Bromide and our water featured in TFT Newsletter

Butch Bridges publishes a weekly Internet newsletter about the greater Ardmore area. Subscriptions are free just send email to butchbridges@cableone.net with the word "Subscribe" in the subject line.

Here is an article from this weeks T&T about Bromide



Hi Butch and Jill, Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary! Sorry I missed you when you were here in Medicine Park. Hope you'll come back again soon, 'cause everything is changing so rapidly! Several years ago I went to Wapanucka, Oklahoma to visit my Dad's nephew and neices (my cousins). They took me all around the countryside and told me of stories regarding my grandparents and my Dad. One story was told about a spring that flowed with bromide. It was said to have healing powers, so President Hoover came to the spring once to drink from it. The spring still flows, altho it's more of a trickle today than it is a spring. I also believe it is condensed bromide, because it tastes plum awful!!!! I was almost afraid that the taste indicated it was poisonous! (my knees quit hurting after I drank it though.) Then my cousin took me to the old school where my Dad went as a youngster. I walked inside (it's been closed for years) and expected to find a piece of memorabilia........... I found a spoon struck in a wall crack and an ink well....... I was in heaven! I could just imagine my dad eating jam with that spoon and dipping his pen in the ink well for some story he was told to write. I kept these with the treasures I have that remind me of my Dad. Times were certainly different back when Dad was a boy. I'll write about that some other time. Enjoying the "Summertime" in the Wichita Mountains." -Joy Willingham joyw@mptelco.com

Bromide native!... you gotta have this if you love Bromide, Oklahoma

In 1977 John Morris published his book, "Ghost Towns of Oklahoma". Bromide was one of the 130 portrayed in his book. He gave special recognition of Bromide on the back cover of his book. Bromide was a booming health resort and in 1911 when the railroad came to Bromide carrying multi-millionaire Robert Galbreath's oil money, the town seemed destined to boom. And it did, for a while.

Bromide is my hometown. My wife and I started the research for this book in 1993, when we visited the Oklahoma Historical Society and copied most of the Bromide Herald issues which were from 1911 to 1915. We recieved permission to use photos from four private collections. We did extensive research of the Indian Territory, the Chickasaws and Choctaws at the National Archives here in Fort Worth. They had the only 1908 town site map of Bromide I could find. We were able to do some research of the early rodeo days in Bromide at the Cowboy Hall of Fame Archives in Oklahoma City. Also a lot of this rodeo information was found in the Herald. And finally a lot of help about the Indian Territory history came from the Chickasaw Council House Museum and the Johnston County Historical Society both located in Tishomingo Oklahoma. The book is 25.00 plus shipping.

This 239 page book, "Bromide Oklahoma Centennial, From Boastown to Ghostown Our Hometown is 8 & 1/2" by 11" soft cover. It contains well over 200 photographs and many documents. "My story" runs through-out but is mostly the last part of the book.

Click here to order book

Bromide is the Blogmaster's hometown to! On the Post Office lists in the book: WL Martin is my dad William Laverne Martin 1900-1955 who spent his whole life in his beloved Johnston county and died on a cold night in December 31st in 1955 on our farm across from Camp Simpson. He has spent most of his life as a cowboy and rufneck. My thanks to the authors of this book. I will treasure my copy.