Some Stories About Oklahoma

[Actor]

1. The Governor

Sometime around 1970 there was a meeting of governors of several states to be held in Chicago, Ill. The governor of Oklahoma decided that, instead of booking a flight to Chicago, he would give the new interstate highway system a try, said system having a fairly direct route from Oklahoma City, through Tulsa and St. Louis, and then to Chicago. Upon approaching Chicago the governor got pulled over by a cop. While writing a citation the cop asked "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm the governor of Oklahoma."

"Sir, I need to know your occupation."

"I'm the governor of Oklahoma."

"Oh! Wise guy!"

Whereupon the cop cuffed the governor and took him to the slammer.


2. Dude, where's my car?

U.S. Highway 54 runs southwest from Liberal, KS to Texhoma, OK, passing near Panhandle State University. Parallel to the highway is a railroad track. At the time of this story it was illegal for persons under 21 to buy beer in Oklahoma. However, the legal age to buy beer in Kansas was 18. Naturally students at the university would drive to Liberal, KS to buy beer.

So two guys make the trip to Liberal to visit a bar. At closing time they are too drunk to find their car. But, not to worry. Remember the railroad track? They decide to hop a freight for the trip back to the university. But, being drunk, they fell asleep and woke to find themselves in Chillecothe, TX.


3. Bulldozer.

This story was reported on the national news by none other than Walter Cronkite. A guy owned a bulldozer. He had a big argument with his teen age son. The kid decides to take the bulldozer on a joy ride. At the intersection of U.S. Highway 64 and county road 198 there was a gas station that was no longer in business. The kid leveled the gas station before continuing on, stopping only when the bulldozer ran out of fuel.


4. Remember the Alamo! Remember Pearl Harbor! And for God's sake remember Boise City!

Boise City, OK is a small town in the west end of the Oklahoma panhandle near the New Mexico border. In the early days of WWII a bomber stationed at an Army Air Corp base in the Texas Panhandle was supposed to make a training bomb run on a lighted target. The plane got lost and mistook the lights of Boise city to be the target. They dropped several practice bombs on the city. No one was hurt but there was some property damage.

On the 50th anniversary of the bombing Boise City held a big festival to commemorate the incident. They invited the surviving crew members to the event. None of them accepted.