We had about 30 people attend the Trades Day. Several stopped by to see if we had any fresh vegetables. I was looking forward to fresh vegetable too. It is a little early for there to be a surplus right now because it stayed cold longer this spring.
We want to thank the Watonga Republican for putting such a nice feature in the paper about the Trades Day last Saturday.
The T.B. Ferguson Home Museum is in the Oklahoma Today magazine July and August 2022. I haven’t read the article yet. I’ll find the magazine as soon as I can.
A lady from Thomas and her son from California came Thursday. They really enjoyed it. He made the comment “we have a diamond in our own back yard”. His mother had been to the museum several years ago but it was his first time to visit. On Saturday two girls from Stillwater attending OSU came for a visit. They seemed to enjoy it. Then a local couple stopped in to say hi and meet our site director. We appreciate them making this effort to come meet Ashley.
We had four pictures donated to the Friends of Ferguson showing the Roman Nose Gypsum Company, Brickford, Oklahoma. Two are views of the plant buildings from a high angle which shows all of the buildings spread out. It reminded me of what USG looked like when I was a child. One is of a train with five men standing beside the engine, labeled “Team that ran from Brickford, Oklahoma.” There’s a nice looking brick train depot building in the background. You can see the window where people could buy tickets. One end of the building was two story. The fourth picture is a train pulling four flat cars with no sides on them, loaded down with men standing on each car. I hope the train wasn’t moving with all those men standing there like that. And it was labeled “Train that ran from Brickford to Watonga.”
In They Carried the Torch Mrs. Ferguson wrote about political rivalry. Politicians thought the best way for the opposition to keep from getting a crowd was to set up rival entertainment. Dennis Flynn, a Republican candidate for delegate to congress was to hold a rally in Watonga; a reporter from the Wichita Eagle was to be there. People drove many miles over sandy trails, some having to ford the Canadian river with their teams, to hear the “homesteaders” friend. It was advertised in the Watonga Republican and in handbills. The Democrats were disturbed over the prospect of a successful Republican rally. They talked members of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes into putting on a pow wow with dancing on Main Street during the meeting. They enjoyed a feast before dancing so they didn’t do much dancing during the meeting thus it didn’t do as much damage as was hoped for. The Republicans retaliated when the Democrats held their meeting a few days later. Bob Forrest of El Reno, Oklahoma, was the speaker. In a nearby town Dr. Laird was holding his patent medicine show and drew a big crowd each night. The Republicans persuaded Dr. Laird to come to Watonga and put on his medicine show that night. Laird got the crowd and a mere handful of voters attended the Democratic rally.
Anyone that wants to become a member of Friends of Ferguson Home is welcome. We welcome any new suggestions. You don’t have to be a member to volunteer.
Hours of operation are Wednesday thru Saturday 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Closed city and state holidays. Give us a call at 580- 623-5069 or 580-614-1018 to make arrangements for an after hours tour.