May-June 1984 $2.00 THER WORLD -IN SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA )lr! 1, ,iilll , , l', ,di, , ;:::k,'- ,, 1st " $;:$ p ,jp%,,, :,,,, ,, ; p:llui~4flhr~&8fl'~,.i~~l,;l,l v,:,,, ,~i!!i;~,!: ; ~~i,llli,, ,,, ~~~~,~7i.[~j~,l,~~!~~/,l;lll,,~!i~ii,~~~:il~ill'J~,,fl 8 I---bid S Z %me state of ~~ahoxna , -. - I +QP May-June 1984 George Nigh, [, Governor Vol. 34, No. 3 \- 5 I Three itineraries for exploring the I COVER 10 Sooner State this summer--cityside, SAWDUST MEMORIES lakeside, countryside. From broadax to chain saw and skid mule to tractor, for more than 75 years the Fugate family has cawed a living from southeastern forests. 15 They were a strange, REBA people, the people who built the Spiro Mounds and then disappeared forever. A lot of country music fans are pretty sure Reba McEntire's the reason God made 32 Water spills through the Chockie, Oklahoma. OKLAHOMA PORTFOLIO I valley of Billy Creek in the I Ouachita National Forest. Visions of McCurtain County by 1 Photograph by David photographer Kym Wilson. I Fitzgerald. Inside front cover. I Redbud reflected in a still pool, 20 near Moon, Oklahoma. THE LURE OF FISHING 38 I Photograph by Kym Wilson. SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA 1 Back cower. Thirty pounds of 21 (OR SO) REASONS TO HEAD SOUTHEAST I catfish, caught by James Peek in The when, where and with what of a creek near the McCurtain fishing in Little Dixie. Choctaw celebrations. Scenery. Hang County Wilderness Area. gliding. Scenery. Civil War battle sites. Photograph by Kym Wilson. Scenery. Sawmill tours. Scenery. (You get the idea.) FEATURES 1A DEPARTMENTS THE HOUSE THAT PETER Today in Oklahoma ...................................... 4 CONSER BUILT Books ............................................................ 4 Peter Conser was a lighthorseman in Letters ...........................................................5 the days of the Choctaw Nation. The man Oklahoma Omnibus: Bald Cypress ..............25 and the nation he lived in are gone, On to Oklahoma .......................................45 but his home still stands. Entertainment Calendar ...............................46 Published by the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department Okhhoma TODAY (ISSN 0030-1892) is published Sue Carter, Editor Abe L. Hesser, Exemcioe Director bi-monthly, in January, March, May, July, Sep- Kate Jones, Managing Editor Tom Creider, Planning d Development tember and November. Subscription prices: $101 Pat Shaner Laquer, Art Director Eugene Dilbeck, Marketing Setvices yr. in the U.S.; $13 ovlrseas. Copyright 1984 by 0hMoma.TODAY magazine, 215 NE 28th, P.O. Kevin Norman, Marketing Ken Flaming, Lodges Box 53384, Okiahoma City, OK 73152. 695) Karen Springer, Subscription Services N. Clay McDermeit, Parks 521-2496. i!Y. Geri Stevens, Accountant Chuck Woolsey, Administtaton Eydie Youngblood, Events Calendar .' Tourism and Recreation Commission Printed at PennWell Publishing Co., Tulsa Celia Rosenberger, Chiman Jarrell L. Jennings Second-class postage paid at Oklahoma City. Vice Chaitman Bob Hinton, Jim Pate ' Postmaster: Send address changes to Oklahoma James Durham, Semfaty W. R. "Dick" Stubbs ' ,, TODAY Circulation, P.O. Box 53384, Oklahoma R. A. "Bob" Hodder . r "7~lla ~ilcox City, OK 73152. May-June '84 3 nating animals will soon be spreading out in a 2.5-acre open area with more than 100 trees, free-flowing waterfalls, a pond and natural rock ledges. Visitors will be able to view the primates as they would be seen in the wild, without buildings or other man-made obstructions. The ani- mals will make "the great escape" as soon as funds for the $2 million facility have been raised by the Oklahoma Zoo- logical Society. Mail donations to P.O. outheastern Oklahoma is pine-cov- all the folks about roads to travel and Box 18424, Oklahoma City, OK 73154. S ered mountains, free flowing, fish- interesting events and things to see in +Oklahoma TODAYs transition from four filled streams, the smell of fresh-cut southeastern Oklahoma, she had trouble to six issues a year is a little confusing for lumber from small and large lumber stopping long enough to write. Although everyone. And Karen Springer, who mills and mist rising from dammed-up she lists 21 places to go, and then some, works hard at keeping our subscriptions reservoirs. The area is famous for dog- beginning on page 38, she says there are straight, has asked me to explain that our wood and redbud scenic drives earlier in plenty more, and she's ready to continue Winter issue was the first for 1984, the the spring and foliage tours in the fall. Its exploring. next was MarcidApril, and the third is history is interwoven with that of the +As a special insert to this issue, you'll this MayIJune issue. The JulyIAugust, Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians. find three different vacations for you to SeptemberIOctober and NovemberlDe- This issue of Oklahoma TODAY fo- consider this summer. One is for those cember issues round out the year. Okh- cuses on southeastern Oklahoma and who enjoy the excitement of a big city, Aoma TODAY didn't publish an issue samples some of its scenic beauty, its one is for those interested in history, and dated JanuaryIFebruary. So please don't intriguing history and its family one is a lake holiday in south-central give Karen a hard time-she'll make traditions. Oklahoma. So whether you prefer shop- sure you get all six issues.--Sue Carter Many families who have lived in the ping, water skiing or hunting for desert- same area for several generations main- ed gold mines, the writers have pulled tain close ties among uncles, aunts and together all kinds of activities in each cousins, all of whom may be involved in area, and we hope you have fun check- the same family business. A tradition ing them all out. The supplement is among some of the families is to sing designed to be pulled out and taken country and Western music, and at least along with you. Oklahoma Seminoles, Medicines, one well-known singer, Reba McEntire, +Several readers have mentioned enjoy- Magic and Religion; by James H. How- still lives there. ing the story on Indian flutes m the ard, with Willie Lena; Oklahoma Univer- Kathryn Jenson, who teaches business MarchIApril issue. Doc Tate Neva sity Press, Norman; $24.95. One fasci- communications at the University of Quaya, who was featured in the article, nating aspect of life in Oklahoma is its Oklahoma, is a longtime admirer of and his son, Edmond Neva Quaya, will sense of parallel lives-f echoes from Reba. Kathryn grew up in McAlester. be exhibiting at least a dozen flutes ancient cultures existing alongside An- Reba lives "just down the road" from they've made, at The Galleria in Nor- glo Saxon reality. This book on the there on a ranch near Chockie when she man June 4-30. state's Seminole population is proof of isn't recording or singing in Las Vegas or W The Oklahoma City Advertising Club just how rich those parallel cultures are. Nashville. Kathryn realized a longtime has awarded Oklahoma TODAY an Howard used many sources in this ambition to meet Reba when she inter- "Addy" for our 1984 scenic appointment study of the tribe's medicine, magic viewed her for the story that begins on calendar and an "Addy" Merit Award for and religious customs, but his main one page 15. Those who have enjoyed Re- the Winter 1983 issue. The calendar will was Willie Lena, a Seminole leader ba's hit records will have a chance to hear move into five- state competition in its who now lives in Wewoka. Born in her sing in person at 8 p.m. May 24 in category. (By the way, we still have cal- 1912, Lena was raised by his ultra- the Atoka High School football stadium. endars for sale at $2.95 plus $1 for post- conservative grandparents, who shield- Reba hasn't forgotten the home folks age and handling.) ed him as much as possible from the and is singing at a benefit for the Atoka $w The Oklahoma City Zoo, one of the white world, and he became a reposi- County Extension Service. nation's largest, is planning a new home tory of traditions and beliefs of his W Oklahoma TODAYs managing editor, for its gorillas and orangutans. Now people. Today he holds the position of Kate Jones, had so much fun talking to cramped in jail-like facilities, these fasci- chief of Tullahassee town. 4 Oklahoma TODAY In his introduction, Howard points volume of Cimamn Family Legends, and I read Roy Meador's article about T out that Lena has served as a bridge he finished it. From there, he began to Models and would caution anyone about between the Seminole and white reprint or start new titles." following cranking instructions as written worlds, learning English against his The company now offers 13 works- by Mr. Meador. The spark should be grandparents' wishes, and becoming a all but one about Oklahoma. (The other retarded, not advanced, for cranking. "culture broker," less close-mouthed is a reprint of a manual of "formulas, Advancing the spark put the Ford in an than his fellow traditionalists. He has recipes, methods and secret processes" advantageous position, and she usually made his peace with both worlds, and put out by Popular Medania in 1932.) responded by what was called kicking. carries out his duties as town chief from Their big sellers right now are Pirtol Pete Many who made the mistake of not re- his home, where he also produces tradi- and a novel, Come in 23, House by Helen tarding the spark before cranking ended tional Seminole craftwork. Dutton Russell. up with a broken wrist and maybe a Together, Howard and Lena present Books in the works include an Okla- thumb, too.