When outlaws in Arkansas tried to escape the famous “Hanging Judge,” they would cross the Arkansas River into Oklahoma and sometimes end up in Wilburton--which was in Southeast Oklahoma just across the river.  

    In the early 1900’s my grandmother opened a cafe there, and my dad killed hogs, chopped wood, ran the kitchen, and did about everything else to keep the place running.

    His father had been murdered when he was seven years old, and of his six brothers, only he and one other brother (who was ill) were left at home.  One brother died of appendicitis and another in the 1918 flu epidemic.  

    Outside Wilburton, there are caves.  They call them Robbers Caves.  And they were a refuge for criminals back then--who were running from the law.  My dad delivered food to them from the cafe.  Belle Starr, Pretty Boy Floyd and a number of other outlaws knew my dad well.  He was just a kid and no threat, and there was really no choice about delivering food.  You had to stay on the right side of the wrong side or end up dead.

    I don’t know how my dad escaped all of the things that happened to him, but he did.  He was a wonderful Christian man, a deacon in our church for over fifty years.  Three brothers died, and his oldest two brothers were bootleggers.  Go figure.  When he started telling stories about his past, everybody sat down and listened. He was part of the original Oklahoma Territory story.  He was a legend.  He was a gentle Godly man.  It is a privilege to be his daughter.