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    Legends of Lubbock
    by Norris L. Fanning
    The dawn of civilization as we know it occurred twelve millennia ago right here in the canyon that cuts through the Llano Estacado. It was here that the nomadic prehistoric hunters of the Clovis era settled in the first village around the canyon springs and became the world's first identifiable, unique culture. The fossil record tells the unmistakable story of a people who developed a community which cooperated for the common good, invented tools and engaged in commerce and manufacturing. We know a lot about how they lived; they hunted the wooly mammoth with weapons of stone.
    After a few thousand years of time, the Folsom culture followed, then the Archaic Indians, followed by the Woodland and Neo periods and then came the Plains Indians - Kiowas, Cheyenne, Arapahos, and the fearsome Comanches. We only have fragments of the legends of the later Indian tribes. The Spanish conquistadors brought the mustang and Longhorn cattle, making possible the legends of the cowboys. Throw in the Iron Horse, the buffalo hunters, and the cavalry, and we lay claim to all the legends of the frontier. Oh, yes, Lubbock is a legendary place.
    Some of the "Legends of Lubbock" tax our sense of credibility. Reality, on the other hand, is downright unbelievable. Who in their right mind would believe the incredible fertility of our soil, or imagine the wealth produced by irrigation and our other natural resources? And in less than a hundred years, Lubbock, Texas has produced true legends: in education, politics, medicine, music, technology, agriculture, warfare, and the list keeps growing.
    What we have here are some of the tall tales about the Legends of Lubbock, as printed in the Chamber of Commerce Newsletter. I hope you enjoy them.
    Lubbock Legend No. I
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    This Legend is absolutely true. People have lived well here for 12000 years, longer than anywhere else on the face of the earth. People had been living in the canyon that runs through town for 7000 years before the first Egyptian started laying brick for the pyramids. And 8000 years before Stonehenge. The Flintstones lived here as well as the characters from B.C. and Ally Oop.
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    They had a wooly mammoth butcher shop on North University that sold giant bison steak and camel loin. Archaeologists are still digging up bones and stuff where they threw them out the back door to feed the saber tooth tigers they kept for pets. They have a permanent exhibit out at the dig named for Bob Nash, legendary radio commentator on KFYO who used to wake us up every morning with delightful history lessons about the Llano Estacado.
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    If Olympus was made for the gods, Lubbock, Texas was made for us mortals. That canyon with the worlds longest fossil record is to this day a beautiful place. There is the Escondido (hidden) Canyon on the north side and Ransom Canyon on the south side of town. Take Lakeshore Drive off Martin Luther King Boulevard for the scenic tour.
    August 1996
    Lubbock Legend No. II
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    Folks in Lubbock have an air about them that is usually associated with youth, vim, vigor and vitality. “Young at heart” is the rule here, regardless of years. We do have more than our share of bona fide youngsters, what with Texas Tech, LCU, South Plains, Wayland, and on and on. We also have a lot of spry retirees. There are a half dozen golf courses and all kinds of other athletic activities so they can burn off their excess energy. That is sometimes credited to an incredible legend:
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    “Ponce de Leon discovered the fountain of youth near Lubbock.
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    You can credit the miracle of irrigated farming to the Ogallala, and its medicinal qualities for hardening the teeth are well known. However, the Food and Drug Administration has not certified it for the purpose of extending life expectancy, but we hope they will soon. Some insurance companies still do not give a discount on their premium for drinking it like they do when you quit smoking.
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    Still, most of the obits in the morning paper are for kinfolk from off, not Lubbock residents. The number of funerals for locals seems to be disproportionately small, relative to the population.
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    A more plausible explanation would be the quality of our health care. Lubbock is to health care what Branson, Missouri is to country music. People from all over come here because, frankly, it’s the best health care in the world. Just count the out-of-state license plates in the hospital parking garages on the other side of the sky bridges. They say the largest single hospital between Dallas and Los Angeles is located here, and there are at least a half dozen others. We do have lots of doctors. Even the Wall Street Journal enviously credits Lubbock as being the “leading edge of medical technology”.
    September 1996
    Lubbock Legend No. III
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    Legendary Lubbock “has more sky” according to Carlton Godbold, of culture center fame. Of course it does! Our horizons are not polluted by the earth’s imperfections. Nothing nibbles away at the hem of our sky. It is full and vibrant, not shriveled at the edges. Our sunsets go all the way to the ground. Bud Adderton, legendary Lubbock City Councilman used to say "When God made the earth, he took special care with Lubbock, to get it real smooth." Some pretty bizarre myths are told about the geometric perfection of our topography. Here is one example:
    Nobody has ever fallen off the edge of the earth plowing our long cotton rows. Arch Lamb lost a team of mules and a ridin' cultivator once, but that’s all. I know that it looks like you can see the edge of the earth from some high places, but the edge of the caprock is not the same thing as the edge of the earth. This has been verified with the Flat Earth Society.
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    That’s not to say we don’t have long straight cotton rows. The government used to have a one-row cotton allotment, but Lubbock farmers flooded the market and they had to change the allotment measurement to acres instead of rows.
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    As a practical matter, none of the cotton rows are over a mile long now. They used to be longer, but they had to chop 'em up into 640 acre cotton patches with section roads so they could get to the oil wells.
    October 1996
    Lubbock Legend No. IV
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    Legendary Lubbock boasts of some of the strangest phenomenon that ever happened. Some of it may be mythical, but a lot of it is true. With the insatiable thirst for accuracy instilled in me by the truly legendary engineering professor; “Cactus Jack” Powers, I have searched for the truth about one of our more fantastic legends.
    This legend is most frustrating to authenticate. The phenomenon of the Lubbock Lights was one of the earliest UFO sightings to be reported and documented. And it is a fact that Teflon and Velcro were introduced after the alleged incident.
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    A monumental cover-up is suspected by true believers. Everyone with first hand knowledge of the incident has mysteriously disappeared. We probably won’t know all the answers until the government releases the flight recorder.
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    November 1996
    Lubbock Legend No. V
    Lubbock is legendary for the research and development that goes on around here. It is no wonder the following legend got started:
    After study, it turns out this is just another case of West Texas ingenuity outrunning technology. What it was, was the first mobile telephone. Doc Overton, the legendary Lubbock physician of early days, carried an old hand crank phone in his Model T Ford when he made house calls to remote rural areas. When he wanted to make a call, he stopped the car, drove a ground rod down, threw a bare wire over the party line beside the road and rang up central. Mert, the operator, kept his messages and read them back to him. And that’s how voice mail got started.
    On the other hand, organized R&D efforts are plentiful in Lubbock. The academic basis here is awesome. Check it out @ http://www.coe.ttu.edu/research.htm. A few of our efforts include: 1.) International Center for Arid and Semiarid Land Studies, 2.) Monumental scale solar collectors, 3.) Laser finger print identification, 4.) Alternative fuel vehicles, 5.) Neural networks, 6.) Integrated facultative pond water reuse, 7.) Software for construction, and on and on. Practical stuff people can use. We don’t waste our time on fool’s errands chasing cold fusion, anti-gravity or perpetual motion. And you would not believe what they are working on at TTU Health Science Center!
    Appropriately, our industrial strength research, development, and manufacturing is strongly associated with producing and processing food and fiber. But we have a lot of independent inventors here, too. Heck, I know a half dozen who hold patents, (Johnny Berry, Terry Small, Lonnie Gary, ...) who developed, manufactured, and marketed innovative products here in Lubbock. Wendell Coffee, our legendary patent attorney, even did a few patent searches for me. The spirit of the entrepreneur is alive and well in my home town.
    December 1996
    Lubbock Legend No. VI
    I was born in East Texas, where the piney woods meets the plains, where buffalo is a fish, and where you’all is the plural of you. And lordy, did we have bugs: Man eatin’ skeeters, scorpions, centipedes, millipedes, and gigapedes. We had aerodynamically impossible bumble bees with the velocity and punch of a .45 slug. We had house flies, horse flies, blow flies and blue tail flies. They could sting and bite with both ends. So, I dreamed of a place they told about in legend:
    That used to be true. There are still no chiggers at all, which is a great blessing to folks with short finger nails. We sure don’t have the insect plagues that bedevil folks in some places, like fire ants, killer bees, locusts, etc.
    The ubiquitous cockroach does live here, though they are seldom seen in daylight. They are sorta like politicians, it ain’t how much they eat; its what they mess up that’s the problem. The first ones showed up 12,000 years ago when some of the folsum and clovis era housewives were a little careless with their housekeeping. They are easily killed by hemming them up in a corner and stomping them to death with sharp toed cowboy boots.
    When all our millionaires started importing hand split hickory logs to burn in their lava rock fireplaces and barbecue their fillet mignon steaks, a few ticks and termites snuck in with the cordwood. Boy, was that ever dumb! Anybody with any sense at all knows that mesquite makes better barbecue than hickory any day of the week.
    We never had boll weevils either, ‘til our winters got so mild they started coming here for the climate. We frosted their bolls last winter though, and hope they don't come back.
    January 1997
    Lubbock Legend No. VII
    Learning is hard, because knowledge has to replace ignorance, and ignorance usually does not want to go. One variety of ignorance manifests itself in making wise cracks about Lubbock weather. Even a falsehood, told often enough, can become a legend:
    None of this is true, of course . Our last twister here in town was a quarter of a century ago. It made a mess, and blew down the light poles at Jones Stadium. Dr. Jim MacDonald, a professor at Texas Tech, has made a career out of studying the dang thing, it was such a rarity.
    And while we are on the subject of natural disasters that have plagued mankind since time immemorial, I would just like to point out that in Lubbock, we have NEVER had a forest fire, a volcano eruption, a mud slide, a hurricane, a killer flood, or an earthquake.
    Lubbock has the best weather in the world and the numbers to prove it: Comfortable mean temperature, low humidity, high wet bulb depression, high daily range, maximum hours of sunshine, predominant southwesterly breezes, cool nights, mild winters, and on and on.
    Our ball games don’t get rained out, our cars don’t rust out , nobody carries an umbrella, and antiperspirant deodorants really work here.
    February 1997
    Lubbock Legend No. VII
    We do get a memorable duster here every few years. Such an event can be very impressive, particularly to a tenderfoot, who might remember the occasion with this description:
    Well, now, I have seen a duster or two in my day and these tales are stretchin' it a mite. When they happens, the old timers just say our atmosphere has substance. I used to run out and take a picture of them. I have a half dozen or so good photos accumulated over the last 40 years.
    But what do you expect when the topsoil is so deep, the prairie dogs bark with a Chinese accent. So, maybe a little of it gets stirred up once in a while. How did you think West Texans got the reputation for having true grit.
    March 1997
    Lubbock Legend No. IX
    I rode on mama’s cotton sack and played with the caterpillars and cow ants ‘cause I was born a share cropper. We never got to participate in the sharin’ part, though. Boll weevils got the cotton, and the bankers got the money. Around the coal oil lantern, they told about a legendary place sorta like heaven, but you didn’t have to die to go to: Lubbock, Texas, where:
    In this case, truth is stranger than fiction, and reality is a lot bigger than the legend. A good stripper measures his rate of harvest in BPH, bales per hour. They plow 8 rows at a time with air conditioned tractors and defoliate a section at a time with airplanes. White gold! Money don’t grow on trees, it grows on stalks.
    The jumbo pencil they used to give kids at the gin and the chance to stick your head in the suction pipe are fragments of nostalgia from days long ago. They look at you funny when you talk about bang tail mules, cotton sacks, and scale peas. The scale of high plains agri-business eclipses all legends and tales I heard in my youth.
    April 1997
    Lubbock Legend No. X
    You have heard of black gold, which we pump out of the ground here, and white gold which grows in our cotton fields, but did you know that before either of these, there was a persistent legend about the yellow stuff:
    This legend dates back before Columbus. It has taken many forms: El Dorado, Seven cities of Cibola, and Quivira among others. We do not know how it got started. A lot of it may have been made up by Indians wanting to get rid of some unwelcome Spanish guests by telling them about the gold that was just over the next hill.
    Coronado believed this legend and tromped all over the Llano Estacado looking for Las Casas de Amarillo. Turned out to be the illusion of Yellow House Canyon. Llano Estacado (or the palisade plains) was just the white caprock reflecting the morning sun.
    As far as I know, there are no gold houses in Lubbock. I heard a contractor say that an architect from Houston once gold plated a job in Lubbock, but none of the local boys ever do. Our construction uses all the conventional building materials, including wood stone, concrete, and steel. There is very little gold plated ornamentation, but brass is quite popular for door knobs and such.
    June 1997
    The Unpublished Legends
    Lubbock Legend No. XI
    Lubbock rightly takes pride in being a good place to raise a family. Folks around here are good neighbors, law-abiding, church going folks. There are some legends we just don’t need, and it simply is not true that:
    “Marijuana grows wild in the alleys in Lubbock.”
    In the early days of ranching in West Texas, cows sometimes accidentally grazed on loco weed and went sorta crazy. I guess somebody assumed there was a connection. A few times the fedarales have busted fellers around here with bad habits and green thumbs. The law in these parts takes a mighty dim view of possessing or peddling illegal substances of all types. This completely false legend might have got started when they recorded the song "Big Rock Candy Mountains" at Don Caldwell's studio. The chorus used to go:
    O the buzzin’ of the bees in the cigarette trees
    The soda water fountain
    Where the longhorn cattle feed
    on the lowly LOCO weed...
    They changed it of course, but they did not take out the reference to tobacco, probably because of the lobbyists. We have never cultivated that noxious weed locally. Everybody that still smokes around here rolls their own from Bull Durham, and can do so in the saddle, at a full gallop, with one hand, while riding through a whirlwind.
    Lubbock Legend No. XII
    Legends of the Old West don’t ever seem to die. And a lot of my friends really can remember the old days. In the grand scheme of things, on the cosmic time scale, yesteryear was just the bat of an eye. Cowboys, trail drives, gunfights, rodeos, the wild west, and a lot of it is still with us. Maybe that’s why the legend persists:
    “Everybody wears a 6-shooter in Lubbock. Duels are fought on main street. When you come to town, they ask you if you have a gun: if you don't, they give you one. No store carries ammunition smaller than .44 calbre. Pickup trucks are required by law to have factory installed headache racks for at least one gun per seat.”
    Well, no, not everybody carries a 6-shooter these days. That’s ridiculous. I've seen any number of fellers not totin' a gun this week. Least ways not where you could see it. But with our new concealed handgun law in Texas, you never can be sure who is and who ain’t. Hardly anybody wears their shootin’iron low and tied down these days. And nobody notches their grip any more; that’s considered bad taste. It is socially acceptable to use the “Guns Up” salute when provoked by a “Hook-em” or “Gig-em” threat.
    However, to be on the safe side, there are a few precautions you ought to take, especially around somebody you do not know personally. Always take the corner seat facing the door. Avoid abrupt, provocative movements such as slappin’ your thigh. Never, ever say “This town ain’t big enough for both of us” to a stranger wearing a black hat.
    Lubbock Legend No. XIII
    Now, don’t get me wrong; I don’t have anything against trees. I’ve planted more than a few myself. I think they are real appropriate where the ground is not flat enough to plow with an 8 row tractor. It does seem curious, fertile as our soil is, that we do not have more native trees. There is, however, a legend that explains this:
    “There are no old trees in Lubbock because Paul Bunyan started lumberjacking here. This country used to be a giant redwood forest. They say he cut 'em all down. Babe dragged 'em to the Gulf of Mexico, and the ditch became the Brazos River.”
    The only evidence we have on that is the fact that all the trees in Lubbock now have been planted by somebody within recorded history. I know folks who claim to remember when there were no trees in Lubbock County at all. That does raise the question: who cut them down, and when? The oldest tree in Lubbock was a Mulberry tree in Winchester Square. It died in 1995 from old age. The Chamber of Commerce cut it down and made souvenir fountain pens out of the wood, and you can buy one from any member.
    Lubbock Legend No. XIV
    Sometimes tales are told about you and you are the last to know. There is a legend we never heard of until some tourists from Germany came to research the subject at the Southwest Collection.   Seems to be big in Europe.
    “The Legend of Old Shatterhand."
    This legend is about a mythical character who was supposed to have lived in these parts when it was frontier country. Entire books have been written about him.   In some cultures the stories rival the legends of the Lone Ranger and Johnny Mack Brown.   Extensive research has revealed the stories are pure fiction.  I understand the characters were drawn from a composite of ordinary people who lived around here, but any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
    The author seems to have been a German by the name of Karl May who kicked the bucket about 1912.  Interesting fellow, this May. You can read his biography and the translations if some of his novels for yourself using the link.
    I did find a few pictures of  Old Shatterhand  and an Indian named  Winnetau.  The art is not in the same class with the watercolors of Lubbock's Legendary artist Michael Atkinson, but then, they are pretty old.   
    Lubbock Legend No. XV
    Some legends have the ring of truth; others don’t. Some require more faith than others. Some could only be loved by an engineer:
    “Isaac Newton invented the Theory of Momentum in Lubbock”
    Everybody knows about gravity and the apple. Less well known is the story behind his other theories. They say he figgered out the theory of momentum while observing a tumbleweed bouncing across the flat prairie. He said to himself "That sucker ain't going to stop or change direction 'til it hits a bob wire fence." And that’s how we got F = M*A, the equation on which all engineering principles are based. There is insufficient data to authenticate this legend. F=M*A has been scientifically verified as a reliable equation. Isaac Newton, an English physicist, is given the credit for it. The missing link is the travel records.
    Lubbock Legend No. XVI
    Wildlife is certainly abundant on the South Plains. Actually, buffalo hunters were the first white settlers here. Located on a major flyway, migrant ducks and geese enjoy the hospitality of the lakes in our city parks every winter. Our city mascot is a lovable little varmit: the prairie dog. We have lots of unusual critters like kangaroo rats, which are neither kangaroos nor rats. I was not surprised to hear the following legend about our wildlife:
    “Flocks of laughing geese darken the sky in the fall of the year. “
    They are Sand Hill Cranes, actually, not geese. But there are 10,000 of them that winter here and roost on dry Mound Lake, just south of Lubbock. They all wake up at dawn and make a awesome racket just like a political convention of United We Stand, with their raucous call of pe r r r ott, per r r r r ott.
    I used to fly over there and race them in a Piper Cub. They could fly about as high and as fast as I could. And they were about the same size. They met their match though when the Air Force started flying T-38's out of Reese AFB. We all had to get out of their way. Not many bird hunters have ever killed a Sand Hill Crane with a shotgun. I am proud to say I have bagged 2 in my life. Cooked and ate 'em too. Tastes like a chicken; yeah ... Foghorn Leghorn.
    Lubbock Legend No. XVII
    My kids grew up watching Admiral Foghorn, Legendary Lubbock TV personality. We have terrific TV personalities, so why would anyone even question the following legend:
    “Lubbock was the birthplace of the muppets Legend has it the Lubbock muppets were kidnapped by a gang of slavers. They were smuggled out of the country in a vehicle disguised as a Goodwill truck . They were cloned and sold off to a bunch of foreign promoters who abused them. They later escaped and joined the show which made them famous.”
    Lubbock Avalanche Journal, July 27, 1996: Front page obituary for Dirk West, legendary cartoonist for the Southwest Conference. He gave the Houston Cougar a trash can home, the SMU Mustang a blind bridle, and the A&M Aggie his “duh,”. You could count the losses by the holes in Raider Red’s hat. We elected him mayor in 1978. From 1954 to 1957 he starred as Uncle Dirk on a popular kid’s show. In a 1980 interview he said “My puppets looked exactly like the Muppets before the Muppets were even in existence.” I believe it If you doubt it, you better smile when you say that, pard’ner.
    Lubbock Legend No. XVIII
    “There are more beef cattle around Lubbock than anywhere.“
    Well now, that’s probably true. They come here for the feed. They congregate in places called feed lots. Sorghum here is called grain sorghum, because it only grows a foot or so off the ground before it heads out and turns to solid grain. Steers think it is delicious. Some places people eat it like corn, I'm told. The fodder grown around Lubbock is so sweet, the cattle eat it mixed with cotton hulls, cotton bolls, and gin trash and don't know the difference. Actually get fat on it.
    Lubbock Legend No. XIX
    Lubbock is "...where the buffalo roamed, and the deer and antelope played".
    You know, when you fly into Lubbock International late in the evening, and see the gorgeous sunsets reflected off of the water in hundreds of little round lakes? Well, those are called "playa" lakes. Buffaloes stomped out "buffalo wallers" all over this country and playaed in them. From the number and size of them, there must have been millions of buffalo.
    Lubbock Legend No. XX
    A fellow from off the other day told me a story about some friends of his that got married and came to Lubbock on their honeymoon. Then he busted out laughing. I didn’t think that was funny; Phyllis and I did the same thing 40 years ago. Liked it so well we stayed. I guess some folks get their jollies off the straight line “How bad was it?” They may try, but they just can’t get one legend to stick:
    “Lubbock is the dullest place on the face of the earth. They roll up the sidewalks at sundown. They sell tickets to lawn mowing events. They turn off the traffic lights at dark because the probability of both cars being at the same intersection at the same time is practically zero. “
    Wildly exaggerated by visiting stand-up comedians who perform in our jumpin' Depot District. It seems to get a laugh out of the tourists. Reality is that you have no trouble at all finding excitement before or after dark in Lubbock. They publish a whole supplement in the Avalanche Journal every Friday just listing the hot spots. From the world's best oprys and live music, to sports, theater and concerts, ... Let me tell you, Blue Prairie and Andy Wilkinson had to perform in the parks last summer because they couldn’t book an inside gig, all the stages were spoke for.
    And sports, well, I don’t have to tell you about the Red Raiders, the Lady Raiders, the Crickets, the Plainsmen, and all the rest of the championship quality sports we get to see in Lubbock. Let me just say that I am sure glad my grandson, Tyler, plays little league ball at Maxey Park which is near the hospitals, because I nearly have a heart attack every game. I don't know what we would do with any more excitement around here.
    Lubbock Legend No. XXI
    Lubbock is where “All you can eat...” restaurants got started.
    It’s true. Underwoods Bar-B-Que advertised: “Got a buck to eat on... “. Seconds on all the trimmin’s was free, delicious, and filling. Many’s the day I pigged out there.
    Lubbock Legend No. XXII
    “Lubbock is the Original Land of Wine and Roses.”
    This is a half truth. Tyler, Texas is the rose capital of the world. Lubbock is just working on the wine part. Our wineries produce award winners from hearty chardonney, to blush wines with a delicate bouquet. Once in a while they run off a batch carrying a tad too much oak and have to wholesale it to bottlers of jug wine. I think they ship it in stainless steel tankers so the quality does not suffer.
    Lubbock Legend No. XXIII
    The world’s really great cooks are all from Lubbock, Texas. They are qualified in official Chili cook-offs. There are more restaurants and cafes per capita here than anywhere and they are building more every day. Somebody speculated that the entire population of Lubbock county can be seated in restaurants at the same time. The following legend is typical:
    “The recipe for Texas Creame Pie was invented in Lubbock.”
    I know for certain that is true. Miss Alice Lehew, who used to live behind our house, was the cook at the Plainsman Hotel. One day she cooked up a bunch of pies with meringue topping and set them in the window to cool. A rare duster blew in and covered the pies with sand. She did not want to waste food, so she scraped off the meringue and grated dark chocolate on top of the filling. They put it in the menu as Sand Pie. The manager thought that was too much like Mud Pie and changed it to “Texas Creame Pie”. It was a big hit, and made the hotel famous.
    Lubbock Legend No. XXIV
    “The worlds largest circular air supported structure is located in Lubbock, Texas”
    Gotta be true. That's what it says on the Internet: Look it up. Athletic Training Facility, Texas Tech University: http://gs1.cs.ttu.edu/multirep/ttu/ttu_ath.htm It was demolished in 2018 to build a bigger rigid structure.  I have some teriffic stories about Ralph Spencer, Dewey Swartner, Bob Bray, Coach John Connolly, and others.  It was truly a unique design defeated by administrators at cross purposes.
    Lubbock Legend No. XXV
    “Breedlove Dehydration Plant working to eliminate hunger.....”
    Breedlove is now listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the largest dehydration plant in the world processing food to be given to hungry people. Over 3,000,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables (including potatoes, carrots, celery, apples, sweet potatoes, turnips, and cherries) have been dehydrated since the opening of this processing plant in October, 1994. http://agweb.tamu.edu/lubbock/breedlov.htm
    This is really the legend of Carolyn Lanier, the lady you can’t say “no” to; one of George Bush’s 1000 points of light. When the project for the building lagged behind schedule, she rounded up a hundred inmates from the local hoosegow and whipped them into a construction crew. Got the job done: no excuses, no fear.
    Lubbock Legend No. XXVI
    “Nobody has rotten teeth in Lubbock. “
    That is pretty much true. Some kids don't even get cavities. We have fluoride in our drinking water, courtesy of mother nature. Eat your heart out, Colgate Palmolive. I remember the first dentist I ever met in Lubbock; actually it was ole Doc Hatchett from Slaton. His kid had to work in the office cause he couldn't afford to hire good help. Brought his lunch in a syrup bucket: couldn't afford brown paper bags. When he was lucky enough to get one, he folded it up and carried it home in his hip pocket for the next day. Everybody thought it was his wallet, and started the rumor that all dentists are rich.
        Lt. Col. George A. Davis, Jr.            Lubbock Legend No. XVII
      
    Congressional Medal of Honor Citation: Maj. Davis distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. While leading a flight of 4 F_86 Saberjets on a combat aerial patrol mission near the Manchurian border, Maj. Davis' element leader ran out of oxygen and was forced to retire from the flight with his wingman accompanying him. Maj. Davis and the remaining F_86's continued the mission and sighted a formation of approximately 12 enemy MIG_15 aircraft speeding southward toward an area where friendly fighter_bombers were conducting low level operations against the Communist lines of communications. With selfless disregard for the numerical superiority of the enemy, Maj. Davis positioned his 2 aircraft, then dove at the MIG formation. While speeding through the formation from the rear he singled out a MIG_15 and destroyed it with a concentrated burst of fire. Although he was now under continuous fire from the enemy fighters to his rear, Maj. Davis sustained his attack. He fired at another MIG_15 which, bursting into smoke and flames, went into a vertical dive. Rather than maintain his superior speed and evade the enemy fire being concentrated on him, he elected to reduce his speed and sought out still a third MIG_15. During this latest attack his aircraft sustained a direct hit, went out of control, then crashed into a mountain 30 miles south of the Yalu River. Maj. Davis' bold attack completely disrupted the enemy formation, permitting the friendly fighter_bombers to successfully complete their interdiction mission. Maj. Davis, by his indomitable fighting spirit, heroic aggressiveness, and superb courage in engaging the enemy against formidable odds exemplified valor at its highest.
    .
    Here is a Letter to the Editor written by a fellow engineer, Vance Scoggin.  Vance and I worked together in the late 50's and he told a few stories about some of the bizarre incidents he had investigated for the Air Force in Korea.   I am sure he would not mind if I tack it on to the bottom of my list of Legends of Lubbock.
    Lubbock Legend No. XVIII
    Regardless of your taste in music, you will find a lot of it in and around the Hub City. The Lubbock Symphony, the Goin’ Band from Raiderland, 4th on Broadway and other Concerts, Prairie Winds chapter of the Sweet Adelines, the Singing Plainsmen, Don Caldwell Presents Music of the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s, Recitals in Hemmle Hall, an Opry nearby every Saturday night, red hot talent for every persuasion in our nitespots, and on and on. We really do have our very own true music legend:
    “Rock and Roll started here.”
    Buddy Holly started it all with the Crickets.   There is a heroic statue of him.   The Buddy Holly Music Festival is held in his honor every year.   One of our major streets is named for him.   He was laid to rest in the City of Lubbock Cemetery in 1959, at the age of 21.   He took music to the next level.
     
    By the way, Southern Gospel started here too, with the Chuckwagon Gang singing on KFYO. Rose, Anna, Dad and Jim Carter were noontime regulars before the music got its name, and the same quartet sang together for over 50 years.
    And, oh yes, according to Blue Prairie, the yodel started here too, with that cowboy on a buckin' bronc and a Spanish saddle horn, but that is another story.