Oh, really? Good gods, it's a small world, eh? ;]
I would have been the tall skinny red haired kid with the .22 and the
big red dog that used to spend his summers up there at Eddy and
Tommy's between about 1968 and 1973, if you lived there then. [I'm 47
now. It has been awhile.]
I don't have any pictures, I'm afraid. I moved from Texas recently
and passed the family photo albumns to my Dad's cousin, Jo Autrey for
safe keeping - didn't want to take any chance of those bits of family
history getting lost while I was relocating.
I don't have many notable annecdotes from that time. I started going
there to visit with my dad when I was eight, and later on, he'd put
me on the Continental Trailways by myself to ride up to Durant where
Eddy would pick me up in that old, black, pickup truck he had had
forever. Or my dad's sister would drive me and the dogs up when I was
able to take them. I mostly spent the summers until going back to
Dallas, anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months at a time,
doing the usual kids stuff: wandering around the area with a .22 and
fishing rod and my dogs [rabbit and rattlesnake hunting mostly], or
hiking the several miles down to Delaware Creek to fish bass out of
the underhangs and camp overnight. Sometimes with my cousin from
Talequah, most often by myself.
Mostly just good times... I used to love being out by myself as a kid
and prowling those hills behind the store and looking for the old
springs and stuff. And usually getting smacked on the nehind when I
got back because it was supposedly dangerous from all of the snakes
in those chalk hills... although I very seldom saw a rattler or
copperhead, and I looked real hard. ;) [You know how kids are]
One thing that hits me is how times have changed: can you imagine a
9-10 year old being able to travel by himself on Trailways or
Greyhound with a .22 rifle and a .410 in a case today? Without having
everyone come completely unhinged? Back then, no one raised an eyebrow at it.
I don't know if any of them are left there, as I lost track of a lot
of that part of the family in later years, but we used to have some
relatives in Bromide Junction up the road: mostly Greens and Speares
family. I seem to recall that that was where my adopted grandfather,
Granddad Winkler was living when he passed on in his late 80's/early
90's. My father was raised by the Winklers, and spent part of his
early life on the Gillespie ranch down on the Blue River.
If I recall correctly, that was when there was still a bit of a town
left in Bromide: general store, gas station, post office, and
something else. Last time I visited was in 1984 before Eddy passed
on, and it seems that the only thing left was the general store. I
used to walk up to that store a few times a week with my .22 and buy
cokes from the big red coke cooler and .22 long rifle cartridges and
.410 shells at the counter as a kid. Don't know if there's anything
left of the town of Bromide, or in Bromide Junction now?
According to Jo, one of our cousins on the Winkler side of the family
was Sheriff in Johnston County for some time... don't recall if I
ever met him. If we had, it would have been while we were very young
and I'm not remembering.
It's very good to hear from you. And very interesting to find your website.
If I get settled where I can take care of the family albums without
having to worry about them getting damaged or lost, I'll see if I
can't dig out some photos from there and scan them in to the computer
to send to you. We did have some of Tommy and Eddy, and of my dad with them.
Thank you for writing me back,
- Sherman Barnes
At 09:39 AM 5/4/2007, you wrote:
>It is great to hear from you. I knew the Councils our acres were
>just down the road from them across the road from the Scout camp.
>Send me a story about your summers triips to Bromide with dates and
>lot of names and pictures and I will post it on the site.
>I work part time for the State GOP, I am 70 and still have kin in Bromide
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Sherman Barnes"
>To:
>Sent: Friday, May 04, 2007 2:11 AM
>Subject: Bromide Oklahoma
>
>
>>Dear Mr. Martin,
>>
>>I discovered your Bromide, Oklahoma page, "Bromides" while
>>attempting to do some research into the parts of Oklahoma where I
>>spent my summers growing up as a child and young teen. My father,
>>Jack T. Barnes was originally from Bromide, and I used to spend my
>>summers there with my great aunt and uncle. Long time ago, at this point.
>>
>>I was curious on reading through your site, and thought I would
>>email to ask if you were acquainted with my uncle, Eddy Council and
>>his wife Tommy Council? They had a small ranch located just outside
>>of the main junction of Bromide for a large number of years until
>>my uncle's death in the late 80's/early 90's.
>>
>>I hope this email isn't an imposition.
>>
>>Thank you,
>>- Sherman Barnes
>>
