ABOUT

CREDITS

Lead Vocals and Rhythm Guitars: Kevin O’Donnell
Lead Guitar: Kevin Webb, Dave Spindle, Bart Warden
Keyboards and Saxophones: Chris Wiser
Bass Guitar: Dave Spindle, Steve Warden
Drums: Austin Sims, Matt Duckworth, Eric Harmon, Mike Warden
Backing Vocals: Kevin O’Donnell, Lisa Smedley-O’Donnell, Trent Bell

Music and Lyrics: Kevin O’Donnell (Suds & Mud Music, LLC. Purcell, OK)
Producer and Engineer: Trent Bell (Bell Labs Recording Studio, Norman, OK)
Mastering: Garrett Haines (Treelady Studios, Pittsburgh, PA)
Album Cover and Web Design: Matt Stansberry (Nominee Design Studio, Edmond, OK)

 

THE PROJECT

Heroes of Sandtown, from the beginning, was always intended to be a studio project. It was an effort to take my song-writing hobby to the next level and put my ideas into some tangible form. My goal was to hear my songs as a finished work and, if nothing else, to do something for posterity. I want my kids to know when they get older that their old man was, at some point long ago, a musician.

Over the years I had written a few songs and decided that it was finally time to record them. Not because I had perfected them (far from it) but in large part because I was having a hard time remembering them! My intention to record just a few songs quickly spiraled out of control into a full-blown album. Fortunately, I had the help of some old friends to jumpstart the project – the Warden Clan. Steve, Bart, and Mike, all accomplished writers and musicians in their own right, were kind enough to lend their talents early on. Once the process had begun, it was obvious that I had no idea what I was doing. Trent Bell of Bell Labs Studio (who does know what he is doing) was fast to intervene and keep me pointed in the right direction. Trent brought together an incredible group of musicians to make this project a reality. Thank you to everyone that contributed their time, talent, and energy to the project!

Sadly, shortly before completing the album, Bart Warden lost his brave battle with brain cancer. I owe so much to Bart, not only for his musical contribution, but also for his unwavering support and friendship. This album is dedicated to him and his life-long passion for music.

Bart Alan Warden (October 31, 1963 – June 12, 2014)

 

THE NAME

When I first decided to undertake the project, I hadn’t given much thought as to what to call it. Not until a few tracks had been recorded did I really start to think that a name was necessary. Little did I know how difficult a task that would be. After countless failed attempts to find a name that felt right and had not been used before (a short list for sure), I stumbled upon the story of two fire fighters from my adopted home town of Purcell, Oklahoma. What caught my attention was that these fire fighters, Sam and Prince, were laid to rest in Purcell’s Hillside Cemetery with a monument to their achievements. So impressive was their story that I named the project after them. Known as the “Pride of Purcell” in their day, I took the liberty to coin the term “Heroes of Sandtown” as a tribute to Sam and Prince.

Sam and Prince served with the Purcell Fire Department from 1905 to 1920. By then, an infamous area known as “Sandtown” had developed on the flood plains of the Canadian River that separated the Indian and Oklahoma territories. In Indian Territory, Purcell was a thriving center of commerce operating under alcohol prohibition. While across the river in Oklahoma Territory where alcohol was legal, some entrepreneurial sorts saw an opportunity to provide liquor (and other nefarious services) to the residents of Purcell. Thus, Oklahoma’s first “whiskey town” – Lexington – came into existence. Saloons sprang up on sandbars and boats along the river. By all accounts, it was a lawless and rowdy state of affairs in Sandtown, complete with drunkenness, gambling, and prostitution – not to mention the inevitable gunfight now and again. I can’t help but imagine Sam and Prince being called to service in Sandtown during their tenure. As fate would have it, Sam and Prince are buried in an area of Purcell still to this day referred to as Sandtown.  

The article below tells the story of Sam and Prince so well that it is easy to understand why they were the “Pride of Purcell.”  Thank you to the McClain County Historical Society and Museum for their invaluable assistance in researching the history of Sam and Prince.

- Kevin O.

 

PRIDE OF ANOTHER ERA

by Hazel Bell
California Horse Review, February 1982

Five men and two horses were keyed up to fever pitch. The men were volunteer firefighters and with their team of SAM and PRINCE made up the fire fighting force of Purcell, Oklahoma. The black, sleek, prancing horses chomped at their bits, trembled with anticipation and were eager to be off and running. The race they would be running was to climax the firefighters’ convention at Sapulpa, Oklahoma in May, 1913.

Henry Kraft, a 20-year member of this team, vividly related his experience with Oklahoma’s early fire department. Although 60 years had passed since he had performed with the fire horses, the eyes of the 80-year-old Kraft still sparkled with enthusiasm as he told his story.

This old firechief reminisced, “I can still feel the excitement and tension of the 300 spectators that sunshiney day. The horses felt it too. Mark Kelser, firechief from Oklahoma City, filled the post of flag bearer. He chewed his cigar and nervously looked at his watch. He had mixed emotions about this race. He knew full well that SAM and PRINCE were seeded to win. If his home town couldn’t win, then he secretly hoped we would.” Firechief Kelser had watched these horses perform with as much precision as an animal could.

This special race was held on the last day of a three-day firefighter’s convention where fierce interstate competition existed. That day PRINCE and SAM vied with other teams for a world speed record… little wonder they trembled in anticipation.

A mock fire station had been set up and this was the starting point of the bunk-out race. “Bunk-out” meant the men were to retire to their bunks, then when the signal was given they were to get going.

Unhitching the horses from the wagon, the men left the black beauties behind the wagon. The ringing of a bell would signal the start of the race. The air was charged as the five fellows climbed the ladder to the upper deck of the improvised station. After pulling off boots and overalls, they lay on the bunks. They were as restless as the span of horses waiting below. With pounding hearts they waited for the bell to ring.

At the sound of the bell, like an arrow shot from a bow, they sprang from their bunks into boots and overalls. With lightning speed they slid down the pole. SAM and PRINCE stood prancing in their places waiting for the men. Impatient to be off and running, they were hard to restrain. The men dropped the harness onto the horses’ backs from the suspension above them and snapped the reins. Out dashed the horses! The driver, George Wilson, leaped into the spring-seat as the other four men grabbed their regular places on the wagon.

“Go, team, go!” the driver urged as his foot stomped the buckboard with the bell clanging under the board.

Mr. Kraft remembered vividly, “Man, those horses ran as though the hounds of heaven were nipping at their heels and all the town was burning!”  He paused a while to smile. “After racing madly that quarter-mile to the fire hydrant, we four men hit the dust running. We had 500 feet of hose on the wagon in a roll. The plug man was with me, so we disconnected half of the hose from the roll and fastened this to the hydrant. At the same time, the nozzle men attached the nozzle to the other end of the hose. I turned on the water and that marked our time.
Relaxing a bit, the men and horses cleared the track for the next competitors. As the other teams raced down the track, their tenseness returned. They knew their time had been good… but would it be good enough to win a world record… their goal?  

When the races were over, the results were proclaimed. With a record time of one minute, seven and two-fifths seconds, SAM and PRINCE, the fire horses from Purcell, Oklahoma, were declared world champion fire horses.

Kraft said accounts of this record time were published in many foreign countries. He also recalled fire chief Hale of Kansas City, Missouri’s fire department as saying “PRINCE is the finest horse I have ever seen. I thought our team, BUCK and MAC, were the greatest in the world… but I must admit, SAM and PRINCE are truly entitled to this honor. PRINCE is a perfect horse. Chief Hale attended all tournaments to see these horses perform.

“PRINCE, judged by horse experts the world over, scored a 98 percent perfect score,” Kraft said. “SAM and PRINCE, working with us, brought home many ribbons, trophies and prize money from tournaments from all over the country. We even competed against a fire truck once. A company wanted to sell the trucks and wanted to show us how easily the horses could be beaten. In a short race, we showed ‘em!” Kraft laughed with glee.

SAM and PRINCE were Purcell’s native sons, half-brothers born in 1902. They were purchased by the fire department in 1905. For a period of 15 years, this pair of fine horses raced to many fires.

After retiring in 1920, SAM and PRINCE were stabled at a farm a few miles from town… but the fire bell could still be heard. No fence could keep these faithful steeds from going to the fire station to serve. No one had bothered to tell them they were retired.

Kraft continued to praise the horses of his dreams, “Those fire horses were the most beautiful sight in the world. You should have seen their practice runs. We would take them several blocks from the station, cross them on the wrong side of each other, then ring that bell. Boy! those horses would race to the station cross over behind the wagon and stand in their respective places, waiting for the harness to be dropped on their backs. People from all over the country were completely taken with them.”

On August 6, 1922, PRINCE went to that last peaceful pasture where all champion fire horses go and SAM followed the same year, believed to have died of loneliness. They have a resting place at Purcell’s Hillside Cemetery where most of the firemen are buried.

Old timers agree – SAM and PRINCE are still the pride of Purcell.    

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