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Bissell Buzz
And before we knew it, it is Rodeo week in Phillipsburg again. This year we are celebrating Kansas Biggest Rodeo’s 96th anniversary. Only during WWII were no rodeos held, but even through the depression years they rodeoed on. Deb Forell Christy, a well-known barrel racer and coming from a rodeo family, has started with the process of putting a commemorative book together for the 100th anniversary to be held in 2029. This past week we went through a tentative list of contents and it struck me how perfect her background and skills are to do this book. There will be more collaborators, but Deb is doing the bulk of the compilation.
We are not a rodeo museum, but we do have a barber’s chair from Deb’s maternal grandfather, Rod McKown at the museum, together with other barber’s memorabilia also from another barber, Dick Trent. Deb’s beautiful mother Artyce, did do some barrel racing when she was young, but never really competed in rodeos. Deb’s father Bud however, was a true cowboy and has been described as “Rodeo Royalty”. Bud was born in 1931 and after graduating from Phillipsburg High School in 1949, he served in the U.S. Army in Germany from 1951 to 1953.
He and his wife Artyce married in 1954 and had two sons and four daughters. Bud was a crude unit operator at the Co-op Refinery in Phillipsburg. He competed in various events over the years. His name is listed for bareback bronc riding, bull riding, saddle bronc, steer wrestling, tie-down roping and was Kansas Bulldogging Champion in the 1950’s. Bud also served as committee member for Kansas Biggest Rodeo and helped with maintenance and welding at the rodeo grounds.
But the family rodeo connection goes even further. Deb’s younger brother also rode bulls, was rodeo coach and is married to Kelly, another barrel racer. And to add to this, Deb’s husband Steve is a Kansas Biggest Rodeo Committeeman.
Deb is still actively doing the rodeo circuit barrel racing and in between, she does research and writes in her office space in her horse trailer. This all makes Deb the perfect person to compile the 100th commemorative book and we are excited to play a small role in the process. I can see some of her father’s work ethic shine through and in her own words, there were never any excuses - you had no excuses, and you never gave up.
We recently received an 1846 copy of the Farmer’s Almanac and how interesting it is to compare its content to the modern editions. In this specific edition it lists the population of the existing states for every decade from 1790 to 1840, and includes a column with the number of slaves in every state. In 1790 the total population for all then existing states was 3,929,827 and grew to 17,062,566 in 1840. In 1840 there were 6,100 Seamen in the U.S. Service. The number of slaves is listed as 2,010,436 in 1830 and in 10 years increased to 2,483,880 in 1840. Five states had only single digit number of slaves, but Virginia had the most with a number of 448,987. Both the Seamen and the slave’s totals were not added into the above numbers for the total population of the USA. It also stated: “The American Continent could support 930 million people, without being so densely populated as Europe now is. The present population of Europe is about 240 million; of America, about 55 million; of the whole earth, from 1,000 to 1,100 million.” (1846)
The annual report of the late Commissioner of Patents, the Hon. H.I. Ellsworth was presented to Congress in 1844. The list of agricultural products listed are: Wheat, Corn, Oats, Rye, Barley, Buckwheat, Potatoes, Hay, Tobacco, Cotton, Rice, Silk, Sugar and Wine.
On Friday we say goodbye to our summer intern, James Kraushaar. His main task was to make videos and create voice overs for each of our digital photo frames that we have placed in our various buildings. He did a wonderful job doing that and these frames are now being fully utilized, giving visitors a brief overview of each building – it’s like having a tour guide while you are browsing on your own. James will be heading to Fort Hays University to further his studies focusing on videography. We wish him well on this next chapter and future career path.
We look forward to seeing you at the Fort. A reminder of our hours:
Tuesday to Friday 9am to 4pm
Saturdays 9am to 2pm
Ruby Wiehman – Curator
