Tall (And Not So Tall) Tales

Dedicated to true, or not-so-true area stories of a humorous bent.

Did A U. S. President Once Visit Oil City?

Here's an interesting story, though personally I think it's a tall tale. Did a U.S. President once visit Oil City; even taking time to go hunting on the banks of Caddo Lake? This would appear the case per the attached Dallas Morning News article about Ohio Senator Robert Taft, rival of Dwight Eisenhower for the 1952 Republican presidential nomination and son of former President William Howard Taft. A very interesting and significant event in OC history if true, but research raises doubts of its validity.

Here's the article:

Source: Dallas Morning News 13-Mar-1952, Page 1

The piece references a tale associated with an actual 1909 train tour of the country by Taft, inaugurated earlier that year. The teller, former Oil City resident I. H. (Ivy Hugh) Teat, stated that the presidential train stopped in "Ananias" and while there, a party including the president and him (then a young boy) went hunting for possums in persimmon thickets around Caddo Lake. The very rotund Taft actually had a liking for possum (with sweet potatoes) and there was even a "Billy Possum" stuffed toy created in his honor to compete with teddy bears, associated with former President Teddy Roosevelt. A live possum that had been given to his party for a feast in Dallas mysteriously disappeared, and the hunt was supposedly to replace it. Afterward they took their bounty back to the train where the President's chef had prepared another caught earlier for a dinner in which the boy partook. Ivy later received a thank you note from the president.

It's unlikely however this actually occurred, at least as told, as here are facts per newspapers/other sources of the time:

• There was a two-month 1909 presidential train tour of the country
• Taft visited Houston on Oct-23 and Texarkana on the 24th
• The train passed through Dallas, Mineola, Longview, Marshall, Jefferson, and Atlanta
• Somewhere along the way, replacement possums were obtained for the president's dinner
• From Texarkana, it continued to St. Louis, MO
• President Taft was traveling in the personal car of the president of the Texas & Pacific Railroad

That railroad had a track running through Dallas and eastward to Shreveport, roughly paralleling U. S. Hwy 80 today and still in use today, that passes through several of the mentioned towns. There was also a southwest-to-northeast T&P track that also crossed through Marshall, extending through Jefferson and Atlanta to Texarkana. Newspaper accounts indicate the train did pass through Jefferson and Atlanta where it slowed so people could get a glimpse of the president.

To have passed through Oil City would have required some convoluted routing in order for the train to have visited there and still have passed through the towns documented as being on its route. Also, it would have had to have continued from Marshall on to Shreveport, for which no mention of a visit was found, before turning northward to run on another company's (KCS) rails through Ananias (Oil City) in order to reach Texarkana. Though not an event with the magnitude of a current day presidential visit, nonetheless it attracted hundreds or even thousands of folks at each stop. Surely this incident would have been documented in media of the day.

Ivy, born in Mooringsport in 1882, and whose family did live in Oil City, would have been 27, not 12 in 1909. Interestingly he is listed as a Pullman conductor in a 1910 Shreveport city directory. Did he perhaps work on the presidential train or use connections within the railroad to get close to the president? If so, why would he tell a story of his being a boy at the time? Is there any truth to the hunt, even if the stated location is unlikely? After all, those replacement possums had to come from somewhere, Was his involvement a total fabrication? The answers are likely lost now.

Until additional information turns up to corroborate it, this story must be relegated to OC's "legend and lore" much like that of Titanic Thompson (see below) about winning a poker game against his long-lost father in an Oil City card room.

Doc Gibbins Reminisces

Arvin "Doc" Gibbins (1875-1961) was a driller who lived through the early days of oil exploration and production in Texas and Louisiana. Apparently quite colorful, his musings were occasionally featured in a column titled "Tales of the Oil Country" by Jim Clark, that was featured in various newspapers including the Houston Chronicle. Clark described Doc thusly...

Source: Houston Chronicle 24-Nov-1963 Page 253

Born in Missouri, the 1910 census shows him living in Vivian with wife Bettie. By the time of his draft registration for World War I in 1918, his permanent residence was the Youree Hotel in Shreveport. He was disqualified for being hard of hearing, a condition mentioned in Clark's columns, as Doc spoke extremely loud due to his hearing loss. He died in Houston, Christmas Day 1961.

Here are his stories related to the local area.

2,500 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall (AKA, How To Blow Your Oil Lease Check In One Sitting!)

The "Bottoms" mentioned above refers to St. Paul's Bottoms, the infamous red-light district along Fannin Street. It closed in 1917, along with Oil City's similar "Reno Hill" area.

....and in the same article "Down goes "Rubber Belly!"

Source: Odessa (TX) American Sun 16-Apr-1961, Page 33


Drilling an offset well

Doc describes performing the feat to extinguish an oil well fire 20 years before the first reported case.

Source: Odessa (TX) American Sun 06-Aug-1961, Page 59


Better to be Discreet About One's Accomplishments

If happening today, this story from long ago could be featured on one of those "dumb criminal" reality shows. George Little demonstrated his eating prowess.to win a bet, for which he received a hat. 

New Orleans Times-Picayune 04-Jan-1927, Page 1

His only problem was that the story made the national newspapers and was read by an Arkansas sheriff who had outstanding warrants on him. The sheriff contacted Oil City Deputy Sheriff Will George who promptly arrested Mr. Little for return to Arkansas to stand trial.

Monroe News Star 08-Jan-1927, Page 1

All Because of One Little Goose 

Here's a heads up of what can happen to those who contemplate shooting at protected migrating waterfowl. Humorous from our perspective, though I'm sure not to those involved. The J. W. Reneau mentioned was my grandmother's brother-in-law, as he and my Aunt Goldie (Hayes) lived in Oil City at the time.

Source: Hattiesburg (MS) American 11-Nov-1939, Page 10

Thar's Gold In Them Thar Rabbit Holes!

Two men rabbit hunting find a long-lost pot of gold. Considering inflation,$3,622 in 1908 would be the equivalent of approximately $87,000 in 2015 dollars.

Source: Columbus (MS) Commercial 22-Nov-1908, Page 1

Titanic Thompson

Below is a fictional incident set in Oil City. But it is still fascinating in that a man, famous in his day, would use the town’s notoriety to enhance his own reputation and legend. First some background on him.

Titanic Thompson in 1929

Alvin Clarence Thomas, aka Titanic Thompson (1892-1974) was a gambler, hustler, and professional golfer who:

• Traveled the country wagering at cards, dice games, golf, horseshoes and proposition bets of his own devising.
• Was an ambidextrous golfer, card player, marksman and pool shark, his skills and reputation were compared to "Merlin himself".
• Was the basis for the character Sky Masterson, the gambler-hero of the Broadway musical "Guys and Dolls". Marlon Brando played the role in the later film.
• Was involved in a 1928  high-stakes poker game that led to the shooting death of New York City crime boss Arnold "the Brain" Rothstein, then called the "crime of the century."
• Was linked romantically to actresses Myrna Loy and Jean Harlow.

The reason for his nickname was that in 1912, he won a bet by jumping over a pool table without touching it and, when someone asked his name, the loser said “It must be Titanic, because he sinks everybody.”

Comments from another article:

Titanic Thompson was not just a confidence man --he was the master con-man by the way—he was also a championship caliber athlete in a number of sports including Shooting, Horseshoes, Bowling, and most impressive of all Golf –where Thompson could rival the Masters champion playing left OR right handed! Thompson is known to have killed five men –likely more—and was married four times.

His father abandoned his family when Ti (as he was also known) was a few months old. He left school at 14 and for the following years built up his gambling skills as he roamed the south visiting saloons, gambling halls, and brothels looking for his father. (Note: Doesn’t this sound like “A Boy Named Sue”?)

Now here’s the Oil City connection. From his biography:

“Ti was desperate to look his father in the eye, and found him in Oil City, Louisiana in 1910. Ti walked into a saloon and instantly recognized the man dealing stud as his father. Rather than reveal himself, he proceeded to win $3,600. “There’s your money,” he said, ‘I’m giving it you back because you never had a chance. See, I’m your son, Alvin.” The old man laughed while pocketing the cash, and the pair spent three weeks breaking the local oilmen at poker before going their separate ways and never meeting again.”

The only thing is, this never really happened. Per his biographer, this was a story he made up as a way of reconciling his father having abandoned him, and in real life he never found his father.

Source: Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet on Everything by Kevin Cook

When first reading, I was disappointed that it wasn’t a true story. Later I thought though, it’s still pretty cool that someone like Titanic, a real celebrity of his time, would use Oil City even fictionally to enhance his reputation. And who knows, since he really did search for his father, perhaps he did pass through town looking for him, as it was the type of environment in which both would be at home.

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