The court will be arranged so that more space for spectators will be provided and a record crowed is expected as the O. P. C. School trucks are coming packed with rooters for their team.

                The doors will be open at 7 o’clock and admission will be 15c and 25c.

The Caddo Herald

February 27, 1925

Athletics

                Friday morning the boys’ basketball team was eliminated by Hendrix by a score of 25 to 9. It seemed that the boys could not get together and as a result played their worst game since the season opened.

Ordinance 35

An ordinance is a law passed by a municipal government.

A resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body.

The Caddo Herald

May and June, 1899; January, 1900

In May of 1899 the city council wrote and published Ordinance 34, which declared that “Each and every person owning a lot in the incorporated town of Caddo is hereby required to place a good and substantial side walk in front of said lot or lots, when ordered by the town council.” The ordinance included some details, such as materials allowed- lumber, stone, cement, brick, or other substantial substance. It also specified that the width could not be under three feet or over six. The sidewalks had to be completed within thirty days of notification, and thereafter maintained by the property owner. Failure to comply resulted in the city doing the work and taxing the owner.

Apparently, residents weren’t satisfied with the ordinance, so in June the council repealed five of the six sections in #34 and published Ordinance 35. Note the differences in the basic requirement: “Each and every person owning improvements located on a lot in the town of Caddo is hereby required to place a good and substantial side walk on the street joining the lot or lots on which the improvement is located, when ordered by the town council.“ I understand this to mean that residents would not be required to put a sidewalk in front of an empty lot.

In January of 1900 the council passed Resolution 13 and got VERY specific about the construction of sidewalks. I don’t know enough about law or government to tell you why they issued a resolution rather than another ordinance. However, the resolution does say that the side walks to be constructed would be in accordance with “the provisions of Ordinance 35”.

So…I didn’t copy all of the tedious, repetitive wording of the lengthy resolution. However, here are the locations of the sidewalks:

Note: Sidewalks in the business district were required to be made of brick, smooth stone or concrete. Some sections, as noted, could be made of gravel at least 4 inches deep and well-packed. Residential sidewalks could be constructed of lumber or any of the other options, but it was noted that they should be as close to the same height as possible. Specific widths are listed for some sections.

1. Southwest corner of Main and Buffalo to the corner of Buffalo and Arkansas. 8 ft. wide
2. Northwest corner of Smith’s stone building, west on West Buffalo to the northwest corner of W. P. Wood’s foundation. 8 ft. wide (gravel option)
3. Beginning at the foundation, west on Buffalo to the corner of Buffalo and Manning. 6ft. wide
4. Beginning at the northeast corner of Ira Smith’s residence lot, west on Buffalo to the corner of Choctaw, the same being the residence lot of Herman Ahrens. 4 ft. wide (board option)
5. Beginning at Main and Buffalo on the west side, south to the Choctaw courthouse. 4 ft. wide
6. Beginning at Main and Buffalo on the west side, north to Boisdarc (their spelling).
7. “Beginning at the conjunction of Main and Bosidarc streets, thence west on the north side of the said Boisdarc Street to Choctaw Ave., that is to the southwest corner of the Thompson School house lot.”
8. Corner of Arkansas and Buffalo Street, then south on the east side of Arkansas Street to Ainsworth Street.
9. Beginning at the crossing of Henderson and Boisdarc, south on both sides of Henderson to the crossing of Henderson and Ainsworth.
10. “The side walk from the crossing of Buffalo and Main streets east on the north side of East Buffalo Street is hereby ordered repaired and made not less than 8 feet wide and that good safe steps are hereby ordered to be placed where steps are necessary, and that the said steps shall be of the width of the side walk.”

A week later it rained and the editor of the Herald stated: “When the new sidewalks designed by the town have been built, mud such as has made life a failure this week will hold no terrors for Caddo people.”

Post Master, 1921

Durant Daily Democrat

January 31, 1921

Richey Wins the Caddo Post Office By Big Majority

A.E. (Alex) Ritchey was the choice of the Caddo Republicans for postmaster at the primary held last Saturday. When the battle of ballots started, the list of candidates had dwindled down to three, A. E. Ritchey, U. S. Markham, and J. H. Hogan. The vote was Ritchey, 77; Markham 40; Hogan, 8. The other candidates, who have been aspirants for the office, announced that they did not believe that was the way to settle the question, and refused to allow their names to go on the ballot, saying that they would apply for the post office in the usual manner, through the congressman.

            Only Republicans of that city participated in the election, which was held to secure an expression as to who the Republicans wanted as their postmaster when the change comes. Markham and Hogan appeared before the meeting of the Caddo Republican club Saturday night and gave their endorsement to the nominee, Alex Ritchey and announced that they would join in with the Republican club of Caddo in making the nomination of Ritchey unanimous.

            The Republicans of Caddo were highly pleased with the vote, considering it very substantial evidence of the desires of the Republicans and the meeting Saturday night so endorsing him.

            Alex Ritchey is one of the best men in Bryan County and is a member of the county election board. He has the esteem of not only the people of Caddo, but everyone who knows him. The people of Caddo are to be complimented upon the selection, and they are assured of having a courteous and accommodating official, just as they have had during the tenure of Mr. Carroway.

Service, 1917

Changes, 1911

 

The Caddo Herald

June 23, 1911

                Contracts have been let for and the work begun on cement walks on the West side of Main Street from Buffalo to and including the property of C. A. Bilbo, the owners being W. B. Ainsworth, Mrs. Folsom, Mrs. Hauer, Amos K. Bass, A. J. Vaughan, Mrs. Hull, C. W. Hill, and Sam R. Heath. When completed, this will be quite a convenience to those going to the depot. The remainder of the distance will also be laid in cement, though the contracts have not yet been let.

                The old wooden building formerly occupied by Smith’s barber shop was moved this week, having been bought by John Schenck, who has added it to his garage on Arkansas Street. P. W. Howe and J. H. Cosart, the owners of the lot, have begun the work on a two story fifty-foot brick the lower floor which will be used for business purposes and the upper floor will be used as a lodge room and offices. With the passing of this old building, all wooden shacks have been removed from Buffalo Street, giving a much better appearance to the business part of town.

New Year, 1900

Caddo Herald

January 5, 1900

The Social Stream

            Inaugurated last week was a series of Christmas entertainments, balls and parties among the social people of Caddo, that has made life seem worth living indeed to those who participated in the various functions. Among the brightest of them were parties given by Mrs. A. C. Joyce on Wednesday and Saturday nights; by Mesdames Lynch and Moon on Friday night; a watch party at which the time was spent reading and discussing current literature was given at Mrs. H. T. Ahrens’ on New Year’s Eve. A ball at the opera house was the feature of New Year’s night. Mrs. Travis delightfully entertained a happy party of young people Tuesday night.           

Thus to the socially inclined was one of the most delightful weeks of their lives spent.