Major operation performed at Memorial Hospital

25 Years Ago

—Plans for Wal-Mart Super Center in Sallisaw are still on track, but they have been delayed, a building engineer for Wal-Mart told Sallisaw officials recently.

Sallisaw Mayor George Glenn said city officials contacted Wal-Mart engineers about two weeks ago to check on the status of the project.

“They have moved the opening date closer to 2001,” Glenn said. “They told us they got ahead of themselves a little bit,” when it was announced the store would open in 2000.

—A county jail volunteer group met Tuesday night at the Sequoyah County Courthouse to discuss the best way to tackle the county jail problem.

Built in 1914, the county jail is located on the third floor of the county courthouse in Sallisaw. Certified for 34, the jail averages 50 to 60 inmates per day.

50 Yerars Ago

—Voters turned out in heavy numbers Tuesday to support their favorite candidates and issues, which made the process of counting all those ballots slow and tedious. The final box, Precinct 3 of Muldrow, came through the Sequoyah County Courthouse doors at 3 a.m. amid the cheers of weary election officials and observers.

—Lake Tenkiller had a greater increase in visitors during the first seven months of 1974 than any other lake in Oklahoma, 736,400 more people visited the lake than during the same period last year. Keystone was the only one to come close to that figure, with an increase of 311,000.

75 Years Ago

—The Sequoyah Memorial Hospital has had its first appendectomy.

Vera Shackelford, 11, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. B.C. Shackelford, Sr., of Muldrow, was operated on for appendicitis Wednesday evening.

—Jim Jordan, well-known Sequoyah County farmer was the first to pick and market a bale of the 1949 cotton crop. Jordan, who lives in Vian, farms in Sand Town Bottom, brought his bale in on Wednesday, Aug. 31, which is the earliest date that a bale has been brought in during the past several years.

Very little cotton picking is now being done in the county as hardly any is opened. The crop will be short as there is a small acreage in the county and the boll weevil caused considerable damage.

—John Schaap, Fort Smith salesman, has filed a $3,000 damage suit in district court here against Dick Humphrey, Moffett marshal.

Humphrey allegedly hit Schaap over the head with a shotgun barrel and shot him in the legs, after arresting Schaap on reckless driving charges.

Schaap, who is represented by Paul Gutensholn and Hartsell Ragon, Fort Smith attorneys, claims false imprisonment in his suit against Humphrey and the surety firm bonding him in the performance of duty.

Humphrey is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. His case has been continued.

100 Years Ago

—Henry W. Stewart was not so lucky in his political adventure at the polls on Aug. 5, but he proved to be the winner in marketing the first bale of cotton from Sequoyah County’s 1924 cotton crop. He brought the first bale to the county seat early Monday morning.

The cotton was raised by Mr. Stewart on the Fox River Bottom farm, near Redland. This community produced the first bale to be marketed in Sallisaw in 1923.

The customary premium for the first bale of the season was soon made up by J.W. Roberts, president of the Ad Club and Fred Ingram, county agent. The amount of the premium was $64.00.

The gins in Sallisaw are in first class condition to take care of the 1924 cotton crop. New machinery has been installed in every gin and the mechanics at each gin have been devoting their time during the past months to shaping their gins for the fall business.

—Mrs. J.C. Woll returned home this week from the eastern markets, where she spent several days in selecting her line of millinery for her store. Mrs. Woll will have, as in the past seasons, a full line of millinery of the latest styles and designs. During her sojourn from Sallisaw, she visited the leading millinery houses in Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago and was able to select splendid millinery for her many customers in this county.