"Someday I'll Have a Bicycle!"
Life in Oklahoma and Kansas During The Great Depression
by
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Bad Men and Women
This was the era of big gangsters and bank and train robberies were frequent at this time. Hard times and poverty caused crime and committing crimes was not uncommon even for those normally considered law-abiding citizens.
But one criminal did not have to resort to evil doing. Sallisaw’s own Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd became infamous as one of the ten most wanted gangsters in the United States. He came from a well-known, honest and church-going family. No one could ever determine what made him go so wrong. He was intelligent and handsome and had many opportunities which at that time others lacked. But he broke his parents’ and siblings’ hearts when he boldly came to town and robbed banks. It was rumored that after a "heist" he would joy-ride around town in his new car taunting local police officers. Eventually, he was shot and killed in another part of the country but was brought back to Sallisaw for burial. I didn’t live there at the time but my grandfather told me, "Charlie’s funeral was just like a celebrity’s. Literally, miles of cars and thousands of people lined the streets to become part of the funeral procession."
I never knew Charlie "Pretty Boy" Floyd. He was older than I, but his sister lived next door to us and I played with his nieces. Being a curious child, I asked them if he ever came to see them, and I don’t know if they were exaggerating or not, "Yes, he comes to see us all the time but it’s always at night and he brings us presents. When he does come, he puts his machine gun on the dining table!"
I was fascinated with that story and it may very well have been true. With a small town police department, not many resisted him for he was a dangerous criminal who had killed many times and would not hesitate to again if anyone in his hometown dared to cross him.
I know that my family felt sad for his upright and law-abiding parents because he caused them so much heartache and grief. In later years after his death, one of his brothers, surprisingly became sheriff of Sequoyah County.
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About the Book
"Someday I’ll have a bicycle!" is the nostalgic and triumphant story of the struggles and deprivation of a family who lived in the devastated area of Oklahoma and Kansas during the decades of the 20s and 30s.
Beginning life in Sallisaw Oklahoma in 1921 and continuing up north to Coffeyville Kansas, the author reminisces about her family’s difficulties as they labor to stay afloat and avoid applying for "relief".
The story also includes the life and times of that era and evokes memories of bank and crop failures, "Hoovervilles" and the Roosevelt recovery, the thirties gangster era in which infamous men and women robbed banks and killed countless innocent people. She also tells of the trek out west from the Oklahoma dust bowl on Route 66, and calls to mind Model T Fords, radio comedy and big bands, primitive plumbing, doing laundry on a wash board and many other recollections of those memorable years.
About the Author
Deane Knight overcame her barren beginnings by her optimistic attitude and her determination that tomorrow would be better. Ms. Knight, a retired high school English and Journalism teacher, is now widowed and lives in Moline Illinois. She is the mother of two, one of whom is deceased, and the proud grandmother of two, and an even prouder great grandmother to a girl and boy living in Iowa.
Now in her early eighties, she is still an active woman, playing golf and working out daily. She has long loved to write, having written a book about life with her husband of almost forty-eight years. She proofreads and edits articles written by a local doctor who is a former student. She is involved in volunteer work for her church, her political party and does some tutoring.