Oklahoma: “Where West Meets Wild”

We spent more than a week in the Oklahoma capital and have really enjoyed ourselves. This area continues to be a land of surprises with virtually something for everyone. We continued to learn about the Native American culture, the Western heritage and the cosmopolitan sophistication of this gem on the Plaines.

This was, however, tempered by the prevailing awareness that Oklahoma City was home to the heinous acts of August 19, 1995. The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was the target of the Oklahoma City bombing, the most significant act of domestic terrorism on American soil. A place where so many people died could easily have been commemorated as one vast cemetery, but those who designed the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum chose a gentler and far more hopeful path. The Outdoor Symbolic Memorial, spanning the downtown block where the bombing occurred, has been widely recognized as perhaps the most hopeful and unique memorial site in the United States. From a peaceful field of lighted chairs, across a shallow Reflecting Pool to the sturdy Survivor Tree, the Memorial’s outdoor sections create a sense of calm assurance. It is not only a fitting tribute but also a place of gentle reflection. The grassy Field of Chairs overlooks a block-long Reflecting Pool, which is in turn flanked on the east and west by soaring bronze gates, which symbolically frame the moment of the explosion at 9:02 a.m... One, marked 9:01, represents the peace that prevailed seconds before the bomb exploded. The second, marked 9:03, symbolizes the bomb’s aftermath, when, as the Memorial mission statement notes, those affected by the bomb were “changed forever.” The 168 empty chairs hand-crafted from glass, bronze, and stone represent those who lost their lives in the tragedy. A bombing victim's name is etched in the glass base of each chair. The chairs represent the empty chairs at the dinner tables of the victim's family. The chairs are arranged in nine rows symbolizing the nine floors of the building, and each person's chair is on the row (or the floor) on which the person worked or was visiting when the bomb went off. The chairs are also grouped according to the blast pattern, with the most chairs nearest the most heavily damaged portion of the building. The westernmost column of five chairs represents the five people who died but were not in the Murrah Building when the bomb went off (two in the Water Resources Board building, one in the Athenian Building, one outside near the building, and one rescuer). The 19 smaller chairs represent the children killed in the bombing. Three unborn children died along with their mothers, and they are listed on their mothers' chairs beneath their mothers' names
We did not visit the adjoining Memorial Museum; we are going there on a subsequent visit in September. However, the Outdoor Symbolic Memorial was certainly one of the most moving experiences we have ever encountered. It is a true testament to the quote on the entrance gate that reads:

We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity.

Some other great things we did while in Oklahoma City were:

• The Oklahoma National Stockyards which is the largest stocker and feeder cattle market in the world. We saw Oklahoma cowboys working the livestock and then proceeded to enjoy the fruits of their labor at the world famous Cattleman’s Restaurant. Okay, Pat enjoyed the beef; Judy had a salad! Surprised?

• The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum which was another extraordinary treat. The guidebook suggested a minimum of two hours and we were there the ENTIRE day. What a gem of art, historic artifacts and exhibits about American Indian and pioneer life. If you have an opportunity to get to Oklahoma City we highly recommend that you visit this museum.

• The Oklahoma City Museum of Art, home to the world's most comprehensive collection of Dale Chihuly glass. This amazing exhibit includes hundreds of hand-blown pieces including his tallest glass tower which reaches an astonishing 55 feet as well as one of only two Waterford Crystal Chandeliers in the world. This latter piece is simply magnificent and is comprised of 203 individually blown lead crystal parts, each etched by Waterford artisans, hanging 9 ft. 7 in. and weighing 2,000 lbs. Chihuly has long been one of our favorite artists so this was truly a treat.

• Pop’s Soda Fountain where you can choose from more than 500 different flavors of soda pop was really neat. The futuristic building has 3-story glass walls covered with a rainbow array of soda bottles and is recognizable by the eclectic, 66-foot tall neon soda bottle, complete with straw that beckons folks driving down the famous Route 66.

• The National Softball Hall of Fame and Museum presents the history and honors the greats of the sport. It is home to the US Women’s Softball team and also hosts the collegiate World Series annually.

• The Oklahoma State Capitol was most informative. Of special interest is the fact that it is the only Capitol in the world with an oil well beneath it. On the grounds is the Capitol Site No. 1 well, originally nicknamed “Petunia No. 1” because drilling began in 1941 in the middle of a flower bed. Seeing an oil well here in Oklahoma is not odd – they’re everywhere – but seeing one pumping crude at the base of the steps, at the front of the capitol rotunda, does appear a little odd.

• We also visited the Seminole Nation Museum which documents the history and culture of the Seminole Indians. The Seminoles were part of the infamous “Trail of Tears” along with the Cherokees, the Chickasaws, the Choctaw and the Muskcogee (Creek). It was very meaningful since we have always known of the Seminole existence in Florida but never thought of them as being one of the “Five Civilized Tribes” forcibly relocated from the southeastern United States to the future state of Oklahoma. We will see more about this “interesting” part of our country’s history next week in Muskcogee and the Tulsa/Claremore area.

We saw and did several other things in Oklahoma City but these are some of the highlights.

SO – it’s been another GREAT 10 days and the excitement continues.

As usual, here is a link to some pictures so you can see some of the amazing places we’ve been too.

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Also included is a photo of our “Bunker”, also known as the Underground Tornado Shelter. We’ve included this because, many of you are aware that the last few days have been rather exciting here in central Oklahoma. We were indeed, in the path of one of the 42 tornadoes that roared through this past Monday. Oklahoma truly lived up to its "Tornado Alley" name, which we learned first-hand at about 8:00 PM when we heard the sirens and had to evacuate to the shelter. As you can see from the photo, it is a “not-too-large” underground cement room but it was certainly a welcome refuge for those of us in the campground. We are acutely aware that a motorhome probably does not hold up well against winds that can be in excess of 130 mph! Give me a hurricane any day with it’s three-day advance warning. Fortunately we were spared a direct encounter; the closest twister split as it approached Muskgokee and struck an area about 4 miles south. That certainly was, however, close enough for us. Just a day or two beforehand we had been in several of the places that took direct hits, including the Pilot Truck Stop and the Country Boy Store. We were well prepared in advance, with our emergency backpacks ready and glued to our weather radio. That siren really is loud. We heard it once more yesterday morning when we experienced severe thunderstorms and another spate of tornadoes. Hopefully we will not have to go through it again while we here. We are very prudent and take all necessary precautions so there is really no need for anyone to worry. We do NOT intend to experience a “Reverse Wizard of OZ” and wake up saying “WOW, this really does look like Kansas – how did we get here?”!

The excitement continues and the wonderful experiences are phenomenal.

Hope you enjoy this Blog and the associated pictures. Drop us an email at

PFerraro1@cfl.rr.com

Or Post a comment on the Blog

Until next time, take care and stay safe,

Pat & Judy

OKLAHOMA – a land of gracious people, epic stories and soul-inspiring landscapes…

This has been another terrific week of seeing fantastic things and meeting wonderful people.

Last Tuesday, we concluded our Texas segment by visiting The Amon Carter Museum. Fort Worth publisher and philanthropist Amon G. Carter, Sr. (1879-1955), founded the Museum to house his extensive collection by Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell and many other artists of the American West. The Amon Carter Museum houses a collection of over 300,000 objects, including paintings, sculpture, and prints, as well as one of the finest collections of American photographs. Remington’s dynamic representations of cowboys and cavalrymen, bronco busters and braves, created a mythic image of the American West that continues to inspire America today. Likewise, Russell captured the landscapes, the spirit, and the culture of the West during the late 1800s and early 1900s. One really cannot envision “The American West” without studying this extraordinary assemblage of art that includes not only these well-known masters of this artistic style but also George Catlin, Ansel Adams, Georgia O’Keeffe and many more. In the attached link of photos, we’ve included a picture of “The Right of the Road” by Frederic S. Remington. We found this oil to be very poignant as it is reflective of the end of an era. Wistfully, it may even signal the loss of the true old west as the stagecoach and the bicycle are both forced to share the same dusty road and one can almost imagine that everyday life as they knew it was going to be further forced to give way to a more modern lifestyle.

After enjoying the Amon Carter we left Texas and headed north to Lawton, Oklahoma.

Oklahoma, a name that is from the Choctaw Indian words "okla" meaning people and "humma" meaning red, is a beautiful land whose Native American roots lie at it’s very heart. We are planning on spending several weeks in this dramatic and vibrant area, which is already promising to be a land of enchanting contrasts and breathtaking vistas. There are 39 American Indian tribes in Oklahoma, each with one-of-a-kind culture, art and heritage. We are already developing a new appreciation for the wisdom, insight and courage of Oklahoma’s original people. We are certainly aware and appreciative of the vital, ongoing role they play and how they enrich virtually every aspect of life in this land.

On Wednesday we visited the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan, OK. The famed Chisholm Trail, open from 1867 until 1885, ran from the South Texas Valley north to Abilene, Kansas and was responsible for the movement of millions of longhorns to the starving Northern and Eastern markets. This historic 1,200 mile, four-month, journey pushed $3 a head cattle quickly from Texas into Indian territory, where the pace was slowed to fatten the cattle before pushing again north to the Kansas rail heads and eventually on to Chicago and New York where they would command $40 to $60 a head. We also visited the Comanche National Museum and Cultural Center whose mission is to preserve and expand the knowledge of this tribe who call themselves “Numunuu” (The People). Originally they were nomadic buffalo hunters who lived in teepees. Always a warrior tribe, the Comanche became “Lords of the Plains” once they acquired the horse. They have been regarded as the finest horsemen on the plains and in more recent times Comanche men were part of the dozen tribes that made up the elite group of soldiers known as the Code Talkers of World War Two. These men used their Native languages to serve the US military. It would take the Code Talkers less than three minutes to transmit and decode top-secret messages that were never broken by the enemy. We also visited the Museum of the Great Plains which strives to interpret the relationship between man and the plains environment. This is where we first saw the beautiful Rose Rock. Rose rocks are aggregates of barite (barium sulfate) crystals and sand whose iron content gives them a reddish hue. The barite crystals form a circular array of flat plates, giving the rock a shape similar to a rose blossom. We’ve included a photo in the attached link so you can see its rare beauty.

On Thursday we went to Fort Sill National Historic Landmark and Museum. The fort consists of 50 buildings from the original 19th-century military outpost and it still retains its frontier atmosphere. Established in 1869 by General Philip H. Sheridan, its purpose was to control the Comanche, Cheyenne, Kiowa and other tribes that were roaming the Southern Plains. In continuous use since the Indian Wars the fort, which was originally constructed by the famous 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers, has “housed” Geronimo in its guardhouse, been a residence for Quantah Parker and several other chiefs who signed the Medicine Lodge Treaty and has had some of the most famous military leaders and units in American history serving there. It is also the site of seven American Indian cemeteries Today Fort Sill is home to the US Army Field Artillery School, Army Training Center, NCO Academy, Army Fires Brigade of the United States Army Forces Command and the Air Defense Artillery Center. The visit to Fort Sill was very informative and provided an interesting bridge between the military and Indian activities of the mid-19th century all the way to the advanced, modern-day military of today.

On Friday we visited the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton which tells the story of the fabled Main Street of America” (or “Mother Road” as it was also known) as it traversed nearly 400 miles across the state. Crammed with memorabilia, the museum presents six decades of Route 66 history through many interactive and informative exhibits. Additionally, while in Lawton, we made several trips into The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge which provides habitat for large native grazing animals such as American bison, Rocky Mountain elk, white-tailed deer and Texas longhorn cattle which all share the Refuge rangelands. The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge is a tract of approximately 60,000 acres embracing a major portion of the Wichita Mountains in southwestern Oklahoma. The Wichita Mountains rank among the oldest ranges on earth and the formation of these mountains began some 500 million years ago when stratified layers of eroded silt were deposited. Through the ages climatic forces have chiseled and sculptured the mountains until all that remain of once lofty escarpments are weather-reduced knobs and domes. We were privileged to have many close encounters with all of the above-mentioned animal inhabitants and were fortunate to get a lot of great photos. The bison and longhorns, which we witnessed in the hundreds were definitely the predominant residents in the refuge and on several occasions we had to wait while large herds sauntered across the roadway. This area is also home to a unique type of building known as cobblestone architecture where the exterior walls consist of rows of cobblestones embedded in a lime mortar. The surface is carefully constructed for decorative effect with cobbles matched by size and color. Medicine Park, near where our campground was located is a cobblestone resort community founded in 1907 on the banks of Medicine Creek. The pages of the Town’s colorful history are filled with the likes of Will Rogers, Wiley Post, Frank Phillips, Bob Wills, Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, Lil Hardin, Colonel Jack Abernathy, Les Brown, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and countless others.

On Saturday, we visited Washita Battlefield, site of Col. George Custer’s 1868 early morning attack on the sleeping village of Peace Chief Black Kettle. The strike was hailed at the time by the military and many civilians as a significant victory aimed at reducing Indian raids on frontier settlements as it forced the Cheyenne back to the reservation set aside for them. However, Washita remains controversial because many Indians and whites labeled Custer's attack a massacre of primarily women, children and the helpless aged. Black Kettle is still honored as a prominent leader who never ceased striving for peace even though it cost him his life. Custer’s attack set the stage for his defeat 8 years later at Little Big Horn. We also went to the Break O’Day Farm Museum and Gallery of Augusta Corson Metcalf who was known as the “Grandma Moses of the Plaines”. Also commonly referred to as "The Sagebrush Artist”, Augusta Metcalfe used oils and watercolors to render images that depicted her first-hand knowledge of ranch life in Oklahoma's early years. A single woman homesteader, she recorded both the hardships and the beauty of the land along the Washita River.

On Sunday we visited the National Route 66 Museum in Elk City which dealt with the entire expanse of “The Mother Road”. This famous highway originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, before ending at Los Angeles, encompassing a total of 2,448 miles. Route 66 was a major path of the migrants who went west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and supported the economies of the communities through which the road passed. Route 66 was recognized in popular culture by both a hit song and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s. As you’ll see in one of the photos included with this post, some folks are “still getting their kicks on Route 66”!

Sunday afternoon we left Lawton and continued on to Oklahoma City where we are now.

It has been an exciting week. We have just started our exploration of Oklahoma but already we are finding it to be modern and ancient, genuine and surprising. Oklahoma is a place where panoramic skies reflect a soulful land, where present and future intertwine with the past and together they unfold to paint a rich portrait that defies characterization. We have just begun to explore “Oklahoma Native America” and we are anxiously looking forward to the people we shall meet and the sites we shall see in the days and weeks ahead. As they say here in Oklahoma, we’re going to “Head em’ up and move em’ out”.

As always, below is a link to some photos from this past week.

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Please enjoy and continue to drop us an email at PFerraro1@cfl.rr.com or post a comment to this blog. We love hearing from you.

Take care and stay safe,

Pat & Judy