Panhandle museums tell unique stories
By JuliAnn Graham, CCC F
or all their similarities, the museums of the Oklahoma Panhan- dle are each unique. The museums offer a variety of artifacts with stories that can’t be told by the single placard labeling each display. Museum directors are the modern-day storytellers
behind the pieces. The Panhandle museums tell the story of the past and offer insight into who we are today.
Early forms of communication are common in the museums but showcased differently. At the Gateway to the Panhandle Museum in Gate, a telegraph machine is displayed in a large glass case. The Kenton Museum has a smaller telegraph piece that illustrates Morse code. It also has a small switchboard and some early telephones. No Man’s Land Museum in Goodwell has a telephone switchboard and so does Boise City’s Cimarron Heritage Center although they are different sizes. The museums also showcase early modes of transportation, with sad-
dles, wagons and buggies abounding. No Man’s Land Museum has a 1922 Lincoln Coupe car on display while the Cimarron Heritage Center has a 1918 Dort Hearse. The Jones and Plummer Trail Museum in Beaver has 64 saddles on display, courtesy of Felice Calhoon and her late hus- band Dr. Ed Calhoon. One of the saddles is marked IT for Indian Territory and another is marked OT for Oklahoma Territory. All of the museums and directors mentioned are electric cooperative members. The Gateway to the Panhandle Museum is a member of Northwestern Electric Cooperative and all the others are members of Tri-County Electric Cooperative (TCEC). While there are other sim- ilarities, unique aspects of each museum make them shine.
36 Gateway to the Panhandle Museum and Library
Local artist Marilyn Shahan painted the town of Gate with murals depicting historical scenes of early days. The museum is located where the train depot once was so there is a mural of a train arriving in town and people are painted on the platform. The telegraph setup on display is from the actual railroad system that used to be in the town. The mu- seum recently undertook a project to recognize area veterans and it was dedicated on Veteran’s Day.
Jones & Plummer Trail Museum The glowing Vaseline glassware made with uranium in the Jones and
Plummer Trail Museum is truly unique. The museum also hosts Old School Days with schools in the county where the children and teacher dress in early 1900s style and conduct class in the one-room schoolhouse on the property. Another piece with a story is the black buggy from the Judy Ranch. Museum Director Robbie Hancock said, “Tom Judy courted his sweet- heart Fannie Schmoker in it. This was the only way he could cross the Cimarron River to get to Fannie.”
No Man’s Land Museum The Duckett Collection of carved alabaster stands out in
the No Man’s Land Museum. The siblings from Baker carved a miniature replica of their homestead and many intricate pieces out of the rock between 1938 and 1973, creating an
Director Jody Risley shows the Opal Cox collection of 4,828 mounted buttons.
Sixty-four saddles are on display at the Jones and Plummer Trail Museum in Beaver, Okla. Some date back to pre-statehood days.
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