Growing up with my grandmother, she told stories about the house on the Wichita Wildlife Refuge near a Lawton, Ok. where they lived, long before I was born.
She told us one of our uncle woke to a buffalo leaning through a window looking at him. It nearly scared him to death!
My sister remembers a story about noises outside the house and grans going out to see what was going on, only to find army tanks aiming at the house. She frantically waved some fabric in the air to stop them. The soldiers were getting ready to blow the place up! They were shocked anyone lived there.
Another time, my uncle heard weird noises outside and found out they were missiles zooming over the house!
My aunt tells the story of my grandfather feeling like something was watching him while he read the paper. He be put the paper down and went to see what it was - and it was one of the wild animals watching him, though she didn’t remember if it was an elk or buffalo.
Can you imagine one of these things happening to you?
Grandma and grandpa lived in the house during World War II. They paid $1 a month to live there, while granddad was a civilian working on the (Ft Sill) base nearby.
It has been too long for me to remember all the stories, but I remembered going to see the house several times and knew it was a special place. When we went to Medicine Park last week, we looked for it - and sure enough - it was still there! It is boarded up, far off the road and rattle snakes are rampant in the area, so I just took a picture of it. 🤣
Years ago, when my Aunt Jacque lived in Selma, Alabama, I was in her studio looking at her art. There was a pile next to the door of scraps, some trash and this picture. I asked her what she was doing with it and she said she was getting ready to haul it to the trash. I asked if I could have it - after all, I envied her artistic talents. I was excited that she said yes, and ever since I got it, it has hung in all of our homes. Imagine my surprise when I later learned that it was the Ingram Place!
History never used to interest me, but it sure does now! I am excited that our genealogical ‘family home’ is still standing and upon researching for more information, I found it is listed as a historical landmark!
Want to read more about it? HERE is the history previous to my grandparent’s living there.
Today was a good day. 🙂
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