If this wall could talk ...

By Julie Bisbee

Published: October 5, 2007

ARDMORE — Beneath layers of wallboard and paint, Tim Longest found a puzzle.

While refurbishing a building in downtown Ardmore that once held the Squeeze-In Cafe and before that the Paul Jones Bar, Longest caught a glimpse of a mural that was painted on a brick wall.

The mural, which is about 4-feet tall and about 6-feet wide on a wall in the old Daube Department Store building, shows a picture of a American Indian on a horse and viewing the horizon.

"I'm thinking he's going to eat somewhere, he's thin,” said Longest, who has been working to renovate a series of buildings in Ardmore's historic Paradise Alley Marketplace.

"I think somebody called him and told him supper was ready.

He's looking for the chuck wagon.”

The painting also features what Longest thinks resembles the Arbuckle Mountains of south-central Oklahoma.

The only thing missing is the artist's signature, and a date when the mural was completed.

Since finding the mural, Longest has been poring over old photographs searching for clues about the painting of the lone tribesman.

"We're just trying to find out little bits and pieces,” he said.

Plenty of people have told him of family members who once worked in the building when it was a restaurant or bar.

"I always say, ‘Great, how do I get a hold of them?'” Longest said. "And then I find out that they are no longer with us.”

Longest and his 77-year-old father have been working to refurbish buildings that once housed the Daube Department Store at 105 E Main.

The Paradise Alley Marketplace area was often the first stop for passengers off trains that passed through Ardmore. The area has been rumored to be the site of gun duels, as well.

Longest and his father have been restoring the building as part of a facelift to Ardmore's historic downtown area, he said. But even his father can't place the mural.

"He remembers that building, but he doesn't remember any particulars about the painting,” Longest said.

The best clue Longest has received so far is a tip from a friend in Love County who says a similar painting is in the Marietta Post Office.

"I just haven't made it over there yet to look at it,” Longest said.

While Longest is searching for clues of the painting's origin, he prefers to give the painting a vagabond's past.

"It might have been done by some famous artist who was just passing through on the train,” Longest said. "He may have painted that for a night in a hotel room.”

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