This information is offered FREE and taken from http://www.okgenweb.net/~okcaddo/ If you have arrived here using a pay site please know that this information has been donated by volunteers in a joint effort to provide FREE genealogy material online. 1929 tornado - submitted by Sandy Miller ===================================================== The Anadarko Tribune Thursday, April 25, 1929 Vol. 28 No. 40 Page 1 Column 7 CADDO COUNTY UNITES IN HELPING STORM VICTIMS INDIAN WOMAN KILLED AND 112 HOMES ARE DESTROYED Sixteen Seriously injured; the Property Loss Is Estimated in Excess $150,000 The worst tornado that ever struck this section swept through a portion of Kiowa and Caddo counties and left a trail of ruin and desolation last Friday night about 8 o'clock.The storm started near Rainy Mountain and extended northeast for about thirty-five miles, its path varying from a half mile to several miles in width. One hundred and twelve homes were destroyed, thirty-eight in Kiowa county and seventy-four in Caddo county. One woman was killed and sixteen persons were injured. The total loss will exceed $150,000. The greatest damage was done in the trade territory of Carnegie, this county. Practically all houses and outbuildings in the path of the storm were completely destroyed. Immediate relief was given to the storm sufferers by the chambers of commerce and American Legion organizations of Mountain View, Carnegie and Fort Cobb. Tuesday morning the American Red Cross had Lt. Chris O'Connor on the job with authority from the St. Louis office to use $3,000 for emergency relief. Lewis H. Kilpatrick, assistant director, war service, of St. Louis, Mo., arrived Wednesday night and he and Lt. O'Connor are directing the Red Cross activities. Relief committees have been formed representing Mt. View, Carnegie and Fort Cobb. These committees are in actual charge of the relief work under the direction of the American Red Cross. The chambers of commerce and the local American Legion organizations are represented on all the committees. It is estimated that the minimum cost of rehabilitation of the storm sufferers in Caddo county will be $10,000. Of this amount Carnegie has accepted $5000 and Fort Cobb $2000. the balance, $3,000 is to be raised by the other towns of Caddo county chapter of the American Red Cross. COUNTY CHAIRMAN H.M. TILTON and MRS. BUENA LANCASTER, secretary of the Caddo County Chapter, were in consultation at Carnegie today. The following story was furnished The Tribune by DOC JOLLY of the Carnegie Herald: It is hard to estimate how many lives would have been lost had the storm came later in the night after the people had retired. Rain and some hail accompanied the tornado. Relief parties rushed into the stricken area immediately after the storm passed and first aid and medical attention were given the injured. Early Saturday morning a hasty survey by the Carnegie American Legion showed the appalling extent of the disaster and relief measures were started in nearby communities and towns, hundreds of people being left with nothing but the clothing they were wearing. Legion men went to Fort Sill Saturday and secured army tents, cots and blankets, and committee from the local chamber of commerce issued food and other articles for immediate use, while the Legion Auxiliary started collecting and distributing clothing and bedding for the stricken area. Details from the Carnegie and Mountain View Legion posts delivered and put up tents Sunday. Neighbors formed working parties Sunday and helped rebuild fences and helped care for any feed or seed that had been spared, and the stricken families were cared for in the homes of surrounding communities. By Tuesday truck loads of supplies began to arrive from neighboring towns. Striking first near BOAKE'S STORE, about ten miles southwest of Mounain View, the tornado did damage to several houses and barns before it reached the fine farm home of E.M. WEISS where the ouse was swept from its foundation and parts blown away, a cement garage was crumbled and orchard, implements and barn damaged. The home and all other buildings of JIM BOLEN and CARTER BARNEY's house and sheds and outbuildings were destroyed. Houses, barns, trees and everything above ground were blown away at the R.L. HADLEY, T.C. HARGROVE, O.L. GASKEL and BUD MARLETT places; trees were uprooted or stripped of leaves and small branches. The S.J. HUDDLESTON FILLING STATION, one mile east and six south of Mountain View, garage, cream station, barn and other buildings were damaged. At C.C. BEDDO's all buildings were blown away. The W.E. SETZER house, about half a mile north of Beddo's was blown into bits, but a Ford coupe standing nearby was practically unhurt. The tornado was apparently divided at this point, two distinct trails of debris led from the Beddo and Setzer home to join some distance east of both places. The house on the RICHARD RANDOLPH place was destroyed. It was unoccupied. The entire roof was carried away and the walls left standing at the home of KATE KATHEAHALAH and NEWTON GEIQUODLE's big house was blown away. The home of HENRY BYBEE on Newton's place was demolished and two horses and a cow were killed. The homes of BROWN COLE and C. BANDY, three-quarters of a mile farther east were swept clean. The T.R. EPPLER home was left a mass of tangled wreckage. All buldings were torn down and scattered, heavy machinery was twisted and piled up, orchards were uprooted and 11 head of cows and calves, one horse and 41 head of hogs were killed. Other livestock was injured besides loss of much grain and feed. The R.L. WEEK's small house was next destroyed before the storm reached the old M.O. ALLISON place occupied by GERALD PHILLIPS, where the buildings were badly damaged but some left standing. The home of HOMER NEWTON just across the road north was destroyed. Homer remained in the house until it had been moved several yards when he left it and sought protection from the blasts under a heavy roadster. Damage was done to the JOE SWANDA home and the houses occupied by OTTO NEW and MR. CARR were damaged. House, barn and outbuildings belonging to HICKS BOYIDDLE were blown away and the location left clean as a floor. The Boyiddle family was not at home. C.L. KUYKENDALL's place was like wise swept clean. Kuykendall was Poking his head out of his cave where the family had gone for safety to watch the progress of the storm after it had carried away his house and buildings when another blast struck with enough force to push the Fordson tractor several yards. A pine splinter about two feet long was left sticking though his steel water tank. PICKLER BOYIDDLE's big new barn was blown away, his home unroofed and a small house at the same location occupied by CLAUDE HARMON was destroyed. Harmon losing all his personal property. Hardly a stick is left standing on the old STONE farm three miles south of Carnegie. The place was occupied by MRS. LENO WILLIAMS and is now owned by BILL DIXON BILL SWANDA's practically new modern house was wrecked, his big new barn was crushed and a small tenant house was blown away. The house and barn on the place across the road east from Swanda's home was completely destroyed. The big two story house, barns, garage and implements belonging to NICK CHLOUBER were a total loss. One mule was killed, a new sedan was blown about 40 rods and left an almost unrecognizable mass, another car housed in the same building was practically unhurt. H.N. PADGET's house was damaged, garage and barn were blown away. H.Y. McDOW was left homeless and practically everything he owned was blown away, one fine horse being killed. The C.C. TIDMORE family, eight in number, were all more or less injured when their house on the old M. ANDREWS place was destroyed. Mr. and Mrs. Tidmore were rendered unconscious and one child was blown out of the half dug-out in which they were living. Tidmore's team was killed. The LONE BEAR house where the only fatality of the storm occurred, was next to be destroyed, nothing being left above ground. ELWOOD SCOTT's home a quarter of a mile north of the Cedar Creek Indian church, was blown away, but the church was scarcely damaged. At the ROY CHARLES home on the SID WIMBERLEY place the family of six was in the home when the storm lifted it from its foundation. They clung desperately to each other and to a bed as the home seemed to break to pieces in the air. Mrs. Charles remembers when they were whirled through the tops of the trees in their yard. All were bruised and battered but were not seriously hurt. A.C. ROGERS suffered a total loss of home and all other buildings, and all the personal belongings of JACK AND CHARLEY TERRELL were completely destroyed. The BEDWELL boy's home was blown away and a part of the Ratliff house was wrecked. At the NEAL PATTERSON home the house was blown away as the family Rushed into the storm cave. The Cedar Dale school house, pride of the district, was reduced to kindling wood and scattered over the surrounding fields. The BOLEN FILLING STATION was blown away and his home destroyed. E.L. LYNCH suffered a total loss and the E.G. SCHULTZ family was left with nothing except the clothing they were wearing; LEE CONWAY's house and barns were damaged; H.E. FAST's home was destroyed. F.M. CLAYTON's home was damaged. The small home of MR. AND MRS. FULLER was destroyed and Mrs. Fuller sustained a broken shoulder. The storm continued across the Washita river to spread destruction among homes north and west of Fort Cobb. It is reported that one of the big orchards of the Knauss brothers was ruined. The last places damaged by the storm were the GILES FILLING STATION and a nearby house five miles northeast of Fort Cobb. About ten residences were destroyed north of the river. The WARD home, four miles west of Fort Cobb, was blown from its foundation and wrecked. The wind struck next three miles northeast of the Ward place at the home of G.A. WALKER. A family of seven, received bruises when their home was literally torn down over their heads, but all escaped serious injury. An 80 acre orchard was wiped out at the Walker place. One-half mile north of the Walker home at a tenant place the family of JAMES MATTHEWS was injured, one boy receiving a broken leg. Mrs. Matthews was injured slightly.