Drove 40 Miles to See A Dead Dog

Clinton, Oklahoma
KOA Cherokee

Call it crazy, but we did just that.  After we toured the Bothwell Lodge, Paul drove us 40 miles to see a dead dog.





We knew Jim the Wonder Dog museum was closed on Sunday but we thought we'd check out the memorial gardens.

Talk about rolling up the sidewalks.  The town of Marshall was deserted.

The Memorial was beautiful.  

Jim was born in Louisiana in 1925 and died in Marshall in 1937.






Jim was a purebred black and white Llewellyn Setter.  Mr. Sam VanArsdale bought Jim for a bird dog.  Jim didn't pay attention during the bird dog training.  He just laid under a table while the other dogs were trained.  

On his first hunt, Jim pointed at a quail. His hunting career encompassed more than 5,000 birds.  Jim could find birds and refused to go where there were none.

Jim understood more than English.  Mr. VanArsdale would tell Jim to find something like "a girl in a red dress, or the license number on a car".  Many people would say the request in a foreign language, shorthand or even morse code and Jim understood every word.  Jim picked the winner of the Kentucky Derby 7 years in a row.  

When Jim died, Mr VanArsdale wanted Jim buried in the 

in the family plot at the Ridge Park Cemetery.  When the officials said Jim couldn't be buried there, Mr. VanArsdales had Jim embalmed.  A child's casket was too small to accomodate Jim's legs without breaking them.  A special casket was made and Jim was buried outside the cemetery fence.  Years later the cemetery expanded and Jim's burial place was then inside the fence.  The funeral was well attended.

Here's a mural on the side of the building.










We had an excellent meal in 
Marshall.  It was a great day.

There were only 15 rigs left from the Escapade.







This morning Bill's BP and heart rate were very irregular.  I just said we're heading back to Casa Grande and checking with his regular doctors.  Of course the numbers are much better now.  

I drove from Sedalia to about 100 miles from the Texas border.  The weather was great and traffic wasn't too bad until I hit rush hour traffic in Oklahoma City.

Turtle Safely.......