Albert Lee Wyatt

 It's been almost a year since I've posted anything here and, all of a sudden, I feel a need to post some things.  This entry is about a man who was my father's half-uncle.  Neither my father nor I ever met the man but I've done quite a bit of research on him.

Albert Lee Wyatt (1878-1949)

Albert Wyatt was born in 1878 to L.A. Wyatt and Laura Dunham. His father was from Tennessee and his mother from Missouri but they had migrated to Palo Pinto County in Texas when Albert was born. L.A. and Laura had married in Palo Pinto County in 1878 so it may have been a “shotgun” wedding.

L.A.’s fate is not known but Laura remarried in 1885 in Fannin County, Texas, this time to William Eugene Porter. William was born in Minnesota but had lived in Missouri and Texas before his marriage to Laura.

William and Laura had five children:

Ethel Dorothy 1887 Grayson County, Texas

Thomas Perry Sr. 1888 Travis County, Texas

Hermina 1893 (Location Unknown)

Doss Alan 1898 Indian Territory, Oklahoma

Arbell 1899 Indian Territory, Oklahoma

The 1900 Census found William Eugene and all five of his children, as well as his stepson, Albert, living in the Chickasaw Nation in Indian Territory. William’s marital status was listed as “widowed”. It is possible that Laura had died while giving birth to their youngest daughter, Arbell.

In about 1901, when Thomas was thirteen, he ran away from home, wound up in the Mannford/Keystone area and never saw his father again. William apparently remarried and he and his second wife had two daughters whose names are unknown.

By 1906, Albert had married a woman named Calvin “Callie” Horton and they had a son, Raymond. Raymond lived in Mannford, Oklahoma most of his life and went by the nickname “Slip”. He became the local town “ne’er do well” and spent most of his time drinking. He was also rumored to have been a moonshiner but this has not been confirmed.

At the time of the 1910 Census, Doss was living with his older sister, Ethel, and her husband, William Renner, in Roger Mills County in far western Oklahoma. Thomas Perry has not been found in that census, neither has his half-brother Albert. It is presumed that Thomas was in the area of Mannford or Keystone since he is presumed to have fathered Tommy Alexander who was born in February, 1911.

By 1917, Thomas had moved back to Texas, living in Archer County, and working as a cowboy on the Waggoner Ranch. In the 1920 Census, Albert was living with his wife, Callie, and their son in Mannford. Doss was not found in the 1920 Census but apparently he and Albert kept in contact with each other.

In 1921, Doss married Emma Marie Vanderpoll and they had two sons before 1930. Most of this time, they lived in Oklahoma City but, by 1930, they had moved to Binger, Oklahoma. Binger is west and south of Oklahoma City and just south of Hinton, Oklahoma. In 1930, Albert and his wife, Callie, and their son, Raymond, continued to live in Mannford.

By 1935, Doss and Albert both had moved to the McCloud/Dale area in Pottawatomie County. Doss had his wife and two sons with him but Albert had left Callie and their son, Raymond, in Mannford. No record of a divorce has been found. While living in Pottawatomie County, however, Albert either married a second time or took a common-law wife. Her name was Ida May (or Mae) McCartney. She had a son, Merlyn, who was born about 1921, and a daughter, Delores, born about 1926. The identity of their father is unknown but they took Albert’s last name and were listed in census records as Merlyn and Delores Wyatt.

During the mid- to late-1930’s, the depression had worsened to the point that many Oklahomans were leaving and going to California. Albert Wyatt and Doss Porter joined this migration and moved to Riverbank in Stanislaus County. Doss was still married to Emma but Albert had his new family with him. According to family members, Albert and Doss were always close and these moves confirm that relationship.

Albert died in 1949 at 70 years of age. His second wife, Ida May, remarried to a man whose surname was Blackwood. She died in 1997.

Doss’s wife, Emma, died in 1950 at 50 years of age and Doss remarried a woman named Bessie Pitts. He died in 1976 at the age of 77.

Callie Wyatt, Albert’s first wife, remained in the Mannford area for the rest of her life and is remembered for her gardening skills. She apparently was always surrounded by beautiful plants and flowers. She died in 1973 at age 91 and is buried in Oilton, Oklahoma.

My Hometown

Although I was born in Rock Springs, Wyoming, and lived in Cromwell, Oklahoma for the first three or four years of my life, I consider Mannford, Oklahoma to be my hometown.  My mother was from Cromwell and just happened to be in Rock Springs when I was born.  My adoptive father was from the Mannford area and that's how we came to live there.

Mannford was a settlement on the banks of the Cimarron River and, prior to about 1904, didn't even have a name.  It was platted in 1904 and became a "for real" town before Oklahoma became a state in 1907.  Mannford was named after a gentleman who lived in the area and helped found the town.  His land included a low-water crossing on the river which became known as Mann's Ford, later shortened to Mannford.

For several years, Mannford was a growing area because of the railroad which ran through there, the farming and the cattle which were fed out in the area.  Eventually, the town reached a state of equilibrium and the population leveled out at about 500 people.  In 1951 when I was five years old, my father, with his new wife and two adopted sons, returned to Mannford.  Growing up in a small town was the best thing that could have happened to me.  Most of my memories of childhood are pleasant ones.

In the mid to late 1950's, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that a flood control reservoir would be built somewhere around the confluence of the Arkansas and Cimarron Rivers.  The lake was to be an integral part of the Arkansas River Navigation System which was then being constructed.  The system was conceived to allow navigation from Tulsa to the Mississippi River.

I remember that Life Magazine called the system the "biggest pork barrel project in the history of the United States".  Senators Mike McClellan of Arkansas and Robert S. Kerr of Oklahoma each had a tremendous influence in Washington, D.C. and were able to get the spending, about $4.3 billion at the time, approved.

At any rate, the construction of the flood control reservoir, to be called Keystone Lake after the nearest town to the dam location, began.  Several towns were to be affected, Cleveland, Osage, Prue, Keystone, and Mannford.  Cleveland and Osage were right on the edge of the flood control pool so elected to protect their towns with levies.  The town of Prue was more impacted and moved a short distance to escape the lake.  Keystone was not so fortunate; it would be about 50 feet under water so a serious move would be required.  Unfortunately, no leaders stepped up to lead this effort, and as a result, Keystone died except for memories.

My hometown, Mannford, was going to be mostly under water at flood stages and the Corps of Engineers gave them the option to either build levies to protect the town or to move it completely.  Several of Mannford's leaders took this as an opportunity to take the town into a new position and elected to move the town.  The location chosen was two miles east and two miles south of the old town, about 2.8 miles.  This would insure that they were on the relocated State Highway 51 as well as having the railroad run through it.  Incidentally, our family didn't have to move; we had been two miles east of Mannford and now we would live two miles north of the newly-located town.

In 1957, my family moved to Pampa, Texas, and we were there until 1960 when we returned to Mannford.  Some construction on the reservoir and ancillary projects began while we were in Pampa but the majority of the work began about the time we returned to Mannford.  Many things had to happen before the lake could be impounded including construction of new highways, railroad tracks, parks and moving many houses, businesses and even cemeteries.

By August, 1962, the new school had been completed and I started my junior year there.  Jobs for young people abounded and I did my share of construction work on park roads in the area.  We got to see a huge project being built right in our backyards and it was an exciting time!

Mannford has survived several natural disasters since it's move, including a tornado in April, 1984, which destroyed the High School, several churches, and many homes.  A wildfire in 2012 burned 60,000 acres and about 400 homes in the area but didn't get into the town proper.

Today the "new" town of Mannford has matured into a thriving community with a lot of amenities and I believe that it's proximity to Tulsa will make it a high growth area for the next 50 years.  The population has grown from about 2000 people in the 2000 Census to about 3000 in the 2010 Census.

The Highway Revisited

I wrote the other day about State Highway 51 and some of our experiences growing up beside that highway.  I mentioned that it was originally designated Highway 33, was paved in 1924, and later became Highway 51.

One day I was talking to Dad and he was relating some stories to me.  He mentioned riding the train from Mannford to Keystone.  I asked why you would ride the train when it was only seven miles from one town to the other.  He pointed out to me that the highway didn't exist then and that you had to negotiate a long, winding series of dirt roads to make the trip.  A couple of years after he passed, I discovered this map on the internet.  It is from the US Geological Survey and is dated 1915.  If you look, you can see that there is no direct road from Mannford to Keystone, only the railroad.

To give you an idea of where everything is, the current city of Mannford is located just above and to the right of the "R" in what is shown of "Mannford" at the bottom of the map.

It's my understanding that the city of Mannford is getting ready to resurface the old highway from Basin Road west to the top of Gilman Hill.  It certainly needs it as the pavement is in really bad shape.  My only regret is that a set of animal tracks about 1/2 mile west of Basin Road will be covered up forever.  It has always amazed me that a dog or coyote ran across that concrete in 1924 and left his mark on that highway for many years!

The bridge over Salt Creek on Highway 51 was about 1 1/2 miles east of our house.  In the spring of 1957, there was severe flooding in the Cimarron River which backed up into Salt Creek and covered the bridge.  Dad was working in Tulsa and making the commute every day.  To get to work, he had to make a detour several miles out of his way to the south.  Fortunately, the flooding subsided after a few days.

We also had some neighbors to the east of us whose last name was Melton.  Their son, Chuck, had graduated from Mannford High in 1954.  He owned a Volkswagen beetle, the first one I ever saw.  They were touted as being so well constructed that they would float so Chuck rolled all the windows up and pushed his VW across the flooded bridge.  As a very impressionable 11 year old kid, I was awestruck that he could do that!

Another vivid memory I have of that era involved Mr. Kurtze's gasoline station on the west side of Keystone.  We would pull in there to get gas and Mr. Kurtze would pump it up into the glass bowl on the top of the old pump.  Then, while it was draining down into the car's tank, Dad and Mr. Kurtze would walk out to the well house behind the station.  Dad would return to the car with a paper sack containing a pint of whiskey. Oklahoma was still dry and Mr. Kurtze was the local bootlegger!  The State didn't vote liquor in until 1959.

In the summer of 1957, we moved from Mannford to Pampa, Texas, because the company Dad worked for, Franks Manufacturing Co., had relocated there.  Most weekends while we lived in Pampa we would load up and come to Mannford to keep the family home up.  Dad would put a big tool box in the trunk of the old '46 Ford which really weighted it down.  It seems that more times than not, we would get stopped by a Highway Patrolman, suspecting that we were carrying illegal whiskey!

The old highway held a lot of memories.  It was fun growing up beside it.

The Highway

We grew up beside the highway.  To be more specific, our house was on State Highway 51, two miles from Mannford and five miles from Keystone.  Highway 51 extends from the Texas state line near Arnett, Oklahoma, to the Arkansas line just east of Stilwell.  It had been Highway 33 many years ago, then 33 was moved south and this became 51.

According to my father, who was around at the time, the highway was put there in 1924 and served us well until 1962 when the new highway was built (because of the construction of Lake Keystone) and this became known as the old highway.  I've spent more time walking that stretch of pavement, first as a teenager and now as a retired person, than any other piece of real estate I can think of.  As teenagers, my brother and I used that road to get to town; as an oldtimer, I walk it for the exercise.

Let me give you a brief description of what I remember about the highway.  As it left the old town of Mannford, it went under the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad overpass first.  It then crossed over Hazel Creek, a small stream on the east side of town.  You can still see the remnants of the bridge if you drive west up the old highway from Basin Road.  After a couple of curves, the road went up Gilman Hill.  I have no idea how Hazel Creek and Gilman Hill got their names.  If you know, I would be very interested in hearing from you.  At the top of the hill was a dirt road which turned off to the north; I don't remember whether anyone lived down there or not.  That road many years ago provided access to the Basin area.

The highway then proceeded east up and down three smaller hills to our house which was on the dirt road on the right.  From there it went on down the hill to another AT&SF railroad overpass and then down to the Salt Creek bridge.  Eventually, it ended up in Keystone.

As I mentioned earlier, my brother, Gary, and I, walked from Mannford to home many times before we got our coveted driver's licenses.  Many of these walks were late at night after we had been carousing around Mannford.  It was not uncommon then to walk the entire two miles from Mannford to our house without seeing a single car!  Compare that to the traffic on Highway 51 through our town today.

Once we were walking home late at night (probably after midnight), when we saw a car coming up Gilman Hill traveling east.  Of course we stuck our thumbs out - getting a ride home was very unusual.  As the car approached us, we saw that it was a hearse!  Of course, he pulled over up ahead of us.  This was a scary situation; did we want a ride home bad enough to get into a hearse late at night?  As it turned out, the hearse belonged to another teenager and we enjoyed the lift home.

Mae and Glen owned the Phillips 66 station on the east side of (old) Mannford.  Mom and Dad were very good friends with Mae and Glen and we spent a lot of time at each others houses.  At one point, they had a female greyhound whose name was Slim (of course).  Every once in a while, when we finished buying gas at the station, Slim would take off behind us.  When Mom or Dad saw this, they would drive slowly, about 20-25 miles per hour.  Slim would run that entire two miles to our house.  After a day or two of visiting, she would then follow us back into Mannford to the station.

Looking back on it, the highway provided us with a lot of experiences as well as a means to get to Mannford or Keystone.  I've got a lot more stories about the highway that I'll share with you some day.