GIBSON

FOR BREAKFAST '.' I I HERE COMES THE I

hrough the eyes of feverish Dragoons strag- gling in from the West, the stockade and blockhouses, quivering in August's heat on the east bank of Grand River in the Cherokee Na- tion, meant cool water and soothing hands. When brash young Misters straight from West Point first sighted the post, the keen dismay they felt at being ordered to this distant western frontier soon gave way to the challenge it offered their soldierly qualities. Destitute Creeks and Seminoles, broken spirited after forcible removal from their homes east of the Mississippi River, camped around the fort for protection before venturing farther to take up new homes on the wild prairies. Called Cantonment Gibson when it was the farthest western outpost in the United States, the fort attracted the adventurous and the disillusioned great, notably The Raven, Houston. Here a man sickened of civilization could feel the heartbeat of the free frontier and find solace among the trusting Indians. Around lay the busy, strategic Three Forks area, where the Grand, Verdigris and Arkansas Rivers join. Just west of the fort ran the Texas Road, often choked with caravans of Missouri and Illinois settlers. Col. A. P. Chouteau had a lucrative trading post upstream on the Verdigris, across from the Osage sub-agency. Steam- con'tinued on page three SKETCHESBY GEORGE CATLIN

COURTESY GILCREASE INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY AND ART

U, S. DRAGOONS

OKLAHOMA TODAY boats advertised in the New Orleans and river city news- papers of regular sailings to the Indian country, whence they brought back furs, skins, beeswax and pecans. It was the Osages who had hastened the post's estab- lishment. Striking in November of 1823, Mad Buffalo led two-hundred warriors on a foray along the Blue River, to the south, which wiped out a party of Arkansas happers. Therefore, the next year, Col. Matthew Arbuckle and five companies of the Seventh Infantry poled their flatboats against a rocky shelf on the Grand and founded Fort Gibson. Garrison life was hard. Enlisted men, who received five dollars a month as privates, ate salt pork and beans. Intemperance flourished. Desertions were frequent, de- grading punishments often inflicted. Offenders did extra duty in stocks or astride a wooden horse and suffered teen-chattering duckings in the river. Drunkards stood for days on a barrel head, an empty bottle in each hand. Officers' wives and daughters saw to it that social life survived. They staged formal balls and dinner parties. Young people from as far away as Fort Smith eagerly accepted invitations to dances. Gallant young officers dis- covered the Cherokee girls were as pretty as those back home, or prettier. A typical day commenced as the bugler sounded reveille. Soon the morning gun boomed, the Stars and Stripes ran to the top of a tall sapling and the stout gate swung open. Travelers met a ruddy-faced sergeant by the gate. Inside, at headquarters a smart orderly in cavalry uniform inquired the business of callers. Barracks, offi- cers' quarters, commissary, guard house, hospital and chapel---all wooden buildingsformed a quadrangle en- compassed by a stockade. Loopholed blockhouses but- tressed two corners. Houston's arrival late in the spring of 1829 brought a wave of refreshing excitement. Officers' ladies watched from their windows for a mere glimpse of the handsome giant .. .Did you hear? They say he's resigned the gov- ernorship of Tennessee. That he's exiled himself to the frontier. That he won't say a word about his broken marriage to Eliza Allen. Houston lingered two weeks at the fort. Magnetic and , he became a tremendous favorite. Frequently he returned to play poker and drink with the officers, who noted how he avoided the company of the garrison's ladies. What they did not know was that he still carried

OKLAHOMA TODAY Dtsplay cases at Fort Gibson stockade.

happiness he was ever to know. mounted on horses of matching colors. Lieut. Jefferson Late in 1832, Sari Jacinto's coming hero headed his Davis, who was later to be President of the Confederacy, horse toward Texas, leaving Tiana behind. Within a few commanded a company. years she was dead, and they say wild Cherokee roses While the Dragoons readied themselves for the expedi- still bloom on her grave in the hills. (They say also that tion under General Henry Leavenworth, artist George famed Will Rogers was Tiana's nephew, three Catlin was busy with brush and pen, describing the fort, generations removed. ) and "recording the looks and deeds of the Osages, who To Fort Gibson by the rushing river journeyed the inhabit the country on the north and west . . ." literary famous and the nobility. Among them came Few Osages, he wrote in his letters, "are less than six Washington Irving, hungering for a personal rediscovery feet in stature, and very many of them six-and-a-half, of his country after seventeen years in Europe. On Oc- and others seven feet . . . Head chief is a young man by tober 8, 1832, he crossed the Grand and arrived at the name of Clermont. I painted the portrait of this chief at post where he saw "a guard cleanly dressed round the full length, his leggings fringed with scalp locks and in gate-sergeant with an Irish brogue-culprits in pillory his hand his favourite and valued war club." and riding the wooden horse." Catlin likewise painted Black Dog, said to have tow- Irving's party included Henry L. Ellsworth, one of a ered seven feet and weighed 300 pounds, "with his pipe in board of commissioners "to visit and examine the coun- one hand and his tomahawk in the other; his head shaved try set apart for the emigrating Indians,"; Englishman and ornamented with a beautiful crest of deer's hair, Charles J. Latrobe, later author of The Rambler in North and his body wrapped in a huge mackinaw blanket." America; and Albert-Alexandre de Pourtales, a young The expedition brought representatives of the ere- Swiss count. mony-loving prairie tribes to the post. Tepees crowded

. , To Irving the turbaned Creeks reminded him of wild around the fort. The conference which folIowed opened Arabs. The Osages were "stately fellows, stern and simple the way for the Five Civilized tribes to live on more in garb and aspect . . . Their heads were bare; their hair peaceful terms with the Plains Indians. was cropped close, excepting a bristling ridge on the top, At the same time, Catlin noted the presence of traders like the crest of a helmet with a long scalp lock hanging poised to accompany the western Indians when they behind." departed, "calculating to build a trading house amongst Houston is said to have joined the party briefly. In his them where they will amass a fortune. I have traveled notebook, Irving wrote: "Gov. Houston-tall, large, well- too much among the Indian tribes, and seen too much, formed, a fascinating man-given to grandiloquence." not to know the evil consequences of such a system." Irving's month-long trip, escorted by a company of Sequoyah, inventor of the ingenious Cherokee alphabet, mounted rangers, took him west of the fort as far as pres- attended a tribal constitutional convention at the fort in ent day Oklahoma City and Norman. From his expe- 1841. There the Cherokees and Creeks settled their boun- riencea he wrote A Tour on the Prairies, which Okla- dary. And there a party of Seminoles signed a treaty homans cherish for its pristine account of their state. surrendering their Florida home for one among the Now it was 1834, another luxuriant spring. A clattering Creeks. Enforcement of the treaty caused the costly racket shook the post alert. In sight rode the jaunty First Seminole War. U.S. Dragoon Regiment, out from Jefferson Barracks, No other frontier bastion could match Fort Gimn-s Missouri, to contact the Plains Indians, each company muster of famous military names. Col. Albert Sidney

3 FOUR OKLAHOMA TODAY ;SL, --

BY DON FERRELL

Flying at more than 50,000 feet over western from more than forty states and four foreign counbh. . klahoma one quiet summer night, a test pilot It has taught- its students how to play baseball better, saw a bright concentration of light far to the east between that's for sure, but it has never lost-sight of its numbei Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Only after he landed did the one goal of "Building Big League Citizens," and its suc- puzzled pilot learn that what he had seen was Bo cess stories off the field far outnumber those on the field. Belcher's Baseball Camp at Chandler, which had been The first visitor-provided he is on the ground-is more than one hundred miles away from him at the invariably astonished at two things: First, the organiza- time he saw it. tion and precision of the camp's daily schedule and the The four lighted fields of the baseball camp present immaculate beauty of its playing fields. quite a spectacle in the darkness even at that distance, This is what attracted Universal Pictures Co., of New but the success of this unique Oklahoma enterprise has York, to produce a color short subject there last summer. been attracting even more recognition around the world. The film, entitled "Peewee Leaguers," is narrated by 3 Now in its eighth season this prep school for big the star New York second baseman Bobby Richardson. 1 eaguers has drawn boys, ages of eight to eighteen, The world premiere was held in Chandler, and now the

OKLAHOMA TODAY

i popular short is telling the camp story in theaters around the world. Then, too, the camp is different from so many others. There is no swimming, no horse back riding, no archery, no hiking, no camping out, no canoeing-just baseball. From dawn to dusk, and at night, too, baseball-just baseball. And the boys love it. It's not all roses though. The camp follows a rigid training program much like those followed by big league teams in spring training. It's an eight-hour-aday grind, and lots of sweat. It's the big, gangling shortstop falling on his face learning to make the doubleplay and picking himself up to try again. A typical practice day starts early in the morning with work aimed at improving the boy both as an in- dividual player and as ;team player, using innumerable drills, simulated game conditions, trap walls, target boards, batting cages, pitching machines, all under the direct supervision of coaches and on diamonds trimmed like the playing surface at Yankee Stadium. Nine and ten-man teams meet in intra-squad games, played often times under intense rivalries-again under the supervision of professional coaches. Every boy plays. Each team has a manager on whose shoulders rests the responsibility of making out the lineup, naming the starting pitcher and making the split second decisions that can mean the game. At night, camp teams meet outside competition under the lights in the camp's pin-stripe uniforms. As many as four night games are played at once, with as many as seventy-five boys in uniform. To the outsider, this is the glamor. The camp, despite the fact the boys at the first of every session are total strangers from throughout the nation, has a fantastic record of suc- pleted a three-week session and then proudly stated, cesses against outside teams, probably because of esprit "I'm an athlete now!" He met a challenge and con- de corps that seems to spring up automatically. quered it. Another boy was a poor student. He attended Despite the rugged program, a boy needs only one one session and amazed his coaches and teachers at home prerequisite to enjoy it. He must like baseball. That's by making B's and A's in the following year at school. all. He doesn't have to be a good ballplayer. He, too, went on the University of Oklahoma. While the camp can "manufacture" a ballplayer, there Businessmen on the main street of a small New have been countless other achievements. One boy from Mexico town took up donations to send a deserving New York proved to be a big hit on the public address fifteen year old lad to camp. He showed such determi- systems at night games. He was encouraged by camp nation and dedication he was given a job so he could officials and later studied radio and television at Okla- stay all summer. He is James Scheschuk, the starting homa State University. He was not a star ballplayer catcher at Texas University as a sophomore this spring. and had not played much of the sport, but he enjoyed He turned down professional offers to get an education it, he was enthusiastic, and as a result of his camp ex- first. perience found new goals, new aspirations, a whole new One of the reasons for the camp's phenomenal sue life. He is Ed Dobson, O.S.U.'s Pistol Pete. cess is its coaching staff headed by Billy Tipton, a for- Another boy, from Woodward, was a "manufactured" mer professional pitcher and now athletic director of the player. He, too, was not a natural ballplayer, but he huge Midwest City Monroney Junior High School. Dusty loved the game-and he had more. He had driving de- Eby, Enid high school basketball and baseball coach, is sire with a capital "D", a never-say-die spirit, and an Tipton's assistant and is in charge of the grade school unflagging determination. He accepted one of two pro- age section. The coaches are expert teachers who are fessional offers and is now in the Cleveland Indian or- young, vibrant, enthusiastic and dedicated. They set high ganization after three years as starter at O.U.where he standards and a high example for a boy to shoot at. was second team all-Big Eight second baseman. In short, it's all baseball, but it is so many other Success stories such as these dominate the camp's things as well. The baseball only seems to be a tool, not history. There are hundreds of them. Another boy from primarily to develop a better ballplayer, but to build Maryland who never played baseball in his life, corn- a man-a man who is strong, determined and confident.

OKLAHOMA TODAY SEVEN n the South Pacific a high "V" of honking wild Manufacturing of Duncan ships 10 per cent of its live- geese starts to pass over a beautiful New Zea- stock trailers and scales to Africa, Latin America, and land lake. Then suddenly seeing a dozen of the Canada. most neighborly-looking decoys that ever bobbled In the early '50's Crose-Pemault pipeline equipment t of a hunter's blind, they wing in for a landing. company of Tulsa sold primarily to the United States countess in Belgium bites daintily into a pecan market. A few years ago they started promoting foreign praline and comments to the count on its exquisite sales and soon one girl was spending half of her time handling the orders. Today most of their new business Camels shuffle along an open pipeline ditch in the comes from outside the U. S. and the overseas office Sahara Desert as workmen manipulate special machines keeps one man and four girls busy processing the orders that join and weld the big pipe sections that will and correspondence. Twenty to forty Oklahomans are transport a river of oil. kept busy in the shop making the special machines to "Made in U.S.A." is printed on the air conditioners fill these orders. installed in cars that roll from a Japanese assembly line. Large shipments of made-in-Oklahoma Vari-Color "River Rest Espanu, S.A. esta associada con River duplicators are frequently rushed by air freight to dis- Rest U.S.A., localizada en Shawnee, Okluhoma," says a tributors in the Philippines, Canada, GuatemaIa, and booklet introducing the people of Spain to a strange bird, Puerto Rim. Other shippings route single machines via such steamships as the "African Rainbow" to missionaries Meanwhile, back in Oklahoma the men who made in Nigeria or the Philippines. dall these products are working to produce more goods Interestingly, international busineas is a personal af- {for overseas shipment. Their wives and their friends' fair for those who are in it. "The Spanish people are es are spending dollars that once were francs, or very warm, friendly, and patient," comments one sales or pounds, or yen, or pesos. manager. klahoma has become a merchantman to the world. "We keep transactions on a person-to-person basis with Foreign countries buy millions of dollars worth of a reply to each question we get from foreign customers,'' volunteers another. "If we can't fill a request we put and Industry compiled a list of Oklahoma then in touch with another supplier who can." them-which sold their products overseas. "Few days go by without our huving an international y say the number is at least 400 now. Many small visitor in our home," volunteers Mrs. Roy Ferguson, wife have one or more businesses that sell overseas of the president of Shawnee's River Rest Turkey Sales, rly. In Tulsa and Oklahoma City hundreds of Inc. She enjoys her family's role in introducing other oyees spend part or all of their time making prod- countries to that thoroughly American bird, the turkey. that will be sold all over the world. They export both hybrid breeding stock and hatchery things include oxygen breathing units made eggs. n, pipeline equipment manufactured in Okmul- Many Oklahomans man the crews which Seismograph Service Corporation sends throughout the world. 'We train these men to be diplomatic in all contacts, to have from Oklahoma City, charcoal ovens the best possible relations with their local co-workers: t goes on and on. said one executive. . Fibercast in Sand springs makes huge fiberglass pipes How does an Oklahoma businessman start selling in systems of chemical plants in another country? In many ways. , England, etc. This foreign Servicemen who have been overseas send orders to 25 to 35 Fibercast employees Pecan Specialties Company, Okemah, asking that candies workers spend their foreign- be sent to friends they have met during foreign assign- other Oklahoma-produced ments. That's how the countess got her pralines. beef and cotton and gasoline. The G. and H. Goode Decoy Company ships to a hels of Oklahoma wheat distributor who sells to sporting goods stores in Mexico. Other dealers in Canada and New Zealand heard about teen years to put that much wheat on the foreign the quality of these Oklahoma decoys, and now order Of every three heads of wheat grown in Okla- directly from the Henryetta plant. What was once a hobby now furnishes a nice seasonal payroll as workers annually produce a quarter of a million plastic geese of grain to an overseas customer. hunters of four countries. Iran, Jamaica, Shang- Several oilfield equipment companies report first they sold to American companies with U.S. o ," says one executive. tions. When these customers branched out into foreign other companies that make the bags and contracts, the Oklahoma manufacturers sold them the used in shipping and filling these orders." equipment that went overseas. There native oilmen saw tional market. The the machines and wanted similar units, so they ordered Company of Oklahoma City sells car polish them from Oklahoma. In other work, Sooner engineers tion additives to 47 other countries. Paul

OKLAHOMA TODAY MAN 0 THE WORLD BY RICHMOND 0,BROWN -1 C continued from preceding page an customers who do industrial business in Ja working abroad refer prospective buyers to Oklahoma Schroeder obtained the names of 20 "trading compani from which to select the distributor for the Fife units. American magazines carrying Oklahoma manufacturers' He did a great deal of homework and was preparing ads frequently go outside the country, where readers to leave for Japan when he learned that Japanese trading order the advertised product, and manufacturers' rep- companies have an uncanny way of always finding out resentatives in those countries write asking if they may when a prospective American client is arriving. They represent the Oklahoma firm in their countries. send a delegation to give him a hearty welcome at the More frequently, large-volume business results from airport. Max had corresponded with 20 prospective firms, planned efforts. And the U. S. Department of Commerce and in horror he suddenly pictured the representatives provides valuable assistance in helping businessmen to of 20 competing companies all rushing forward to greet sell abroad and help reverse the dollar drain. The De- him in Japanese. The confusion and embarrassment partment's International Commerce magazine has a would be unbearable. Quickly he notified the American "World Trade Opportunities" section. In one week it offices of the Japanese companies that they should have showed that Korea wanted 8,443 cross ties and 19 radio no one meet him. transmitters; Iraq needed 120 deep well pumps; France The sixteen-hour flight was tiring. But at Hanida air- needed sheep skins, and oil cakes for animal feeding; port he got a refreshing lift from seeing Japanese fellow- Finland wanted cotton cloth for clothes manufacturing, passengers warmly greeted by crowds of friends and rela- and glassware for chemical and hospital laboratories; tives. It was a grand homecoming for them after long - Nigeria was offering to buy paint, and poultry feed sup- stays in the U. S. As Max started down the long roped plements; Jordan was looking for secondhand automotive aisle through the happy crowd he saw a big sign waving equipment-the list for one typical week fills seven pages. up ahead. On it was printed MAX SCHROEDER. In Sales managers of Oklahoma companies search these spite of his instructions, one of the companies had sent pages regularly to find new customers for the state's farms a man to greet him. And this sign is the standard method and factories. they use to establish identity. From the moment of Occasionally a group of Oklahoma businessmen get his arrival the country had taken him into its culture together and tour several foreign countries hunting new and customs. sales outlets. Some demonstrate their machines at trade During the next two weeks he learned to keep his exhibits which the U.S. Department of Commerce regu- shoe laces loose as he went from company to company. larly conducts in major cities around the world. The Japanese practice of removing the shoes before en- Max Schroeder of Fife Manufacturing Company, Okla- tering applies when one visits an office. Arriving while homa City, is one of those who have experienced the one's business host is busy has its advantages, he learned. transactions of world trade first-hand. Fife makes ma- The guest is shown into the firm's beautiful waiting chines which guide the continuous strips of plastic, paper, room where tea is graciously served. "It's a pleasant way or fabric onto huge rolls as it is being made, or from of doing business," smiles this Oklahoman. The Japanese the rolls to the machines which transform it into finished distributor Max Schroeder finally selected is establishing a new department which will sell nothing but Sooner-built When Fife decided that conditions in Japan were Fife units. right, Max Schroeder was chosen to go and make ar- Thus Oklahoma develops its still growing role as rangements for opening the territory. From their Ameri- merchantman to the world.

A select~onof sh~pplnglabels for burldlng products manufactured by Oklahoma Clty s Macklanburg-Duncan Company. Volume 5.

A WOMAN WHOSE IRLS AND THR

-

As Well As Other Places," So Says the Reverend bcing friends, got together and compared notes and found that both were receiving the same Ine night last endearing entreati~s.The young young men esco man had an engagement on a young ladies to a certain night to call on one of country nrest of th the young ladies. He called and urent in a wagon. do it with a long face an sanctimonious air. Shun

Rev. Kilgore was here holding protracted meetings he stated

as well as other places." The however, until he had renewed joyed themselves hugely. Some- devil is still in the choir, if not his attacks of devotion did he time during the wee sma' hours, in one, in another, and is giving realize that other ears that had when the three girls got tired the same acrobatic perform- heard the same appeals, werr and wanted to return home the ances. It is a she devil, and she listening in a little closet in a three boys informed them that I * These items are from is very apt at showing the corner of the room. When the they were not going home until what must be the great- color of her stockings. This is other young lady made her ap- sever1 o'clock in the morning. unpardonable. pearanee upon the scene, it is This didn't suit the three girls. granddaddy of all gossip -- said this nice young gent turned Three other boys from South- Iand scandal magazines. pale and trembled. It didn't town happened to be 01.1 hand, We are indebted to th. su~this way of thinking, but and as gallant gentlemen al- I he was tn a trap and couldn't ways do, offered their services Oklahoma Historical So- get out until the girls impress- to the three gtrls who wanted ciety Library for turning GRUCHT HIM NRPPINC! ed upon his mind that there are to return home. These thrce up this spritely docu- smoother young men on earth boys had horses hltched out- ment from Soonerland's than he. When the girls got side and the three glrls got on SURVEYOR SWOOPED through reciting to his unw~ll- the three horses behind the " memoirs. DOWN UPON BY SOUTH lng ears the tales of love he other three boys and rodr TOWN GIRLS-LANDED IN so feverently had poured forth home. so we are told. clothes- A PREDICAMENT. to Ihcm, they called him to another room and slammed the - door, leaving h~mto wander Stir up the drones. away w~thouta pleasant good- nohundred and fifty Dark This escapade, while it is ~~i~ your cussedne.js. rather old, has never been pub- ntght or a parting salute. 1,:1ntern's were sold in South- lished in Southtown, and is town Sunday last. It IS the hot Don't talk about your too rich to keep out of our A real nice young man who stuff. neighbors. columns. clerks in a store in town don't Wake up or get off the band One or two of the boys have l~keto read the Dark Lantern Mr. IJ., one of the old boys wagon, learned to their sorrow that the because it says such awful uho man~pulates the paste Southtown girls are strictly things about people who need boards, has tno young lady Look at the Bargain counter up to snuff and can play a good rlpptng up the back. friends 111 the clty who arc gn- in the shoe store of the Grand Ing h~mlessons in grafting. Leader. stiff hand when it is necessary. The Dark Lantern-25c a year It was necessary in this partic- ular instance, and it was the Keep your kids off the streets 1,ook out for the dead beats means of landing one of the and skinners. Lantern nice young boys who want to at night. court too many girls at one Shoot the howling dogs. Wh~lein ~al~e 25~a year. time. He is a surveyor, a pretty, Monday met '~r.Bumford, - genteel young man who can Milk Shake at N. E. of Fort Smith, whose generous handle a dainty mustache, en- Harrison's. acts \vhil(? we were suffering he Dllrk 1, close his little feet in No. 5's, Go to church today and quit with a toothache several months be sent to you and parade about with all the your meanness. ago are still fresh in our mem- you pay for it. pomp and dignity of a crowned ory. Mr. Uumford gave us some prince. This nice young man With the invincible Bohanan got stuck on one of South- beh~nd the bat and a crack town's beautiful young ladies pitcher, Southtown won't do a and it is said proposed, but was thlng to Oklahoma City on the not accepted at the moment, 25th Look out, windy, we're but continued to make his coming! presence felt by his eloquent Chas. Humphrey's for Rest gush of flowery language and Cigars, Cold drinks and Luncll. some very encouraging words. brilliant portrayals of a fervent, ho\vever, and stated that he be- The D; everlasting love that no other The Dark Lantern--25c a year. lievecl we would get shot. SUMMER FOLIAGE The verdant rain-forest green of this timber scene could be duplicated any summer near most of Oklahoma's parks. This picture happens to be in Oklahoma City's Lincoln park where, in the zoo area, you'll find a complete cast for a modern Noah's Ark: gorillas, jungle cats, monkeys from every trop- ical climate, pachyderms, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, seals, bears, reptiles from around the world, water fowls, peacocks, birds of prey, gibbons, sai- mang, deer, alpine goats, the four- footed creatures of North and South America, India, the African Veldt, Aus- tralia, the plains, savannah, jungle, and desert beasts of all the earth. COLOR PHOTO BY ROBERT CARTER

OKLAHOMA TODAY

SHAPES OF THE GLASS MOUNTAINS The Glass Mountains west of Orienta are painted with every hue of green and crimson. In the rising or the set- ting sun the great expanses of mica () exposed in these old eroded buttes catch the sun rays and fling them glinting into your eyes as from a myriad of shattered mirrors. So glass-like is the effect that the early explorers of the Southwest came to call them as they are still named. Of equal interest with their colorful hues, and the namesake mica, is the endless variety of shapes they make against the deep blue sky; plateaus, mesas, turrets, minarets, spires, which slowly alter with each step of your passage, changing shape and form until they have made a whole new set of shapes and forms in endless process. COLOR PHOTO BY BILL McVEY

FOURTEEN OKLAHOMA TODAY

he highest peak in the Ouachita mountains thousands. Within these pages are a sampling few. in southeastern Oklahoma is Rich Mountain. Golden Rain Tree (koelrenteria panicdata) It straddles the state line and towers above A member of the same family as the chinaberry tree, the surrounding valleys. the Golden Rain Tree has pinnate leaves and panicles Tradition has it that the mountain derived its of bright yellow flowers. The seeds are within a large name from the fertility of its soil. A survey of three-angled papery capsule. The tree pictured here the plant life on this mountain a few years ago grows on the terrace of the Boston Avenue Methodist revealed that, within one square mile, more church in Tulsa. than two-hundred species of plants grow, in- Red Cedar (juniperus virginiana) cluding more than fifty different kinds of trees. The Wichita mountains in the southwestern part of The Fringe Tree grows in abundance here. the state appear to be almost solid stone. There is very When in bloom, about April 20-May 4, these little soil in the heights of these rugged old mountains. are positively spectacularly beautiful. The Vegetation is scant, a prevailing southwest wind dries Umbrella Tree, both the White and Pink Azalea, out plants and whips them about. Bladdernut Tree, and the beautiful Silver Bell The Red Cedar pictured here is atop Mount Scott. are in abundance. Although it is only about five feet tall it is approximately The Southern Blackhaw (viburnum rufidu- eighty years old, a gallant and a tenacious tree. lum), a small tree with shiny, dark green Mimosa (albizia julibrissin) leaves, flowers in April or May. Its blossoms are small The Mimosa is not native to the United States but and white and occur in dense clusters at the tips of the is a great favorite for decorative planting because of its branches. Its fruit is blue, oval, and covered with whitish abundance of blossoms, their delicate beauty, and for its powder. The haws are sweet to eat, and make splendid fern-like foliage. Originally imported from the jungles jelly. of Asia and Mexico, its sensitive foliage is very respon- Another Appalachian variety found in OkIahoma is sive to wind and, when dark comes, its leaves fold up and the Smoke Tree, a beautiful tree of frequent occur- go to sleep. rence along the limestone bluffs above Fort Gibson dam. Our Sensitive Brier and the Prairie Acacia Another is the Blue Ash, found along the road, between are members of this same family. Tulsa and Keystone dam. This tree is characterized by Pecan (carya illinoensis) four-angled twigs, frequently with wings on the angles. The bottom lands of Oklahoma are rich in native Pecan The leaves are similar to other ashes, the fruit is about trees. Enterprising growers produce a large marketable a half an inch wide and notched at the tip. crop each year. As one moves westward across the state through the The tree shown here, on the property of R. B. French tangled Blackjack and Postwk forests of the cross-timbers in Cherokee County, produces forty bushels of nuts country, the type of trees encountered changes rapidly. per year. Towering Elms, Sycamores and Poplars grace town and Burr Oak (quercus macrocarpa) city, and along the streams and water courses the great This tree may approach eighty feet in height, and Cottonwoods, which the Spaniards called "10s alkmos del attain a diameter of six feet or more. Its wide, spreading rio", brush the quiet countryside with their soft, surf- branches and thick foliage make it a wonderful shade wash sounds. tree. There is a myriad of flowering trees throughout the The leaves are large and beautiful. It belongs to the state. Tall Pines and evergreen varieties cover our moun- white oak family, and its fruit is a distinguishing feature. tainous eastern side, with Cypress and Magnolia in the It produces a large acorn, set deeply in a conspicuously lowlands. Perfectly shaped Cedars, from miniature to fringed cup, a favorite symbol of autumn. monster, line the Cirnarron and its tributaries. Hard- Hackberry (celtis occidentalis) woods, Oak, Hickory, Walnut are plentiful. In our south- The Hackberry may attain a height of ninety feet and west grasslands, the Mesquite's tiny, quivering leaves a trunk diameter of two feet. It grows tall and straight dance in the summer sun. in crowded stands, but spreads to a beautiful shape when The varieties of Oklahoma's trees run up into the standing in the open, as the picture here shows.

SIXTEEN OKLAHOMA TODAY . . a tree that may in summer wear a nest of robins in her hair . . .

JOYCE KILMER

This tree is best identified by the bark, which is sil- very gray, and broken on the surface by thick layered projections. The leaves resemble those of the elm, but at the base are less symmetrical than those of the elm. The fruit is round and hard, somewhat like a bead. The seeds are eaten by birds of many kinds. The Flowering Dogwood (cornus florida) The white blooming Dogwood graces the Oklahoma hills, being especially prevalent in Cherokee, Adair, Sequoyah, LeFlore and McCurtain Counties. The flow- ers are abundant, papery white and can easily be identi- fied at quite a distance by the shelving effect of the branches. It blooms about the second week in April, de- pending upon the season, and continues for two or three weeks. Buds for the following season set as soon as the trees stop blooming. The seeds and the foliage are lovely in autumn. The seeds are bright scarlet and the foliage a rich mahogany color. Many birds feed upon the berries. Redbud (cercis canadensis) The Redbud usually precedes the Dogwood in bloom- ing from seven to ten days. Once in about twenty-five years the Dogwood and the Redbud bloom simultaneously. This makes for an unusually beautiful spring. The Red- bud is the Oklahoma state tree. Chinaberry Tree (sapindus drummondii) The leaves are pinnately compound, flowers are small and occur in terminal panicles. Fruit is an amber- colored berry. The berries contain the soapy glucoside saponin which will produce a fine lather when whipped up in water. The pioneers and Indians used this suds to sham- poo their hair and for shaving cream. The cedar waxwing, a ravenous feeder, swallows the rather large chinaberries whole. A flock of these birds descended upon one of my neighbor's trees and ate every berry in one day. Three of the birds were lying on the ground in the evening, as if dead. My friend took them into the kitchen and left them near the stove, convinced they were alive. Next morning all was well with the birds. They had simply stuffed themselves with china- berries until they were unconscious. When the digestive process caught up with the supply in their stomachs they revived. Farm children often sting the ripened seeds, which are shiny and black, for beads . . . one chinaberry seed, then a small blue bead, another seed, then another blue bead, until the string is the desired length. Very pretty BY DEAN BURCH too.

OKLAHOMA TODAY SEVENTEEN RED CEDAR

COLOR PHOT

MIMOSA

EIGHTEEN OKLAHOMA TODAY ' THE AUTHOR

- PECAN BURR OAK

GOLDEN RAINTREE

,OKLAHOMA TODAY NINETEEN THE SCENIC SOUTHEAST Some "extranjero" is always saying, "but you have no mountains in Okla- homa, and no natural lakes." How does such misinformation become current? A whole half of Oklahoma is moun- tainous, the smoky blue crests of the Kiamichis, Ouachitas, Jackforks, Wind- ing Stairs, and other ranges rising and serried as far as the eye can see. And among these peaks and valleys are natural lakes. This one is Cedar Lake. At the gateway to this quiet restful country we have built two luxury lodges, Fountainhead and Arrowhead, near the old Creek Indian town Eufaula, where the Texas Road, early traveled by fur traders, trappers and overland freight bound for Texas, intersected with the California Trail, route of the gold seekers bound for the goldrush of '49. The lodges are complete and land- scaping as shown here is in progress. When fully completed these executive retreats will have golf, boat harbors, airstrip, riding stables, swimming pools, every conceivable luxury. COLOR PHOTO BY DEAN MERRlLL

TWENTY OKLAHOMA TODAY i

RIVER OF ROCK A river of granite boulders left by an ancient glacier, which was a grind- ing river of ice. This torrent of boul- ders, fixed now in time and place, flows down from the heights of Mt. Scott in the Wichitas. There is more to see in the Wichitas than you can encompass in a day or a week; the herds of bison of the great plains, the deer, wild turkeys, the longhorns of Chisholm Trail days, the active little prairie dogs in their town-once so to the hard riding trail drovers. And, unique in America, the Holy City, in rugged terrain not unlike that of distant Jordan. Here each Easter is performed the Pageant of Christ's birth, life, death, and resur- rection. Throughout the year the struc- tures against which this Pageant is performed remain, and with them the burros, a display of the costumes and pictures of earlier Pageants, and the chapel filled with its inspiring religious art--and its guest book with signa- tures of those who have passed by here from nations everywhere. COLOR PHOTO BY LUCYLLE LAMB

OKLAHOMA TODAY

C"" .&-. -.

ARBUCKLE MOUNTAIN CASCADE Such crystal cataracts are common- place along the streams of the Ar- buckle Mountain-Platt National Park area. This one is Honey Creek. A few miles south is one of Oklahoma's finest communities, Ardmore. Seeking to pre- serve their heritage Ardmore has set aside on Lake Murray Drive a park where you can see the reconstructed 700 Ranch House, first of the great southern Oklahoma cattle ranches. On the brand board swinging from the hitch rail you can read the brands of today's working spreads in the area, burned there by the same irons used in each year's roundups; the Rafter Dl Bar K, Slash 0, Rocking B, Circle H, and thirty-some others. Also there is the historic locomotive which rushed , a trainload of doctors, nurses and medicine to Ardmore after the destruc- tive explosion of a tank car in 1915. And just on down the Drive, beside the I beautiful lake, is Lake Murray Chapel which each year sets a new record for the number of weddings performed , in this lovely setting. ! COLOR PHOTO BY ROBERT CARTER

I TWENTY-FOUR OKLAHOMA TODAY I I

I i OKLAHOMA SCRAPBOOK

OKLAHOMA TQQAY i I t----- LAHOMA TODAY had added the magazine, n the next month and that called a "circuit rider" though many did not literally fit into that category, performed many missions among them. His visits to a community were invariably happy oc- casions. For one thing he often brought small necessities from town, requested on his last visit-a package of recording the important contribution to needles or splof thread, or maybe nails to patch up W[im house or barn. Where there were children he mght find missions and schools. Yet little has been said about the a few pennies worth of hard candy in his saddle bags or contribution made by the selfless devout nren who worked pockets, so the first sight of his horse or vehicle sent independently wherever they saw need. Sometimes these them scurrying toward a cabin screaming excitedly, roving ambassadors for Christ received small stipends "Here comes the preacher!" from "back East" churches or Home Mission Boards, Regular or irregular visits, his coming was always but just as often their only reward for the long rides in something of a social event, providing excuse for a gath- all kinds of weather was the satisfaction of giving to ering that no one had interest or initiative enough to the poor and needy. plan before. Word of his arrival spread quickly. There were many of these frontier missionaries, rep- If the preacher was making an initial visit to a locality resenting many faiths, and they were for the most part where no other missionary had preceded him his first l'l;l?P'' far different from their fanatic prototype as popularized job was to select a suitable place for a brush arbor, !I/ in today's television and movies. Not always men of preferably near a stream. Then he must enlist helpers IIJ high education, they were unfailingly men of deep com- to cut down and trim young trees, which would be sunk !I passion for humanity. Thus they were able to establish into the ground to form sturdy upright supports for a a communion with the impoverished settler and his family flat roof of logs, covered by a thick layer of the leafy who often didn't see an "outsider" betwea these min- boughs. isterial visits in their community. Often families started arriving before the arbor was This condition of isolation was completed, more hungry for human companionship than Indian Territory during the y for religion, and they stayed as long as the preacher after statehood than in the a could, setting up crude camps for cooking and sleeping. '89. Settlers coming into th Such "camp meetings", as they were called might go on only a literate people as for days, or even weeks. Grace Steele Woodward in her impoverished, having brou book The Cherokees tells of camp meetings in the Chero- hicles, furnishings and kee Nation that lasted as long as two months. Not all prized antiques and beauti the time would be spent in listening to sermons. More was they herd neighbors in the spent in singing and just talking together, for under the frequent frakrnizing among friendly influence of the preacher they were able to com- On ti& mtrary the settle municate more freely with each other. were more apt to be isolate The camp meetings also provided a good atmosphere choice or necessity. So the for courting, some young couples making decisions to continued on next page

BY ENNEN REAVES HALL

OKLAHOMA TODAY TWENTY-NINE

hatever Oklahomans may think about the recent sonic boom tests and keeping airplanes safe for houses and buildings, they do underwrite making W the air safer for people. Two unique organiza- tions bear testimony to that fact. Both are located in the huge air complex at Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma City. One is the National Accident Investigation School, conducted jointly by the Civil Aeronautics Board and YOUmust be part Sherlock H~hZes the Federal Aviation Agency. It is the only school of And part Perry Mason to be an air its kind in the world. &dents come from all over the globe to receive training in the investigation of air acci- dents. Though the C.A.B. has prime responsibility for air- craft accident investigation, the F.A.A. is vitally con- cerned since it licensed the plane and pilot, and perhaps many other planes of the same type. And what a job airplane accident investigation is! It demands all the intuition of a Sherlock Holrnes plus the technical skill of a modern day systems designer. Any- thing can go wrong in the air-and sometimes it does. Accidents basically fall into three groups; those in- volving plane responsibility, those involving pilot re- DETECTIVE sponsibility, and those due to outside forces. Outside forces are responsible for perhaps five percent of all accidents, usually the weird ones. One of the hazards of crop dusting, for instance, is the small, in- visible whirlwind. After a rain, or if the funnel is not on the ground, no telltale swirl of dust warns the pilot, yet in an instant such a wind can flip a plane and send it out of control. Recently a plhne limped into the airport after sud- BY VAL THIESSEN continued on next page

Shortly before 11 00 P M on June 19, 1964 a plone ap- nrooched the a~rportat Westfield, Moss In the plone were Senators Ted Kennedy and Blrch Bayh, Mrs Boyh, Senator Kennedy s adrn~n~strat~veo~de Edward Moss, and p~lot Edw~nZ~mmy In the fog, the plane crashed k~ll~ngthe p~lotand Edward Moss, and lnlurlng the other passengers The ent~replane, shown here, was brought to the Oklo- homo F A A center for tnvest~gat~onto determ~nethe cause of the crash.

cockpits are pressurized, smoking is not an important oratories have been concerned with the effect of anti factor. In an unpressurized cabin, a pilot who is an histamines, tranquillizers, tobacco, alcohol, and MI habitual smoker, flying at ten thousand feet, has the cotics on pilot safety. All of these have been directly oxygen needs and shortages of a non-smoker at fifteen responsible for air accidents. thousand feet. All of the C.A.R.I. laboratories may get involved in C.A.R.I. operates on a premise that, in civilian flying, evaluation of what is called crashworthiness. If a pilot _. . ' the primary mission is to get the occupants of the plane dies in a crash in which there is little physical damage down safely. Commercial airlines, for example, often to the plane, both man and the plane must be investi- fly off course and land at unscheduled airports to avoid gated. Were there unsafe objects in the plane which weather risks. As Dr. Mohler, head of the C.A.R.I. put it, caused an unnecessary fatality? Was the plane "crash- "The object of flying that interests C.A.R.I. is the need worthy"? For special investigation, the whole plane to return the soft, protoplasmic masses encased in an air- may be shipped into the C.A.R.I. laboratories. plane intact, even if the plane must return to its start- An air accident sets in motion a complex sequence ing point." of events. Notification of the accident will be chan- The C.A.R.I. laboratories offer some unique facilities, nelled rapidly to the Fort Worth office of C.A.B. Mean- including a swimming pool for airplanes. Here a cockpit, while an F.A.A. man at the ariport nearest the acci- or the whole front end of a plane, can be swung out over dent will seek to safeguard the wreckage. Within min- the mammoth pool and dropped to simulate water land- utes after notification, the C.A.B. man (probably one ing. Pilots in these test cockpits then escape the ditched trained here at the Accident Investigation School) will planes underwater. Movies are taken of the whole opera- be enroute to the accident. Arriving on the scene, he will tion, both above and below water. From these studies safer begin interviewing survivors, witnesses, and F.A.A. au- methods of water ditching and escape are worked out. thorities. If needed, pilot, passengers, and plane may Among the test equipment on the C.A.R.I. floor is be sent to the C.A.R.I. research facility. a sled that can be hurled up to a hundred miles an Eventually the C.A.B. report will state the probable hour into an obstacle. Dummies, built with human-like cause of the accident. The term "probable cause" is joints even to the finger reticulation, are placed in test used, not merely because exact knowledge of the cause cockpits and hurled into crash situations by this machine. of a crash is often almost impossible, but because most A crash, to a scientist, is merely deceleration. Thus the crashes involve a series of about three errors, elimina- violence of the crash can be rated in terms of the fa- tion of any one of which might have avoided the crash. miliar "g's" we hear of in the space program. From an analysis of these errors, and in attempting C.A.R.I. laboratories are divided into four categories: to eliminate future recurrences of the probable cause Psysiology, Psychology, Pilot Survival, and the Pharma- of the crash, both the C.A.B. and the F.A.A. labor mighti- cology-Chemistry laboratories. The Pharmacology lab- ly to make the air safer for you and me.

KLAHOMA TODAY he Tulsa Powwow Club was the first in the United States. There are now similar clubs in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Oklahoma TCity, all the great cities which have a signifi- cant Indian population. Each year these Indian clubs have gatherings at which assemble representatives of virtually every tribe in the nation. The purpose of them? gatherings is social, a get-together for visiting and danc- ing in the oldtime way. You are invited. The pictures here were made at a meeting in the Tulsa National Guard Armory. They show a "round dance" in which the circle of dancers face inward toward the drummers, and "fancy dancing" in the gorgeously feathered war dance costumes which are part of every powwow. The 14th Annual Tulsa Powwow w111 be held this summer, August 13-15, in Tulsa's Mohawk Park.

SENECA BOY WITH MASK I The Seneca are one of the five tribes of the longhouse, from New York and Canada. Many of them live now in far northeast Oklahoma. This splendid lith- , ograph is by Charles Banks Wilson, and is one of the continued on page 36 PHOTOS BY BILL BURCHARDT

THIRTY-FOUR OKLAHOMA TODAY THIRTY-FIVE continued from page 34 ized, the dancer carries an eagle feather fan and a prayer TEN LITTLE INDIANS stick. The small roach is made from porcupine quills Charles Banks Wilson, eminent artist-historian, chose combined with black turkey beard. a most appealing way of illustrating Indian costumes Plate 4 when he created these lithographs of children. They have The larger Pawnee girl's loose blouse, glass beads, and been published all over the world. The original port- applique ribbon work on a broadcloth blanket skirt are folio is owned by the American Museum of Natural His- typical of many tribes today. The little Shawnee girl's tory, Heye Foundation (New York), Chicago Museum costume, like the Seneca-Cayuga, has woodland flower of Natural History, Gilcrease Institute of American His- designs embroidered on the apron. A wide hair ribbon tory and Art (Tulsa), and other art and ethnological trails down her back. institutions. Plate 5 The artist is a native Oklahoman whose work has been The long fringe, once so useful, now is decorative and exhibited in more than two-hundred national exhibitions, enhances the movements of the wearer. Seven deerskins including a one-man show at the Smithsonian Institu- are needed to make an adult size dress of this type. It tion. He has recorded in crayon and paint many Indian is reserved for special occasions. Men may decorate their ceremonials which the Indian has never allowed photo- costumes with realistic drawings, but women are limited graphed. Among his awards are those of the Chicago to abstract symbols of a geometric nature. Society of Lithographers, the Brooklyn Museum, the Plate 6 Omaha Art Center, the Philbrook Art Center, and the This is the type of party dress Cheyenne women have Library of Congress. worn for more than a hundred years. It is decorated Plate 1 about the shoulders with dentalium shells. The necklace No single piece of Indian costume so excites the is made from shaped, polished, hollowed elk bones. The imagination as the Eagle Feather warbonnet. It corres- Cheyenne moccasin is among the most beautiful made ponds to the Congressional Medal of Honor and was by American Indians, its upper being a single piece of made only with consent of fellow warriors, granting this deer skin entirely covered with beads. distinction for unusual valor. The whistle is fashioned Plate 8 from the eagle's wingbone. Decoration of the buckskin Beadwork made from shell wampum strung on dark shirt is porcupine quill, predecessor of beadwork, and thread creates designs showing French influence, since human hair contributed by female relatives. Scalp locks the Seneca were among the first to meet the European were seldom ever used in this manner. invader. The wooden masks were once used to drive Plate 2 evil spirits from the houses of the village. What was once a war dance has become an art form. Plate 9 The original bustle was made from bird feathers sym- The eagle has long been held in high regard by Indian bolizing speed, craftiness, wisdom, stamina, etc. Feathers, people. It is found on the totems of the Tlingit. The plumes, and deertail head roach make a sometimes Hopi believed the eagle to be an associate of the sky mountainous head dress, everything combined to create god. The eagle is associated with the thunderbird myth. a costume highly sensitive to body movement. It is the national emblem of the Aztec people. The steps Plate 3 of the eagle dance are based upon the flight and the The straight dance is less active, more conventional- action of the bird.

SIOUX CHIEF S COSTUME 0K~hHOhl4FANCY DAlyCkR OSAGE STRAIGHT DANCER PAWNEE AND SHAWNEE GIRL! PLATE 1 PL AIF 2 PLATE 3 PLATE 4 THIRTY-SIX QKLAHOMA TODAYI .,.-

EAGLE DANCt H 1 BACK EAGLE DANCER 1 FRONT I PLATL 10 PLATE 9 . . - I - .. .. ---. .

COMANCHE GIRL. CHEYCNNE DRESS FANCY DANCER 8 FRONT ViCW I SFPdI-CA Ha'. 'S\'iiW MASK PLAI-E 5 PLATE 6 Pi ATE 7 PLATY 8

OKLAHOMA TODAY