In 1914, Ora Fordyce was out hunting on his property south of Ridgeway when he came upon a very unexpected site: a body of a large reddish-brown monkey hanging from a tree. The monkey had a collar attached to long heavy chain that was fastened to a tree limb. No one had any idea where the monkey came from, but Ora planned to have it stuffed and mounted. (The Tampa Tribune, Jan 19, 1914) I checked other sources, but no one reported a missing monkey near Ridgeway. There was a monkey that went missing about that time from a lab at Johns Hopkins University, but that animal was found and returned.
Ora had other interesting things happen with animals. In 1938, his family were featured in the Maryville paper when one of his farm cats, having lost her own litter, adopted seven motherless skunks, and raised them as her own. (The Maryville Daily Forum, Jul 06, 1936). Then in 1940, he allegedly hauled a buffalo head back to Ridgeway that had been found just sitting on a pile of snow on Highway 69 between Eagleville and Lamoni, IA. He installed the head in front of John Adams meat market for all to see. (The Kansas City Times, Feb 12, 1940).
Ora Fordyce (also known as Orey F. Fordyce) was born in 1885 and grew up near Ridgeway, attending Ridgeway High School. He owned a farm south of Ridgeway and was an avid hunter and fisherman. He was also active in community. If you happen to own a copy of the second volume of “Ridgeway: Then and Now”, there is a very nice story about his life on pages 18 and 19.
