The original Okeene Rattlesnake Hunters were the pioneers who came in when the territory and strip was opened for settlement. At this time the country surrounding Okeene was abounding with Rattlesnakes. As more settlers arrived the Prairie Rattler began to disappear. However, in the nearby Gypsum hills west of Okeene the human population was never large. Certainly local ranchers killed them with guns while running fences and herding the cattle but the diamond back rattlesnake went largely unmolested for years.
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Over the years a number of posters and flyers have been produced to promote the annual Okeene Diamondback Rattlesnake hunt. Likewise, a number of different certificates were awarded to people for various reasons, some more dubious than others.
However, they all provide information about how the rattlesnake hunt was promoted over the years and are all the more interesting for this fact alone.
This article was originally published in Vol. X, No. 2 Spring 1960 of Oklahoma Today. The article was written by John Rochelle and the photos were by C. Faye Bennett. It includes a “slightly” different version of the Joe Durham snakes in a plane story.
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The following story appeared in Joe Durhams entry in Blue Skies and Prairie and is well worth reading. I have no idea about how true it is but it is rather funny even if it was a potentially deadly situation.
Seems as if Joe and a fellow named L. V. Irwin were given the job of mapping the best areas for their fellow snake hunters to look for rattlers during Okeene’s upcoming Rattlesnake Roundup. Joe had never been snake hunting with Irwin, and Irwin had never been flying with Joe, so they were both going a lot on faith. It being April, the roads were muddy, so Joe and Irwin decided to fly out to Salt Creek Canyon, a spot known for good snake hunting. When they got to the airport, they found only one plane available, an old homebuilt Stewart biplane with a 90-horse Gypsy engine. A slight drawback like that doesn’t discourage avid snake hunters, however, so Joe cranked it up and they took off.
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