Dust Bowl and Murderers

 After Walsenburg we headed, a bit out of the way, to visit a spot we had targeted in our pre trip planning...Boise (pronounced Boys) City, OK, the epicenter of the great dust bowl in the early part of the 20th century. If you've seen the Ken Burns documentary or the movie Interstellar many of the interviews with survivors of the Dust Bowl resided in Boise City.

It was also the scene of an infamous murder which we'll get to.

We posted up at a really funky RV Resort that included an 18 hole championship miniature golf course! and prairie views that went as far as the eye could see.

Entrance to Wild Bill's RV Resort, Boise City, OK. You can see hole numbers one and two of the championship tract to the left...didn't play and never saw wild Bill...bummer, wanted to meet the wild man.

So as to this murder business. Back in 1986, 3 - 18 year old scumbags steal a car in Waco TX and it breaks down on a rural highway outside of Boise City at 2:30 AM. A traveling salesman named Robert Gummow is returning home to Liberal KS from a sales trip and stops to help them out. They murder him, steal his Cadillac and head to Californy where they end up at a surf shop in Cayucos, CA where a pretty young woman, my wife named Debbie Montamble is manning the shop.

They try to use the dead mans Amex card and Debbie is suddenly in telephone communication with the County Sheriff watch commander setting up the capture.

She ended up having to go to the trial in Boise City OK to point them out. Turns out two of the guys copped a plea to testify against the trigger man who was feet away from Debbie at the shop counter for 20 minutes as she answered yes/no questions from the sheriff setting up the capture.

Trigger man's buddies testified that after the shooting as they were driving away in the victim's Cadillac he said 'see boys, told you I'd have a Cadillac someday'. Cold blooded...we checked the OK State Prison inmate locater, he's still locked up thank God.


Cimarron County Courthouse where our girl brought the bad guys down.

General thought....Boise City looks like a lot of small rural communities we've passed thru. Same story - aging generation dying off, young people leaving town for opportunities elsewhere and Corporate farming/ranching operations taking over which move personnel from town to town so the sense of community and roots are being pulled from the ground.

You don't see 4H clubs, Bake sales, high school booster club car washes, you know, the things that make a community a community. When you lose your sense of community you lose your spirit in wanting to help out and make a difference...leave the place better than you found it kind of a thing.

That's it for now followers, next stop is Dodge City KS and then on to El Dorado KS for a nice visit with Debbie's Aunt Glenda at her ranch.

Take care, peace out

Debbie and Howard


Comments

  1. NiseMay 4, 2021 at 5:20 PM

    As always you are a very eloquent writer makes me feel like I am there
    So enjoyable to travel with you two on your journey
    Keep us posted over u two

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Howard and DebbieMay 8, 2021 at 5:43 PM

      Thanks Nise! We will keep you posted, thanks for following along and your comments, love you!

      Delete
  2. SueMay 4, 2021 at 6:16 PM

    Wow-I remember that-Deb was (and is) one cool chick-what a story
    Sounds like an awesome trip-complete with Glenda in Kansas -enjoy!
    See you soon-we’re leaving tomorrow, headed south-ebensburg, bethel park, east Carnegie, etc

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Howard and DebbieMay 5, 2021 at 12:23 PM

      Cant wait to see you guys next week, safe travels Sue

      Delete
  3. NIAMay 7, 2021 at 9:42 AM

    Old Wild Bills Championship Tract looks more like the Auxiliary Tract.

    I must have heard the story about those guys 30 or 40 times in my life, but it still amazes me how lucky and heroic Deb was in that situation, just simply can't believe it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Howard and DebbieMay 8, 2021 at 5:48 PM

      As a side note, the Cimarron County prosecutor wanted the death penalty but they did not find the murder weapon. They searched hundreds of miles of OK highway right of way but didn't find it. Good thing, if that cold blooded murderer had the weapon when he was in Debbie's shop things could have taken a very dark turn.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Howdy from the Peace Garden State - Part 1

Image
 Leaving the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Itasca Lake, MN we continued west towards the MN/North Dakota stateline at Grand Forks(GF), ND about a 2 hour drive. We needed to spend a couple of days in GF to take care of some routine vehicle maintenance for both the LD and the Fit and to stock up the larders, so we wanted a campground close to town to make life easier. The Red River State Park located in East Grand Forks(EGF), MN fit the bill perfectly.  EGF is right next to GF and sits right on the north flowing Red River which forms the border between MN and ND. It was the ideal location for us to take care of our to do list. And...it was much, much more! GF and EGF are both very nice places with interesting history, friendly people and a beautiful Greenway park following both river banks. Once we got our chores finished we went about exploring the area on bikes and over the next couple of days covered a good bit of the very well done Red River Greenway corridor. The g...
Read more

Minnesota on my Mind

Image
We pulled up stakes at Birch Grove NF campground outside of Washburn, WI and headed west towards Minnesota (MN). After about 90 minutes or so of driving and looking for a brief breakfast repaste, we spy the Perkins Family Restaurant in Superior, WI about two blocks from the MN State line and a suburb of the Duluth, MN metropolis. Over breakfast we scan the MN highway map and decide to head directly west thru the mid section of MN...but this was not to be. We finish up our meal and start our trek thru Duluth and suddenly find ourselves on Highway 61 heading north along the Lake Superior shoreline, not at all in the desired direction of a mid State, westerly drive thru MN, but as it turned out (by happenstance) we were following the most interesting and scenic westerly route thru MN, although somewhat northerly. I guess go north to go west, OK we're in. Typical view of the MN Lake Superior shoreline looking south. We just kinda went with the flow and as we head north out of Duluth ou...
Read more

I'm a Youper, You're a Youper!

Image
Last we talked, we were in lower Michigan and now we find ourselves in the UP, the Upper Peninsula of MI, the home of the Youper's. When MI gained statehood back in the day, they claimed the lower glove (check out a map, lower MI looks like a glove) and the UP as part of their magnificent State, but there was no physical connection between the two due to the Straits of Mackinac seperating Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.  So from way back when, there was always a dream to connect the entire State, the glove of lower MI with their northern brothers, the Youpers (UP'ers). What we need my friends is a legit bridge! And in the late 1950's, they built a magnificent bridge to span the 5 mile wide Straits of Mackinac, marking the delineation between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Finally, at long last, this magnicifent State was physically united. I know, I know...another damn bridge Howard? Sorry, but come on, she's a beaut! That's Lake Huron to the left and Lake Michigan to ...
Read more