Oklahoma Today May-June 2004 Volume 54 No. 3

Home , Oklahoma Hills, Seal of Oklahoma, Te Ata Fisher

"A man's got to have a code, a creed to live by, , ., no rnatterhts io@ -John @-ne ,1'. kc: .- .

Make your way to Lawton Fort Sill for an array of spring fesi~vl- ties. During National Tourism Week this May, Lawton Fort Sill will celebrate the spirit of two vital American institutions-our Lawton Armed Forces and the Arts. 629 sw c Avenue Fort Sill CHAMBER Am f$r AU Festival, May 7-9 Lawton. OK 73501 cormReE a Inwrnv Join ouer 40,000 qected hitom as they trrste, @tab2and fakepa* in southwest Okkzhods mo&popahr cuhrd event. fimpttq to paintings to musical and &nce&rmem, thew5 enteminment and &idousfiodj%r all:

&wd &~XS Day Parade, May 14 &d as the hestArmed Forces Day parade in the don,over 100 paRicipants tidl march in pmession to honor the men and women who h~ s d orcr nution, pasf and present. p$ b!' i

OklahomaMAY - JUNE 2004 / VOLUME 54, NUMBER 3 TODAY

On the cover: Spring arrives at Post Oak Lake in the Wichita MountainsWildlife Refuge. Photograph by MichaelHardeman. Left, an Oklahoma butcher shop owned by a Czech family, circa 1920. FEATURES 33 The Wayside Flower Guardians of the West My Home at Far and Away Wildflowers: If we stop long After more than a decade Mankiller Flats From Edinburgh and Prague enough to admire them, the of fundraising and ongoing The first female principal to Saigon and Guatemala colorful little blessings- construction-plus a much- chief of the Cherokee Nation City, the Sooner State is a from exotic orchids to ballyhooed name change-the reflects on her family's colorful tapestry of ethnic the ubiquitous Indian National Cowboy & Western homeland, Mankiller Flats, groups. Here, Oklahoma blanket-fill our spirits with Heritage Museum is at last a and all it has meant to the four Today looks at the unique a sense of sgentle surprise and finished work of art. generations of Mankillers who settlement history that today unexpected beauty. By Stefie Corcoran have lived there. creates such a mosaic. By Neil Garrison By Wilma Mankiller By Mary Logan Wolf

DEPARTMENTS

Contributors...... 4 Marketplace ...... 10 The Range...... 17 Events Guide...... 59 It's a swatch watch at Extra Tumbleweed Calf Fry Writer Anne Lamott speaks Editor's Letter...... 6 Special Fabrics in Guthrie, and Etruscan pieces at the at the Greenwood Cultural Louisa McCune explores where western design is of Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Center in Tulsa. ideas of immigration and material concern. Art in Shawnee possibility inside the house The End ...... 64 George Forsyth built. Calendar ...... 13 Getaway Guide...... 55 There's something fishy b "i The Producers debuts in Purcell is one horse town. going on at the Oklahoma s Feedback ...... 8 Tulsa, and a windmill From equine industry to City Museum of Art-Rudy Readers are still talking festival blows into Shattuck. shopping to the Heartland Miller's piscene paintings. b 5 about Toby Keith, 2003 Flyer, reasons to stop here Oklahoman of the Year. abound. E 3 TppCONTRIBUTORS

- Oklahoma Since 1956 TODAY "I can't say that Iamfilthyrich because much of my expendable cash is used to pur- BRAD HENRY, Govert~or chasefood for the flock of fiftywild turkeys that fkquents the bird feeding station in my home's frontyard," says Neil Garrison, a naturalist for the Martin ParkNature Centerin Oklahoma City, who wrote "The JOAN HENDERSON Wayside Flower" (page 28). "MaybeI need Publirber to rethinkthis. Fifty humrmngblrds would LOUISA McCUNE eat awhole lot less.'%arrison-who also Mirorin Chief claimsflower gardeningand flint knapping STEVEN WALKER WALKER CREATIVE, INC ashobbieis one of Oklahomishrite "go-to" guysfor wildlife and ecological STEFFIE CORCORAN, Smior Edimr information, having worked at the park for BROOKE DEMETZAuorian Editor CHARLY ARNOLD, Edtorialh~isrant more than twenty-five An Oklahoma SHAWNA PARKS &KIM SHIPMAN, &fzwrdIntmrr StateUniversity graduate, he is married to Becky and lives on the western edgeof SHEILAH BRIGHT, KELLY CROW, BRUCE EAGLE, JOHN ELK 111, GORDON GRICE, ROBERT HENRY, Oklahoma City IOHN IERNICXN. YOUSEF KHANFAR. RE. LINDSEY. ,----3-- -- .- TOM LUKER MlCHAEL WALLIS, andMARY LOGAN WOLF COLLEEN MCINTYRE, Roddon Mamger Whhbkikrsewed a ten-year KIh4 RYAN, Ad~ngAcrountEwmrnw LAURA BEAM, Advmirin Account ,??rcrunrunm term as the principal chiefof the Chero- LISA BRECKENRID~E,~ccountant kee Nation and has been inducted into KATHY FUGATE, C@e Manager the National Women's Hall of heand LISA JOBE,E,AdwmringInm Twrimr andRecreation the Oklahoma Hall ofFame. A recipient KATHRYN L. TAYLOR CabinnSMCLI?~ of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and RALPH McCALMONT, Interim Director the author of two books (EveryDay ha Tourism andRrnmtian Commission GoodDay is due this H),she has e&teen LT. GOV. MARY FALLIN, Chair ROBYN BATSON, JENNIFER COLBERT, JOE HARWOOD, honorary doctorates from several univer- MELMN MORAN, JANIS RICKS,JIM SCHLIMPERT, sities, indudingyale. How did we recruit BECKYSWITZERWAYMANnsDm such talent? "Asa huge Toby Keith h, To mnaa OkMomu T+ &by emaik [email protected] Iwas inspired by the 0k.hhoma Tody [email protected] feature in which he dearly demonstrated [email protected] hi love for the land and his horses," says OUaboma Tody awarda ind& 2004 Oklahoma SPJ Fmt Pk,Feature Writing Mder."Also, Iam an avid reader of 2003 IRMA Gold for Bert Nature Feaw 2003 Oklahoma SPJ Firsr Place, OvdExden% Okhboma Today." 2003 Oklahoma Sq Fusr Pk,Feature Wrinng, 2002 IRMA Gold for Bert Profile; Sierra Club 2001 Gnservation Journalism Award; Three Dallas Prers Club 2001 Fim PrizeHonors Oklhhoma Today relies heavily on IRMA Wneof the Year, 1991,1993,199)94,1996; the expertise of the Western History 1999 Folio EdimdErcdlenceAward; 1998 Wdbur Award Collections stafF at the University of Oklahoma. Says assistant curator and photographic archivist JohnLovett, "We have enjoyed an excellent working rela- CITY, OK, AND ADDITIONAL ENTRY OFFICES. Send m Okhhma T Cidon,PO. Box 1468, tionship with Oklahoma Today and have $kO%$OK 73101.0%oma City Advertisin Sales Oflice, PO. Box 1468, Oklah~~aCi OK 73101, (40.4 521- been fortunate to provide the magazine 2496 or (800) 777-1793 Subsc non pncer $19 95 r rhe US .$29 95 out42 U.S. U.S:U)&&% with a large number of photographs over by &&& T&. Reproductionin whole or m part without the years." The Western History Collec- permission is pmhiblted. ahLLbaM T+,is not responsible for the careandlorreturn of unsolicited manwnpts, m+ ho tions-which provided the photography raphy, book or any orher material submitted tiypsrbf pu% cation. Never send original photogra hy, manuscripts, or artwok for "Far and Away" (page 46)-houses In no went shall submission of A unsolicited material subjea diverse research materials and manages Oblabonra T+ to any daim for holding fm or other si& Paymente upon publication. Vit ClWmma TarLyon mare than 1.5 million images. Lovett, %&et at ok1ahomatoday.com. here with Melody Woods, left, Eileashii Lackey,right, and Jaymie Lang, seated, oversees student assistants who help field the many photography requests. I

I OKLAHOMATODAY .MAY/JUNE 2004

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?"-Robert Burns, Scottish poet, 1788

HY DOES A MAN LEAVE HIS COUNTRY? wI suspectGeorgeForsyth moved an ocean and halfacontinentawayto find fertileground-a place wherehe couldforge creative freedom andleave his mark. Born in Edinburgh in 1880,Forsyth arrived in thenew stateat age thirty-nine,a draftsmanforthe architecturalfirm of Layton and Smith,which would soon be heralded for its achievementswith the new Oklahoma State Capitol. On theheels of an apprenticeshipat an architecturalfirm inAberdeen, Forsythhad spentsixyears in London as a ddisman at the London CountyCouncil and astudentat the Royal Academy.Thetall, distinguishedman with such old-world beginnings- was almost - certain to findwhat he was lookingfor in ~klahoma. Forsyth went on to bewme a partner in 1919with SolomonLayton, their firm eventuallycalled Layton, Hicks and Forsyth. Theydesignedthe 1 Governor's Mansion, the Bizzell Libraryat OU, the OklahomaHistorical "aciety, and dozensof other importantbuildings and historichomes across the state. Most personal to him was a house he built in 1917and lived in until his death in September 1952.I was handed the keys to that house on March 12,2002,the third owner in eighty-fiveyears, the Neyer family 7' havinglived there in the long interim. Last night, I careMlypulled out all ofhis original architectural plans, I the onionskin frayed andyellowed, and laid them on the kitchen table. His skilled hand and notationsshowa deep regard for themodest / structure.Photographsfromthoseearliestyears showlittleelseon the block, andahappy familylife seems evident. Manyof his drawingswere ------II- hmm 1937,when he and wife lily enclosedthe frontporch fora more stately entry,converted the east porch into amorningroom, andadded bookshelvesin the diningroom. I have filled those shelveswith most ofthebooks of my Me, the most specialChurchill'sA Histoy oftheEngIish-SpeakingPeopks,a gft frommy father, also incidentallyof Scotsheritage. Y( GeorgeForsythwas an artistinhis spare time. Whendesigninghis garage,he built a studioon thewest sidewith fourwindows, electricity,andasmallbathroom. Hecalled it the "pot shop,"and it's wherehe made dozensof daypts, spinningthemoneve- ningsandweekends. We're slowlyrestoring bits andpieces of thehouse, and George's pot shop is next on thelist. For me, breathmg Me intothatdilapidatedroom means honoringthe legacy of themanwhose house I nowown andcare deeplyfor. But there's a greater message in this dear old house of mine and George's. Living here is a daily reminderofwhat Oklahoma representedfor so many immigrants, the essence of our stateand national heritagewrapped up in a singleMidwestern Colonial clapboard undergoing constant renovation. In Oklahoma-the sheerspaceof it a drafting-table for ideas-we can bewme in Oklahoma Gv's Oeorge Fors*h's the best of ourselves.youngand full of opportunity, Oklahoma is still a place house was builtin 1917for $1,800. Forsyth, circa 1927, where our big and small dreamscan come true, the possibilities laid out before us, outside his 'pot shop,' the artist's studio where he made clay pots. Forsyth's daughter Muriel, above right, plays waiting to be drawn and executed. Isn't that why Georgeand thousandslike him with niece Ellen inthe backyard in July 1943. came a hundredyears ago?Isn't

[email protected] 1 OKLAHOMATODAY MAY/JUNE 2004 Mike and Martha Larsen have moved their Art Studio and Gallery to Main Street in Perkins, Oklahoma.

Please join us for our first Open House.

Saturday, May 15 11:OO a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sunday, May 16 1:OO p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Larsen & Larsen Studio, Inc., 132 South Main Street, Perkins, Oklahoma 74059 (405) 547-5999 [email protected] larsenstudio.com "Anybody that can't take time to walk up there don't have any business seeing it." -Cecil Walker on Black Mesa in the Daily Oklahoman, 1979

High Praise I just finished reading the article "Seven i: Summits" (MarchlApril2004) in the latest Oklahoma Today magazine and thoroughlyenjoyed it. I have climbed a few of the peaks men- tioned, includingthe highest, Black Mesa. Last October, my son climbed it with me and my dad, and we helped him get on top of the monument that shows the highest point. He wanted to be the highest person in Oklahoma. I love traveling- to the mountain areas of the state. It's always a treat to the eyes to look from the top of one of our state's lofty summits. Thanks again for such a great maga- WHERE.ARE YOU? zine. I always look forward to reading it. - - Donny Carter AN OKLAHOMA TODAY CONTEST STRATFORD The ornate, onion-shaped domes atop this structure representeda bit of home for the Slavic immigrants who worked in southeast Oklahoma's coal mines. Rebuilt in 1917, Little Does He Know the facility was modeled after an earlier 1897 church located in this Pitkburg County I loved your MarchlApril2004 issue town. A congregationstill gathers and worships heretoday. What is this building, and with the summitsstory. I must admit, I where is it located? For helpful clues, flip to "Far and Away: The Ethnic Diaspora Across Oklahoma" only buy your magazine when you include on page 46 of this issue. Mail entries to Oklahoma Today, h:"Where Are You?' scenery, so I was very happy to see that 15 North Robinson, Suite 100, Oklahoma City, OK 73102, or send responses to issue. Maybe every so often you could fea- [email protected] name and town. Entries must be received ture a statepark with scenic photographs. by May 10, 2004. Three winners will receive an Oklahoma Today T-shirt. Thanks for the summit feature. The Healing Rock at Skiatook Lake was the answer to last issue's "WhereAre You?' Alan Rhodes contest. Winners are Donna Pearceof Eufaula, Torni RogersandArvis Dukeof Medford, BROKEN ARROW and Kirk McKinley of Skiatook.

You will love the upcomingJuly/Augwt 2004 issue, Alan: Iti devoted entirely to Neo-Sub The Land We Love Oklahomai stateparks! I'm a native Oklahoman born in Nowata I read your magazine cover to cover in 1946. My aunt Florence Salisbury of every time it shows up. A great magazine, Power of the Pen Rowlett, Texas, also a native Oklahoman, by the way. I don't live in Oklahoma but Just a note of thanks and appreciation gave me a subscription to Oklahoma Today consider myself a part ofyour great state. I to Oklahoma Tody for sharing informa- that began with theJanuaryIFebruary2004 have land near Waynoka and friends who tion about our Master Works Sawdust issue with Oklahoman of the Year Toby live there. My wife and I visit whenever we Dulcimer Festival with your readership. Keith's picture on the cover. can, and we always enjoy the hospitality Last October, we welcomed seven hun- Thankyou foryourwonderful articlesand we're given in Oklahoma. dred ~eoplefrom twenty states. All were beautiful pictures of my home state, which Robert Billingsley enthralled with the attitude and quality of reminds us ofseveralplaces within the Sooner MANHAllAN BEACH, CALIFORNIA music, education,and old-fashioned fun State that we have never been. I received my offered right here in Texoma. MarchlApril2004issue today. Greatjob! A Soulful Connection Russell A. Cook Larry C. Highfield I recently sent foryourJanuarylFebruary ARLINGTON, TEXAS NEOSHO, MISSOURI 2004 issue which featured Toby Keith as

OKLAHOMATODAY MAY/JUNE 2004

1 - -- pp ppppp I the 2003 Oklahoman of the Year. Like many who have experienced the footprints of another upon their hearts, Toby has lefi his song in my heart. You did right by naming him OMaho- man of the Year. Toby has paid his dues and earned every bit of his success. Thank you for a remarkable story on a remarkable individual. I hope you will run more stories on Toby: Not only isToby easy on the eyes, but so are your stories. Karen CirritoCentofanti NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK

A Conservative Comments I want to compliment you and the staffon the selection of Toby Keith as Oklahoman of the Year. This will be a controversial choice in some circles, but I believe he embodies a bold, Oklahomastylethat is refreshing. 1have from Oklahoma, but for me, Oklahoma Guide in the back of your magazine to find long appreciated his love for this state, which will always be home. In fact, since I've been new festivals and concert halls to play. I share. I enjoyed the article about Keith and in New Jersey, every one calls me "Okie," If any of the Oklahoma Today staff see the rest of the magazine. which I'm proud of, When I was born in that we're playing somewhere nearby, please Patrick McGuigan Oklahoma, it was a young state, only five- come out.Thanks for all your helphl infor- OKLAHOMACITY and-a-half old, older than me as I'll mation and the awesome articles. soon be ninety-one, and I'm still going I've been reading Oklahoma Today Rethinking Her Relocation strong. I was there in June 2002 just to go since I was in middle or high school in I am a displaced Oklahoman who has fishing in Kaw Lake near Ponca City. Perkins. I always felt so proud of my state, been living in the DallasIFort Worth area Keep up the good reading. in part due to your publication. for several years. It has always been my plan Earl Olinger Monica Taylor to move back to Oklahoma someday; that ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY BLUEJACKET is where my heart truly is. I guess this is not to be. I hear that your Humble Origins Corrections publication namedToby Keith Oklahoman We love this magazine! It makes us feel In tbe]anuary/February 2004 issue, we of theyear, so I must assume that everyone so much closer to home when we live way incorrectly identifed the Battle ofMiddle else in the state dropped dead. There can be out here. And now we realize there's lots to Boggy as the Battle of Middle Boggy Depot no other explanation for this blunder. I am explore and learn about when we return. ("Glory Revisited, "page 28). Born Depot very embarrassed for you. Nancy Emory is the name of a state park near Atoka and Deborah E. Lewis HUMBLE,TEXAS a one-time Oklahoma town. In the March/ GARLAND, TEXAS April 2004issue, we mistakenlyput Scottyi Red Dirt Girl Blue River One Stop in the town ofDavis Tallchief Territory Thank you for letting me know about ("Cool Clear Water, "page 40). Really, the I've been reading Oklahoma Today for a my subscription's ending date. Sure do love store is northeast of rishomingo. In the same few years now, but Oklahoma isn't a stranger my Oklahoma Today magazine. stoy wegave readers thephone numberfor to me: My mother and father and six of my My boyfriend, Patrick Williams, and the Blue River Public Fishing and Hunt- brothers and sisters are buried at Fairfax. I I have a folk music duo called the Farm ing Area, not Scotty? Blue River One Stop, was born near there and got all my school- Couple. We often go through the Events which is (580) 371-9288. ine in Osaee Countv. In the 1930s. I went ern Oklahoma during the dust storms. My Oklahoma Today welcomes the views of folks lived on a farm, and I also knew Maria readers. Letters are subject to editing and Tallchief-she was from Fairfax. I must include name, address, and a daytime Like they say, they can take me away phone number. Send letters to: Oklahoma To- I day, Ath: Editor, 15 North Robinson, Suite 'I know what it is]' says reader Jill Crook 100, Oklahoma City, OK 73102, or fax to of Skiatook, who included this 1981 photo (405) 522-4588.Address electronic mail to of the Healing Rock in her correct response to the MarchIApril 'Where Are You?' con- [email protected]. test. Crook is the blond girl on the left. I 1 MARKETPLACE "Cowboy dress is determined by three factors: weather, work, and vanity." -John Erickson, The Modern Cowboy TIER

Do-Si-Do Duds ) "Everyone needs to specialize in something," says Laurah Kilbourn, "and I chose western." In addition to selling her fabric wares, Kilbourn sews clothing to fit an infinite variety of sizes and tastes. "I get everyone from Lazy E cowboys to tourists," she says. One of her newest acquisitions is an "Oklahoma" tapestry with the state flag, buffalo, mistletoe, and oil wells. Rodeo Postel shirt, $86.29; denim vest, $46.98.

Packin' a Purse b An Oklahoma version of Rodeo Drive? These fashionable purses have true western style. Covered with everything from feathers and faux barbed wire to fringe, Kilbourn's one-of-a-kind clutches radiate style. Fashion plates I can choose from a plethora of motifs, custom made with tapestry or cotton fabric. Sunset Cactus purse, $69. cover the walls of Extra Special Fabric, and a quarter of those are pure western. "Customers Home on the Range 4 are often overwhelmed by all If life on the range requires that you sleep in the that western fabric," Kilbourn bed of your pickup, lay your head on one of these says. "They just can't decide." pillows. Made with fashionable faux fur and leather, Among the most popular are the pillows are sure to inspire a cattle stampede. cowgirl fabrics. Sisters of the These two were handmade by Kilbourn, but if you Wild Frontier, $9.29 per yard; want to make your own, just pick your favorite Buffalo Girls, $8.29 per yard; fabric and hit the sewing machine. Faux fur pillow, From the Hip, $9.29 per ~ard. $12.98; faux tooled-leather pillow, $18.

.:*.

10 1 OKLAHOMATODAY 8 MAY/JUNE 2004 Rodeo Dreams ) Baby Buckaroos b Oklahomans in search of Mamas, don't let your that prized rodeo buckle babies grow up to be need inspiring haciendas. cowboys. But do decorate "Cowboys use western their rooms in these ador- fabric in their trailer's able receiving blankets and living quarters as curtains baby quilts. Red flannel and bedspreads," she receiving blanket, $17.29; says. The cowboy on this yellow flannel receiving fringed pillow resembles blanket, $16.29; quilted Oklahoma champion bull blanket, $49.98. rider, the late Lane Frost. Let's Rodeo pillow, $45. Global Cowboy b Many cowboys have gotten their kicks on Route 66, and you can, too--even if you live in Japan or Germany or Wyandotte. Kilbourn credits her website for increased sales-in fact, more than half her customers discovered Extra Special Fabric via . its website. Kilbourn rou- tinely ships to laces as far away as Australia and Europe. Rodeo Pro, $9.29 per ~ard;Gold Ban- dana, $8.89 per ~ard;Route A Southwestern Swatches For Southwest lovers, Kilbourn carries a variety of Santa Fe These aren't the pearl snaps prints, including Kokopellis, your granddaddy used to cow skulls, and chili peppers. wear. At Extra Special Fab- "I have about seventy-fivebolts ric, you won't have trouble of Southwest-theme fabric," wrangling a button for your she says. Kilbourn also stocks western shirt or purse. Kil- a selection of kitschy fabrics bourn's large selection in- ranging from chickens to Betty dudes Route 66 signs Boop. Southwest Impressions, and buffalo nickels. Feathers, and Sunset Ground, $8.29 per yard. pepper, $1.30 each; turquoise, 75 cents; Tractor Pullover 4 Tractors, horses, and even Pistol Pete can be found in the array of popular fleece Kilbourn regularly stocks. "Customers buy the fleece to make blankets themselves, or I can custom make one for them," she says. John Deere

MARKETPLACE 11 Oklahoma Gifts

State Seal Brooch 13/1Q'diameter. Style F. See page 20 of this issue for available colors and styles. $25.00 each ($6.00 S&H)

Oklahoma State Flag 100%nylon 3' x 5' $35.00 ($6.00 S&H) United States Flag 100% nylon 3' x 5' $35.00 ($6.00 S&H)

Lapel Pins OK with state (I1/{ x 'I{) State Flag (5/8" x 1") State Seal (3/2 diameter) $3.00 each ($1.75 S&H) te Pride Titleist Golf Balls Oklahoma College Brooches official state seal of Oklahoma 1 3/1Q'diameter. on PROV1. Four per sleeve, Available in OU, TU, and Oklahoma Cuff Links $14.00. ($3.00 S&H) two versions of OSU. Gold metal with the state $25.00 each ($6.00 S&H) seal embossed in pewter, each one Sold as a set, $25.00 ($6.00 S&H)

Oklahoma Trivet A Frankoma Pottery exclusive. 8 '14'' x 5 '/i' '" Availablein Black, State Seal Coasters Green, Blue, & Ecru. A Frankoma Pottery --exclusive. $10.00 ($6.00 S&H) Black only, 3 5/{ diameter. Set of 4, $24.00 ($8.00 S&H) Oklahoma TODAY MEOKLAHOMA WPER-rs To order, call us toll free Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1-80&777-1793. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for dmlivery. "Other states may gloat about their burger ioints, but Oklahoma is a mecca for those who love the almighty burger."-Michael Wallis in Oklahoma Today, May 1995

MayPleasure By Steffie Corcoran SUNDAY bMONDc I*EDNESDAY -I THURSDAY I-FRIDAY 1 SATURDAY

1 v It's a three-forall at Untitled Artspace in Oklahoma City on the final day of Naida Seibel, Josette SimonGestin. ond University of Oklahoma College of Architecture student work. 1 1 a.m.4 p.m.

4 They just want to fly. Strand up and be It's time for Cel- Andelel Andele! Industry insiders, Choczchoose wisely. Catch the Wings counted at the Fiber- ebrating Chickasaw Celebrate Cinco head to Weather- Today, the Sonto Fe Gone Wild: Wild works 2004 exhibit Traditions at the Five de Mayo, a day ford's Oil and Gas Depot in Shawnee Birds in Flight at City Arts Center Civilized Tribes Mu- honoring an 1862 Golf Tournament, celebrates its centen- show at the Tulsa in Oklahoma City. seum in Muskogee. Mexican military where 72 teams will nial. The anniversary Zoo at noon, 2 See elaborate pieces Join in the arts and victory, with a little compete at Prairie festivities come to a p.m., and 4 p.m. by local artist Elia crafts, food, tradi- fiesta at a favorite West Golf Course. whistle start with a today. $2 in addition Woods and others. tional dance, and Mexican eatery. Practice round big party at 4 p.m. to zoo admission. Through May 8. storytelling. Through Chips and salsa are today, tournament Through tomorrow. Through May 16. Saturday. known winners. tomorrow.

1 MA-

blz71w ,( ' 12 I llhlNV I 4 14 It's the final day of Mox Bialystock In print: The Okla- Dust off the tent and Spend a spring Sat- the Western Heri- and Leo Bloom's homa City Museum roll up the sleeping urday amid the tents tage Art Invitational shenanigans have of Art hosts a collec- bag. It's a Roar & of arts and crafts at at the Chisholm Trail , earned big bucks on tion from Universal Snore sleepover at Hobart's Courthouse Heritage Center in Broadway. Tonight, Limited Art Editions, the Tulsa Zoo. Din- Square. At Arts on Duncan. Take Mom Mel Brooks's The Pro a Long Island print ner, a marshmallow the Square, painters abng-art makes i ducers debuk at the publisher headed roast, breakfast, and young and old com- great Mother's Day Tulsa Performing Ark by native Oklahe calls of the wild in- pete for cash prizes gift. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Center. 7:30 p.m. man Bill Goldston. cluded. For members in five categories. Through May 23. Through August 22. only, $20-$25. Free.

This weekend, Chick-

Larsen celebrates he first open housa at his

Robert Indiana 66: Oklahoma Gifts

Oklahoma~~of the Year T-shirts & Baby Tees The Revised Edition 2003 Oklahoman of the Year Toby An updated edition of the Keith on back, buffalo logo on Special Memorial issue, $9.95 front. Regular T-shirts M, L, XL, ($4.00 S&H) $15.00 each, XXL, $18.00 each. Baby Tees M, L, XL $20.00 each, COMING SOON! (S&H included in price.) A 2005 Oklahoma calendar with photographs by Michael Hardeman. Available Summer 2004.

Oklahoma Video Celebrate the Oklahoma

$1 4.95 ($4.25 S&H) Cherokee Pet Bowl Hand-crafted pottery with Cherokee lettering (Cat or Dog.) Availablein black, copper-red, sand, & cobalt. Large, 8" x 3", $21.90. Small, 7.3" x 2.5", $17.00 ($6.00 S&H per bowl)

Hand-Lafte'h in Oklahoma. Dishwash- er & microwave safe. CWY pronounced Cha-la-gi means Cherokee.Left, Coun- ter-Clockwise Spiral, $15.95. Right, Uktena, a powerful, mystic creature, $15.95. ($6.00 S&H per mug)

Song of White Bear Limited edition fine art print - by artist Mike Larsen. 26" x Baby Dish Set "Em- . 35" (Image area 22" x 30") Hand-crafted pottery with X# $95.00 unsigned, $165.00 Cherokee lettering pronounced signed ($10.00 S&H) U-s-di, which means baby. $39.95 for the set. ($8.00 S&H)

IOklahoma TODAY mE oKLnHoMa ExPEm.

To order, call us toll free Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1-800-777-1793. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. "That son of a gun is like a wet noodle when you try to catch him." -Stillwater noodler Lee McFarlin, in Outdoor Life

By Brooke Demetz

SUNDAY I TUESDAY I WEDNESDAY 1 THURSDAY 1 FRIDAY SATURDAY

C Because it's National Go nuts at Okmul- rY y.It's hard-hitting5 Candy Month, you gee's Pecan Festival. ~irlpower as?he don't need an excuse On Saturday, a I 3klahoma City to overlook Ada forty-twc-fwt par lightning women's Candy Company's pie made with 150 boball team suits delicious peanut brit- pounds of pecans ~p against the DaC Festival. Don't miss tle and lemon drops. and 534 pounds as Dragons at Tah The divine treats are of sugar will be Stadium. Tickets, available at local unveiled downtown. $8. 7:05 p.m. supermarkets.

11 12 Gather your friends Friday's deadCEN Cheers to the Drum- for the Broken TER Film Festival right Wine Festival. Arrow Community events include an Five Oklahoma Playhouse produc- evening showcase of vineyards provide tion of Harvey, a Oklahoma short films tastings all day at heartwarming tole of at the IAO Gallery Whitlock Park, and a man's relationship in Oklahoma City. visitors can tour the with an invisible rob Events are held at local Tidal School bit. Tonight at 5 p.m. metrourea venues Vineyards. Noon to >ughJune 13. through June 13. 6 p.m.

Cowboys, shootouts and mountain men kick off Shidler's Tallgrass Rendez- vous, a weekend of historical Civil War and fur camps making home base in Coussens Park. -!hrough June 20.

21 22 23 25 26 A trip to our southern Is nature calling your Pawnee Bill was on C neinhbor is a must for little ones? Enroll them influential aw. learn tossed with o little

hesixties never Make an important iounded so good. date to view the 200 ronight, Tulsa's Star- pieces of artwork ight Band presents on the last day of 4merican Graffiti, a the Tribes Gallery's ree concert at River Visions and Voices Parks. Bring a lawn Art Show in Nor- chair or blanket. man, featuring works Tonight's perfor- from Cherokee artist mance, 8 p.m. Dorothy Sullivan.

CALENDAR 15 Discover The Vias and Pointe Marin on Gnnd Lake. On the tip d~onkeyIsland at Shangri-La Country Club,these exquisitelydmignedresidences are the pdkt retreat. At Grand Lake's most prestigious address,these luxurious, sophisticated homes are nestled at water's edge amid twochamhionshipgoIfmmes,private marina, airport and the mast . breathtakingviewsof this noted Oklahoma phy&mund.Palatid residences are individually appointedfor yourlifestyle with private pools, exteriorfireplaces, separateguest cab and goif cart garages. Fmm $5oOr000.Enjoy comfortunsurpassedwith generousflmr plans from 2500 t5 400i0 square ket at Grand Lake's two rnapifimtresort home mrnunities.

71-M- FOR APPOINTMENT OIp INFORMATION, CONTACT MAXSON SALES AT 1-877-257-4373 Buffalo&More 18

Soddle Bronc Schoo 2 1 Route 66 Festtval 22

tainment hrthe entire &nily. be.w habitat. One of the zod~first nde+~gs was theJungle Sounds like 2004 will be a centennial hirthdr, ofani~ildistic Gym, a 30,000-square-foa und built by conlmunity proportions. -Andrea Lopez - '---1 volunteersin April. Late spring brings a new b* house. ~1,~walk-through 2I01 Northr~~stFij%ft/~Street b OX.LI/I exhibit offers an up-closelook .it wingedwonders From around 3344;oknoo,co~n. .\ .\ ...... THERANGE I

Paper Trail HISTORYAT A GLANCE' I Withasearch of the new Okkzhoman archives on newsokcom, gene- alogy and !general mchare mere clicks away. During an eighteen-month process, every bit of content published since 1901was converted Erom microfilm to a digital file. The resulting wealth of information is now searchable by date or keyword for free,with download fees ranging from $8.95 for a one-day pass to $248for a yearlong subscription. In January, Governor Brad Henry kicked off Spirit of the Bu6 "In a young state like Oklahoma, newspaper archives truly are fal~nOklahoma Centennial Projecbatthe State Capitol. first drafts ofhistory," says editor Ed Kelley. "We like to think ists-and the readers they serve-many years from now will teu that our archives were cared for throughour much of SEEN, NOT HE - ShawnaParks Dozens of bison are trading tallgrass prairies for urban cityscapes. ThisMay through September, herds ofdecorative fiberglass baa Just Plains Verse will 'I be displayed around the state for the Nature Conservancy's Spirit of the B&o project (spiritofiheb~o.or~. "We all live by the sky," reads a line in a new Howard Stein Modeled after undertakings like Chicago's Cows on Parade poem "Storm, a Verb," and for any native, his words resonate and the Tulsa Zoo's Penguins on Parade, Spirit of the BuMo this time of year. Stein bribesOklahoma phenomena in his pairs local artists with corporate and private sponsors to raise urth book of poetry, Sketches on he hitie (Finishing Line money and art awareness. Press, $12, June 20041. These buffsloes are swapping hides for a more couture "Rural Oklahoma inspires me," says Stein, a ' pab.rordth8OUHsdhSciencesCsn)erfor wardrobe. Oklahoma City artist Bert Seabourn is using his fiberglass canvas to paint an abstract work titled the past hwenty-sevm years. 'There's no way EveningSh&s, and another buffalo created by Coral around it." Cashion,A BuffaloRoaidTrip,is inspired by Route 66. Whether the shortness of an Oklahoma "It is a ~ublic~roject that works," says project man- spring or the uncertainty of a wheat crop, ager Keven Virgilio. readers will find Stein's muse throughout rhe "It just puts a smile on Oklahoma countryside. --Kim Shepnran your face." To order Sketches on he Prairie, call finishing 1 -Brooke Demetz Line Press at 1859)514-8966. I I

1a.Monroe Tw Toke, 3. DickWest, 1912-1996: 6. Doc Tote Nemquaya, 19041937 and This Bacone art professor at 1932-1996: The Comanche 1b.Stephen Mopope, taught many painters working artist and accomplished 18981974: Both were today. His paintings were on flutist was the second person members of the Kiowa Five. the vanguard of tribal art. named a State Treasure after Tsa Toke was considered the 4. Woodrow Crumbo, Te Ata Fisher. Love Call, by MonroeTsa Toke. greater genius, but Mopope 1912-1 989: Crumbo, a Po 7. T.C. Cannon, 1946-1978: worked the longest and had tawami was artist-in-residence Cannon, a CaddoKiowa, the greatest body of work. at Gilcrease Museum in the broadened the scope of art 2. Acee Blue Eagle, 1940sand often accomp beyond the Native Ameri- 1909-1959: This Creek- nied Thomas Gilcrease on can genre. P Pawnee painter from collecting excursions. 8. Jerome Tiger, & Anadarko founded the 5. Allan Houser, 19141 994: 194 1-1967: In his brief five art department at Bacone AChiricahua Apache sculp year painting career, this . . College in Muskogee and tor, he taught at the Institute of influential Creek-Seminole 3 selects our state's most influential lectured on lndian art and American lndian Arts in Santa artist worked mostly in nega- f lndian artists of the past. culture at Oxford University. Fe for many years. tive space and form. ::

OKLAHOMATODAY MAY/JUNE 2004 l8 I fl Oklahoma ~ife&Leisure

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"2- Pete Business THREE SISTERS REOPEN PISTOL PETE'S HOUSE

VERY HOUSE HAS A STORY. ONE on permanent display as well as a copy of EPerkins home, formerly owned by Okla- his biography. homa State University's gun-toting mascot Customers love the mix ofnew and old, Frank "Pistol Pete" Eaton, speaks volumes. folksy and classic. "The young girls hooked The tiny wood-frame house-where on HGTV love us," says Hodson, who also Eaton lived from about 1920 until his death serves as mayor of her hometown of Carney. at age ninety-seven in 1958-found its new The sisters keep prices low. They don't voice in October 2000 when sisters Alice check thevalue of their antiques and col-

Hall, Phyllis Dotter, and Marlena Hodson lectibles on eBay or in .price guides.- "We resurrected the home as a gift shop. Marlena, just want to make our cost back and a little Phyllis, and their brother Lenard Campbell profit," says Dotter. I had once lived in the home after their mother The link to Pistol Pete draws a variety of bought it from Eaton's family in the 1960s. customers. "Men like it because there's plenty With an ever- Now named Chantry House after the of room to sit outside and because of the renewing stock streel it resides on in Perkins, the two-room connections with Pistol Pete. It's not just a of shabby chic structure is filled with quilts, glassware, foo-foo shop," says Hodson. merchandise, antiques and collectibles, folkart, candles, -Jennifer Frisch Chanhy House's and knick-knacks. popular sellers in Today [he rustic building has a splash of CharzrryHozcs~,I0 a.nl. to5p.m. Thuvsday purple on the wall and is decorated with aizdFdj 1Oa.m. to 2p.m. Snturhj 119 eclectic flair. A photograph of Pistol Pete is Eat Chantry in Pcrkins. (405)547-2339.

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20 OKLAHOMATODAY 1 MAY/JUNE 2004 "The freedom is what I love most."-Billy Etbauer on bronc riding School of Bronc GET YOUR KICKS IN GOODWELL

ROM ITS LAWLESS BEGINNINGS AS NO-MAN'S LAND,TEXAS COUNTY HAS Fpersisted as a place where the lives of man and horse are intertwined. In fact, area riders once held reign over nearly everysaddle bronc competition in the country. This May, beginning bronc riders can pony up some cash for the opportunity to learn from severalof those same rodeo greats at the Deke Latham Memorial Bronc Riding Schoolin Goodwell,an annual three-day, expert tutorial on the sport. Since 1989,Robert Etbauer, two-time PRCA world champion, and Craig Latham, nine-time NFR qualifier and rodeo coach at Oklahoma Panhandle StateUniversity in Goodwell,have joined with Etbauer's brothers Billy and Danny to give novice cowboys the same riding opportunities they once had. "I grew up on a ranch and spent a lot of time on horseback," says Robert Etbauer. "That doesn't happen as much today, so we wanted to make it better for the kids." For the smallest cowpokeas well as the biggest, safetyis paramount. "We have steersfor the little kids to start out on," Latham says. "Then they get on a horse if they do all right." Not only is hands-on tutelageprovided, but every penny earned from the school goes toward the OPSU rodeo program, including a scholarshiphonoring Latham's brother, Deke, who died in an automobile accident in 1986. -Blaine Smith

Bronc RidingSchoolisMay 6to8 at the OPSUDoc Gardnerarena in Goodwell. Tuitionis $300for ret~rnin~students,$350for new studena (580)349-1348or (580)349-2988.

I SCAPING FROM I' \LL IS m R THAN YOU Tm"NB

Escape to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, the town that oil built. You can see roaming For more informationcontact: herds of exotic animals on an oil baron's BARTLESVILLEAREACONVENTION vast ranch, explore Frank Lloyd Wright's & VISITORSBUREAU ?+$&,&--& only skyscraper, shop for unique 201 SW Keeler P.O. Box 2366 treasures and experience the art, culture BAR~LE~VILLE,OKLAROA~A Bartlesville, OK 74005 and history of the American West. 918-336-8708 toll-free 877-273-2004 uyPng or Selling lndian Art? ROAD Know thr, Law! Under the lndian Arts and Crafts Act, all products must be marketed Route 66 Fe: truthfully regarding heritage and tribal affiliation of the artist or craftsperson. For a free brochure on the lndian Arts and Crafts Act and how to file a complaint, contact the lndian Arts and Crafts Board, U.S. Department of EW ROADS EVER ACHIEVE ICON the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW, MS 4004-MIB Washington, DC 20240, Fstatus. Rome had its Appian Way, T: 202.208.3773, E: [email protected],W: www.iacb.doi,.gov China its Silk Road. Oklahoma? Route 66, ot course. Visit the Southern Plains lndian Museum 1 Four hundred miles of that most mythi- See authentic lndian arts and crafts, located in Anadarko, Oklahoma - yal of America's at 715 East Central Boulevard. The museum is open ypar-round and hosts a variety of exhibits from traditional clothing and artifacts, to contemporary highways-more paintings and sculptures. Southern Plains lndian Museum, P.O. Box 749, than in any other Anadarko, Oklahoma 73005, T: 405.247.6221 , state-snakes I across Sooner territory, making Oklahoma a must-see for true Route 66 enthusiasts. No other ribbon of black is as celebrated as John Steinbeck's Mother Road, and from June 10to 13,the celebration rolls into ' Tulsa in the form of the InternationalTulsa 1 Route 66 Festival, an annual party for the I famed roadway which has previously made I stops in Springfield, Illinois, and Amarillo, Texas. "I'm ecstatic about it," saysTulsa

OKLAHOMATODAY .MAY/JUNE 2004 I2 I THE MANDALA CWTER

Ecumenical Retreat Center Welcoming To All ~ R OBox 158. - DI.MoInes, NM 88418 (505)27-2 www.rnandaIacenter.org A quiet, peacejil place for individual and small group retreats. Reasonable rates, excellent meals, and a beautzful environment. Upcoming events include the following:

Dialogue: Peacemaking through Sacred Conversation. Thursday, April 29-Sunday, May 2. Explore transformative practices of speaking and listening with Glenna Gerard, co-founder of The Dialogue Group and co-author of Dialogue: Rediscover the tival in Tulsa Transforming Power ofConversation. Fee: $300. author and Route 66 chronicler, Michael ILiving on the Borderland of Time: Prayer, Community and Leadership. Friday, Wallis, an honorary festival cochairman. May 14-Sunday, May 16. Follow arhythm of prayer, reflection, silence and conversation with leaders The Rev. Bill Jamieson, president of the Insitute for Servant Leader- "It's the largest annual festival of its kind, - ship, and Gaye Brown, executive director of The Mandala Center. Fee: $250. and it will attract people from across the nation and internationally." Coming Home to Earth: A Spiritual Reunion with All Our Kin. Friday, June 11 - In fact, organizers expect an invasion of Saturday, June 19. A three-part retreat for those concerned about the ecologically 25,000 national and international visitors. sustainable future of life on earth. Leaders are Patricia Sablatura, Ph.D., dream-tender and licensed professional counselor, and Joan Brown, OSF, Ecological Minister with Events will include classic car displays, an the Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Fee based on parts taken. awards banquet, bus and walking tours, auc- I Fees include tuition, double occupancy mom and meals. tions, an authors and artists expo, memora- I bilia exhibits, and a 5K Run. ) Set inTdsa's historic Brady Village, the festival will be a homecoming of sorts. The widely acknowledged father of Route 66 (and PUBLIC ART and art a planner ofAmerica's modern highway sys- for the young at heart tem) was Tdsan Cyrus Avery. Avery, knowing are all a part of a visit to Edmond. Come for 1 the road would bring a flood of economic I1 a visit today and enjoy activity, lobbied relentlessly in the mid- 1920s spring in a city where life-sized bronze statues pass through Oklahoma. cavort on almost every The road remains a formi- comer in the heart of dable economic force for many Edmond's downtown of the state's small towns, shopping district. Wallis says, with Route 66 You won't want to miss nostalgia growing every year. s chance to STAY in What hels the nostalgia? me Edmond's luxurious "Route 66 represents what this nation was be- hotels, and if putting fore we became a generic, homogenkd culture around is more your that eats all its meals out ofStyrofoam boxes," I thing, you can PLAY : 2N Wallis says. "It's the genuine article-the good, than h, ' the bad, and the ugly." -Scott Wigton

The International EhRoute 66Festiualis June 10through 13.For a complete schedule, contact the organimat (718) 447-6405; tulsa6c;festiuaLcom.

The Warehouse Market, left, is a Tulsa Route ' 66 landmark. Above, the skyline of Tulsa, where 25,000 visitors are expected for the InternationalTulsa Route 66 festival.

DIGEST 1 23 THERANGE "The rnerrv face of spring turns to the world."-from Carmina Burana

E OKLAHOI POETRY PIROUETTE - OU Ballet Airs Nationally KLAHOMA DANCERSWILL PLI~AND PIROUETTE ON Film Project. When he saw UU'Sstudent dance company, UNa- 0television screensaround the country this summer as the homa Festival Ballet, perform Camina Burana a few years back at University of Oklahoma production of Camina Burana: TheBal- OU's annual SummerWind Festival, he was inspired to kt leaps from OETA to more than fifty PBS stations. film the ballet. OnJune 6 at 6 p.m., OETAwill air the ballet about fateand "I saw the costumes,and I knewwe had a wonderful young love starring OU dance students and produced by the dance program," says Brittan, who is quick to point out OU Independent Film Project.The station first aired Car- the ten camerasused to cover all angles of the shoot. "We mina Burana last fall, and in April, American PublicTele- A had all the right ingredients." vision distributed the film to PBS stations nationwide. A The woman whose dancerswill be seen far beyond The inspiration for CaminaBurana's melo- OU's campus borders, Mary Margaret Holt, says, "We're dies originatedwith a group of medievalpoems just delighted by this opportunity, especially now that it's translatedto music by German composer been picked up nationally." Carl Orff in 1937.Mary MargaretHolt, OU Finisimo! Schoolof Dance director,says Orff's music is -Kim Shipman naturallysuited to ballet for its "passion, wn- trasting rhythms, and contrasting moods." For more informationon OETAbroadcasts inMay and Shawnee Brittan directsOU's Independent IJune, consultoeta.onenet.net. Dinner and Dancing I COEDS CUT LOOSE AT THE TUMBLEWEED CALF FRY KLAHOMA'S MOST POPULAR Besides the thousands of calf fry dinners 0calf fiy festivalsoonwill be serving served during the two-day event, Sammy up Oklahomaoysterswith a sideof the best Kershaw will headline Friday's concert musicyou can rustle up at theTumbleweed after performances by Kevin Fowler and Dance Halls and ConcertArena in Stillwater. Johnny Lee. Saturday's lead-in acts are More than six thousand two-steppers are Texas Jack, No Justice, and Jason Boland expected to attend the thirteenth annual and the Stragglers,who will be followed - festival that pays homage to the boot- by perennial crowd favorite and Saturday's I scootin' lifestyle--and a certain delicacy. star, Chris LeDoux. counuy and western superstar. The dance hall welcomes everyonewith an "It's the only festival in the state that Five-time attendee Darin Wynn of ear-pleasingcombination oftraditional and gives you a free meal with a dance ticket Blackwell says the event is like a big contemporary country crooners. purchase," saysTumbleweed owner Hank reunion. "EverybodyI ever met out here Moore. Dinner includescorn, beans, and usually shows up." -Jennifer Frisch n bread and butter. Moore keeps prices low so studentsat Thethirteenthannual TumbkweedCaIfFty nearby OklahomaStateUniversitycan afford isApd30andMay I. Ecketsstartat$20. The to blow offsomesteam right before finals Tumbkweedk located northwestofStiLwatw start.But this event is not just for students. on Lakevim and County ClubRod. (405) "The festivalsellsout everyhotel room 377-006Z [email protected]. in Stiiwater,Guthrie,and Perkins," says Garth Brooks, the Great Divide, Cross Can- Moore' Fans return year from dian Ragweed, and other Oklahoma bands countryto the place that nurtured a budding got their start atthe TumbleweedDance Garth Brooks from dance hall bouncer to Hallsand Concert Arena.

24 OKLAHOMATODAY MAYIJUNE1 2004 1 REDISCOVER 71 Kellie Coffey Thegardens of Philbrook EXPERIENCE Art through nature in 23 Moorenative Kellie Coffey is one ofhenewest I Oklahomansmakingabigsplash inhecountry acres of outdoorgalleries musicscene. Her2002 debutalbum, When You Lie NextTo Me, soldmorethan 250,000 copies, and in 2003, she was namedtop new hale Re-apening to the public April 1'8 vocalistby heAcademy of CountryMusic. I I Q: Who or what inspiresyou? I A: My parents and family. 2727 S Rockford Rd,Tulsa Q: What isyour favorite saying? Tues- Sun Adults $7.50 A: "It doesn't serve the world for you to play Members and childrenfree I small." Audio tour guides, $3 per tour Q: How has Oklahoma influencedyou? Family and children'sactivities A: Myvalues and my senseofwho I am comes 918.749.7941 www.philbrootorg fiom my family and fiiends in Oklahoma. So many country artists come fiom Okla- I homa that somehow the music becomes part ofyour soul. The songs that those artists wrote and sang reflected what I knew, my hometown, my childhood. Q: What do you enjoy in your spare time? A: I love anything to do with the water: a lake, a river, the ocean. I also like going to the movies. Q: What's your favorite place inOklahoma? A: My parents' house at Lake Eufaula Q: What's your favorite song? A: "A Song for You," by Leon Russell. Q: What's most importantin life? I A: Family. Q: Who areyour biggest influences? A: Trisha Yearwood, the Judds, and Reba McEntire. Q: Howdoes singing and performingmake you feel? Charming Victorian homes and buildings. Art galleries. Unique shops. A: Happy.I can let other people intomy heart The Great Passion Play, music shows, gorgeous Ozark Mountain scenery and express how the music makes me feel. and scads of attractions. It's no wonder that Eureka Springs, Arkansas, Q: What's been the highlightof your career is a favorite vacation getaway for folks in the so far? Sooner State. Call soon (or even sooner) for hot A: Winning the Academy of Counuy Music deals on accommodationsat Inn of the Ozarks, award forTop New FemaleVocalist. Being Eureka Springs' best and most popular resort. recognized by my peers in the industry made all my hard work worth it. It made wwweto~ewekaecorn INN OF THE OZARKS me feel like they are expectinggood thiigs P.O. Box 431 for me in the future and that they have 1-800-808-9236 Eureka Springs, AR 72632 I noticed what I've done so far. I

DIGEST 1 25 "There's a story behind every piece. -Debby Williams, Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art director Papal to the People I ETRUSCAN ART AT MABEE-GERRER

HRIS HARDEN IS EXCITED. "IT'S A Most items in the exhibit date from cwonderful opportunity for Shawnee," 700 to 500 BC, marking Etruscan says Harden, the town's mayor. "Everybody craftsmanship at its height. is excited. It will be a chance for Shawnee to The exhibit, which originated in Italy and show its stuff." will return there once its appearance at the Why all the hullabaloo?In a significant Mabee-Gerrer is completed, was brought to art world coup, Shawnee's Mabee-Gerrer Oklahoma through the efforts of Rever- Museum ofArt nabbed the exclusive United end Malcolm Neyland, executive direc- States stop for the Etruscan Treasures: Un- tor of the National Exhibits Foundation, veiling Ancient Mystery exhibit. based in Lubbock, Texas. The exhibit's pieces, from the pri- The exhibit made the long trip from vate collections of Italian Prince Italy to Shawnee thanks in part to Fabrizio Alliata and the Vatican's Mabee-Gerrer's central location Gregorian-Etruscan Museum Founded in spotlight- - the artistic skills of ;d 1914by Father Gregory ancient craftsmen. Gerrer, an artist and Etruscan Treasures Benedictine monk, the contains thirty-five Mabee-Gerrer is one bronze and terra cotta of the oldest museums artifacts and more than in the state, with a two hundred pieces of permanent collection gold jewelry, most of ofabout 6,000 items, which have never been ex- including African and hibited and retain their lustel Eastern artifacts, paint- nearly three millennia later. ings and sculpture from the The detailed gold pieces demonstrate Renaissance through the twentie intricacies such as granulation, soldering century, and Native American items. hundreds of tiny gold beads onto the metal's "This showing will allow us to high- surface. Everyday items in the exhibit light our own permanent collection of include clay and marble statuary, urns, and Roman, Greek, and Egyptian artifacts," vases used in Etruscan households. says Williams. "These collections fit in "We want people to understand what a beautifully with the Etruscan treasures." fascinatingcivilization the Etruscans had," Most Italians have never seen these trea- says Debby Williams, the museum's direc- sures. Don't miss your chance.-Joan Rhin tor and chief curator. Much ofwhat is known about Etruria, the The Mabee-Gwrer Museum ofArt is thirty p first great civilization ofancient Italy, is a re- miles east of Okhhoma Civ on the campus of sult ofwall studies of paintings and frescoes Saint Gregoryj University. Ecketssfor Unveil- discovered in burial settings. To suggest their ingAncient Mystey Etrwcan Treasures historical context, displays are set within a will besokdatjifieen-minute intervak with backdrop of large, full-color reproductions entrance to the exhibit restricted to twenty-jive ofEtruscan tombs and paintings. visitors ata time. Tickets are $10-$14andare The civilization was active from 950 to avaihble at tickets.com or by calling (800) 300 BC, rising to power, then disappear- 511-1552.Mabee-Gerrer Museum ofArt, ing-and leaving scholars with a number of I700 West MacArthur Drive in Shawnee. unanswered questions. (405) 878-5300; mgmoa.org. While their origins and the scope of their influence is still debated, Etruscan expertise Etruria was located in northwestern Italy, between the Arno and Tiber rivers. The an- was used by the Romans to build the first cient civilization left behind pieces like the drainage system in Rome and reclaim pendant, above, and crown, hair spirals, marshland that later became the capital. earrings, and jewelry, at right.

26 1 OKLAHOMATODAY ' MAY/JUNE 2004 In El Reno, the Lawn Mowers Are Going, Going, Gone ac.- N MOST OKLAHOMA COMMUNITIES, - -. I cowboy the clamor of lawn mower engines on a poet 8 humorist summereveningmeans grass will be a little shorter the next day. Not so in El Reno,where the thunder of mower engines meansjust one thing-racing. On selectSaturdaynights fiom April through October, thirty or more racers mount riding mowers to circle the tenth-of- MANY MORE MYEVENTS! - a-mile track atJenks SimmonsFieldhouse. Engines howl, dust flies, and competitive juices run hot as mowers speed around the track at up to thirty-five miles per hour. Racers compete in several divisions, and the action is intenseenough that mowers sometimes crash through hay bales lining the track, from time to time turning over. That's why riderswear helmets, neck braces, and a chestprotector. No blades of grass--or feet-are harmed in the races, sincethe souped-up mowers have had their cutting blades removed. The best racing strategy?"Stay fast and staylow," says Rodney Hartley, president of the El Reno GRASWAssociation, which organizesthe races. While racers share asense ofpurpose, specta- tors gatherwith asense ofhurnor.Themood is lightheanedas GRASCARracefans cheer,visit, andpull softdrinks andsnacksfiom coolers. An announceron atruck-mounted PA system narratesevery turn andspill. The sportis ever-evolving. Says Hartley, "We ? ! ' 9, may startan outlaw division,where anykind of &APQ,+ $gpa~.qFaal fullu Rsstond * Excellent Condltlol - '"?;?a mowergoes."- For rip-roaring, cutting-edgeracing, it's hard to beat mowers. SteveLidley Contact thu 1~wottias of I~IEIV~F~S. Grump lor an appointment m sac Races begin about 6p.m. andarescheduled this aupsrb horns and lasrn morn ab~utIts fasclnadng hlsmr~! for May I and I5andJune5,112, and26at Jenks Simmons FieIdhowe, 214North Coun- Danlme: (~181WO-gsll try ClubRoad. For exact race timesand dates, Evsnlngs: (918 641-8929 contact theElReno Conventionand Visitor? [email protected]

Bureau (888635-736@ or Rodney Hartley -" ) -n :. 11 < . 5 ,..*. , ;7r+c&L .-Y ,r+'; (405/245-6570). elreno.org. . . ,, a7&&AAk

DIGEST 1 27 The 'Wayside Flpwer By Neil Garrison

"Earth laughs in flowers."-Ralph Waldo Emerson

ELCOME TO ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE. W How else can you describe our state when it emerges from its rvinter slum&erand bursts inro a virtud explosion of spring wildflowers? Ma Nature puts on her prettiest party dress this time of year, and Oklahoma's hills, vales, and stream banks are bedecked with untended gardens of nature's blossoms. It is a welcome assault on your senses. Wildflower-borne perfume can't help but bring a smile to your lips, and the diverse palette Iis sure to lodge a twinkle in your eye. Not every inch of our state is a nature preserve, however. We have our share of paved and fettered land dotted with the accou- terments ofcivilization. But Ma Nature is nothing if not resilient. On many occasions, I've delighted to see a pernicious wildflower shouldering its way through a crack in an urban sidewalk. That's determination at its finest. That's Oklahoma. It's not by accident that our state has one of the most diverse collections of native wildflowers of any of the lower forty-eight states. Our central location on the continent affords that bounty of diversity: We're not to close to the North Pole, nor are we next door to the sun-scorched equator. b The average Joe and Josie will be pleasantly shocked to discover that Oklahoma's lengthy list of wildflowers includes such unlikely candidates as orchids. Most folks think of these as hothouse wimps, confined to the equatorial jungles of South America. Not so. Some spectacularly blossomed orchids, such as the 'Yellow Lady's Slipper' and 'Slender Lady's Tresses', call Oklahoma home. We humans are an arrogant lot. To hear us tell it, you'd think wildflowers were put on terra firma expressly for our enjoyment. The truth of the matter is a far different ball ofwax. The blossoms are designed to be a functional part of Oklahoma's wild flora. Their colors lure pollinators such as butterflies, honeybees, and

hummingbirds." The wildflowers' ~erfumeis not for our noses. either: The scent is the "come hither" summons for Oklahoma's winged fauna to pay that crucial visit to the reproductive venue 1 of the wild plant. It's the tangled web of relationships between flowers and the creatures that court them. I like to think-true or not-that wildflowers were purposely sprinkled far and wide in an attempt to appease our haggard and harried souls. No matter how thick-skinned you are, I'd bet a dollar to a doughnut that Ma Nature's wildflowers couldn't help but soothe your urban-frazzled composure and demeanor. And that can mean a little slice of paradise. rn

1. American painted lady butterfly on a tall thistle. 2. Spring spider lily. 3. Prairie verbena. 4. Dwarkrested iris. 5. Yellow fringed orchid. 6. Purple windflower. Opposite: Sunflowers at Little Sahara State Park. Flower Finds Although some wildflowers eventually make their way to the big city, Oklahoma's protected lands provide the largest canvas of state flora. For a slice of Ozark heaven, Natural Falls State Park (918/422-5802) near West Siloam Springs boasts violets, horsemint, Arkansas penste mon, and several rare mosses and ferns. Eco-rich landscapes abun- 1 dant with pale purple coneflow- ers and blackeyed Susans make the Nature Conservancy's Tallgrass Prairie Preserve (918/287-4803) near Pawhus- ka a must-stop for wildflower enthusiasts. Guided spring wildflower tours at the Wichita Moun- tains Wildlife Refuge (580/429-3222) near Lawton highlight area species like the lndian paintbrush and Wichita barrel cactus. The sandy desert environment of Liitle Sahara State Park (580/824-1471) is dotted with sand primrose, American star thistle, and devil's claw. For the state's wildflower species, go to Oklahoma Wild- Things at biosurvey.ou.edu/ okwild/. I

7. Goat's rue. 8. American star thistle. 9. Oxeye daisy. 10. Red clover. 11. Passionflower. 12. White trout lily. 13. Prickly pear cactus. 14. Indian paintbrush. Opposite page: lndian blankets at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.

30 1 OKLAHOMATODAY .MAY/JUNE 2004 IT- -, Northwest Oklahoma has some pretty serious dune buggy fun too (visit Little Sahara State Park near Waynoka - it's incredible), along with the most unusual, unique things to do on a vacation in this whole part of the country.. ..bat fly-overs, antique shopping. shore bird tours, huge caves, extravagant holiday light shows and charming bed and breakfasts and resorts. Our golf is the best In the Midwest too. And while you're visit~ng. experience best birding in the nation at Great Salt Plains Lake!

RED CARPETCOUNTRY GREAT SALT PLAINS 1 (800) 447-2698 1 (580) 596-3053 WWW.REDCARPETCOUNTRY.COM yVW W.GREATSALTPLAINS.COY Call for Our Visitors Guide

ITS'VISIONSOF THE WEST' CAMPAIGN NOW COMPLETE, THE NATIONAL COWBOY &WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM IN OKLAHOMA CITY HAS CORRALLED THE WESTERN WAY AT ITS LANDMARK FACILITY.

HE WEST. ITS MYSTIQUE EVOKES IMAGES tions of ranching, rodeo, and hunting, traditions that included of cowboys on horseback, trails of dust in their participants of many ethnic groups and both genders. wake; vast horizons dappled with sunset hues Curator of history Richard Rattenbury has worked at the mu- of dusky purple and muted pink; a gun battle between a seum since 1987. During that time, he has noticed significant strong, inscrutable lawman determined to keep his town safe changes in historic interpretation. "At one time, we were pretty and a swarthy cattle rustler hell-bent on mayhem. much focused on white Anglo-Saxon exploits in the West," he says, Heavily influenced by Hollywood and populated by rugged, "particularly on the American cowboy and giving little recognition handsome men who tip their hats and sound like Sam Elliott, to the Hispanic cowboy, the black cowboy, the Native American this mythic world is a manly one, where good triumphs over evil cowboy, and women who ranched and handled cattle. We've taken r and few shades of gay exist. In this world, a man's word means a much greater focus in that regard." something, but he chooses carefully, for words are dangerous, and The contemporary approach and broad appeal of today's Na- it's best to use as few as possible. tional Cowboy &Western Heritage Museum invites everyone in- This version of the cowboy mystique-rugged, Caucasian, decid- edly masculine, definitely the stuff of romance-is well represented The child depicted in The Dance by Morgan Weiding, above, was inspiredby heorlist's daughter, BhnyWeisding. left, a 1938 quiH at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. While at hmthe Luis 0-0 Collection. Prix de West winner Gerald Balciar once romantic, this Oklahoma City institution is also steeped in donated Canyon Princuss, opposite, to the museum in 1995. The xulp the real-and historically accurate-blood, sweat, and tears tradi- ture has since become one of its most prized, and popular, pieces.

34 1 OKLAHOMATODAY MAY/JUNE 2004 side: the western-lover who knows episodes of Gunsmoke and Big Vallg,by heart and the sixth-generation rancher who has barbed wire and scuffed saddles in her blood. Board member Linda Mitchell Davis of Cimarron, New Mexico, is such a rancher. Her father, legendary cattleman Albert K Mitch- ell, was the Cowboy Hall of Fame's first vice president, and Davis herself sat in on the first organizational meeting in the mid- 1950s. Long involved with the museum and named to the Hall of Great Westerners with her late husband, Les, in 2000, Davis applauds the museum's more sweeping focus. "These changes have expanded the horizon of the museum and truly incorporated historically what happened in the development of the West," she says. "If you look back through some of the historical references of the cow crews, there were wonderful black cowboys. They quite often weren't in the foreground of the pictures, but ifyou look closely, they're there. If it wasn't for the Spanish, we wouldn't have cattle in America, and you wouldn't have any western settlers to continue on if you didn't have the women."

PPROPRIATELY, THE BEGINNINGS OF THE NATIONAL A&wboy &Western Heritage Museum rested squarely on the shoulders of a romantic city slicker who made his career in a medium beloved by real-life Westerners, denim. Born in Ohio, Chester A. Reynolds spent forty years with the H.D. Lee Company in Kansas City, Missouri, eventually becoming its chairman of the board. In the late 1940s, Reynolds visited the Will Rogers Memorial Mu- seum in Claremore. Impressed, he wondered why there was no hall of fame to honor the thousands of others who helped build the West. Reynolds spent the rest of his life working to create such a place. In the early 1950s, Reynolds started talking to the right people. By 1953, he had invited governors of the seventeen western states and influential cattlemen and rodeo stars to serve on the proposed museum's first board of trustees. That group met for the first time in January 1955, at Albert K. Mitchell's suite at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver. The first order of business: to settle on a name, the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Museum, and hold a competition for the museum's ultimate location. Mitchell was part of the five-member site selection committee. Initially, forty-six western cities indicated interest, a group winnowed down to three: Colorado Springs, Colorado; Dodge City, Kansas; and Oklahoma City. The Sooner State capital's delegation-including- - Governor Ray- mond Gary, former governor and cattleman Roy Turner, publisher E.K. Gaylord, and Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce officers Stanley Draper and Glenn Faris-had already wowed the committee during its tour of the ten semifinalists, offering up limousines, police escorts, flag corps on horseback, bands, and a procession of Oklahoma well-wishers. The Daily Oklahoman described the scene as a "rip-snortin', hoof-stomping, horn-tootin' western welcome." On April 15 and 16,1955, the three finalists battled for the prize inside Denver's Brown Palace Hotel. Davis says, "I vividly remember when they got down to the nitty- gritty of selecting. Oklahoma, being last alphabetically, got up, and Roy Turner pounded his fists on the table and said, 'By God, Albert, it's going to be in Oklahoma City!"' C In the first vote, Oklahoma City received eighteen votes, Dodge OR NEARLY THIRTY YEARS, THE COWBOY HALL OF City eight, and Colorado Springs six. After the low city was dropped, FFame and Museum alternately flourished and foundered. the second ballot sealed the deal: Oklahoma City twenty, Dodge The economic downturns of the 1980s brought financial stresses City eleven. The Cowboy Hall of Fame and Museum indeed came to the museum, resulting in proposals to move the facility out to the end of its trail in Oklahoma City, on a thirty-five-acre ridge of Oklahoma. off Route 66 called Persimmon Hill. True to their nature, Oklahomans dug in and held on. "Okla- The man whose love of the West inspired it all, Chester A. Reyn- homans stepped forward and made the investment to finish it and olds, witnessed the groundbreaking ceremony in 19fiUongwith keep it here," says executive director Charles l? "Chuck" Schroeder. some two thousand spectator+but died late the same year. Six and "Nobody knew this was going to work, but Oklahomans invested a half later, when his museum opened to the public in June in the dream." 1965, the most quintessential ofwestern icons, John Wayne, served Linda Mitchell Davis concurs: "They got money, and they got as parade marshal. On that first day, and the days that followed, busy. Talk about working and helping. It was thanks to the group Reynolds's vision became manifest. in Oklahoma City that the hall ever became a reality." In the years since those uncertain days, the National Cowboy & The museum's most important painting, Albert Bierstadt's Emigrants Crossing th6 Plains, bbove.bpposite: Oklahoma Western Heritage Museum has become a world-class facility with western actor Dale Robertson's pistol and museum founder annual attendance in excess of 200,000 visitors. It is considered Chester A. Reynolds. among the top four or five major western art and heritage facili-

OKLAHOMATODAY .MAY/JUNE 2004 36 1 museum's executive director. Administrative assistant Judy Dear- ing, who came to the museum the same year, says, "We wore a lot of hats in those days," recalling donor lunches conducted around Price's desk. Under Price's direction, the staff rolled up their sleeves and set their sights on growing the museum. In October 1993, President George Bush was on hand as the museum announced a $30 million expansion project, Visions of the West. Price, after initiating the campaign and kick-starting the first construction projects, accepted a position at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, turning over the museum's reins to Oklahoma City banker Ken Townsend in 1997. Under Townsend's watch, the vision continued to take shape. 4- "Ken was able to close the deal, get it paid for, to get people to be- . lieve, to buy the vision," says Don Reeves, +- McCasland Chair of Cowboy Culture. But the museum community was stunned 1 when Townsend died suddenly in August 200 1. His leadership had seen the museum renamed (from Cowboy Hall of Fame and Museum to National Cow- 0 boy &Western Heritage Museum) and accredited by the American Association of Museums, earning it a place among the top 10 percent of museums in the country. Townsend also oversaw the construction and opening of several galleries and the acquisition of key collections. But plenty of unfinished business remained. Enter Chuck Schroeder, a Nebraska calf-roper, rancher, poiiti- cian, fundraiser, and livestock industry CEO. Schroeder's background fits this place like a snug pair of Wran- gler's. A former livestock judge and competitive team roper who uses words like gadmoks, wears horse-patterned novelty neckties, and has pulled on a pair of cowboy boots virtually every day of his adult life, Schroeder says, "I grew up cowboy. I understand the people we memorialize in this place. I've breathed their air. I've smelled their sweat. And I know what that life looks like on I something besides the pages of a book. I also grew up in a family where music and art were important, so to be in a place where ties in the nation, comparable to the Autry National Center in Los world-class art and its creation are central to our mission is an Angeles and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming. extraordinary privilege." In fact, many consider it the finest museum of its kind, period. Now more than two years into his tenure at the National Cow- It's all here, spread out across !gallery after gallery in open, visitor- boy & Western Heritage Museum, Schroeder has seen the last of friendly fashion. Home to three halls of famefor rodeo, western the Visions of the West projects-the Western Performers Gallery, performers, and great westerners-and distin- opened in April 2003--completed. guished by one-of-a-kind collections of rode, The costs of the eleven-year campaign have to- regalia and trophies, archival rodeo photo- taled $42 million. To say it has been money well graphs, contemporary western art, saddlery, spent would be a serious understatement. and everything from Bierstadt to barbed wire, Consider this impressive list: the American Ro- the National Cowboy & Western Heritage deo Gallery, the American Cowboy Gallery, the Museum is blazing new trails of excellence. Joe Grandee Museum of the Frontier West, the The glory days of the present are in large Native American Gallery, the Sam Noble Special part due to the leadership of three men, Events Center, the Grayce B. Kerr Changing Ex- Byron Price, Ken Townsend, and Chuck hibition Gallery, the William S. and Ann Atherton Schroeder. Art of the American West Gallery, the Dub and In 1987, B. Byron Price was named the Mozelle Richardson Theatre, Dining on Persim-

PROFILE 37 Manufactured the Parade Saddl? hatea

,f the Western Perfomers QaUery, is 1 '- rubies -

I stage adapta-

bused One of the most . I by collectors, this n Great Falls, Model NO. 3revolver is on L mon Hill, the Weitzenhoffer Gallery of Fine American Firearms, Prosperity Junction, the Donald C. and Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center, the Children's Cowboy Corral, the Museum Store, the Nona Jean Hulsey Rumsey Art Education Center, the A. Keith Brodkin Contemporary Western Artists Project, the Arthur and Shifra Silberman Gallery of Native American Art, the Western Performers Gallery, the Robert and Grace Eldridge Gallery, the Norma Sutherland Garden, the Jack and Phoebe Cooke Gardens, the Browne Family Great Plains Coca-Cola Pavilion, and the S.B. "Bury Burnett Board Room. Not one existed in its current form before 1993. What was once a 70,000-square-foot facility now commands 220,000 square feet, including a 16,500-square-foot banquet hall. The Sam Noble Special Events Center contains five spectacular Wilson Hurley triptychs, the Windows to the West series. Each three-piece landscape rises eighteen feet in height, commands forty-six feet of wall space, and depicts a distinct sunset scene. Linda Mitchell Davis says, "Standing in the middle of that great big banquet room and looking around is as close to heaven as you can get."

T TAKES MONEY TO KEEP A PLACE LIKETHIS RUNNING, Iapproximately $9 million per year, to be exact. "We run very, very conservatively," Schroeder says of the annual budget, half of which is funded through admissions fees, commissions, facility rentals, and museum store profits, the remainder in the form of private and corporate gifts and grants. "We really do rely on people believing in what we're doing at a very level," he says. Each member of the museum's thirty-nine-person board of di- rectors and eight-person associate board must make a minimum studio setup and a classroom setup, we have a collection students contribution to the museum annually, and though Schroeder pre- can frequent and use as a study collection." fers not to be specific, that number is in the thousands. In early But if Chuck Schroeder's dream comes true, getting from class- 2004, the board represented fifteen states and included twelve room to collection won't be a matter of merely striding down the Oklahomans, including president Edward C. Joullian 111, chair- hallway. Schroeder imagines a freestanding research and education man of Mustang Fuel Corporation in Oklahoma City. center with an estimated price tag of $10 to $15 million, to be "A good board member noses in and fingers out," say Joul- constructed east of the museum below Persimmon Hill. That fa- lian. "With the people we have on the board and the cility would include expanded storage for the professional staff, the main job is trying to museum's vast library, archive, and research stay out of their way to keep from getting 1 d- Iholdings-"one of the world's largest and run over." finest repositories of archival material on the Yes, the staff of about one hundred moves j American West," Schroeder says-now lo- fast, but not so fist they're not interested in cated in the museum's basement. expanding the museum in key areas. The center also would feature large rooms for "I think every museum has an education resruLdbil- classes in painting and sculpting, art history, and art apprecia- ity," Joullian says. "And the cowboy museum is moving toward tion plus an auditorium large enough for seminars and symposia. hlfilling that, educating people about what the West was, what Schroeder hopes to kick off a capital gifts campaign in the next the life of the cowboy was, how the West was settled. It's important year or two. For him, one of the museum's most important roles that we preserve and teach those things to the younger generation is artistic discovery. so they're not lost." "I want all levels of artists to walk into a facility like this pro- Bob Gerling,- director of education, says, "We've -got the art posed research and education center and feel they're at home, that classroom and workshop juxtaposed to a great art collection. this is a place that understands creativity," he says. Instead of ,""iust going to an art school where you have basically a ERALD BALCIAR OF PARKER, COLORADO, UNDER- Philip Russell Goodwin's When Things Are Quiet, above right. This stands the heavy obligation of creativity. In his case, its belt buckle war awarded to Larry Mahan for his third consecutive G World's Grand Champion Cowboy title. legacy tips the scales at more than 18,000 pounds.

PROFILE 39 In 1973, the museum began hosting a contemporary- - western art show and sale, the Prii de West ~nvitational.For two years, 1984 and 1985, the cash prize was $100,000. Wilson Hurley, long a big name in the western art community, commanded the prize in 1984. In 1985, Gerald Balciar, competing- - in his third Prix de West and still fairly early in his art career, won for a marble sculpture of river otters called River Companions. The money, combined with the award's cachet and extensive publicity, kicked Balciar's career up a notch. ''XU of a sudden, people were more aware of the work I was doing," he says. "That hundred grand meant so much. It really set things off for me." In 1990, a 35,000-pound block of marble in Colorado inspired Balciar to entertain the idea of carving a massive piece-for the sheer thrill of it. He opted to create the work on a speculative basis, deciding if need be, he would install it in his backyard. He told the museum's curator of art, Ed Muno, his plans, and Muno said, "We'll take it if you don't have a place for it." When Byron Price called a few days later to seal the deal, what Balciar originally intended as a large-scale ex- precisely to fit the space it occupies, is twice ercise in creative freedom had quickly turned life-size and weighs more than nine tons. into a donation. "That's the best piece of work I've ever done," Soon that 35,000-pound block wasn't large Balciar says. enough for Balciar's big plans. He considered Meanwhile, the Prix de West Invitational a 54,000-pounder, but it didn't pass muster, that jumpstarted Balciar's career and is in part either. Eventually, he located a 64,000-pound responsible for what has become one of the block of Yule marble he thought would work. museum's signature pieces continues to grow. It took Balciar a full year to excavate the piece from the quarry, With each passing year, the show has gained prestige and attracted within which resided Canyon Princess, the royal cougar who, since a greater cadre of talented artists, each of whom vies for the grand her installation in 1995, has parded the west wing of the National prize of the competition-five thousand dollars, purchase of the Cowboy &Western Heritage Museum. piece at the artist's asking price, and a place in the museum's es- At fikeen feet in vertical length, the finished sculpture, shaped teemed permanent collection. "It's probably one of the biggest contemporary shows in the Prosperity Junction, left, is a replica of a cattle town at the turn of country. This year, most likely it'll be close to 325 pieces," says cu- the century. Above, John Wayne tours the museum's construction with executive vice president Glenn Faris. Right, Frederic Remington's rator Ed Muno, whose tenure with the museum stretches to 1969. bronze sculpture The Buffalo Signal and Charles M. Russell's 1916 That's more than one hundred artists submitting up to five pieces work Redman's WireIess, below. (former winners are allowed five pieces, all others, four). Every piece in the show is for sale; prices start at about a thousand dollars and can reach $175,000. The museum takes a 25 percent commission, and Muno guesses proceeds will exceed $2 million, as they have the past four years. "When Ed Muno does his magic and hangs that show, walking into that environment absolutely takes my breath away,". says. Schroeder, "and I am reminded that the soul of this museum is in the art."

ERALD BALCIAR WILL PARTICIPATE IN Gthe 2004 Prix de West Invitational. He'll be submitting five pieces, four bronzes and a large marble. In light of the world of changes at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Center during the past eleven years, it seems fit- ting that his central piece, a 1,600-pound marble of a bison bull, cow, and c& will be called A New Beginning. Today, the reconceived, rejuvenated mu- 1r a seum is, like a rancher with a new pair of - L Luccheses, getting used to the changes the last eleven years have brought-bigger, better collections and facilities, a broader, more inclusive focus. Every week brings another piece or two, ideas for a future exhibit, fresh conversations between security officers-dressed for the West, in pressed white cowboy shirts, black jeans, boots, and a badge-and visitors. As the days pass, that romantic cowboy of the past more meaningfdly coexists with everything new and growing here: an increasing number of women Prix de West artists, expanding archives, facilities as yet only dreamed about. In this place, there's room for everyone around the campfire. m!

I The 2004 Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition and Sale is June I I to September 12. The National Cowboy &Western Heritage Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5p. m. daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Ear? Day. 1700 Northeast Sixty-third Street in Oklahoma City, (405) 478-2250;nationalcowboymzlseum.org.

PROFILE I 41 eighteen mileP sc of Stilwell, is in the heart Cherokee country?For Wi Mankiller,the fjrst femalr principal chief of the Cheroke, Nation, the &ion offereh a treasure trove of naturP I

.*, <' . ' By WILMA MANKILLER

HERE WAS ATIME WHEN CHEROKEE PEOPLE HELD an annual cycle of ceremonies to mark the passing of each season and to help us remember our responsibility to ourselves, to others, and to the land. Some of the ceremonies, including the Green Corn Ceremony, have survived into the twenty-first century. ITAlthough- not all of our ceremonies are intact, Cherokee culture remains strong, and dozens of distinctly Cherokee communities thrive throughout the Cherokee Nation. I have been privileged to live in such a community most of my life. If I had not spent my first ten years in rural Adair County, I would not have been prepared for the extraordinary experiences the Creator sent my way. My early childhood in Mankiller Flats shaped the way I view the world. In that isolated, predominantly Cherokee community, I learned a lot about reciprocity by observ- ing how my parents, Charley and Irene Mankiller, my siblings, extended family, and neighbors depended on one another for support and survival. Everyone helped one another, sometimes trading eggs for milk or farm goods for store-bought goods. In those days, people were not as hurried as they are today. Visitors sometimes stayed well into the night or until the next day. While the adults played cards or talked, we children played games like hide and seek, kick the can, or marbles. Occasionally, we held a contest to see who could ring the most wall nails with the rubber rings from Mason jars. We also made up new games. The natural world was our playground, and we used our imaginations to invent interesting things to do. During the day, we spent very little time in the small, wood frame house built by my father-our work and play

Family and friends frequently visit Mankiller Flats, Wilma Mankiller's family home. Clockwise from top left: Granddaughter Cheyenne Soap with family dog Wokhe, husband Charlie Soap hunts in the snow, a grazing fawn, a potirait of Wilma Mankiller taken by Soap, Johnson Soap-Charlie Soap's brothelcat a family dinner, and aranddauahters Breanna Olaya and Cynthia Soap. 'IT ALWAYS STARTLES ME WHEN PEOPLE DESCRIBE My was mostly outside. Time was defined by the natural rhythms of stories about Cherokee Little People who, it was said, could be the land. We could tell time by the sun with great accuracy, and heard speaking Cherokee or singing near freshwater springs and we marked the seasons not by a calendar but by when certain creeks. Most of the stories taught a valuable lesson about life. crops were ripe or foods were gathered. I still can recall the ex- It always startles me when people describe my childhood as , citement of finding a promising chinquapin tree and the unique one of hardscrabble poverty. That is not how it seemed to me. flavor of its nuts. Economic poverty is a financial situation, not a state of mind During my early childhood, my family had little access to the or state of being. Everyone in our community, Cherokee and I world outside our community. There was no paved road near our non-Cherokee, was at about the same income level. We made house. We had no indoor plumbing, electricity, or even a well. do with what we had and found moments of joy in nature, our My siblings and I gathered water for household use from a cold families, and our community. mountain spring we shared with bobcats, mountain lions, wild Our economic situation, however, did precipitate my parents' pigs, and an occasional deer. With a watchful eye for snakes, we decision to sign our family up for the Bureau of Indian Affairs turned over rocks, looking for crawdads in the icy water. The Relocation program, taking us from Stilwell to San Francisco in banks of the spring were covered with a prohsion of watercress the fall of 1957.When we gathered at the Stilwell train depot to and fragrant mint. God surely created the spring with an abun- prepare for our journey to the West Coast, we had no idea what dance of love. It is protected on the east and west sides by steep to expect. Until then, the farthest we had been from home was hills dotted with oak, hickory, locust, and walnut trees. It is my to the Muskogee State Fair. favorite place to pray. My family eventually adjusted to San Francisco, and my par- When my family was not working, we passed the time by playing ents made a life for us there. In the nearly two decades I lived 1 board games or cards. We listened to stories about owls bearing there, I grew to adulthood, married, and had two daughters, 1 bad news or outlaws like Pretty Boy Floyd burying treasures nearby Felicia and Gina. There were a lot of things I liked about San and arranging for them to be guarded by rattlesnakes. We heard Francisco-Herb Caen's columns in the San Francisco Chronicle,

44 / OKLAHOMATODAY .MAY/JUNE 2004 sourdough bread, the ocean, live theater, the distinct neighbor- Two generations of Mankillers before me and two generations hoods, the wonderful mix of people. But it was never home, after me have now lived with our land at Mankiller Flats. We and I knew someday I would return to Mankiller Flats. When are all linked by our love for-and relationship with-this land. my father died of complications related to kidney failure in San Each fall, the maple leads the other trees in a spectacular display Francisco and we brought him back to Oklahoma, I began to of color just before the cleaning rains come to wash the leaves to think of coming home. That was 1971. the ground in a continual cycle of renewal. And in the spring, Five years later, in the summer of 1976, Felicia, Gina, and the bright, cheerful daffodils push their way through the soil to I left California with no real sense of what was ahead of us. I proudly signal the beginning of a brand-new season. didn't really know what I would do in Oklahoma. I just knew When people ask me why I continue to live here, I always tell it was time to go home. One of the first things we did was visit them about the time-now more than twenty-five years ago-I my old home place at Mankiller Flats. My childhood home had went to the Stilwell Courthouse to get a legaldescription of our completely burned down, and what was once our yard and garland so I could apply for an FHA loan to build my house. As I den was now thick with trees, foliage, and underbrush. But the walked across the courthouse lawn, I passed two elderly Cherokee memories were so strong, and I could still clearly see my home. men sitting on a bench. I overheard one say to the other, "That's Standing there with my girls, I was grateful to my father for John Mankiller's gandda~~hter."The anonymity of living in San rejecting offers to sell the land, even during the very lean times Francisco was gone forever. At last, I was home. mP our family faced in San Francisco. The land had been allotted to my grandfather, John (Yona) Top row: Caleb and Cheyenne Soap, Mankiller (bottom right) and Mankiller, and passed down to my father and his sister Sally. The siblings in 1949, a gathering place during winter, Gloria Steinem with Mankiller, a cardinal in winter, and Caleb and Cheyenne allotments were made during that dark time when commonly Soap. Bottom row: Caleb Soap with Mankiller, Mankiller's daugh- held Cherokee land was divided into individual allotments of ters Felicia Wing and Gina Olaya teach her to use the computer, 160 acres, and Indian Territory was dissolved. Mankiller's house, and Mankiller with Gina in 1997.

MEMOIR 45

ITTSBURG COUNTY: IN THE CHRONICLES OF OKLAHOMA CULTURAL HISTORY, THIS COUNTY MAY say more about our state than any other. Just a hundred years ago, no less than nine languages could be heard on any given day amid its bustling streets and towns, specifically McAlester and Krebs. Today, the state of Oklahoma has an ethnic mix unlike any other. From Irish Choctaw to Greek Lebanese, this kaleidoscope built cities and towns, museums and hospitals, colleges and cathedrals, and passed benchmark laws dictating how we live, vote, and work. Most significantly, our pioneer emigrts jc B arrived with empty pockets and a wealth of ambition and can be credited for our ever-changing and rich complexion.

The First: Big Bow, Bread, Bushyhead, Codopony schools and newspapers, and their inhabitants raised cattle he Wichita were here first, no doubt about it. Hundreds and horses and tilled the timbered ground into large-scale Tof years ago, their firms and villages dotted the Arkansas, cotton and corn operations. Cotton gins, sawmills, and other Canadian, Washita, and Red River banks and acted as trading Native American businesses evolved into commercial trading points for French trappers. Plains Apache and Comanche camped centers at Tahlequah, North ForkTown, Doaksville, Pontotoc, and hunted in the Wichita Mountains region in the 1700s. and along all major rivers. At the same time, Osage villages appeared along the Ver- Tribal capitals at Tahlequah, Durant, Ada, Wewoka, and digris River between Fort Gibson and Claremore. White Okmulgee mark concentrations of settlement, but for the big encroachment pushed Cheyenne-Arapaho and Kiowa into picture, open a map. Tulsa, Ponca City, Pawnee, Wyandotte, western Oklahoma between 1790 and 1820. Quapaw-literally hundreds of Oklahoma towns and coun- Post-Civil War Indian relocations forced members of these ties originate with a Native American tribe. tribes and others onto permanent reservations. In western ~ccordin~to the Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission, Oklahoma, federal Indian agencies-established to "Angli- in 2002, more than 590,000 Oklahomans claimed Native cize" Native Americans-appeared in Anadarko and near Fort American tribal enrollment. Even more impressive are Tulsa Sill, Fort Reno, and Cantonment military posts. Forced to and Oklahoma City's numbers in a nation2 context: In the abandon hunting grounds and take up farming, some tribal 2000 census, the cities ranked second and third, respectively, members gravitated to these locations seeking work. for the highest percentage of American Indians. With the exception of the Osage in Pawhuska, the first residents of Oklahoma today have tribal headquarters in many Up from Slavery: Bruner, Cudioe, Downing, Jones western Oklahoma towns, including Anadarko, Carnegie, Many of Oklahoma's original African American communi- and Lawton. Still, according to the 2000 census, eastern ties-Rentiesville, Red Bird, Langston, and Tanuns, among Oklahoma's Cherokee, Muskogee, and Adair counties claim them-olved afier the Civil War and once territory lands the largest Native American populations after Oklahoma and opened to settlement. Exact numbers are iffy, but some his- Tulsa counties. torians estimate that 7,000 blacks lived in Indian Territory in the 1860s. Most arrived in servitude, forced to relocate in Way Down Yonder: Harjo, Maytubby, Swimmer, Tiger the 1830s with slave-owning tribes. Five? Try sixty-five-that's the sum total of all Native Civil War peace negotiations between the United States American tribes and constitutional republics forced to re- and the Five Civilized Tribes in 1866 dictated that blacks locate in Oklahoma before statehood. Twenty landed in the receive full tribal membership-and land. Black freedmen eastern half of what was Indian Territory, including some communities blossomed around these forty- to sixty-acre al- 60,000 Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and lotments, and vast numbers of black settlers poured in, many Muscogee (Creek). from Southern states. Their meteoric migration stamped the region with our most "A final wave of black migration occurred during all historic communities-Tahlequah, Tishomingo, Muskogee, the land runs, and as a result, many all-black towns were Tuskahoma, Tdahassee, and Tecumseh, among others. founded," says Currie Ballard, historian at Langston Uni- These Indian communities established Oklahoma's first versity. "Basically, blacks wanted to establish towns where they could govern themselves." The Muscogee (Creek) Indians were forced to relocate to In- dian Territory in the 1830s. These Muscogee (Creek) women, Oklahoma's first deputy territorial auditor Edward Mc- opposite, grind corn. Inset, Livery drivers in the Irish town of Cabe, founder of the town of Langston and the Langston Shamrock during the oil boom in 1914. Herald, joined in the Run of 1889, lured by the opportunity for free land. McCabe and others placed ads in newspapers By 1900, the 5,000 English, Irish, Scots, and Welsh in the throughout the South, encouraging blacks to relocate in twin territories outnumbered all other foreign-born immi- the territory. A tight-knit black social network swayed grants, more than seven hundred making the Run of 1889. even more. Pioneer mayor of Coalgate and later, McAlester, Scots-born "In some cases, entire black church congregations just upped Pete Hanraty, like many of his countrymen, fought long and and moved here," says Ballard. By 1900 the twin territories hard for improved labor conditions for miners. His leadership counted approximately 55,000 black residents. Ten years later, at the helm of United Mine Workers and later the Twin Ter- that number swelled to 137,612. ritories Federation of Labor landed bedrock labor provisions All told, Oklahoma's early blacks established more than fifty in the Oklahoma constitution. black towns, more than in the rest of the states combined. While the Depression pulled the plug on many of these rural South of the Border: Alvarado, Guerrero, Lopez burgs, black migration to Oklahoma City andTulsa eventually For sheer numbers and historic impacto, Mexico represents brought blackleaders-including Roscoe Dunjee, Clara Luper, *he homeland for most of Oklahoma's Hispanics.To track and Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher-to the forefront of the the Mexican settlement patterns, you have to nation's civil rights movement. ride the rails. "Until the Depression and even after, the Island Ode: Hurley, McGuinness, Moran railroads dictated the distribution of Mexicans Opportunity brought Celtic brogue and Brit- in Oklahoma," writes Michael Smith in The ish parlance to all seventy-seven Oklahoma coun- economy Mexicans in Oklahoma. ties-miners, priests, wildcatters, homesteaders, Tracks laid to Pittsburg County opened and railroad laborers among the hordes. that region to mining in the 1870s, funneling Father Michael Smythe of the Emerald Isle s tampede Mexican settlers into Hartshorne, Wilburton, founded the state's first Catholic Church, Saint ; McAlester, Coalgate, and Lehigh. After state- Patrick's Catholic Church, inAtoka in 1872. Wild- hood, stricter European immigration laws and catter Robert Galbreath tapped the 1905 Glenpool the state's virgin economy fueled a stampede &om gusher, and second-generation Irishman William the south. Railroad companies, faced with labor G. Skelly shifted the headquarters of Skelly Oil shortages, charged to the Texas-Mexico border to Company from Kansas to Tulsa in 1919. recruit workers, offering jobs and crude on-site housing. Earlier Isle arrivals intermarried with tribes in Indian By 1910, Oklahoma was home to more than 2,000 Mexi- Territory, gaining tribal membership and rights to rich cans. Enclaves in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Sand Springs, and natural resources, but the first notable batch set foot in Guymon rose near the railways. Ten years later, the Mexican the 1870s, recruited from the mines of Pennsylvania to populace increased a whopping 250 percent, kindling an of- southeastern Oklahoma. ficial Mexican consulate in Oklahoma City that remained "Some skilled British industrial workers-coal miners, hard- until the 1960s. rock Cornish miners, Welsh iron workers-traveled along fixed In the years before the Depression, Mexicans chased routes to jobs in all areas of the United States," writes Patrick work-and found it-in the mining, rail, agriculture, and Blessing in The British andIrish in Okhhoma. "Coal miners in oil industries. Many stayed put and started small businesses this stream frequently ended up in the Indian Territory." of their own, particularly in Oklahoma City. Thanks to these

OKLAHOMATODAY .MAY/JUNE 2004 48 I trailblazers, the Latino contingent remains strong across the trumpet a Sooner Bohemian brotherhood that tracks the land metro areas and Panhandle. runs of 1889,1891, and 1893. These events brought hundreds Spanish-language newspapers, radio stations, and fiestas of Czech pioneers to Oklahoma. pump up pride among the state's nearly 175,000 Latinos, Most arrived from other farm states-Nebraska, Kansas, which now includes families with origins in Cuba, Puerto Iowa, and Texas-to homestead in Oklahoma, principally in Rico, Guatemala, and all points south. Canadian, Oklahoma, Kingfisher, Garfield, Grant, Lincoln, and Noble counties. The Polonoskis: Jorski, Klimkoski, Steciak "Nearly three-fourths of the Czechs who settled Oklahoma Rich veins of ore, a quest for farmland, Oklahoma's Forty- were the American-born offspring of immigrant parents," writes fifth Infantry Division, and the Catholic Church are all in- Karel Bicha in The Czechs in Okkzhoma. gredients in the Polish culture that flavors Oklahoma today. Home of the first of twelve Oklahoma Czech fraternal lodges, The first Poles arrived in 1876 to labor in Indian Territory Prague's ZCBJ Lodge (Zapadni Cesko-BratnkaJednota or West- coal mines. Family and friends soon followed, and Polish- ern Bohemian Fraternal Association) served as the Bohemian speaking neighborhoods sprouted in Hartshorne, Alderson, hub for town meetings, polka bands, weddings, and funerals. Krebs, and McAlester. More than anything, Czechs farmed-very successfully. By 1911, some eight hundred first- and second-generation "There was a relationship between Czech peasant culture Poles had settled here. Still more poured in from Oklahoma's and agriculturewhich was evident on the plains of Oklahoma," neighboring northern states to work the booming tri-state writes Bicha. Their "waste not, want not" approach put to good zinc- and lead-mining district. Hundreds landed in Bartles- use every acre of land, every crop grown and animal raised. Such ville, lured by recruiters from the zinc smelters. wise farming practices pulled many Czech farmers through the Harrah is considered Oklahoma's definitive Polish town. Depression when other farms failed. Ten Polish families rumbled in on wagons to homestead here If not farming, these immigrants-like John Kroutil of after the opening of land in 1891. Seven years later, they Yukon-owned farm-related businesses. An 1890 settler, established Oklahoma's only Polish-Catholic Church, Saint Kroutil turned his tidy flour milling operation into a common Teresa's of Avila, and Polish names still dangle from shingles household name, Yukon's Best. Today, a sign on the outskirts along Harrah streets. of Yukon proudly declares it "Oklahoma's Czech Capital." The destruction wrought by World War I1 and subse- quent Communist control of Poland initiated a final wave German Triumph: Hufnagel, Rother, Von Tongeln of Polish immigration. Freedom fighter and later Oklahoma Whole grains, pastries, muffins, and cereal-thank the Ger- Supreme Court Justice Marian Opala arrived in 1949 from man immigrants (and their counterparts from Russia) for till- Lodz, Poland. At the same time, scores of Polish Catholic ing Great Plains soil into the "breadbasket of the world." priests-the majority liberated from the Dachau concentra- Oklahoma's harvest LDeutsche proved one of the last stops tion camp by Oklahoma's Forty-fifth Infintry Division as well as Auschwitz-assembled to found thrivingparishes, notably From left: Pete Prichard and his son, Bill, prepare spaghetti Saint Anne's in Broken Arrow. at Pete's Place in Krebs; George Levite in his Apache store in 1964; a McCurtain County sawmill where many Scottish immigrants once worked: John Novak and Irene Beieck's Bohemian Brotherhood: Milacek, Walta, Yager wedding portrait from 1920, in Yukon; German settlers at a Yukon's Czech Festival and the Prague Kolache Festival bank in 1920.

CULTURE 49 definitive showing of Oklahoma's culturd mosaic wdd African hdc~n.t,i : 0 One dthirteenremdnhg black towns Pinever be depicted in one sweep. In fact, dozens of map and histories are required to tell this complex and richly layered story. () African American

With broad strokes, Okhhoma Today pinpoints the communities Asian and areas where immigrant groups tended to settle. At once his- Chinese, Koran, Viemarnese, Thai, 01Laotian toric and contemporary, the settlementpatterns ofyesteryear reveal European Amish 0Jewish Italian Polish today's culturalpanorama, and while far from comprehensive,many a Oklahomans will find a fragment of their origins herein. German and Germans fiom Russia

I OKLAHOMATODAY MAY/JUNE 2004 W, %&an, and Moravim I 7 e

J 8 ts, Irish, Welsh, and British settlementarea .. :::::: Italian, Pole, Greek, and French settlementarea Native American a1889 bgupdaSCQf Qwmaand Indian Territories 1' Germans and Germans from Russia settlementarea ,T tWu+ One of thirty-Line Native American tribal headquarters Latino located in Oklahoma, including the Cherokee Nation, Mexican, Cuban, Guatemalan, Puerto Rican, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and other Latin American and Sac & Fox Nation.

CULTURE 51 in the massive German migration. Drawn by the flat terrain, Gusto!: Lalli, Lovera, Rossi, Silva familiar climate, and a shot at free land, thousands of German Call it a twist of irony. With the highest percentage of foreign- settlers clamored to Oklahoma from northeast and central Plains born immigrants, the cavernous coal mines of Pittsburg, Coal, states between 1880 and 1910. At one point, the farming com- and Latimer counties ranked as Oklahoma's prestatehood cos- munities of Blaine, Canadian, Garfield, Grant, Kay, Kingfisher, mopolitan epicenter. At the top of this chart sat the Italians. Logan, Major, Noble, and Oklahoma counties claimed more By the 1910 census, more than eighty percent of Oklahoma's than 45 percent of Oklahoma's German population. 2,640 Italians sank roots in the southeast region, primarily in Generally speaking, Germans settled in the western Krebs, McAlester, Wilburton, the Coalgate-Lehigh area, and two-thirds of the state, the majority in rural areas, where Henryetta. Predominantly from the southern Italian provinces they founded Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, and Methodist of Molise and Sicily, the Italianos formed the densest ethnic churches, farmed, and set up sundry businesses-blacksmith congregation in the state. shops, lumberyards, drugstores, and watch shops. At one point, Scores of Italian-owned bakeries, groceries, meat markets, sixteen German newspapers published in Oklahoma and many and restaurants popped up, catering to the swelling com- churches conducted services in the native tongue, some into the munity. At least one McAlester bank boasted of an official 1940s. In the Deutsche stronghold- of Okarch-where Okla- Italian-speaking department. homa's oldest bar, Eischen's, continues to serve its famous fried Pietro Piegari began serving Old World food from his Krebs chicken-savvy real estate companies hired German-speaking home in 1925. Before discovering his culinary acumen, Pie- agents to handle the influx. Even the local high school held gari worked in the mines, where he changed his name to the bilingual graduation ceremonies. Anglicized-and easier to pronounce-Pete Prichard. Today, The same fertile realm beckoned first-generation German Pete's Place still lays out heaping plates of meatballs, spaghetti, Joseph Danne Jr., who developed the hard red wheat called and ravioli in the spirit0 of its founding father. 'Early Triumph'. By the mid-1950s, his variant produced more than forty percent of the wheat grown in the United States. A Promising Land: Fleischaker, Orbach, Singer More than any other immigrant group, the Jews understood Below, clockwise from left: Mexican American Frank V. Zamu- cultural isolation. "Because there were fewer numbers of Jew- dio with his tamale cart, in Ada; the Goose family of the Chey- enne Nation stands in front of their tepee and windbreaker in ish pioneers, Jews usually settled in areas where there were few Dewey County; the Boley Town Council, circa 1910. other Jewish families," says Rodger Harris, world historian

I OKLAHOMATODAY .MAY/JUNE 2004 for the Oklahorna Historical Society. "This was very typical book still rings with German names, all tracing their roots of their immigrant experience here." to these hardy groundbreakers. Many Jews arrived in the United States from various Eastern European countries; others hailed from Russia and the Middle The Persian Path: Khoury, Massad, Naifeh, Zuhdi East. Most arrived with their families and migrated to neighbor- One village in Syria, Marj' uyun, supplied the major-domo of ing states before spotting opportunity in Oklahoma. the Syrian-Lebanesecontingent in Oklahoma. Sprouting from "Those who came from Russia and Eastern Europe fled to the the ensemble were shopkeepers, grocers, and farmer-ranchers. United States for political reasons and to escape discrimination," Many, such as Alexi Bayrouth of Krebs, kicked off successful says Harris. "They also sought economic opportunity." Oklahoma enterprises peddling goods in and around growing By 1890, one hundred Jewish immigrants lived here, more towns. When brick and mortar replaced the peddling cart, these than half in Ardmore, where Max Westheimer and Sam entrepreneurs siphoned off portions of their initial enterprises Daube established the Westheimer & Daube General Store to fellow brethren who developed shops nearby. and became successful cattle ranchers. The Run of 1889 drew In the 1890s and early 1900s, Syrian-Lebanese clusters ap- more Jewish settlers, and in ten years the Jewish popula*;nn peared in Pittsburg, Greer, Grant, and Woods counties; some climbed tenfold. hoped to farm, others launched businesses. When "Jews went where they thought the future oil towns gushed onto the Sooner map in the early would be. Early on, this was Muskogee, Guthrie, 1900s, many Lebanese dispersed across the state, and Ardmore; then the future was determined by setting up barbershops, dry goods stores, and Oklahoma City andTulsa," says Rabbi David Pack- other ventures. A number moved to Oklahoma man of Temple B'nai Israel in Oklahoma City. City and Tulsa. The oil boom drew scores of Jewish geologists, Today, Syrian and Lebanese names stand out lawyers, and engineers to the Oil Capital of the among Oklahoma's prominent doctors, lawyers, World, establishing Tulsa as a crux of early Jew- real estate developers, politicians, businessmen, ish settlement. and civic leaders. The landmark Superior Feed Philanthropy afforded a lasting legacy for Mills began as a Lebanese family grocery and feed many early Jews, and today dozens are recog- store in Oklahoma City and blossomed into a nized as leading community builders. Zarrow, multimillion dollar corporation, guided by B.D. Schusterman, Goldman, Neustadt-all are familiar names in "Babe" Eddie of Marj'uyun. family foundation circles. George Kaiser, one of Oklahoma's Of the same village, Dr. Michael Shadid founded one ofAmer- few billionaires, is regularly named by Forbes one of the most ids earliest managed care hospital systems in Elk City in 1929. generous Americans alive. Shadid peddled his way through medical school selling jewelry and trinkets before launching his Elk City medical practice. The Faith Migration: Bierig, Jantzen, Just, Ressler Some say as late as 1970, German was spoken along the Empire in the Sun: Le, Ngo, Nguyen, Ong streets of Hooker. The same might be said of Shattuck, Fairview, Planes and boats-not wagons-carried Asians to Okla- Corn, Meno, and Bessie, just a few of the isolated mooring homa. With the trademark spirit of all Oklahoma immigrants, points for the Germans fiom Russia. Among the trailblazers Asians arrived with little and contributed much. A sally down in western Oklahoma were Mennonites, Lutherans, Conge- Oklahoma City's Northwest Twenty-third Street-an axis of gational Baptists, and Seventh-day Adventists whose ancestors Thai bakeries, Vietnamese restaurants, groceries, medical left Germany in the late 1700s to escape religious intolerance, practices, and legal and accounting firms-is proof plenty of overpopulation, and war to colonize along the isolated banks the Asian impact here. of Russia? Volga River. While a hanW of Chinese and Japanese are counted among With their distinct dialect, conservative fiith, and fierce firm- twin territory settlers in 1907, the singular Asian superflux oc- ing ethic, the Germans fiom Russia settled in flocks throughout curred post-1 975. With the fdof Saigon, more than 100,000 the Great Plains in the 1870s. The majority moved here from Vietnamese evacuated their homeland by air or boat; the major- Marion, Harvey, and McPherson counties in Kansas, others ity packed and fled in a few frantic hours. A year later, three from Nebraska. The first sank posts in the 1890s near estab- percent of those seeking refuge resettled here, most in Okla- lished Mennonite missions at Corn, Post Oak, and Canton. homa City, sponsored by Catholic charities and the Oklahoma Other flocks homesteaded near the hamlet of Meno, named for City-based Vietnamese American Association. the founder of the Mennonite fiith, Menno Simons. Today, more than 45,000 Asian Americans call Oklahoma Shattuck and areas farther west, Hooker, Balko, and Tur- home: Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, pin, saw their first Germans in the early 1900s. The latter Laotian, Thai, and Malaysian, to name a few. Most live in towns developed as the Rock Island Railroad laid track Oklahoma City andTulsa, where Asian language, cuisine, adept from Liberal, Kansas, to Texas. In Shattuck-the most entrepreneurial skills, and fiery Asian New Year celebrations concentrated enclave of Germans from Russia-the phone pack primo punch. m'B c :EATPLAINS COUNTRY e For more information, contact us at www.....--. -..-a~a.,. GRERT PLAINS COUNTRl I-006-GPC-OKLA www.greatplainscountry.com - rPI m

ELK CITY HOLIDOME complete with: 151 Rooms Meeting Space for 300 Erce Local calls Free In-Room Coffee Inda Swimming Pool WEpool Steam Room Sauna Eimess Room Game Roam Shaeboani 9-HoleMiniature Golf Coutsc Ping-Pong Payzone Club GazeboRestaurant 1 Mik from Elk City Golf & Country Club Toll Pree lkemations: l-s3OQHO~A9 L -. 1-40 &Hwy. 6 Mi@my hflitpt.@dSpecialtyShopphg Elk City, OK 73644 (580) 225-6637 I - SpegiiPFa &geotion concerts Bob and Aana WekmM TO%!

What a GREAT

Cinco de Mayo Festival, Altus May 5 Weatherford Area Horse Show May 26 Anadarko World Celebration June 4-5 Boll Weevil Bash, Blair June 11 Ryan Annual Rodeo June 19-20 "Lend Me A Tenor,"Clinton June 24-28 Founders Day, Duncan June 26 Royal Vista ttfhwest in Purcel~, ~bryotransfers Iduced nearly 500 .? 'I ' : R1 1,. rn 8 I : 11 18 -JL ' +.)#r ,,;, ' ,::q , I,,. .;;(,*f., 'r,-:" 8 . riebubr Sepricd card story 1 ~ " ~ ~ ~ d ~'iq p o s ~ r ~

IS , u 2 arc/ebw+&.lnllp"dvih 'Ljij ' Want to k1n.-.. mor~&+ut our adrert'irsrr~1 thb~rsrs~wtklaormmore,L,:~-; I abovt. I I 1 1 1 . It's irr easy as 1-2-3 . *-' 30 epo~&/b~~)o.L I. I rr 8 r i,, <, ' > -v2,,:,-b,.,,- ..., qLfi .&v;L&!, .;;~,~;i;:A*%lk.i-: .:&g>z$~i-, I.& 1-7 . ,Is II _ . . L;. d

1 BBQ & Blues Festival, Cushing (page 63) Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce

2 Bartlesville Convention & Visitors (inside front cover)

Bureau (page 24) The Mandala Center (page 23)

3 Best Western Inn of the Ozarks (page 25) MarVal Resort (page 58)

4 Central State Massage Academy (page 1 9) Mid America Industrial Park (page 5)

5 Cherokee Heritage Center (page 581 Nancy's Place (page I 9)

6 Cimarron Steak House (page 19) National Cowboy & Western Heritage

7 Crystal Bay Marina (page 58) Museum & Store (page 19 & 62)

8 Discover Oklahoma (back cover) Norman CVB (page 63)

9 Duncan Convention & Tourism (page 54) Oklahoma City National Memorial (page 62)

10 Edmond Convention & Visitors Oklahoma Parks, Resorts, & Golf (page 1)

Bureau (page 23) Pawnee Bath House (page 58)

1 1 Elk City Holiday Inn (page 54) Pawnee Bill Wild West Show (page 581

12 Emu Only Store (page 19) Pete's Place Restaurant (page 20)

13 The Five Civilized Tribes Museum The Philbrook Museum of Art (page 25)

(page 58) Price Tower Arts Center (page 59) 14 Frontier Country Marketing Red Carpet Country Association

Association (page 62) (page 63)

15 Great Plains Country Association (page 54) Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Art

1 6 Green Country Marketing (page 63)

Association (pages 58 & 59) Stillwater CVB (page 62)

17 Guthrie Jazz Banjo Festival (page 63) Tahlequah Chamber of Commerce (page 59)

18 Indian Arts & Crafts Board (page 20) Tenkiller Property.com, LLC (page 19) 19 Jasmine Moran Children's Museum Time Lines Charter Service

(page 62) (inside back cover)

20 Larsen Gallery & Studio (page 7) The Villas at Shangri-La (page 16) "This is cowboy country."-Frank Merrill of Windward Stud, in The Oklahoman

HOTEL LOVE *.I .r.* *U.lill I*" I"" NATIONAL REGISTER NIGHTTIME, RIGHT TIME Too much to see, too little time? Sleep over in the historic Hotel Love Bed & Breakfast Suite (4051527-9592;$75). Its one suite, refurbished in 1999, features a private entrance, bedroom, dressing room, sitting room, and bathroom. No telephone or television means you'll really have an opportunity to relax. For less than $50 per person, doze off at Purcell's Econo Lodge (4051527-5603;

527-5577). Y r Food Stuff Glory Days Wash up and come hungry. Purcell dishes Catch a fast train to Purce for up a variety of acclaimed, locally owned exciting spring happenings. The restaurants. Located inside Auntie Mae's Headand Flyer breezes Antiques and Collectibles,Janet's Eats & through town daily (800/USA-RAIL; Sweets (4051527-8551)serves homemade heartlandflyer.com). By rail or car, bread, quiche, and desserts. Janet Renteria make tracks June 10 to 15 and isre1uctanttoealerreciesbutsese A Horse, of Course experience Purcell's Chautauqua, mixes ofher popular potato and tortilla soups. In the fifties, oil man A.B. Green began a weeklong celebration of the Customers drive fromTexas andTulsa for Jo's raising racing quarter horses outside Purcell. Lewis and Clark expedition, where Famous Ph(4051527-2379),where the His success attracted other horsemen to the scholars will bring William Clark, ombo is a local Eavorite. Or fill area, and today Purcell is home to dozens of his guide Sacagawea, and other lip on ribs and brisket with equine businesses. At RoyaViiSouth- historical figures to life. On June the horse crowd at Vds west (4051527-0767; royalvistaequine.com), 12, the Chautauqua Parade and Smokehouse Bar-B-Que an assisted equine reproduction facility, visi- Main Street June Fest, featuring (4051527-5885). tors can spot foals and watch embryo transfer arafts, food, and games, should put procedures. Several horse ranches, including , you in a festive mood. Contact the SpearcrossLand and Livestock (4051550- ' Purcell Chamber (405/527-3093; 5655) andWmdward Stud (4051527-3787; , purcellchamber.com) for information. windwardstud.com), also offer tours. GREEN COUN. .tY For more information, contact us at 1-800-922-2118 www.greencountryok.L,com

Bail & Tackle I&- 0 -* . . IVC Civilized Tribes Museurn 1 Muskogee, OK nr,I 3-4 Indian Market Art Under the Oaks Art Show -8 Celebrating Chickasaw Traditions II - May 24-29 Celebrating Seminole Traditions ::&Juryy-i2 Celebrating Choctaw Traditions :'.&&26-~u1~y Annual wpefibive Art Show

-- beam EVENTSGUIDE A Guide to Activities and Events Statewide

Simmons Center 800 Chisholm Trail Parkway. PrivateLies May 2 1-22, 27-29, Gaslight Theatre. BARTLESVILLE May 1, Chisholm Trail Stampede Rodeo Dance (580) 234-2307 Community Center Adams Blvd & Cherokee Featuringthe Red Dirt Rangers. May 1, Stampede Jazz on the MainJune 5, Garfield County Court- Ave. May 1-2, Annie Get Your Gun. May 6, 5K Walk/Run. (800) 782-7167 house Lawn. (580) 234-1052 The Singing Churchmen of Oklahoma. May 15, Duncan Historical Home Tours June 26, The Merchant of VeniceJune25-27, Government Beachfront. May 16, U.S. Air Force Band. May Citywide. (580) 252-0717 Springs Park. (580) 234-2307 22, The Rhythm of Life. May 29, Live Life Loud. June 5, School Daze. June 12-19, OK Mozart. (918) 337-2787 EDMOND GUTHRIE City of Legends 5K and Fun Run May 1, Downtown- - Edmond Arts Festival Mav, 7-9.. Pollard Theatre 120 W HarrisonAve. May 1-2, Downtown. (918) 336-2468 ownt town. (405) 249-9391 6-8,9, Fiddler on the Roof.June 4-5, 1 1-1 3, 17- Senior Olympics May 12-15, Citywide. (918) Twelfth Night June 17-30, Hafer Park. (405) 20, 24-27, Godspell. (405) 282-2800 333-3 189 340-1222 Byron Berline Band May 15,June 5,26, Double Biplane ExpoJune4-5, Frank Phillips Field. (918) LibertyFest June 26-30, Citywide. (405) 341- Stop Fiddle Shop. (405) 282-6646 622-8400 4336 Jazz Banjo Festival May 28-30, Citywide. SunFest June 4-6, Sooner Park. (91 8) 33 1-0456 1405) 260-1323 Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Range ENID Round-UpJune 4-5, Lazy E Arena. (405) DUNCAN Oakwood Mall 41 25 Owen K. Garriott Rd. 282-7433 Downtown Main Street. May 1, Chisholm Trail May 1, Iris Show, (580) 237-2494. May 7-9, Stampede Parade, (580) 252-2900. June 26, A Women's Affair Trade Show, (580) 234-3549. Founder's Day, (580) 252-8696 June 11-13, The HeartlandArts and Crafts Festi- Chisholm Trail Heritage Center 1000 Chis- val, (580) 234-3549 Arts for All Festival May 7-9, Shepler Square holm Trail Parkway. May 1, Cowboy Festival NJCAADivision I1 Region I1 Baseball Tourna- Park. (580) 248-5384 and Chuckwagon Cook-off. May 1-9, Western ment May 6-9, DavidAllen Memorial Ballpark. Armed Forces Day Parade May 14, Citywide. Heritage Art Invitational. (580) 252-6692 (580) 548-0396 (580) 355-3541

GREEN COUNTRY oI(IAHoMA For more information, contact us at I'w'lvEAMERIm -1-800-922-2 118 www.greencountryok.corn 1-800-652-6552

Photo courtesy of I Paul Kosmin Gallery

1 PRICE TOWER ARTS CENTER

510 DEWEY AVE ItOBERT BARTLESVIUE INDIANA C& 918.336.4949 PAINTINGS &SCULPTURE ,-", ," -..-. -. -" www.pricetwver.org • Untque Shops 8 Galleries H~storicHomes8 Buildings Orgonizedby r.Familv-sMe Music 8 Enlerta~nmenl .Fishina. Boatim, Floalnp8 More Werecognize he generous Price Tower Ark Center support of ConocoPhillips. EVENTSGUIDE

Big 12 Track & Field Outdoor Tournament Humane Society Garage Sale and Adopt- May 1, JohnJacobs Track. (405) 325-2424 a-thon May 1-2, Humane Society of Stillwater. Glover River Norman Childrenrs Chorus Spring Con- (405) 377-1701 cert May 1, Catlett Music Center. (405) March of Dimes WalkAmerica May 22, OSU 329-0170. Campus Library Lawn. (405) 943-1025 Water winds between Big 12Tennis Tournament May 1-2, Heading- Summer GardenFestJune 12, OSU Botanical mountains, seeking soft ton Family Tennis Center. (405) 325-2424 Gardens. (405) 744-5404 IndianMarketMay 1-2,JacobsonHouse. (405) shale and split limestone. 366-1667 Nunsense May 14-16, Sooner Theatre. (405) TAHLEQUAH 321-8091 Tenkiller State Park 8 Miles North of Gore on Whitetail starts at woodpecker Hwy 82. May 22, Kids Fishing Clinic. (918) drumming elm as beaver 489-5641 dives deep for home. OKLAHOMA CITY CruisinrAngels Car Club Show May 15, South Carpenter Square Theatre 400 W Sheridan. of City on Hwy 69. (918) 687-01 11 May 7-29, Caught in the Net. June 18-27, The Railroad Day May 15, Three Rivers Museum. Ouachita Mountains swallow sun, Rocky Horror Show. (405) 232-6500 (918) 686-6624 Civic Center 201 N Walker Ave. May 1-2, Ballet Stand for Children Day May 28, Cherokee spilling dark through draws Oklahoma Presents America. May 1-2, Life Is a Nation Courthouse Square. (918) 458-7614 like bLck water, Dream.May 1-30, Late Night Catechism. May 7- 30, Cotton Patch Gospel. May 8, OklahomaCity PhilharmonicGala Season Finale. May 11-16, TULSA- - summoning specters of Caddos Stomp. June 8-12, The Best Little Whorehouse in Expo Square 21st & Yale. May 1-2, Tulso Charity Horse Show. May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, leadingJean de La Harpe Texas. June 22-26, Chess. (405) 297-2264 Myriad Botanical Gardens 100 Myriad June 5, 12, 19, 26, Tulsa Flea Market. May in quest of spirit horses. Gardens. May 1-June30, H2-Oh! Fountains 15, Thomas Horse Sale. May 2 1-23, Free RV & Boat Show. June 5, NEOSHA Horse Show. -Robert Ferrier Galore! May 9, Mother's Day in the Tropics and Art Museum. May 12, Crystal Bridge Bug June 9-19, Pinto National Championship. June Out. May 15, Junior Master Gardener Classes. 19-20, RK Gun Show. June 26, KXOJ Freedom Robert Ferrier is a retired OU June 20, Father's Day in the Rain Forest and Art Live. (918) 744-1113 research administrator and lives in Museum. (405) 297-3995 Tulsa GardenCenter 2435 S PeoriaAve. May Norman with his family. Natrl Cowboy & Western Heritage Mu- 1, Rose Symposium. May 1-2, Spring Show. seum 1700 NE 63rd. May 18, Tuesdays at May 8, Iris Show. May 22-23, Rose Show. June Sundown-The Schroeder Saddletree Factory in 5-6, Cacti Show & Sale. June 19, Daylily Show. Madison, Indiana. May 29-30, Chuck Wagon (918) 746-5125 The Music Man June 4-6, 11-13, 18-19, John Gathering and Children's Cowboy Festival. June Tulsa Performing Arts Center 110 E 2nd St. Denney Playhouse. (580) 355-1600 7-10, Academy of Western Art Workshop Fea- May 1, Blue. May 1, Simply Elton. May 2, Tim turing Sherrie McGraw. June 25-30, Beneath a Conway and Harvey Korman: Together Again. Turquoise Sky: Navajo Paintersand Their World. May 2, The MeadowmountPiano Trio. May 8, MUSKOGEE (405) 478-2250 Eliiah. May 15-22,The Memoryof Water. May Five Civilized Tribes Museum Agency Hill Omniplex 2 100 NE 52nd St. May 1-31, Young 30, The Orion String Quartet. June 4, Christo- on Honor Heights Dr. May 3-8, Celebrating Artists' Gallery. May 1-June30, Grossology: The pher O'Riley. June 13, Ca C'est L'Amour. June Chickasaw Traditions. May 24-29, Celebrat- (Impolite)Science of the Human Body. May 7-8, 17, Ramsey Lewis. June 18, JuneteenthJazz ing SeminoleTraditions. June 7-12, Celebrating OklahomaMineral and Gem Society Demonstra- Concert. June 18-27, Summerstage Festival. Choctaw Traditions.June 26-31, Competitive tions.June 4, Harry Potter Camp-In.June 21-30, (918) 596-7122 Art Show. (918) 683-1701 Summer Nights. (405) 602-6664 Great Tulsa Bike Ride May 2, River West March of Dimes WalkAmerica May 1, State Fair Park 144 8, NW 10th St. May 1-2, Festival Park. (918) 596-2001 Muskogee Civic Assembly Center. (800) Speedhorse Barrel Racing Futurity& Derby. May Oklahoma Blues Festival May 7-8, Brady 252-1454 7, 14, 2 1, 28, Speedway Auto Races. May Theater. (918) 582-7239 Senior TheatreTroupe Production May 7-9, 14-15, The Natural Living Expo. May 15-16, Philbrook Wine ExperienceMay 7-8, Philbrook Muskogee Little Theatre. (918) 683-4901 OKC Gun Show. May 17-23, National Reining Museum of Art. (918) 749-7941 Horse Derby. May 22-23, Sooner Gun Show. May 29-30, Oklahoma Appaloosa Horse Show. NORMAN May 29-30, Oklahoma Paint Horse Show. June OUT & ABOUT Andrews Park Webster & Daws Ave. May 4-6, Red Earth. June 17-23, Non-Pro Cutting AFTON DarrylStarbird's Rod & Custom Car Show, 1-2, May Fair Arts Festival, (405) 329-741 1'. Horse Event. June 28-30, National Appaloosa June 5-6, National Rod & Custom Car Hall of May 15, March of Dimes WalkAmerica, (405) Horse Show. (405) 948-6704 Fame. (918) 257-4234 943-1025 NCAA Women's College World Series May ALVA Nescatunga Arts Festival,June5, Downtown Firehouse Art Center & FirehouseArt Center 27-31, Don E. Porter ASA Hall of Fame Stodium. Square. (580) 327-2835 InterurbanCampus 444 South Flood & 105 (405) 236-5000 ANADARKO World Celebration,June4-5, Indian W Main Street. May 1-June5, BirdhouseCom- Paseo Arts Festival May 29-3 1, Paseo District. City USA. (405) 247-6651 petition and Exhibit.June 25-30, Monoprintsby (405) 525-2688 BARNSDALL Bigheart Day, May 29, Downtown. Don Holloday. (405) 329-4523 (918) 847-2916 Lake ThunderbirdState Park 13101 Alameda BLANCHARD Pepperfest & Autofiesta, June 19, Dr. May 22, Dutch Oven Cooking for Beginners. ST1LLWATER Matador. (405)485-8787 June 1-2, End of School Camp Out. June 12, PayneCounty Expo Center 45 18 Expo Circle BOISE CITY Santa FeTrail Daze Festival,June 1-6, Poker Run. June 26-27, Frontier Days. (405) E. May 10, Payne County Pig Sale. May 15, Citywide. (580) 544-3344 3214633 Kids Day America. May 15-16, Shooting Stars BOLEY Rodeo & Bar-B-Q Festival, May 29-30, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natu- Caprines Goat Show. May 22-23, Red Plains Boley Rodeo Bowl. (918) 667-3341 ral History 2401 Chautauqua Ave. May Goot Show. June 3-5, Oklahoma Jr. Cattlemen BOSWEU Annual Homecoming, June 26, Down- 1-9, Treasures from the Vault. May 1-June 30, Association Show. June 5, Model RailroadClub. town & Boswell Lake. (580) 566-2268 Amazonian Biodiversity through the Eyes of June 1 1-12, Gold Wing Road Riders Association BRAGGS ACTION Dogs Demonstration, June 5, Amphibians and Reptiles. State Rally. (405) 377-1275 Greenleaf State Park. (918) 487-7125

OKLAHOMATODAY MAY/JUNE 2004 60 I BRISTOW Nuyaka Creek Spring WineFest, May 1, COLBERT Golden Harvest Day, June 26, Esben- HODGEN Talking Trees Campground & Health Nuyaka Creek Winery. (9 18) 756-8485 shade Farms. (580) 283-3453 Spa, 53 157 US Hwy 59. May 22, Armed Forces BROKEN ARROW Rooster Days Rodeo, COWETA Citywide Garage, May 22, Citywide. Celebration Horseshoe Pitching Tournament. May May 13-15, Round-Up Club Arena. (918) (918)486-2513 28-31, Choctaw Mountain Bike lnternat~analJam- 258-3079 DAVENPORT Nettie Davenport Day, May 8, boree. (918) 653-2 187 BROKEN BOW Cool Cars &Crazy Cones, May Citywide. (918) 377-2241 HUGO Annual Homecoming, June 4-6, Citywide. 15, Downtown. (580) 584-2440 DEWEY Antiques and Collectibles Show & Sale, (580) 326-751 1 BUFFALOSelman Ranch Cattle Drive, May 29-30, June 5, Washington County Fairgrounds. (918) JENKS Citywide Garage Sale, May 1, Citywide. Selman Ranch. (580) 256-2006 333-5200 (918) 299-5005 CANTON Canton Lake Walleye Rodeo, May 13- DURANT Magnolia Festival of Oklahoma, June KETCHUM Cinco de Mayo Hot-N-Spicy Chili 16, Canton Lake. (580) 886-2401 4-5, Downtown. (580) 924-0848 Cookoff, May 1, Pelican Landing. (918) CARNEY Fireman's Festival, June 26, Main Street. EL RENO Tractor Show & Tractor Pull, May 1, Hwy 782-32 14 (405) 865-2380 66 & Country Club Rd. (405) 893-2546 McALESTER Expo Center 4500 W US Hwy 270. CHANDLER Lincoln County Trade Days, May GLENPOOL Black Gold Days, May 6-8, Black May 1, Armed Forces Day Celebration, (918) 14-16, Fairgrounds and Tilghman Park. (405) Gold Park. (918) 322-3505 423-2550. May 29-30, Italian Festival, (918) 258-32 15 GROVE Cruise to Grove, May 15, June 19, Civic 426-2055 CHECOTAH Blues at the Beach, May 30, Lake Center. (918) 7864626 MIDWEST CITY Spring Fest, May 8, Joe Barnes Eufaula State Park. (918) 689-4607 HARTSHORNE Blue Mountain Cruzers Car Regional Park. (405) 739-1290 CLAREMOREGood 01' Days, June 26, JMDavis & Truck Show, June 26, City Park. (9 18) MUDROW Skyline Bluegrass Festival, May 6-8, Arms & Historical Museum. (918) 341-5707 297-13 1 1 Hwy 648. (405) 677-1509 CLINTON Art Show, June 5, Acme Brick Park. HASKELL Stone Bluff Lavender Festival, June 5, PAULS VAUEY Heritage Days Rodeo, June 2426, (580) 323-5500 Lavender Hill Farm. (918) 482-2338 Round-up Club Arena. (405) 238-2776 PAWNEE Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show, June 12, 19, 26, Pawnee Bill Ranch. (9 18) 762-25 13 PRAGUE Kolache Festival, May 1, Downtown. (405) 5674866 SAPULPA Route 66 Blowout, June 5, Downtown. (918) 2245709 SEMINOLE St. Jude Benefit Trail Ride, BBQ &Talent Contest, May 1-2, Rural Area South of Sayre. (405) 378-6864 SHAWNEE Farming Heritage Festival, June 17-19, Shawnee Mills Feed Center. (405) 623-2834 SPlRO Spiro Mounds Birthday Party, May 9, Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center. (918) 962-2062 SULPHUR City of Springs Water Festival, May 28-30, Historic Downtown. (580) 622-2824 TRlBBEY Wildfire Music Festival, June 25-27, Jude & Jody Ranch. (405) 736-7688 WAURIKA Chisholm Trail Celebration and Arts Festival, June 5, Chisholm Trail Historical Mu- seum. (580) 228-2 166 WEATHERFORD Heartland Cruise Car Show, Swap Meet & Arts and Crafts Show, June 18- 19, Rader Park. (580) 772-7744 WOODWARD Fine Arts Competition, May 6-June 26, Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum. (580) 256-6136 WYANDOlTE Oklahoma D-Day Game, June 6-10, The D-DO~Field. (918) 666-341 1 WORD BY WORD WYNNEWOOD Arbuckle Mountain Spring Blue- grass Jam & Craft Show, May 12-15, Arbuckle Mountain Park. (405) 665-5226

confirm before attending any event. The Events Guide is a free service published an a space-available basis. To be considered, please mail a notice of the event that includes date, place, address, and both a contact telephone number and a phone number that can be published. Notices must arrive at Oklahoma Today three calendar months prior to publication (i e. September/October 2004 events must arrive by June 1). Events Guide, Oklahoma Today, 15 North Robinson, Suite 100, Oklahoma City, OK 73 102. Fax: (405) 522-4588. Email: [email protected]. We cannot take listings over the telephone. --

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"hwTcnHMy:Womr~ in Oldloma Infor0 1901" Sunday, Moy 9 -MhmDq hat odmisslanfar mum

June 17,5:30 -9 p.m. WMO~thMommolh Uvsmurkondfrkadr Saturday, Jur I9 - Ubwy Dq Fma admissionwith yaur Ihryd kmdpy:June 20 - Fathers Oq Fma admhrlon for dads THEEND "Showing how the animal lives is the best way to explain its role in the ecological system." -Rudy Miller, in the Daily Oklahoman, 1986

Give the Man a Fish ARTIST RUDY MILLER PAINTS OKLAHOMA FISH IN LIVING COLOR

NE FISH, TWO FISH, RED FISH, BLUE FISH. FOR RUDY The artist spent eight months in 2002 and 2003 painting the 0Miller, it's not just a Dr. Seuss book; it's a way of life. Sixty- seventy-one specimens included within the identification book. nine-year-old Miller is an ichthyologist and artist who discovered that The collection is so compelling that the Oklahoma City Museum reeling in success has simply been a matter of combining passions. of Art decided to feature it in a special exhibition. "This gifted Miller began teaching at Oklahoma State University in 1962. ichthyologist is both a skilled draftsman and scientist," says Hardy A zoology professor by day, Miller spent most of his downtime George, chief curator for the museum. "He brings together these with a paintbrush in hand, having refined his piscine paintings as disciplines in his extraordinary acrylics." a graduate student at Tulane University. Honing his skills with For Miller, it's another opportunity to do what he loves. "I'm master painters, he eventually learned to create realistic landscapes just doing my part to make the world a more beautill place," says in oil, and when the opportunity for early retirement came in 1990, Miller. "Once you get into something this deeply, it becomes a part Miller took the bait and started painting full-time, showing his of you." There's nothing fishy about that. work in galleries across the country. -Andrea Lopez Landscapes aside, what Miller knows best are fish. So when the publisher of his 1973 book Fishes of Oklahoma decided to revamp the Fishes of Oklahoma will be on display at the Oklahoma City Mweum local classic-xowritten with Henry Robison-Miller signed on. ofArt (409236-3100; okmoa.com) fiom May 6to October 17. In "The goal was to create the fish as though they were alive," says June, Fishes of Oklahoma (University of Oklahoma Press, 2004) will Miller, a Stillwater resident. be available at the museum store and area bookstores.

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