June 24, 1982
When I wrote the buffalo Bill/Meechy story, I never thought a local reader would telephone and say that he saw Cody when his show played in Fostoria. But that’s exactly what happened.
The caller was Earl L. Peter, residing at 105 E. Eagle St. He believes that he must have been about 9 years old when Cody brought his show to town. That would have been 1899, when Peter recalls the stagecoach being chased around the showgrounds by the whooping Indians, who in turn were chased off by Buffalo Bill and his band of rough riding cowboys.
WAS OAKLEY THERE?
Peter remembers the fancy shooting that was enacted at the show, but doesn’t recall that Annie Oakley was there. However, he admits there were show acts he no longer remembers. Oakley was still with Cody’s show in 1917.
He (Peter) does recall that someone shot down glass balls thrown in the air, which was one of Annie’s shooting skills. He also remembers them shooting down the glass balls with the rifle pointing backward.
In the article about Cody and Montana Meechy, I mentioned that Taylor Brumbaugh held the reins of cody’s horse while he visited an old Fostoria friend, Frank Singer. I conjectured that Cody had ridden to town from somewhere else where the show was. Undoubtedly, the incident happened when Cody’s show was here.
As I spent a pleasant hour or more visiting with Mr. Peter, he extracted from a box of memorabilia a clipping from The Review Times of 1971, showing a picture of Chief Running Water, son of Chief sitting Bull, mentioned in the Cody/Meechy story. Running Water was one of three Indians used as models for the Indian head nickels. Peter has a 1916 Indian head nickel.
Earl Peter hasn’t spent all of his life in Fostoria. He railroaded with the B & O and resided at Garrett, Ind. at one time.
HOMESTEAD IN CANADA
He also lived in Saskatchewan, Canada, and homesteaded a plot of land for nine years. The hard winters there and the risk of raising a family in such a rugged environment prompted his return to Ohio.
Before our visit ended, Peter told me many interesting tales of his work in Canada, which included the surveying of the right-of-way for the railroad and experiences with the Indians with whom he came in contact.
A few years ago, Mr. Peter’s oldest son, Charles, born in Canada, wanted to see the area where he onced lived and made a trip there. He found the nearest town to their home was practically abandoned with only a couple of elevators remaining.
FEEDBACK: MORE CODY/MEECHY
After I prepared the article, Ernie Duffield telephoned me to provide another local slant to the story.
First of all, Ernie had met Montana Meechy many years ago when he (Meechy) had a band and toured this area often.
At the same time, William Mason, son of the Masons who had the restaurant in Fostoria many years ago, was attending Ohio State and paying his way by playing in Meechy’s band. According to Ernie, Mason had difficulty keeping up with his studies at OSU since the band was playing all over the state and the engagements were mostly at night.
Frankly, I’m surprised that some long-time members of the local Moose Lodge didn’t call to say they recalled the engagement Meechy filled for a dance at their lodge.
POTLUCK TAKES A SHORT VACATION
Seldom does your author write about personal, family matters and this is one those rarities.
On June 17, we went to Houghton N.Y. to see our only grandson Gerry Krupp, be married to Wenda Fletcher, in a beautiful church service at Wesleyan Church. Gerry is the son of our son Nate and his wife Joanne. Nate is known by many Fostorians, having grown up here.
Gerry and Wenda will be finishing up their final year at Marion College, Marion, Ind. Gerry was named the outstanding student preacher at Marion the past school year. Wenda is a nursing student.
Nate’s friends know that he has been involved in lay evangelism ever since he graduated from Purdue, but few know he was ordained about a year ago, and is now a full-time minister, with the Foursquare denomination in Salem, Ore.
In July, Nate will spend four weeks in Africa, teaching and ministering at Youth With a Mission bases and with Foursquare mission centers. Africa is the last of all the continents he will have visited. Several of his books have been reprinted in foreign languages and distributed abroad.
BELFAST (USA)
On our trip to Houghton, N.Y., for the wedding we found ourselves in Belfast, N.Y., at eating time one evening. There were two restaurants there but we chose one called Ace’s Country Cupboard. It was friendly, unusual and the food was good. I would recommend if for anyone traveling Routes 17 and 19 in southwestern New York.
The friendliness of the restaurant stems from it being a family affair. After finishing our meal, I took time to talk to Mrs Carrol Ace, who told me how they happened to settle there. She said they got tired of the hustle-bustle of the Buffalo area and liked the quieter rural area, where her mother lived on a farm.
She and her husband like to cook. They found an empty building for sale and bought it. It had been an old grist mill 100 years ago or more. A picture on a wall of the building shows it as Foster’s Old Mill.
Many old photos and drawings hang on the walls and interesting antiques line many shelves. In the overflow room, there is a woodburning stove that is used in the winter. I spied a large begonia plant in an immense pot. It had large leaves and pink flowers and was just the kind my grandmother had when I was a boy.
The town of Belfast, Mrs. Ace said, was settled by Irish folk way back. The other restaurant there is called Irish Kitchen.
While eating our meal, we notices customers buying ice cream cones for 50 cents so loaded with ice cream we were amazed it stuck. If any readers stop at Ace’s place don’t expect a plush place, just good food and unusual environment.
The ride on Route 17 takes you past Lake Chautauqua and beautiful countryside with mountains and rolling farmland. It is a divided four-lane highway.