100 years ago

The spot light played on Oklahoma City today in the second act of Oklahoma’s martial law drama.

Since martial law became effective throughout the state Saturday midnight, while the military has superseded the Oklahoma city police heads; machine guns have been leveled at the city hall, police station and county court house; a grand jury has been cancelled and a military court of investigation substitutes; and state capital citizens have been told “when to go to bed and when to get up.”

Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Salpulpa and their counties are under absolute martial law. Troops are on duty in the two larger cities and Adjutant General Baird H. Markham in command at Tulsa, is expected to arrive here by airplane today. His hurried flight is unexplained.

Governor Walton declared in his martial law proclamation that Oklahoma city was the headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan in Oklahoma and that “It is here where the sovereign power of the state was defied when the grand dragon of this semi-military organization publicly proclaimed in substance that the sovereign state of Oklahoma could not break the power of the klan.”

50 years ago

Walter Arnold is not a full-time rodeo cowboy. “I just go to the good ones,” he said Saturday.

With that compliment and a superlative roping performance, Arnold walked away with the Pendleton Round-Up’s new all-around trophy and a purse of $2,364. Arnold has the best time going into Saturday’s finals with a 25.4 seconds total on two calf roping tries. He was bumped into second by 1973 calf roping titlist Jim Gladstone, Cardston, Alberta, Canada.

A top time of 14.2 in Wednesday’s steer roping go-round added points to Arnold’s all-around title, but he wasn’t able to qualify for the finals in the event, the result of a poorer showing in a later go-round.

The Silverton, Tex., cowboy soon was off to another rodeo in Albuquerque, N.M., in hopes of repeating his all-around performance in Pendleton.

25 years ago

Downtown Main Street has been a beehive of activity of late.

And today marks only the first of what vendors call the really busy days.

The Main Street Cowboys’ Greatest Free Show in the West is accompanied by four blocks chock full of booths, all with something for sale.

Although by the end of the week downtown will be a rolling boil of customers, it was relatively calm late Tuesday morning. Only a handful of vendors were open for business and the rest were still unloading rigs, setting up booths, arranging displays and heating up the cooking oil.

Stalls selling the obligatory carnival fare of corn dogs, cotton candy and elephant ears — and more — intermingle with trailers displaying jewelry and hats, booths full of incense and art, and tents shading arts and crafts.