It's An Ill Wind
That Blows No Good!

It didn't happen right away because there were other things to tend to, but within a day or two Bobby Bishop did take a look at the contents of that attic of the roofless barn.  Pictures, papers, books, filing cabinets, personal effects, duffel bags, and yeah, trash too.  Bobby got it all down and put it inside a trailer house that had also lost most of its roof  but any cover at all is better than nothing.

Bobby kind of bought the Josh Lee ranch on an accident.  He wasn't really interested, but it was in the right place and his wife told him to buy it.  All the equipment on the place was being auctioned off about a week later to clear some debts and everything had to be off the ranch in 2 days.  Way into the night trucks were whizzing in and out, trailers loading up, and Bobby had no idea who was doing what.  But the previous owner said, "Everything else is yours.  Do anything with it that you want to."  Suddenly there was a lot of silence all around him. 

Oklahoma is kind of proud of its speakers.  Will Rogers never was tongue-tied and Josh Lee didn't stay that way for long.  He became known as "The Silver-tongued Orator.  He even wrote a book on how to hold an audience without using a rope -- you know, like Will Rogers had to do.

Josh wanted others to learn how to speak better in public too so it was just natural that he launched a course on public speaking, and he taught kids in college how to speak as well.

Josh Lee was just an all around good guy.  He had a pond on his ranch, years ago.  He began to notice that there were people sneaking in there of an evening.  Eventually he caught the trespassers.. two young boys.  "What are you boys doing here?"

"Swimming,,, Sir." 

"Swimming?  In this?"  Josh was scandalized.

"Yes, sir.  This is the best swimming hole in the country."

"The best swimming hole in the country?"

"Yes, sir.  It is."

Josh got a far away look in his eye.  Almost absently he said:  "You boys don't have to sneak in here any more.  Come any time you want to."

Josh Lee went home and ordered sand, 12 dump-truck loads of sand, and he had it scattered around the pond.  Then he cleaned the pond out and put in a diving board.  After all, it was the best swimming hole in the country.

Click on any of the pictures to see a larger version.

One barn post was ripped out of the ground
and carried 100 yards uphill. 
it had Josh Lee's name on it

One picture of a painting was of General MacArthur.

Some of the documents looked old and brittle.  What I wanted was someone that knew how to handle old documents without losing them.  I contacted Leroy Bridges, the Director of Outreach Political Communication Center, Department of Communication, at the University of Oklahoma and asked if that department would be interested in evaluating the find.  "I'll be there in 15 minutes," he responded.

Mr. Bridges arrived on the spot with several minutes to spare.  He was able to identify many of the subjects in the pictures and established dates for different events.  He explored a bit farther than we had, but just barely enough to convince himself this was a genuine find.