Category Archives: Oklahoma

Happy Birthday Martha Berryhill

I opened up the Tulsa World this morning and they had an article about Martha Berryhill of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, a Muscogee (Creek) citizen who celebrated her 109th birthday yesterday. She may be the oldest person in Oklahoma. That is quite a feat in anybody’s book.

What makes it even more amazing is that she is the tribes last surviving Dawes allottee. The Dawes Rolls are the basis of membership in many of the tribes in Oklahoma. The whole process of the Dawes Rolls that were compiled in from 1898 to 1907 is described very well in Angie Debos, “And Still the Waters Run.“

Anyway, enough for that, Happy Birthday Martha!

Millennials, a Carpenter’s Union, and the Homeless. Explained by an Old Crusty Gas Guy!

These Millennials flooding the workplace are something else. They know how to work in groups, they are technologically adept, work hard and are eager to learn. They have also had their butts kissed since birth and like it. And we Baby Boomers love them. They are our kids. Generation X’ers apparently hate them, but I’m not going to get into that!

Millennials don’t know everything, I have proof! Some things have to be explained to them. For example here in Tulsa the local Carpenter’s Union (Local 943) in conjunction with their parent organization (Arkansas Regional Council of Carpenters) is in a two year campaign to force a local contractor, Green Country Interiors (“GCI”), to convert to a union shop. They are doing this by picketing jobs that Green Country Interiors are working on now and businesses that have used GCI previously. The Union is even picketing the entrance to the neighborhood of the president of Green Country. I give this as a little bit of background.

The Union has outsourced the actual picketing to homeless people who get $10/hour and no benefits. Brilliant! I think the problem may be that actual carpenters are actually working and may not be too excited about taking off work to picket. So outsource the labor. Way to go local 943. Turn the tables! Out of box thinking.

My employer has hired a bunch of new college grads each of the last several years. One of our selling points is our extensive training program. My part of the training program is to sit them in a conference room and bore them past tears to total despair as I drone on … and on. However, I do wake them so we can go to lunch, (because I’m nice guy). As we were walking to the restaurant we passed the picketers who were marching and chanting. The Millenials asked what was going on? I summarized the above. They asked “So these homeless people want to go to work on the building?” Oh, no, I don’t think that is the plan at all, I told them. The Union wants GCI to be a union shop. That way GCI’s workers will become union employees. “What about the homeless people?” they ask. I say, “What about them?” I tell them maybe the homeless folks can take their newfound picketing and chanting skills and go to work for the iron workers or something. Or more likely they stay homeless.

These Millennials who are supposed to be so smart couldn’t figure any of this out. They don’t think it makes any sense, further they don’t think it is very fair. That is why companies will need old crusty guys like me to keep stuff like this all sorted out. Or at least that is what I tell myself.

My World – Oklahoma Road Trip

I had a four day weekend so we decided to take a little road trip from Tulsa.

First we headed off to Oklahoma City

On the way we took a small detour on old Route 66 so I could find a few geocaches. One place we looked was at this old gas station right on the road. The landowner left a little informative sign. Apparently their was a counterfeiting operation here during the depression. Also, not long ago somebody dumped a body. We didn’t see a body but somebody had dumped a kitten there. Very sad.

A little further on we stopped at “Pops.” A diner/gas station on route 66 near Arcadia. Built by an Oklahoma Oilman this place boasts over 400 kinds of soda pop. I believe it! We only had one each.

SuperPizzaBoy had a “Mexican” Coke, Sweetie a Grape Nehi.

I had some sort of Black Cherry Cream Soda. They were all great.

A little blast from the past, we went by the first house that Sweetie and I lived in when got married. Nearly 20 years ago.

Next, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. It was great. They had a exhibition on “Turner to Cezanne” from the National Museum of Wales. Plus the museum is know of their Dale Chihuly glass exhibit. Breathakingly beautiful works of glass. Check out his web site here.

We spent the night in downtown Oklahoma City. We ate dinner and saw a movie in Bricktown. Lots of canals, restaurants, bars, and a movie theater.

Next day, we ate breakfast and headed down to Duncan, Oklahoma to see the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center.

This is a small museum but well worth seeing. They have an interactive, hands on area, great for kids, and a regular museum with some great works. The star of the show is a multimedia presentation about a cattle drive. It is multi D. So when it rains you get sprinkled, you also smell the bacon and coffee on the campfire. When the longhorn’s stampede you feel it in your seat.

Next, it was back north to Norman to the University of Oklahoma. They are working hard in Norman to make a university for which the football team can be proud. The University is home to the Fred Jones Museum of Art. The basis of the art collection is the Weitzenhoffer collection the university received several years back. Works by Degas, Gauguin, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, among others are in the collection. They also had an exhibition of the Rennard Strickland Collection of Native American Art.

We really liked it but our eyes were getting a little glassy from what SuperPizzaBoy called our “Museumathon.” So we loaded up, drove to Oklahoma City to Johnnies for hamburgers and great ice tea and then booked it home.

Check out That’s My World for great photos of our world.

My World – Doaksville Oklahoma

I found Doaksville, Oklahoma last week during a trip to southeast Oklahoma. I had never heard of Doaksville and found it only because I was looking for a geocache. I love serendipity and this is a good example why.

Doaksville was once the biggest city in is now Oklahoma. It was started as a trading post by Josiah Doaks in the 1820’s. It grew quickly and for a time was the Choctaw Tribal Capital. The Civil War started its decline and it became a ghost town by 1900. In the mid 1990’s the Oklahoma Historical Society did extensive archeological excavations of many of the former structures. The site is now well maintained and has excellent interpretive displays.

To get to Doaksville you walk through the massive Doaksville Cemetery. It is very easy for me to get distracted by old cemeteries.

I get to wondering things like, “Does anybody know anything about Little Lonzo Wilson?” a three year old who died on Christmas Day 1918.

The grave of David Folsom, former chief of the Choctaws. A Christian slave owner who brought missionaries to Indian Territory and supported education efforts. “Christian slave owner” is a concept that is very hard to imagine right now. It also applies to some of the founders of our country.

Old piece of a gravestone – separated from its grave. I love the held hands.

Jimmie Dale I hope that you are fishing somewhere.After you walk through the cemetery you get to Doaksville. Nobody there but me for over two hours one day.

Excavated Tavern- this was the hearth.

A plaque commerating the surrender of General Stand Watie. A Cherokee born in Calhoun, Georgia. A wealthy plantation owning slaveholder. Supported Cherokee removal to Indian Territory. For a time he was Principal Chief of the Cherokees. Led the First Indian Brigade of the Confederate Army. Fought Union troops in Arkansas, Indian Territory, Missouri, Kansas, and Texas. He also fought fellow Indians who did not support the Confederacy. Surrendered to Union troops after the battle of Doaksville.

The jail. Three cells, not very big. Three foot thick limestone.

Here is the cache I was looking for.

For other views of our world check out That’s My World Tuesday.

Article from Smithsonian Online about the Final Confederate Surrender at Doaksville

That’s My World – Little Dixie Geocaching

I went on a little geocaching expedition in southeast Oklahoma last Friday. Southeast Oklahoma is nicknamed “Little Dixie” because historically and culturally it shares a lot of traits with Arkansas, Lousiana, and east Texas.

At Hugo lake I had to hiking across a couple bridges. The first one, although shaky, was doable.

The second bridge was under water. As we say in natural gas business. I plugged and abandoned this cache.
I ran into a major distraction at two caches in an abandoned town named Doaksville. I had never heard of Doaksville but at one time it was one of the largest towns in Indian Territory. It has been a major archeological site and there are tons of interpretive signs and information. I spent a couple hours their poking around. I’m researching another “My World” post for Doaksville. It is of major historical importance. For instance the last confederate general to surrender after the Civil War did it at Doaksville. The town was abandoned for various reasons in the 1880’s and was just left to rot.
Next, Idabel, home of the Girls of Today in Idabel Oklahoma. I had been there several times but had never found a cache there.

The cache I found in Idabel was in a bamboo patch. What’s up with that? Bamboo?

Then I drove up to Beaver’s Bend State Park. One of the jewels of the Oklahoma State Park System. I found a couple caches there and two whitetail deer and a deer fawn who popped up from its hiding place about 15 feet away from me.

Beaver’s Bend is a beautiful place to visit. Fortunately for geocachers. I think only about 1 in a hundred people go more than 50 yards off the trails.

At about 7 pm I called it quits. I called Sweetie and told her that I was driving home.

I got home a few minutes after midnight. What a day!

Check out That’s My World for other views of our world.

Tulsa Tea Party

A big party going on downtown in the Oilfield Capital of the World. A tea party. I’d never heard of such a thing but when I looked out the window at the crowd my coworkers had to tell me what was going on. Where have I been?

So I had to go check it out at lunch. Lots of signs, lots of nerdy looking people with cameras. A helicopter showed up. The photographers went crazy. I refused to join the crowd wasting electrons on a whirlybird a 1000 feet in the air. So I took a picture of this guy taking a picture. He has a lot better camera than I do. The speaker told everybody to wave at the helicopter, and they did!! Who’d have thought a bunch of free thinkers could be led so easily. Kind of worries me, how about you, you worried?

I don’t know what everybody is all bent out of shape about but the speaker kept on talking about taking back our nation, we are a nation of Christians…, yadayadayada badababadababa blah blah blah… No disrespect intended. I hate all political speeches. But I love politics, go figure. I was more into people watching. Then I switched to signs.

Its like everybody was just milling around waiting for something to happen. A couple coworkers came by and chatted. While we were talking every once in a while the crowd would cheer and clap and my friends would clap also. I asked them “Why you clapping. What did the guy say.” They said, “We didn’t hear him, we are justing supporting him.” I asked “Who is he?” They didn’t know. I guess I don’t get it.