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.

SPORTSMEN THROUGH THE AGES have hunted lions, leopards, tigers, and other vicious wild beasts. Now they have added rattlesnakes. Okeene puts on an annual rattlesnake hunt that is fast climbing into high favor with sportsmen throughout the nation. Since weather determines the activity of the snakes, and since they must be active-but not too active-the exact date has to be set each spring. Most years it falls on the Sunday before or the Sunday after Easter.

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This news article was published on April 24, 1941. The original source unknown but most likely the Okeene record.

Canyons on the Cargill ranch southwest of Okeene had more population last Sunday than ever in the history of this country when several hundred rattlesnake hunters and camera fans attended the annual Rattlesnake Round-up of the Okeene Junior Chamber of Commerce; And when the hunters left, the snake population suffered a loss of over one hundred. There were 105 rattlers caught by actual count and probably many more that were not reported.

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