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The BEAR Facts

December 28, 2013 /

Mary Sipes moved on with her life, but never forgot her first husband John. Or was his name Joe? Never forgot him, but it’s hard to remember. He was lost in the war, poor soul.

But which war?

It isn’t clear. Mrs Sipes was unsure about several things regarding the death of her husband. No official notification. “I suppose(d) he was killed in the war,” she wrote.

She just wasn’t sure. That’s why – years later – after she had remarried, she got a little nervous about the report of a John Sipes being eaten by a bear. She wrote a letter, hoping to clear it up.

It wasn’t so much the story of a man being eaten by a bear. The man being Mr Sipes. That was pretty bad, but still – hardly a story that would endure for most of a century. No, it was the pleading for information by the widow, written in a letter to an official, that has lasted all these years. (Spelling wasn’t her strong point…)

KIND AND RESPECTED CIR: I see in the paper that a man named J— S— was atacted at et up by a bare whose cubs he was trying to git when the she-bare came up and stopt him by eatin him up in the mountains near your town. What I want to know is did it kill him or was he only partly et up and he from this place and all about the bare. I don’t know but what he is a distant husband of mine. My first husband was killed in the war but the name of the man the bare et being the same I thought it might be him after all and I thought to know if he wasn’t killed either in the war or by the bare for I have been married twice since and their ought to be a divorce papers got out by him or me if the bare did not eat him all up. If if is him you will know it by having six toes on the left foot. He also sings base and has a spread eagle tattooed on his front chest and a ankor on his right arm which you will know him if the bare did not eat up these parts of him. If alive don’t tell him I am married to J—- W— for he never liked J—. Mebbe you had better let on as if I am ded but find out all you can about him, without him knowing anything what it is for. That is if the bare did not eat him all up. If it did I don’t see you can do anything and you needn’t take any trouble. My respeks to your family and please ancer back. P.S. was the bare killed. Also was he married again and did he leave any property worth me laying claim to?

No follow-up reports to let us know the number of toes on the foot of the bear-victim. Or whether he had been all “et up.”

But other versions of the story did follow-up. In some the widow was looking for John Siper. Or John Marsh. Or Joe White. The names changed but the narrative, with all its mispellings, was reprinted in papers across the country over the course of 75 years.

It is an official Urban Myth. The kind of story we love to hear and read – and this one has been passed around:

Bedford (IN) Daily Mail: 2-15-1899
Kewanna (IN) Herald: 1-13-1899
Tulia (TX) Herald: 12-30-1899
Harrisburg (IA) Reporter: 8-24-1906
Delphi Carroll County Citizen Times: 7-20-1907
Corydon (IN) Republican: 9-15-1921
Joplin (MO) Globe: 1-29-1922
Oil City (PA) news: 2-20-1974

Here is how the final re-publication (before this one) was attributed: The columnist for the Tulia (TX) Herald wrote on June 9, 1977 that the letter was first reported by “Bob Miller in the Hamilton Herald News” who claimed to have read it in the Comanche (TX) Chief, where publisher Mary Wilkerson wrote that it was reproduced from a TRUE article published on 12-30-1899.

That is the moral here. Sometimes, you just CAN’T believe it. Believe you, me.

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!

Where in the World? Front and Center

December 18, 2013 /

We’re on top of the world! Actually, the World is on top of us – literally. I’m flattered to notice that my next-door-neighbors and I share the background on the Tulsa World’s Broken Arrow web page. (You can click on the image for a slightly larger view, or visit the World’s webpage…)

Their logo runs right through the image of the bookshop’s storefront awning, partially obscuring the Books & Bistro lettering. (I can squint and make it out…) The sign for Star Jewelers is clearly visible, as is awning of Glamour Gowns & More and their slightly smaller lettering. I discovered the image after clicking on a link to a World review by restaurant critic Scott Cherry after he visited the newly opened Bruhouse Grill. I can attest to the fact that Mr. Cherry’s reviews can bring a crowd of dining guests, and I’ll be happy to see the additional traffic in the Rose District at the tail-end of the the street construction project.

The original photograph serving as the banner image is a credit to the remodeling efforts of the Broken Arrow couple behind four restored vintage BA storefronts. The construction work – some of which is still being completed – is much more than a cosmetic facelift. Many of the Rose District structures date back to statehood, and a number are “grandfathered in” where the building codes are concerned.

It is an expensive proposition to bring the wiring and plumbing of an old structure up-to-date. Those are things that –for the most part – aren’t even visible while walking into the store. Two of the three buildings at the far left in the image have not only been brought up to current building codes, but have had extensive structural reinforcement and cosmetic exterior updating.

What it boils down to: the buildings are better, much better, than they were brand new. Thermal glass. Inner wall insulation. Safety features.

They are buildings that not only LOOK good. They ARE good buildings.

There are two other buildings in the couple’s ownership that do not appear on the Tulsa World webpage, but they are equally sound, and beautiful residents of the Rose District community. As a history fanatic who grew up in towns much smaller than Broken Arrow (at least, smaller than BA has become in recent years), it pained me immensely to see local landmarks razed to make way for concrete parking lots.

Remodeling work on two downtown BA buildings had to be halted last fall, over concerns that the activity might bring the walls down on top of the workers. It was a case of too little, too late. The structures were in such a state of disrepair that they could not safely be brought back to life. Thankfully, the building housing the bookshop and the other storefronts in the ownership family have been given the kind of attention that will carry them forward for another one-hundred years.

Ask the planners. The heart of any city or town is the center of the original community. What we always called “downtown.” Whether it consists of a grid of skyscrapers like Tulsa or a single block of connected buildings like so many small Oklahoma towns, the original business district is vital – for a number of reasons.

When I first explored the idea of locating a bookstore in Broken Arrow (rather than Owasso, my original destination), I wanted to be “Downtown.” I wanted it to be the Main Street Bookstore. We landed on Main – just not Downtown.

How much sweeter it is!

We’re on top of the World! (Except, on their webpage, where the World is on top of us…)

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main, Broken Arrow, OK!

Pass the nails, a building is going up!

December 2, 2013 /

It’s like an Amish barn-raising – in the morning, not so much to see… then by early afternoon BANG! Everything but the kitchen sink!

It’s a sunny afternoon in the Rose District. Morning fog is gone and two-by-fours are popping up from the cement like dandelions on the Oklahoma prairie. As you can see in the image, crews are already working on the exterior wallboard along the south edge.

Before eight o’clock Monday morning, there were just a handful of workers at the site of the future In The Raw restaurant. They were looking over the stacks of lumber that had been unloaded next to the foundation. A few hours later, the walls were on their way up.

With the weekend forecast, it would be great if they could get a roof installed before the frosty precipitation arrives.

Black Friday is behind us and from my informal, strictly unscientific survey – the merchants in the Rose District were pleased with the number of shoppers out and about. (And, more importantly – the number of buyers. We like browsers, but we love buyers!) After so many months of barricades, roadblocks, and darkness, it’s a welcome change to see a hint of normalcy returning.

I’ve noticed activity at the Bruhouse just across the street, and they seem to be nearing readiness for opening. A new sign has gone up two doors down from them, where the incoming cigar bar is in its latter interior construction stages. Those of you who have not visited the Rose District since the streetscaping project began may not have been aware of some of the other changes.

On the west side of Dallas and Main, Spokehouse Bicycles has opened a second location to compliment their Tulsa store. The shop is bright and filled with two-wheelers of all types. They’ve taken up residence in the building vacated by On The Corner, which has relocated to the southwest corner of the Broadway and Main intersection, next to the little park.

A cellphone store has moved into the building just south of the Main Street Tavern, and there is a pop-up shop in the location vacated by Ruffles and Bows. Pop-ups are temporary retailers with short term rent agreements, generally offering seasonal merchandise. The shop is offering vintage and new gift ideas for the holidays.

The Military History Museum has officially opened its doors and has an impressive collection of memorabilia and souvenirs on display. Construction is ongoing in that part of the district, but there are still plenty of off-street parking spots available. We get spoiled in the Rose District, with parking right in front of the storefronts, and get nervous if we have to walk from around the corner. (We never worry about the distance when we have to park in the north two acres of the Walmart lot. Go figure.)

Most importantly, there are no more orange fences or barrel barricades obstructing the sidewalks. There is room enough for square dancing.

The trees have been installed, most of the streetlamps are working at night, and I’ve seen the electric contractors fiddling with the traffic signals.

It’s coming along, so come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main Broken Arrow OK!

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