"Remove not the ancient landmark"

In October of 2002, I was really hard up for help so I employed a couple of preachers....Actually I was so convincing on how much fun I had digging holes and setting survey monuments that they just had to get in on it!

Rev. David Brimm was holding us a revival at the Junction Hill Pentecostal Church.  He is the brother-in-law of our pastor, Rev. Dwain Galiher.  I had visited with Dwain and David about my work and they were interested in seeing an "ancient landmark" as mentioned  Deut. 19:14, Deut. 27:17 and Prov. 22:28.  I was going to perpetuate an old corner I had found in previous work with an aluminum pipe monument, so I asked them if they would like to "go along for the ride".  They readily accepted and on a Saturday morning, after a hearty breakfast at McD's, they were rarin' to get to work!

Dwain Galiher and David Brimm

The corner was in Texas County, on the south side of Highway Y, just east of the intersection of Highway 137.  For you survey savvy folks...the corner common to Sections 9,10,15,16 (J-13), T28N, R8W.  This corner was unique because County Surveyor Sutton, who had set the corner based on original General Land Office evidence, had placed "memorials" below the stone.  He said in his notes "Some pieces of brown glass in bottom and pieces of charcoal under stone."  When we started digging out the hole to set the aluminum monument, we found shards of brown glass and also small pieces of charcoal about the size of pencil erasers.  When I found the corner originally, the stone was loose in the ground so I dug below it and found the broken neck of a whiskey bottle.

While digging the hole for the monument, we hit bedrock at about a foot and a half.  I tried to break it up with the spud bar but it was not budging.  So...We rammed the monument in with rocks and earth and built a substantial cairn of stones around it.  I think Dwain and David were just happy to get it in the ground!!

One of the original General Land Office witness trees from 1848 was still standing and alive.  In the background picture above and in the picture below is the 29" diameter White Oak witness tree with an open blaze scar.  In 1848, this tree was 10" in diameter.

We blazed new witness trees, much in the same manner as the 1848 surveyor and attached a "Witness Tree" sign to prevent (hopefully) anyone from cutting the tree down.

The blaze is cut with an ax past the bark and cambium layer to the wood part of the tree.  The cambium is the part of the tree that is living and the wood is basically dead (this is the reason you can have living hollow trees.)  A "WT" is cut into the wood with a scribe and over the years the tree will scar over the blaze and grow into the "WT".  It has been by experience that most of the time the wood will rot away, leaving a "mirror" image of the WT (TW) in the scar.

Below is the Certified Land Corner Document that I filed for this corner.

Charles Eno Corner

 On November 17th of 1909, County Surveyor Charles Eno dug a hole on the south edge of a ridge top in southern Howell County.  He placed a 16"x5"x3" Sandstone in the hole and then tamped it in with dirt, leaving about a third of the stone exposed.  He proceeded to mark a Post Oak witness tree northwest of the stone, 6½ feet.  This stone marked the Quarter Corner common to Sections 19 & 30, Township 22 North, Range 7 West of the 5th Principal Meridian.  Per Surveyor Eno's notes, no evidence of the General Land Office corner, set in 1821, could be found in this location.

On September 18th of 2014, almost 105 years later, I visited the area of the corner set by Surveyor Eno.  By calculating from another corner set by Surveyor Eno (which had been located by LS1454 in 1994) I was sure I was within 15'-20' of Eno's corner.  After searching for about twenty minutes, I located the sandstone shown in the picture below by the pocket tape.

 It was setting cardinal (North-South-East-West) and leaning slightly to the east.  You can't read the tape because of the bad focus but the dimensions of the part sticking out of the ground were 5"x3".  Since it was already leaning, I went ahead and removed the stone and it measured 16" long.  I then replaced the stone.

 The compass bearing to the post oak witness tree was North 69° West at a distance of 6½ feet.  I used my hand compass for the bearing and my pocket tape for the distance and the picture below was what I found.

 The piece of wood lying diagonal in center picture is part of the post oak witness tree.  You can't tell it from the picture but below the piece of wood is a large stumphole, evidenced by small lateral root cavities and a large tap root cavity (typical of post oak).

 The picture above is taken looking across the sandstone, toward the post oak witness tree evidence.

I then utilized my GPS receiver to collect the position of the corner for the purpose of my survey (State Plane Coordinates.)  I really believe I was the first person to visit this corner since Mr. Eno set it.  You ask why?  It was 300'+ south of the fenceline that was generally accepted as being on the section line...in other words, everybody thought that this corner should be 300' north of where I found it.

Whooboy!!!

In spite of the potential problems it may cause; I was extremely happy to find this old corner!

So......I just went ahead and did my little
CORNER HAPPY DANCE!! (To see me dance...Click HERE)

Geodesy Presentation

I was honored recently to be asked to give a presentation to the Senior Science Class at Ava High School.  Mrs. Amber (Hendrix) Gieber is the teacher and the first portion of their class this year was about Geology.  Now if you are one of the thousands of followers of this blog, you should recognize the Hendrix name.  Amber's Father is David Hendrix, my first cousin on the Riggs side.  Which makes Amber my second cousin (second cousin once removed if you want to get technical about it!)

Let me first state, I know very little about Geology, which according to Wikipedia is "the study of solid earth."  So "what in the cat hair" am I doing trying to teach about it!?!

Well...I do know quite a bit about a branch of the discipline of Geology called Geodesy.

Geodesy - a branch of applied mathematics concerned with the determination of the size and shape of the earth and the exact positions of points on its surface and with the description of variations of its gravity field

Almost everyday, I use instruments that measure distances along the earth's surface and measure the height of land "above sea level".  This is what I presented to the Science Class.

I set up all my equipment at the Militia Springs Park in Ava, which is near the High School Campus.

 The equipment Left to Right:  An old Sears-Roebuck builders level, A Trimble Robotic Total Station, A Nikkon Total Station, A Topcon GR3 RTK GPS system (Rover and Base) and far right against the fence-the controller for the Robotic Total Station

I asked for a volunteer to be the official photographer and I spent the next thirty minutes explaining how we use(d) the above instruments in our work.

Nikkon Total Station

Robotic Total Station

Controller for Robotic

Controller for Robotic

Topcon GR3 RTK GPS Rover (Base in background left)

 

Hands on training!

 The students seemed to really like the "hands-on" so next time...less talk/more walk

Mrs. "G" and "Jim the Official Photographer" (who says you can't take a selfie with an old-fashioned digital camera?!!)

The class was spellbound by my presentation....

In case you haven't noticed...I use my hands a lot!

Jim and "The Hulk" with another selfie.....

Spiritual Fathers

I had a good old Dad...and today, I miss him very much.  A few days ago, I got to thinking about some of the other men, besides my Dad, that have had a great influence in my life.  I decided that today, I would give tribute to one of my "Spiritual" Fathers.

In 1975, Reverend Floyd Parks and his family came to pastor the Junction Hill Pentecostal Church (JHPC).  Brother Floyd and his brood hailed from Oklahoma and included Sister Alveta, Bill, Gary and Nancy.  Bill and my brother Ralph were the same age - Gary and I were about the same age, so we hit it off from the git-go.  However, this post is not about those friendships...

Brother Floyd was a man of prayer.  I can still remember hearing him in his study, (that he had converted from an old smokehouse) interceding before the Lord for his church and family. Those prayers for wayward sons (and their wayward friends) must have caught the ear of the Almighty.  Gary has already gone on to his reward, Bill is Pastor of the House of Prayer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Ralph is a vital part of the music ministry at JHPC....and God has blessed me to be a servant in many ministry positions.

Brother Floyd was a man of Biblical convictions.  I may not be able to remember a single message he preached but he stood for Holiness standards and proclaimed the Pentecostal experience.  I heard a song yesterday that just about sums up Brother Floyd's stand in the faith..."Your talk talks and your walk talks but your walk talks louder than you talk talks"!

Brother Floyd was also a man of wisdom.  I have to step into story mode to emphasize this point.
In my early teens, I was a sinner and did what sinners do....I sinned.  One of my vices was tobacco.  I thank the Lord that my brother and the others wouldn't let me smoke but I got hooked on chewing tobacco.  I kept my plug of chew in my billfold so it would be handy and would never get far out of reach.  Well...one day I LOST my billfold!  I looked high and low but it couldn't be found.  The next Sunday night after church, Brother Floyd called me off to the side.  He explained that he had found the billfold at their house, looked inside to find out the owner and wanted to get it back to me.  Then, as kinda an afterthought (which was his main thought all along) he said "And Son, I also found what else you had in there."  He went on to kindly admonish me, as a concerned Father would, that tobacco was a nasty habit and I would be better off to just throw the plug away.  I was in tears by this time and assured him I would take care of it.  I deposited the plug in the out-door privy and vowed to never touch the stuff again.  I wouldn't really keep this vow until I was genuinely converted at age seventeen but this incident has impressed me through the years.  It just seems to me that Brother Floyd "acted" (as opposed to "reacted") in the manner that Jesus would toward a lost sinner boy.  I have tried to follow this example through the years in my dealing with young people.

Brother Floyd and Sister Alveta are presently the Pastors at Landmark Holiness Church near Jay, Oklahoma.  I don't know if Brother Floyd will get the opportunity to read this blog post...but if he does...Happy Father's Day Brother Floyd!

Dogfight!

My life is never dull.  Yesterday is a prime example....

I was working on a project in Drexel, Missouri.  If you don't know where that is, it's about eighteen miles east of Osawatomie, Kansas.  I was on Elm street, across from the Casey's, when I heard a dogfight start up down the street.  In a few seconds, I heard a someone start screaming and hollering "Get off! Ouch! Ouch! Get off of him! Help! Help! Somebody help me!"  I start walking up that way, since it sounded like the dogs may have had a human down and see a young boy on a back porch in complete hysterics.  So I puts my GPS pole down and run up on the porch!

This is the situation...A big dog (looks like part Pit Bull) has a smaller dog by the throat...the young boy (eleven-twelve years old, no shirt, no shoes), has the big dog by the collar, trying to pull it off the smaller dog and is crying and hollering to beat the band..."He's killing my dog! He's killing my dog!"  He's pounding the big dog on the head and picking both dogs up by the one collar and throwing them against the porch rail!  Well...I figure it's a "free for all" so I give the big dog a few kicks myself!  The big dog will not let loose!!!

In a little bit the little boy runs in the house, screaming and crying...which give me full access to the big dog (whose name is "Angel", by the way...)  I figure... "In for a penny...In for a pound" so I just haul off and kick the snot out of the big dog!  The first kick with my size twelve doesn't do it so I takes aim and gives him another one!

If there hadn't been a rail on the porch I would have kicked him clear out in the yard!  As it was I almost kicked him over the porch rail!  He let loose!!!

"Angel" took off and low and behold "little dog" took off after him!  I loved it!  I hollered at the little boy to get his little dog in the house, so he did.  "Angel" came back, peeking around the corner of the house and when he saw me, he took off like a "bat out of Joplin"!**  The last I saw him, he was a block east on Elm street and a "Makin' Tracks"!  In just a few minutes the young boy was on his bike, peddling up Elm, calling for "Angel".  I guess all was forgiven!

I will leave you now with a couple of "Dog" quotes...

My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can. That's almost $21.00 in dog money."
—Joe Weinstein (comedian)

If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog."
—Harry S. Truman

and of course...

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."  Mark Twain

**My old friend, Ruth Charles, used to say this.  She said Joplin and "the other place" were basically the same.

 

The Barber And The Stranger

 Ed Cannon was a farmer in the community of Crider where my Mom grew up.  Actually, I really don't know how much farming he accomplished. All the stories my Mom told about him were of his practical jokes and trying to get one over on somebody.  He lived across the road, down a lane from Grandpa Fox's house with his wife "Chick" (Ida).  As far as I know, they didn't have children, which may have been a blessing, considering the shenanigans that Ed pulled! Just consider the following story.....

Ed was just loafing around West Plains and as always, looking for somebody's "leg to pull".  He struck up a conversation with a stranger uptown and found out that the stranger was needing a haircut.  Ed commenced to explain that there was a barber down by the stockyards that he could highly recommend.  Ed went on and on about the barber's haircutting abilities and then said "There's just one problem...He's deaf as a post".  "When you go in his shop, you just hafta holler at him so he can hear you."  The stranger thanked Ed, told him he had some other business to conduct uptown and after that the would go get his haircut.

In the meanwhile, Ed hightailed it down to the stockyards and sauntered into the barber shop he had so highly recommended.  They swapped greetings and small talk for a few minutes and then Ed, (as if he just remembered) said "Say, I just met a feller uptown that needed a haircut".  (I hope by now you've figgered out that the barber ain't deaf...)  Ed went on to say he had recommended the barber to the stranger, described how he was dressed and then said "There's just one problem with this feller...He's deaf as a post."  "So...When he comes in you'll just hafta to holler at him so he can hear you."  Ed explained that he just wanted to give the barber a heads-up, that he had business elsewhere and then skedaddled out.

In a little while, the stranger walks into the barber shop.....  The barber recognizes him from Ed's description and immediately starts hollering out his "GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS"!  And...the stranger replies in kind... hollering out his "HOWDY'S"!  It is soon apparent that neither one is deaf and that Ed has pulled off another good joke!

My Grandpa Fox

Memorial weekend always takes me back down "Memory Lane."  I've written about my Grandpa Riggs but as yet, haven't put the "pen to the paper" about my Grandpa Fox.  Well...Today's the day! (As I was typing and going back and forth from webpage to webpage, I discovered that Grandpa Fox passed away 44 years ago today.  Is that coincidence, providence or what?)

Joel Vest Fox was born on September 1, 1893.  If you want to read some of his ancestry, you can find it here.  I was six years old when he passed so I don't have a lot of memories, but those I do have are very precious.  My earliest recollection was of a tall, skinny, old man in Hickory Stripe overalls, with a watch chain drooping out of the bib pocket.  In the picture below he is the one in the coat with his brother, Uncle Grover Fox on his left.  If you zoom in on the picture you can see the watch chain.

He also used a watch fob.  A watch fob is a short leather strap that attaches to the pocket watch and the other end has a small, flat decorative ornament of some sort.  You slip the watch in the watch pocket in the bib or in the little pocket beside the right pocket on your jeans (A lot of you didn't know what that little pocket was for didja?!) When you needed to check the time you just hauled the watch out using the "fob" or "chain" (depending on what you were wearing.)  Grandma Fox gave me one of Grandpa's watch fobs and it is one of my prize possessions.

What I really remember most about Grandpa Fox was that he smoked.  Not the ready roll type but the roll-your-own type.  I can see him reach into the bib of his overalls, take out a little package of cigarette papers, carefully take out one of the thin little papers and then put the papers back in his bib.  He would then reach into the same bib and take out old "Prince Albert" in a can!

 

He would open the flip lid of the can, shake out a certain amount of tobacco into the paper, close the lid on the can, and (while carefully holding the paper with the tobacco) put the can back in his bib.  He would "cradle" the paper and tobacco in the fingers of one hand and with a finger spread the tobacco evenly in the paper.  Then he would carefully roll the paper, lick along the edge of the paper to make it stick, smooth it out a couple of times and twist one end to keep the tobacco from spilling out.  He would put the cigarette in his mouth, light it with a kitchen match or from a book of matches and puff away!  He would hold the cigarette by squeezing a little piece of the cigarette paper between his thumb and forefinger and hold his other hand under the tip to catch the ash.  Every now and then he would give a little "spit" to spit out the tobacco that got in his mouth from the "drawing" end of the cigarette.  Forty years down the road, I can still see all of this in my minds eye.  His thumb and forefinger were stained yellow from the years of smoking and he always had that certain tobacco smell about him.

When I was growing up, there was not the stigma attached to smoking that there is today.  When Grandpa Fox or the Uncles that smoked came to our house, we accommodated them.  Not only did they smoke in the house but we even had a special ash tray for them!

  

For those of you that read my blog, that know me; I am not advocating the use of tobacco.  I am totally against it.  I must be honest though and tell you that when I smell someone smoking loose leaf tobacco or pipe tobacco, it takes me way back in time.

One of the few times I saw Grandpa Fox in anything but overalls...His 50th Anniversary Celebration!

The one memory I cherish of Grandpa Fox was when he would sing to me.  As far as I know, it was the only song he sung.  It went like this:

Ev'ry time I go to town
Somebody's kickin' my dawg aroun';
Makes no diff'rence if he is a houn', 
You better stop kickin' my dawg aroun'. 


Old Lem Briggs an' old Bill Brown
Took a load of corn to town;
Old Jim dawg, that onery cuss,
He just naturally follered us. 

As we driv past the Johnson's store
A passel of gents come out the door; 
Old Jim stopped to sniff at'a box 
They paced at him a bunch of rocks.
(Then Grandpa would say "Get outa there Jim!")
 

They tied a can to old Jim's tail
An' run him past the county jail;
That just naturally made us sore,
Lem, he cussed an' Bill he swore

Ev'ry time I go to town
Somebody's kickin' my dawg aroun';
Makes no diff'rence if he is a houn', 
You better stop kickin' my dawg aroun'.

I have an old reel-to-reel recording of Grandpa Fox singing this and at the end of it he says "How'ed ya like that Ray?!"

I drove by the old home place at Crider today....nobody else heard it.... but I think I may have just caught a few notes of "Old Jim Dog" as we drove past......

Grandpa Fox with his Dad, Joe Fox