Opinion

Weekly Column

Wed, 06/10/2020 - 5:00am

The United States recently surpassed more than 100,000 precious lives lost to COVID-19. As we sadly know all too well, along with the staggering human cost, this pandemic has disrupted every corner of American society and life as we know it – wrecking thriving economies, shuttering businesses, killing jobs and threatening livelihoods. While these hard and fast hits seemingly came out of nowhere, the wrath of this invisible enemy could have been quelled and lives protected worldwide had the Communist Chinese Party issued warnings upfront and told the truth about early evidence. Instead, the regime sat on potentially lifesaving information, allowing spread to occur for weeks before taking any action to protect even its own citizens.

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MemoriesOf S. W. Frost

Wed, 06/10/2020 - 5:00am

My father was Matthew Frost, born September 20, 1825, in Tennessee. My mother was Nancy Jane Hale Frost, born in 1841 in North Carolina. There were five children in our family. I was born in 1858 in South

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Thankfully, Tornado Count Slows During May

Wed, 06/03/2020 - 5:00am

Cool weather dominated a good part of May, and possibly robbed Mother Nature of the heat needed for her most exotic springtime menu item; tornadoes. There was still the normal offering of large hail, damaging winds, and flash flooding, but the twister count was below average. The National Weather Service indicated a preliminary total of 13 tornadoes for the month, well below the 1950-2019 average of 24.4, and a relatively minuscule tally compared to last May’s all-time Oklahoma monthly record of 105. The 2020 preliminary total of 33 also falls below the January-May average of 41.

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Ft. Arbuckle, Chickasaw Nation, I. T.

Wed, 06/03/2020 - 5:00am

The first fort built on the Washita River was one at the mouth of the Washita by General Leavenworth in 1834. But this had been such a disastrous place for the soldiers, (malaria), that it was not occupied very long. The Chickasaws were begging for protection, from the wild plains tribes, and in answer to their cry, General Taylor departed from Fort Gibson in September 1841, to locate a camp among them. This camp was finally located April 3, 1843, about twenty-two miles above the mouth of the Washita. It was occupied immediately by two companies of Dragoons. Major Fontleroy was placed in command. This post was called Ft. Washita.