by Andrea Wilkerson, Community Correspondant
 Teresa Moore, an Author and Alex resident, debuted her book “Stories from the Road” for the first time in print at an event inside the Alex Florist on Main Street in Alex on Saturday, October 17. The event was open to everyone and the Author took time to visit with people and sign copies of her book.
 “Stories from the Road” tells the history of the old Fort Cobb Trail. A nearly forgotten passage that was a main thoroughfare that cut through the South-Central Washita Valley. The trail connected Fort Arbuckle, in the Chickasaw Nation, with Fort Cobb on the western edge of Indian Territory.
 Moore credits stories told to her by her Papa Earl Manning, a fourth generation Oklahoma native who settled in Grady County in 1924, for igniting her interest in the true past and history of Alex and the surrounding areas.
Moore spent years digging through old documents, retracing old trails on foot and using modern technology to once again bring the trail to light. Thanks to her efforts, and computerized mapping techniques known as geo-referencing, we can all see how the 100-mile trail fits into today’s landscape.
 Her efforts also uncovered a wealth of stories of the first settlers who lived and thrived in the Washita Valley since the late 1860’s.  
Many of these encounters can be found in her book and more information can be gleamed from her website and Facebook group.
 To obtain your own copy of the book visit https://store.bookbaby.com/book/Stories-from-the-Road . Visit the companion website at https://storiesfromtheroad.net/ to hear more from the author. Join her online discussion page by visiting Facebook.com and typing Stories From the Road into the Facebook search bar.
 Those who visited the event on Saturday had the additional honor of being among the first to publicly view an elaborate mock-up of the Alex Train Yard as it appeared from 1910 to 1915. The fascinating miniature was the work of local artisan Norman Voss.
 The 1/160th to scale model, was the first attempt of Voss to construct a miniature display. With the aid of a jewelers magnifying glass, he was able to hand paint and add historic detail to the people, animals, buildings and trains. The hand painted steam engine he chose was representative to the train that would have been operated during that era.
 Voss’s, who grew up in Alex, once lived only a short way from where the model was on display. He credits Teresa Moore and her book research for rekindling his interest into the history of Alex. This led to him taking on the project that would become years in the making.