Richard Thomas Gregory was born in Oklahoma, 1933, during the Great Depression. He was a teenager during WW II when the family was subjected to rationing and more hardships.
His father George worked for Magnolia Oil Company, so the family was moved around as well. Dick went to Oilton High School, but did not graduate and served in the US Army during the Korean War in the early 1950's.
As a young man, his father played the fiddle at dances. Dick played the guitar and wrote songs thru-out his life. The family was woken up more than once in the night when Dick came in late and got his Dad up to play with him.
Dick also loved the ladies. He and Lois (his high school sweetheart) were married and had a daughter before he entered the Army in 1951. The marriage ended in Divorce. None of his subsequent sweethearts could "hold him".
He worked in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and the New Brunswick Canada oil fields; but in mid- to late 1950's oil prices & drilling fell off substantially. Dick married Joanne in Oilton, had a son & daughter; but again, the marriage ended in Divorce. Too much drinking, "honky tonkin", and time away from home.
He finally found a modicum of happiness in the wilderness areas of the Northwestern states of Alaska, Montana, the Dakotas, Wyoming and Colorado. He became a hunting and fishing guide, homesteaded, and worked for the Montana Fish & Game Department. His third wife Autumn was from a Souix family in S.D. They also had a son & daughter and Dick embraced their culture for awhile.
But, in the end, died alone at a creek-side cabin in Colorado. His friends scattered his ashes at the Creek.
The woman who ran the local Food Bank and collected his mail for him let the family know what happened. He was always congenial to friends and family, but preferred the solitude of natural places. JT
His father George worked for Magnolia Oil Company, so the family was moved around as well. Dick went to Oilton High School, but did not graduate and served in the US Army during the Korean War in the early 1950's.
As a young man, his father played the fiddle at dances. Dick played the guitar and wrote songs thru-out his life. The family was woken up more than once in the night when Dick came in late and got his Dad up to play with him.
Dick also loved the ladies. He and Lois (his high school sweetheart) were married and had a daughter before he entered the Army in 1951. The marriage ended in Divorce. None of his subsequent sweethearts could "hold him".
He worked in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and the New Brunswick Canada oil fields; but in mid- to late 1950's oil prices & drilling fell off substantially. Dick married Joanne in Oilton, had a son & daughter; but again, the marriage ended in Divorce. Too much drinking, "honky tonkin", and time away from home.
He finally found a modicum of happiness in the wilderness areas of the Northwestern states of Alaska, Montana, the Dakotas, Wyoming and Colorado. He became a hunting and fishing guide, homesteaded, and worked for the Montana Fish & Game Department. His third wife Autumn was from a Souix family in S.D. They also had a son & daughter and Dick embraced their culture for awhile.
But, in the end, died alone at a creek-side cabin in Colorado. His friends scattered his ashes at the Creek.
The woman who ran the local Food Bank and collected his mail for him let the family know what happened. He was always congenial to friends and family, but preferred the solitude of natural places. JT
Richard Thomas Gregory was born in Oklahoma, 1933, during the Great Depression. He was a teenager during WW II when the family was subjected to rationing and more hardships.
His father George worked for Magnolia Oil Company, so the family was moved around as well. Dick went to Oilton High School, but did not graduate and served in the US Army during the Korean War in the early 1950's.
As a young man, his father played the fiddle at dances. Dick played the guitar and wrote songs thru-out his life. The family was woken up more than once in the night when Dick came in late and got his Dad up to play with him.
Dick also loved the ladies. He and Lois (his high school sweetheart) were married and had a daughter before he entered the Army in 1951. The marriage ended in Divorce. None of his subsequent sweethearts could "hold him".
He worked in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and the New Brunswick Canada oil fields; but in mid- to late 1950's oil prices & drilling fell off substantially. Dick married Joanne in Oilton, had a son & daughter; but again, the marriage ended in Divorce. Too much drinking, "honky tonkin", and time away from home.
He finally found a modicum of happiness in the wilderness areas of the Northwestern states of Alaska, Montana, the Dakotas, Wyoming and Colorado. He became a hunting and fishing guide, homesteaded, and worked for the Montana Fish & Game Department. His third wife Autumn was from a Souix family in S.D. They also had a son & daughter and Dick embraced their culture for awhile.
But, in the end, died alone at a creek-side cabin in Colorado. His friends scattered his ashes at the Creek.
The woman who ran the local Food Bank and collected his mail for him let the family know what happened. He was always congenial to friends and family, but preferred the solitude of natural places. JT
His father George worked for Magnolia Oil Company, so the family was moved around as well. Dick went to Oilton High School, but did not graduate and served in the US Army during the Korean War in the early 1950's.
As a young man, his father played the fiddle at dances. Dick played the guitar and wrote songs thru-out his life. The family was woken up more than once in the night when Dick came in late and got his Dad up to play with him.
Dick also loved the ladies. He and Lois (his high school sweetheart) were married and had a daughter before he entered the Army in 1951. The marriage ended in Divorce. None of his subsequent sweethearts could "hold him".
He worked in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and the New Brunswick Canada oil fields; but in mid- to late 1950's oil prices & drilling fell off substantially. Dick married Joanne in Oilton, had a son & daughter; but again, the marriage ended in Divorce. Too much drinking, "honky tonkin", and time away from home.
He finally found a modicum of happiness in the wilderness areas of the Northwestern states of Alaska, Montana, the Dakotas, Wyoming and Colorado. He became a hunting and fishing guide, homesteaded, and worked for the Montana Fish & Game Department. His third wife Autumn was from a Souix family in S.D. They also had a son & daughter and Dick embraced their culture for awhile.
But, in the end, died alone at a creek-side cabin in Colorado. His friends scattered his ashes at the Creek.
The woman who ran the local Food Bank and collected his mail for him let the family know what happened. He was always congenial to friends and family, but preferred the solitude of natural places. JT
