Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Mac Dooffe Uncovers Hidden Oklahoma Resort Meers General Store Simple exterior masks simple Interior. By Lebn MacDouffe Meers General Store in Meers, Okla.boma, is the only restaurant in the continental United States that is listed in the Micbelin Guide to Europe. My wife Denise and I were so astounded to find a local listing in the famous guidebook series that we set out from our home in the government quarters at Fort Sill, OkIaboma to see if the coveted live-star award was just1lied. From Fort Sill, the quickest and most scenic way to Meers is through the Wichita Mountalns Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge covers thousands of acres and harbors the largest herd of buffalo in the U.S., plus antelope, deer, longborncattle, and assorted small animals and birds. Small Jakes abound, all formed artlcially by dams constructed by a construction company whicb called itself the C.C.C. Their signs are everywhere. History leaps at you from every bend in the road. Lake Quanah Parker Is named for an Indian chief who led the last organized attack on U.S. Cavalry. His grandson lives in nearby Lawton, but we understand he is a peacefui fellow. Jed Jobnson Lake Is named alter a white settler who tried to rancb in the area and took an Indian woman for a wife. She was sucb a good one, be decided to get a few more and was caught doing what the Indians called teePl!il creeping. A jealous busband put an end to Johnson's hope of male beirs. We went In late winter, this past Marcb to be exact, and the entire refuge was tourist-tree. The narrow road curved gently through stony meadows and round the Jakes. Some of the smaller lakes still bad ice around their edges and we stopped our trusty MatchllDg or Matcblust (we could never find out what brand the bike was, whoever bad It before us bad worn part of the name off the case) and skimmed stones across the ice. They made a whirring sound as they spun toward the blue water at the center unW they plopped over the edge and sank. We talked d driving over to Cache Creek, not far away, site d an Indian Chief's famous ride over a cl1tf but It started to snow so we decided to press OIl to Meers. The chief led a pack of United States soldiers in what must bave been the first hare and bound type event ever held here. He bad made the soldiers angry for some reason that is unclear today and they chased him lickety-split through the busbes on borsetBck unW be bad outdistanced all but the high-pOint riders. They bad him cornered when he came to a bluff overlooking Cache Creek. His only cbance lay in jumping borse and all into the creek, some forty feet below. The intrepid warrior got a running start and flew over the cli1'f. Unfortunately the water was muddy and be couldn't judge the depth at all. Cache Creek is hardly the Mississippi and in its deepesl spots bolds only about four feet of water. The unfortunate Indian bad picked a sbalJow place. The borse, not being equipped with a basb plate, died OIl the spot. His stiff-legged skeleton still stands there and can be seen when summer dries uP the creek. The Indian lived due to the excellent sbock absorber action of the borse's independent four leg suspension and made good his escape. Denise said the borse wouid be covered by water anyway, as he drove himself down into the mud quite a ways, and the snow was making the countryside kind of gbostly so we continued our journey. We were driving aloug, me peering squinty-eyed througb the snow, and Denise holding on to me as close as she could trying to keep the chill out when sbe Said, "Leon, talking about that creepy indian has made my imagination run away with Itself. I can bear boofbeats right behind us." I could bear them too, now that sbe had mentioned it. I turned around, half expecting to see blue uniformed U.S. Troopers galloping to our rear but no one was in sight. The noise turned out to be my pack dragging and thumping along the ground. One of the ropes boldlng it to the luggage rack had loosened and gotten caugbt in the chain. It wrapped Itself around the primary gears or whatever is in the shiny case on the left side of the engine but I just cut the end loose and left the rope in there figuring the clatter from the engine would be that m ucb less and on we went. We came round a bend and were suddenly in the midst of a herd of bufialo. The beasts looked monstrous from a distance of. six inches or so. Denise closed ber eyes and grabbed me tigbter and we began Picking our way througb. Snow was sticking to their unkept coats and their breath was fogging from the cold. Their breath stank too. We were glad to get out of there, thougb I did See one whose hide would have been perfect on our bedroom floor. 1 mentiOlled it to Denise bui sbe said something about driving and talking at the same time so 1 shut uP and bravely zipped between a calf and its mother as a defiant gesture and we were away trom the berd. A buffalo chip was stuck on the front tire and went round and round unW the higbspeed mud flap managed to knock It off. A few minutes of pleasant riding through a stand of pine trees brought us to the outskirts of the refuge. We rattled across the cattle guard at the exit and were once more in tree Oklaboma. We eagerly rode the last few miles to Meers, crossing a qualntone-lane bridge on the way, anticipating a leisurely repast in the manner of travelers of old seeking and find a refuge against a storm. Suddenly it was there in all its glory. It hit us like Times Square neon. Right smack-dab at the junction of three, not MIKE BURKE Motorcycle Specialties BULTACO DESERT SET UP SCRAMBLES KEEP IAHEAD"witha provenwinner... DAYTONA HELMETS Send SO¢ for TWO Reflective Daytona Decals and Descriptive Brochure DAYTONA SPORTS CO. 7030 Darby Ave., P.O. BOl668 Reseda, California 91335 Bob Maynard's ORANGE CO. CYCLE Moto-Cross headquarters for Orange Co. Husky • Penton • Yamaha • Maico 205 N. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana _ _ _ _ _ t7\4\ 531-9984 SALES ..1 SERVICE HOCKIES MOTORCYCLES HODAKA YANKEE OSSA GREEVES Comp lite Ma chi ne Shop F acilitle. 22025 So. Figueroa Torrance, Cal ifornia (213) 328-1242 Exclusive Mi too' s uncondi lional 60 day warranty on all Sherpa's, PurSangs, Bandidos, Matadors sold'new at our shop. Thl s includes oarts & labor. . . ~ fo:I 2; fo:I ..:l U two, but three major farm-to-market ?'o roads sat the jewel of Meers. The gen- ;,,) era! store was the tallest, the widest, the everytblngest of the three buildings comprising Meers. We parked where we could find space, between a battered green pickup and 50 miles of open country and beaded for the door. 1 gallantly spread my coat over a collie who was lying on the steps oblivious to the snow and smiled at his tail- thumping gratitude. The interior was cozy and authentic as bell. The owners bad recreated a page out of the past. It looked just like we imagined a general store to look in the days of the Wild West. Goods were everywhere, banging from the ceiling, stuffed on sbelves, behind glass cases, the wbole Knotts Berry Farm bit. An old-fashioned wall telepbone bung on a ceiling support but what really caugbt our eyes was an autographed pboto of Gabby Hayes on the wall. Authenticity was the keyword. We groped our way through the dim, narrow aisles to sit rigbt under the whiskery portrait and ordered hamburgers and coffee. We would have ordered something fancy but the place sbouted Americana and what could be more fitting than hamburgers? There was no cover and no admission and the hamburgers were priced right and tasted fine. Service can be reported as being excellent and the atmosphere was beyond belief. The only incongruous note to this step backward in time was the fluorescent orange cap worn by the man who took our money. He did put it in one of those old black casb registers with traces of gold trim to even tblngs out. The lady wbo wa1 ted on us told us the story of four "college boys" as sbe called them, wbo came in and drank beer for a wbile until they got to feeling good. A man came in wearing boots and a cowboy bat. He was dusty from riding herd and ordered a beer. One of the boys snickered and said, "Hey gang, there's Lash LaRue!" The buge cowboy ambled over and said to them, "U any of your college boys so mucb as looks up, I'm going to drive you like a ten-penny nail." The lady said it was the funniest thing she had ever seen; four kids irying to drink their beers buncbed just as low as they could get over that table. Every once in a while, ,one of them would ask in a whisper, "Is be gone yet?" It was starting on toward dusk by the time we had drunk a second cuP of cuffee and since my lights had never worked we decided to say our gondbyes to the friendly folks. We left fu1Jy satislied with our find to cbeerful cries of" Come back". Come back we will, and we can heartily recommend The General Store of Meers, Oklahoma to any weary and bungry travelers in the area. Specialized Triumph - Honda Repairs· Custom Racing· Engines .Machine Work· Metisse Kits Cyl. Boring • Head Porting 15178 Raymer St. Van Nuys, Cal. 91406 Telephone (213) 780.0779 V) MOST COMPLETE Parts & Acces. 'nventor, I. So. Ca'ifornia Koni Shocks Rickman Bars Barum Tires .Magura Controls Renolds Chain Skid Plates -

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