Hey Ya'll!

Quote from Mattie Lee

My kids have dragged me kicking and screaming into the 21st Century with a new computer and internet....so of course the first thing I did was to look for John Wayne fans to share with! I'm new to all of this so it may take a while for me to catch on. Just watched True Grit for the millionth time.....I was the same age as Kim Darby when they made the movie so I've always been a little jealous....that should have been me! The Duke has been my hero since I was a very little girl. Anyway, I look forward to sharing info and stories with you all in the days to come.

Mattie Lee,
If you're a Duke fan and live in the Sooner state, you're my kind of folks. I live south of the Red River now but all my family, on both sides, were from Oklahoma and though I was born in Texas, I'm a true-blue (or I guess I should say a true-crimson and cream) Oklahoman.

I think you'll enjoy your computer experiences; I know I have.
Jim (cybername Stumpy)

Hi Mattie Lee,

WELCOME to The Original JWMB.

Please take a look around,
we're a friendly bunch of folks,
and there is a wealth of information to see,
regarding the great man.

You may find these links useful:-

John Wayne:- A Newbies Guide to Duke


Link to Duke's Movies, Co-Stars- Pals Of The Saddle and Movie Locations

Hello Mattie Lee

Hello and welcome to the board, Mattie Lee. You found the right place to be for any true Duke fan. Jump right in and enjoy yourself.

Mark

Hi Mattie Lee

just ike to add my own welcome hope you enjoy it

Regards

Arthur

Hi Mattie Lee and welcome to the board.

luckynedpepper

Mattie Lee,

We sure are glad to see you jump right in and start posting! WELCOME to the Original John Wayne Message Board, the best of its kind on the 'net!

We are a friendly bunch, and you can be sure we'll be happy to help you find your way around here.

Chester and the Mrs.

Hello Mattie Lee

Glad you found us on the web. We have a very helpful group so if you have questons, ask away!!

See you around.

Welcome aboard Mattie Lee!

Howdy Mattie Lee, and let me join with the others in saying welcome. Nice to hear from an Okie! I'm from Texas, but I'm so close to Oklahoma that I've adopted it as my second home state!

Mattie Lee,
My Father's side came from Oklahoma and my Grandmother on that side was full blood Cherokee !

My Mother's side came from Texas and my Grandmother on that side was a Full blood Comanche, so I guess I am the Only Okie-Texan Half-Breed Arizona Desert Rat in the Bunch !!!

Bill

Quote from Mattie Lee

What a great lineage! There have always been stories on my Dad's side that there was a Cherokee connection but I haven't been able to run it down.....the funny thing is, I'm often asked what tribe I belong to because of my dark complexion...my answer is "Bohemian".......my Mom is full blood Czech! Both sides of her family immigrated to Indian Territory and Texas in the 1840's and have been here ever since.

A full-fledged member of the great melting pot, eh?

My ancestral roots are Scotch-Irish but every time someone asks, I just tell 'em I'm a "Duke's mixture" since that's what my Mama always said. One of those typical "Okie" countrified expressions.

BTW, I had a great-aunt from Norman (who attended OU back in the 1920s) who got verrrrrrry upset with Steinbeck for coining that term Okie to describe people fleeing the Dust Bowl. She said it was derogatory and I suppose she was correct.

Mattie Lee and Stumpy,

My Grandmother always said that it was a Great To Say that She Was A "Okie" Because That Meant You Were Mighty Tough and could Live though Anything even The Dust Bowl !!!

Bill

Quote from William T Brooks

Mattie Lee and Stumpy,

My Grandmother always said that it was a Great To Say that She Was A "Okie" Because That Meant You Were Mighty Tough and could Live though Anything even The Dust Bowl !!!

Bill

Well, the term never bothered me, Bill, even when I was growing up in Oklahoma. As I said earlier, I was born in (east) Texas but all my immediate family members, including my mom, dad, maternal grandma and paternal grandpa were born in Oklahoma. (actually, my grandma and grandpa were born in Indian Territory - before statehood) The only reason I ended up Texas-born was because my dad worked for Halliburton Oil Field Services Co. as a truck driver and they had him working in east Texas at the time of my birth.

The first of my Scotch-Irish ancestors came into the U.S. in the 1700s, somewhere in Virginia. They then emigrated down through the Carolinas into Georgia (where a family legend says one of my female ancestors was captured - and taken as wife - by a Cherokee warrior). My great-great-grandpa and grandma came to Texas (he from Georgia and she from Tennessee) sometime in the 1850s. They settled in Navarro County (Corsicana). Eventually, she and three of their four children (all of whom were born in Texas) end up in the Oklahoma Panhandle. I have papers showing my GGGF served in the 19th Texas Cavalry during the Civil War and he shows up in National Archives records as being in a Confederate hospital in Louisiana but then he disappears, though taxes were paid on their Navarro County farm until the 1870s. And my great-greatpa was born in 1871 near Glen Rose, Texas, so his dad must have been alive then. However, none of the family shows up in the 1870 census. In the 1880 census, my GGGM and all four kids show up but not my GGGF so he must have died sometime between 1871 and 1880. I've found no records of his death or place of burial, though I suspect he's buried someplace in Navarro County. I found my GGGM's gravestone in a cemetery in Guymon, Oklahoma. I also know where all their kids are buried, 3 in Oklahoma and 1 in Texas. Wish I could find his burial site.

Because of my GGGF's service as a Confederate cavalryman, my oldest son recently joined the Sons of Confederate Veterans so he could participate in Civil War reenactments.