Heritage

The Wichita County Heritage Society held lunch for the public at the Kell House Museum, then drove us in the trolley to the Riverside Cemetery. My dear friend hostess stood at the front of the trolley to impart to us stories about the history of some of the prominent figures in town, most from the Kell and Kemp families. The tour included a little bit of notoriety, too, by showing the grave of the James' sister (scroll below) and bank robbers killed by vigilantism. The tour included actors; a young woman played Susan Parmer, sister of Jesse James.
Parmer's grave and the two actors standing beside it, waiting for the trolley behind us.
A pensive My Mr Mallory strolls across the way from Charles William Wallace's mausoleum. Wallace identified himself as the premier scholar in everything and anything having to do with William Shakespeare (not an understatement).
Charles' mausoleum below.
On our way to buy a new battery for the '53 Chrysler I photographed protesters, or rather demanders of health reform.

Fossilizing

Note the structure of an oak nut on a stone and grass.
My Mr. Mallory drove up this afternoon to pick me up. Our plan: Meet with a professor of geology from the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
This is our first glimpse of the professor, appropriately enough, on his hands and knees in search of fossils. He takes the fossils to the museum in Dallas.
Here he is, knee-pads and all.
In addition to fossil searching, David plays the harp for the symphony orchestra.
Here he explains what and where to search for the 280 million-year-old fossils.
My Mr. Mallory found the bones of a pre-historic lizard.

Vertebrae of the dimetrodon.
Scales on the spine of a Permian era lizard.
Last shot: Super market flowers.

Sally's Work

My new friend Dottie helped me track down Sally, who lives on the other side of Lake Kickapoo.

Hogging and Pigging

A large hog in orange sits at Red River Harley Davidson waiting for a rider to share some TLC and the road.
This hog, the Deluxe, looked retro.
We stopped at Gene's and pigged on tacos.

Lost in Megargel

In the 1700s, near this site on Farm Road 210 just north of Megargel, French tradesmen brought goods to the Native Americans. Spanish explorer Jose Mares discovered evidence of the trading in 1787 while he hiked through there, jotting down a map for a new road. Later, the US Army camped near here while they sought a good ground for a new Indian Reservation. In the mid-1800s, the US Army escorted a Comanche exodus to Oklahoma. Outside Megargel stands a lonesome barn, seemingly abandoned by its owner.
Most of Megargel seemed abandoned today. The town, founded in 1910, flourished with a railroad, the Texas & Western, and then with the oil boom of the 20s. Times became tough for the people of Megargel during the Great Depression.
Facade of the Megargel High School, 1927.
Just off the highway towards Olney stands another abandoned building.
In contrast, a couple of eateries along the highway toward Seymour looked jolly, or maybe I demanded from myself that I perceive them jolly, for Megargel is a lonesome looking town.

From My Desktop

In Oklahoma City's Bricktown one may come upon Sisyphus pushing a sphere up a ramp.Fort Worth Zoo.

Archer County Heritage

A stone marker (circa 1878) indicates to travelers from Decatur that they have sixteen miles more of territory to cover before arriving in Archer City. Beginning approximately in the year 1849, people traveled along this route from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to California. The Royal Theatre in downtown Archer City still holds shows. Stop by one evening.
View from behind the old jail house in Archer City, now the Archer County Museum. The building served as a jail from 1910 to 1974. The American Legion maintained the building until they gave it to the city.
Eryops lizard from the Permian found in Archer County by Jack Loftin, curator of the Archer County Museum.
The first oil well drilled in Archer County became the longest producing well in Texas. For sixty-nine years, from 1911 to 1980, it pumped oil from a shallow production zone. (Miller-Andrews No. 1 Oil Well)
Spudder driller from 1946. The rotary driller replaced the spudder.
Detail on the 1946 spudder.
Tractor sitting behind the Archer County Museum.

Printing press.
The V-bar brand from the Taylor Ranches. At any one time, Taylor owned several thousand head of cattle.
Upstairs in the museum, the bars of the jail remain in place.
Mary Ann told us that the drunk tank door had the shiniest door handle and the fewest squeaks when opened. The first inmate in the jail house was a horse thief. The jail had a gallows, fortunately never used, for in 1911 Texas passed a law against hanging.
An old clock.
Looking outside one of the windows of the third floor, I glimpsed our motorcycles.
Next stop? We headed around Lake Arrowhead and then had tacos at La Michoacana.

Inside a Store

This is an unintentional image. Halloween lights light up the background as if we see real flames.

Already My Fave Renovated Shop

Downtown Wichita Falls is enjoying extensive renovations and revitalization. Here, my already favorite future downtown art gallery close to my heart.