Crossing Oklahoma

July 17th & 18th

Neither Dale nor I had ever been in Oklahoma before, so rather than just driving through, we wanted to see a little of the state.  We stopped at an Information Center after crossing from Arkansas to see what was available.  The person there provided us with a lot of information, most of which was in Oklahoma City.  Since we were not going that direction, we chose to see something near the center.  In Sallisaw, we visited the site of Sequoyah's cabin.  We had never heard of him (as most of you have not), but he was a very interesting person.  He was born in the late 1700's of a white father and Cherokee mother.  He was a blacksmith, silversmith, and trading post owner.  Although he was illiterate, he was aware that whites often communicated via "talking leaves".  He wanted to create a way for the Cherokee nation to do the same.  Over the course of 10 years, he created a written language of symbols based on the sounds that form Cherokee words.  The language was simple enough for everyone to learn in just a few days and, within a few short years, the majority of Cherokees could read and write.  The first newspaper in the Oklahoma area was actually written in Cherokee.  The site we visited was a cabin built by him.  It was enclosed in a stone building by the WPA in order to preserve it.  It is a beautiful setting, and the gentleman who manned the visitor center was extremely knowledgeable.  If Sequoyah's name sounds familiar, it should- the Sequoia's in the northwest were named for him.  I do not as yet know the connection, but will research to find out!  In addition, we realized we had seen a statue of him in the State House in Washington D.C. this spring, representing Oklahoma.

Statue of Sequoyah

Sequoyah's Cabin

Tallgrass Prairie

A handsome pair

Part of the Tallgrass herd of bison

In reading through some of the information from the Visitor Center, I realized that Oklahoma has a preserve for Tallgrass Prairie, located in the north central part of the state in Pawhuska.  I had recently read an article in the National Parks magazine about Tallgrass Prairie in Kansas, so was interested in seeing the preserve.  It did not appear to be much out of our way to Colorado.  Tallgrass Prairie used to cover the entire mid-section of our country.  It was what the pioneers first saw when they traveled west.  Less than 10% of this prairie habitat remains.  The preserved area has never been plowed, mowed, or otherwise disturbed, allowing the grass to grow "as high as a buffalo's belly".


 When we arrived, we realized that the perimeter road leading to the Visitor Center for the preserve was gravel road- oh yay, our first dirt road on this trip! We determined we had come that far, we would proceed.  What a spectacular area!  Tall grasses waving in the breeze for as far as you could see.  The preserve covers 39,000 acres and is managed by The Nature Conservancy, an organization I have always admired.  Ten years ago, they repopulated the area with bison, long gone from this area, but abundant years ago.  They now have a population of 2400, and are trying to keep it at that level to maintain the health of the herd.  Shortly after entering the preserve, we came up on a herd that had to have several hundred animals.  About a 1/2mile further on, we spotted another hundred or so- lots of babies in the group!  It is always exhilarating to see these animals in what is as natural a habitat as is available in the states.  Just beautiful!

We traveled the 15 miles (over gravel) to the Visitor Center, where we spoke to a volunteer.  He told us that the bison are rounded up every fall to be examined, receive vaccines such a Brucellosis (a disease of bison and cattle), and to cull the heard to maintain the ideal size.  Although, according to the volunteer, there has not been any documented transmission of Brucellosis from bison to cattle, "it makes the ranchers feel better if we immunize the herd."  If you don't mind gravel roads, this is a great spot to visit.  One can only imagine what it would be like out there at night- how many stars would you see?

The trip out was a little nerve-wracking.  Again, gravel roads for miles, Bitchin' Betty (our GPS) telling us to take turns that were nothing but dirt tracks (we didn't listen), and finally breathing a sigh of relief when we hit blacktop again.

Oklahoma is a long state- especially when traveling through the panhandle.  The next morning, we realized we had only made about one hour of progress towards our goal of Colorado- after spending the entire day in the car!  We resigned ourselves to a long day driving through open prairie, seeing scattered ranches and cattle, flat,flat land....  We did see some beautiful views of rain clouds in the distance over flat mesas... but were very happy to cross the border into Colorado.