Vol. 46, No. 4 Published monthly by the Oklahoma Historical Society, serving since 1893 April 2015 Pawnee Bill Ranch to host Sewing exhibit on display at annual Easter events Cherokee Strip Museum in Perry On Saturday, April 4, the Pawnee Bill Ranch will host its The Cherokee Strip Muse- annual Easter Egg Hunt. The egg hunt is cosponsored by the um is pleased to announce local Pawnee Lions Club and it will begin promptly at 10 a.m., their newest temporary signaled by Pawnee Bill firing his pistol. The egg hunt attracts exhibit, A Stitch in Time. hundreds of children and their families and is spread out The sewing exhibit will be over many acres of the historic site. Thousands of eggs will be displayed from January hidden, including prize eggs containing money and vouchers for 2015 through the end of treats. Pawnee Bill started an egg hunt at his ranch more than May 2015. It encompasses one hundred years ago. It is in that tradition that the ranch several areas of the museum continues to be a place where families can make memories with and includes a great variety their children in a beautiful environment. Kevin Webb, who of objects, such as sewing portrays Pawnee Bill, will offer rides on his horse after the egg machines, samplers, hand- hunt is over. stitched quilts, and lace. On Sunday, April 5, the Pawnee Bill Ranch will host its The items displayed have been selected from the museum’s annual Sunrise Service and Easter Fundraiser Breakfast. The collection to provide a visual understanding of the importance nondenominational service begins at approximately 6:45 a.m. that sewing had for those people who settled in the Cherokee on Blue Hawk Peak, the highest point on the ranch grounds. Outlet. The service is led by the Pawnee Ministerial Alliance and is a Depicted in the photograph are two hand-stitched quilts from community-wide tradition. Immediately following the service, the sewing exhibit. The quilt on the left is a signature quilt the Friends of the Pawnee Bill Ranch Association will serve a that was pieced and hand-stitched in a wedding ring pattern breakfast to raise money for ranch programs. The breakfast by Ceres Christian Church Ladies Aid Society in 1937. It was will include eggs, ham, biscuits, gravy, and a drink for $5. owned by Mrs. C. M. Scott, who lived on a farm in Noble County The Friends of the Pawnee Bill Ranch Association is a 501(c)3 just north of Ceres, Oklahoma. The quilt on the right is an organization dedicated to the support of the Pawnee Bill Ranch. appliquéd and hand-stitched crib quilt made in the Wild Rose The ranch association helps support the Wild West Show, ranch pattern in 1872 for Elta Engle Briscoe. maintenance, collections acquisition and care, and much more. The Cherokee Strip Museum is located at 2617 West Fir Street Please call 918-762-2513 or email [email protected] in Perry. The museum is open Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. for more information. The Pawnee Bill Ranch is located on Blue to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $3 for Hawk Peak, one-half mile west of Pawnee on US Highway 64. adults, $2.50 for seniors age 62 and older, $1 for children age 6 to 18, and children 5 and under are free. For more information about the museum please call Director Kelly Houston at 580- May Day celebration at the 336-2405 or visit www.cherokee-strip-museum.org. Murrell Home The George M. Murrell Home in Park Hill will host a May Day Fur Trade Rendezvous at Fort Washita celebration on Saturday, May 2, from 12 to 4 p.m. Formerly called the Murrell Home Lawn Social, this free event will include On April 1–5, Fort Washita in Durant will host a Fur Trade dance lessons, croquet and horseshoe tournaments, music, Rendezvous. Experience life on the western frontier at this and lawn games. Reenactors in period dress will demonstrate living history event, which includes instructive programs in daily life in the mid-1800s at Oklahoma’s only remaining customs, survival skills, and lifestyles of the period. Visitors will antebellum plantation. Bring picnic basket lunches, quilts, encounter trappers representing the far northwest mountain and lawn chairs to enjoy a picnic on the lawn from 12 to 1 p.m. areas to the desert southwest, as well as traders with French Experience activities all afternoon, then stay for the maypole, and Spanish influence. Visit Fort Washita and experience the which will close the event and commemorate the start of the sights, sounds, and smells of history. growing season on the plantation. For school groups, the May Attendees will travel through Day living history education day will be held on Friday, May 1, the camps where reenactors with two sessions: 9:30–11:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. explain life on the frontier in The Murrell Home is located three miles south of Tahlequah the early nineteenth century. at 19479 East Murrell Home Road in Park Hill. For more infor- On April 2 and 3, school groups mation please call 918-456-2751. are invited to bring students for two special “School Days,” with no charge for school buses. For others visiting the Rendezvous, there is an entrance fee of $5 per car. Fort Washita is located at 3348 State Road 199 in Durant. For more information please call 580-924-6502. and working at the OHS for thirty-six New Members, February 2015 years, it is that I still have much to learn about our state and its people. *Indicates renewed memberships at a This year the planning committee has higher level changed the program format to shorter sessions, with only one speaker and Director’s Circle one chairperson per session, so the Phil and Avis Scaramucci, Oklahoma City Director’s presentation-hopping that always has Fellow column been awkward can be avoided. I have *Carmen Richardson, Edmond seen the list of speakers and the choices still will be difficult. Associate The tours provide another unique way *Ken and Barb Buettner, Edmond to learn more about Oklahoma history. Friend We will have tour guides who know *Stephen Adelson, Tulsa local stories, whether it is in the town of *Karl and Jimmie Bergey, Norman Sulphur or on the way to the Chickasaw *Chris and Patty Hoag, Quinton Randy Hogan, Oklahoma City By Dr. Bob L. Blackburn Cultural Center. Tours are a good way to *Keith and Elaine McKee, Edmond Executive Director connect the dots of what we have read *Bill and Kathleen Settle, Muskogee and what we can see and experience. Glenn Smallwood Jr., Cape Girardeau, MO *Boyd and Gay Tudor, Edmond Another reason to go this year is At least once a year, we need to slow *Charles and Kathryn Woltz, Norman the celebration of our long-standing down, gather with friends, and immerse partnership with the Chickasaw Nation. Family ourselves in Oklahoma history. That Since the 1990s, just as Oklahoma Carol Beesley, Norman opportunity is coming up at the OHS C. Lynn Bullard, Shady Pointe tribes were regaining powers of self- History Conference, scheduled for April Anita Chisholm, Oklahoma City governance, we found a way to reach Thomas Cowger, Ada 22, 23, and 24 in Sulphur. out to the Chickasaw Nation as an equal *Frank Davis, Guthrie There are many reasons to attend this Terry and Cheryl England, Oklahoma City partner with a shared mission. Since Howard and Peggy Ferrell, Edmond celebration of Oklahoma history. those early agreements, we have worked Stephen Geries, Yukon First are the people who will be there, *Margret Hall and Mary Myers, Oklahoma City with Governor Anoatubby and his staff including speakers, authors, professors, *Eugene Jones, Oklahoma City on a number of projects, from museum *Robert Key, Mustang students, and local history enthusiasts collections and exhibits to banquets and *Alan Livingston, Houston, TX from all parts of the state, including the Gary and Judith Marrs, Oklahoma City archival preservation. members of the OHS Board of Directors. Michael Riley, Poteau Governor Anoatubby will present the *Allison Shroff and Amanda Djukic, Claremore The History Conference gives us time to keynote address and join me at a special Michael and Suzanne Wallis, Tulsa share what we are working on and talk Ed and Nancy Ward, Moore reception to toast the spirit of a partner- Jo Ann White and Anna Blair, Oklahoma City about opportunities to work together. ship that is based on mutual respect and I have attended every OHS Annual a shared sense of community. You should Individual Conference since the format was Sam Adams, Ada take this chance to meet a man who will expanded in 1985, and I have found Dayna Allen, Atoka go down in history as a great leader. Tawny Baker, Idabel it to be a great opportunity to build a Yes, at least once a year we need to slow Shelby Barnett, Skiatook network of historians who really care Sharon Bellew, Stratford down, gather with friends, and immerse Tim Brewer, Talihina about collecting, preserving, and sharing ourselves in Oklahoma history. I hope to Kati Cain, Ada history. Each year, my list of friends Amber Conley, Collinsville see you at the OHS History Conference in grows. Carl Cummings, Owasso Sulphur. Carolyn Cuskey, Midwest City Just as important is the chance to dis- Krisann Diaz, Sapulpa cover something new about Oklahoma history. If there is anything I have learned cont’d. on p. 7 after completing the PhD, writing books, Oklahoma Historical Society Membership Office: Alma Moore 405-522-5242 Development News [email protected] By Larry O’Dell Mistletoe Leaves (USPS 018-315) is published monthly by the Oklahoma Historical Society, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, Oklahoma City, OK 73105- 7917.