I had planned to write about my mother's first piano lesson over 70 years ago in May of 1938. Yet the flood phenomenon that has impacted our state this week seemed to mandate a "flood" posting. Mother emphasized this when she showed her diary entry from April 25, 1944 - 75 years ago. This makes one think Meteorological History Does Repeat Itself.
In the early morning hours on Tuesday, April 25, 1944, the Arkansas
River overflowed its banks. In that era of the Bend history, a small store was
situated on the Y just west of the Osage County side of the Belford Bridge over
the Arkansas River. Mr. Hall owned and operated the store and and sold gas from its sole gasoline
pump in front. He and his wife lived in a small house behind the store building.
Due to its proximity to the river bottom, that Tuesday morning, the errant water surrounded the small
store. The swollen river was four to five feet up on their house.
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| The location of the store owned by Mr. Hall would have been near the tree in the middle of this photo. I took this photo around noon on Thursday, May 23, 2019, at the Y just west of the Belford Bridge over the flooded Arkansas River. |
Mother and her
parents then traveled to the southwest area of the Big Bend to check on their
close friends, Sam and Robbie Smith. Champlin Refinery Company, Sam's employer, owned their
house on the river. The couple lived in the pumper
house that was now surrounded by water. The river lacked about two feet being
into their house.
Motorboats were
sent to get them to safety. Robbie evacuated but Sam and Robbie’s father stayed
behind. They sent the boat back for the men soon after rescuing Robbie.
Mother’s aunt,
Pearl Bierman Rainey, had received cutting-edge treatment for cancer in
Oklahoma City. Cancer treatment, even though common today, was a rare,
revolutionary cancer eradication therapy.
Most of Aunt Pearl’s
life had been spent in the Bend. She met Lewis Rainey, the older brother of my
maternal grandmother, soon after the Rainey family moved to the Bend. She buried her younger son in Pixley
Cemetery, the graveyard of the community, following a tragic mining accident.
She found solace gardening in her well-manicured lawn and flower beds.
Now she wanted to get back to her home.
Presently as I write this blog post, the west end of the Belford River Bridge is closed. It was also closed when Aunt Pearl planned her return from Oklahoma City. Her only transportation option a water craft across the
flooded river. Determined to spend that evening at her home in the Bend, she arranged
for her nephew, Joe Owens and George Price, the grandfather of Dale Price, to
navigate her across the river. Mother wrote in her diary, “She didn’t seem to
mind the ride at all.” As is characteristic of most Bend women, Aunt Pearl proved she was a tenacious, brave woman.
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| Mother indicates all of this portion of the road was covered with water in 1944. The water in that historic Flood reached the base of the hill where the slope began. This photo was taken on Thursday, May 23 around noon. |
Mother ended her
diary entry describing a very enjoyable visit with Thelma Johnson. In recent years, she renewed her friendship with Thelma who married Jewel Dean Frank, another Bender.
They left the Bend, worked hard, and became owns of the company, Tulsa Tube Bending,
Inc. their children continue operating the company. Thelma even learned to fly and piloted their plane in earlier days. J. D. aka
Jewel Dean is a cousin of Harmon Lee Franks, Betty Jo Franks Wayman, and Linda
Franks Reyburn.
The flooding of
the Arkansas River serves as another reminder that we are not in control. I provided linked below to four previous popular blog postings about other floods that affected family
members and loved ones.
This Rainey family story featuring Rosa Jarrell Rainey predated Oklahoma state history. It occurred at the Red River near the end of the 19th century.
https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-frightened-mama-and-her-baby-at-red.html
https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-frightened-mama-and-her-baby-at-red.html
This blog posting appeared in January of 2015 and related the experiences of both of my grandfathers during the historic Flood of '23 in Northern Oklahoma. Dad always described it as the flood that "took out all the bridges."
https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2015/01/did-warmest-january-in-oklahoma-during.html
A swollen creek did not deter my paternal grandmother's determination to get back to her husband and older children in their little two-room house in just the west Bend. The tenacity of Mamie Irene Tripp Gates came to mind when I drove back to the Bend one day this week.
My maternal grandma, Gladys Vivian Rainey Smith, could be fiery if she became upset. The flooded Arkansas River coupled with my grandpa's a easy-going nature called forth her fury in the 1920s.
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