Expedition Oklahoma

Ft. Towson

A little about Ft. Towson it was established early in the history of the Choctaw Nation on the Red River, not too far from present day Idabel and Hugo.   It is the site of a one time military fort.  It is one of the earlier forts in present day Oklahoma, established in 1824, it was held as a bastion against the neighboring Mexican border.  

Oklahoma Historical Society on Ft. Towson

Just the ruins of an old military post.  

Ft. Towson at the Digital Library of OSU Near the Kiamichi and Red Rivers the old Ft. Towson. It was used heavily during the Mexican war, for a center for troops.  Famous historical figures once graced  its grounds such as Jefferson Davis, Sam Houston and Davey Crockett to name a few.  

Nothing but piles of rocks and the story that history tells us.  

Why are we as humans fascinated with the past?  Why are we fascinated by the pile of rocks that people left behind of their dwellings hundreds of years ago?  What drives us to preserve the past?  What will we lose if we don't ?   I've never "thought" about Ft. Towson, I've never contemplated where it was, until the day I went to it.  I know it now.  But it doesn't mean a lot to me. I'm not passionate about this old Fort, created by our Government.  

Unlike Doaksville which you can access through the back of a cemetery af ew miles away, an important place for the Choctaw people, this place.  This Fort Towson, is getting a brand new visitors center.  The State of Oklahoma (probably backed by some federal funding)- is building a brand new visitors center.  Why?  Why not build a visitors center near Doaksville, why doesn't the Choctaw Nation own Doaksville?   

At the time Ft. Towson was abandoned photography was in its childhood.  We had black and white photos.  When Ft. Towson was founded, a drawing or a painting was the only way to see it or remember it.   

The old wells fascinate me.  The process people had to go through to get clean water to drink, by hand.   

We can't get so caught up in preserving the past that we miss the future.   Perhaps photography is the same thing, we photographers preserve moment by moment of the past.   It is hard to focus on the future.  

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Oklahoma's Alligator Rock

Something interesting happened this afternoon while the husband and I were on a nice little afternoon drive.  We decided to drive out to Alligator Rock which is on a road which was (the last time we were there) called "Dr. Pepper Road.  Now alligator rock is just a large rocky outcropping on the side of a county road.  I'd had someone contact me for directions to it (which I couldn't adequately give since it is in the middle of nowhere between Velma and Loco in Stephens county.  

This noble Gator, sitting by the barbed wire fence.  

My last post about this was another evening my husband and I were driving around out  in the country.  What I enjoy about our drives is he has all of his childhood stories and memories in these rural Stephens county places.  Previous Alligator Rock Post

Now here is something we found intresting about our little drive today.  The last time we visited the road to Alligator Rock was clearly marked with "Dr.Pepper Road"  (at the intersection of Loco Road south of Velma).   This time (two years later) -  the Dr. Pepper Road sign is totally gone (no post- nothing).   And there is a "Do not Molest the Alligator " sign, it also says "County Property"  well guess what citizens of Stephens County Oklahoma, this is OUR county, we pay the TAXES this is OUR property.    It is also interesting, that in today's age a rock IN A DITCH would warrant the time and effort and a sign,  this rock is in such a remote area that without directions you won't find it.  Especially with changing road signs.   

How ridiculous it is that someone felt the need to put a "Do Not Molest" sign up.  Can you imagine had Onate ran across a "do not molest" sign while visiting El Morro  in New Mexico, what became inscription rock?  Do you really think that individuals who have no respect for nature or the earth would respect a sign put up by a county in the middle of nowhere?   In fact the "Do Not Molest" sign takes this from being a cool rock in the middle of NOWHERE.  To a social commentary on the state of today's society.  Where everything is regulated, the county does not trust "The people." I would have never imagined I'd have found a political soapbox topic while out on a country drive over a rock that looks like an alligator. How ridiculous.   

This is just a neat spot on the road. I don't care if drunken teenagers managed to scratch their name on the rock. In 100 years those names will be history.   

 

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Shots out on the Range

There is some open range on a gravel road near our house...  yesterday these three guys ran in front of the car and then looked at us, like we were crazy or something.   

We had a donkey when I was a kid.  We adopted him from the Adopt a Horse program.  

My High School mascot was the Donkey...   yes.  Laugh now.   

I didn't take this picture, my Husband did, but aren't they precious.  

The view facing west, at night you can see Duncan and Comanche 

A short history of these mountains... from the town of Velma

After a long day, we are almost home.  

The Glorious Staircase

After my appointment, I left with the intentions of doing some photography around Talilhina.  The day humid and rainy, yet holding at a nice 80 degrees.  I decided to drive up the winding staircase, and forgot my map.  I hate traveling without a map,  luckily the visitors center had Maps of Arkansas and Oklahoma.  I headed towards Mena.   I love this area of Oklahoma and Arkansas for many reasons.  The natural beauty that takes your breath away.  Knowing that my ancestors came there, some as early as the 1820s and 1830s.  My Choctaw ancestors walked the trail of tears.   My heritage lies in the Ouachitas.  My Father was born in Arkansas during the Great Depression.  

I love this view... 

This is my simple religion.  There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy.  Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.  ~Dalai Lama

To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature.  Most persons do not see the sun.  At least they have a very superficial seeing.  The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and heart of the child.  The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

No, I did not take this photo of myself. A couple were stopped and asked me to photograph them, and then offered to photograph me on the mountain.   It is funny what tourists we are, that we love to bring back the memento that we "were somewhere"  "I was here"  I have been to this place.  Is traveling so important that we have to mark the places we visited with our souls carved into the pixels on our digital camera.   Its interesting traveling to places such as El Morro in New Mexico and seeing the Conquistadors,  and Pioneers that carved their names into a rock, as if to shout "I existed, I was here" four hundred years ago... and today we may not carve our names into the mountain but we record our journies through our photography, our networking and our interactive world that we have spun around this world wide web.  Someday our existence on this earth will be lived through the genes of our children and a marker in a cemetery.  And perhaps a hundred years later someone will walk up to your grave and say your name aloud,  remembering your existence.  

Memory is a child walking along a seashore.  You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasured things.  ~Pierce Harris, Atlanta Journal

We do not remember days; we remember moments.  ~Cesare Pavese, The Burning Brand

Is it not what photography is?  Its moments remembered.  These images, that I can look at will take me back to a time, a place, a smell, a memory.  A memory that I may have lost in the abyss that is my thoughts.  Then I pull a file and look at a photo and I'm taken back to a specific day, time, place and moment... 1, 2, 5 or 10 years ago.   I can remember my life through a photograph.   A photograph at the time is just a picture, but in the future it will be a memory.   

 

Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
~T.S. Eliot

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.  When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.  ~Ansel Adams

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.  ~John Muir

Oh, the smell of the pine trees!  So green, so alive, did you know that "green" has a smell, it does.   The earth smelled alive in the Ouachitas.  While the earth is baked and thirsty at home.   

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.  ~John Muir

Sunset on the Lake

Went out for a little walk this evening out through the pastures and got some photos of the lake.  We even found some greenery not too far from the house.  It was nice getting outside even if it was 101 degrees at 8 pm.  But, hey, that is normal now.  

Trees fill the canyon area heading down to the lake. 

Just go towards the light....  it was kind of creepy down in the brush and brambles... 

as we walked through the brambles...  we could see the sun hitting the lake. 

Very pretty evening... 

I love where I live... you can't beat this for a sunset. 

Its green, I don't care if most of the green is moss, its still green! 

It was so pretty this evening on this stagnating side of the mossy lake. 

Meet Bo, my Father in Law gave him to us, because he's a little too energetic to live with retired folks. 

Bo 

He only looks crazy... 

Sunset on the lake 

A beautiful sunset.  

It was getting dark and creepy walking back through all of the green of what once was the creek that flows into this lake.  We didn't walk all the way down, we drove down in the pastures, so we made it back to the vehicle in time for the sun to be gone and the remaining colors in the sky to linger before night came in and eclipsed the world into darkness.  

and it was time to go home... I miss getting out in the evenings. I was so used to seeing regular sunsets, that this long, hot miserable summer has left me missing my time outside in the evening. 

Hat Top Mountain

The only information I could find on Hat Top Mountain was on the City of Velma's page, which states "This mountain is to the west of the other, which is known as Hat Top Mountain. This one stands like a great cowboy hat. It is one of the early landmarks by which the Indian and the scout could easily identify." I also found some history of early Stephens county on the Garvin County Genweb.  Here is a personal account of Henry Tussey, whom the community of Tussy is named after, just a few miles down the road from the images of Hat Top Mountain. 

It stands out on the landscape of Southern Stephens county, this image is near Baseline Road a few miles north of Velma.  

Another view of Hat Top Mountain from Baseline Road.  Another page of Stephens County History for you to check out: http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v020/v020p051.html

Another view from Baseline Road 

The Long Hot Summer and The Little Niagara

Last week we went to the Little Niagara at the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, to cool off in the spring fed waters of the swimming hole.  I've never swam in the water of the deep pool of the Little Niagara, finding it way too cold.   Last August we stopped on a 105 degree day and found the water so frigid that we were turning blue when we left after a 30 minute swim.  This year it was tolerably cool, but not cold.  I will be posting some "compare and contrast photos" of the Little Niagara.

This photo was my youngest Son during our first visit to The Chickasaw National Recreation Area in May of 2010.  

July 2011, after a record breaking heatwave.   

The rushing waters, May 2010

July of 2011, no water flowing into the creek... 

 

Little Niagara, May 2010

This photo was taken on June 17, 2011 

Another July 2011 shot of the Little Niagara 

My oldest Son soaking up the rays and laying in the water flowing over the rocks...in May of 2010

You can see the effects of the extreme heat and drought, July 2011 

I will leave you with a photo of the rushing stream taken in April of 2011.

Here are links to my previous postings on the Chickasaw National Recreation Area:

http://obscurity.typepad.com/expedition_oklahoma/2010/05/little-niagara-at-the-chickasaw-national-recreation-area.html

http://obscurity.typepad.com/expedition_oklahoma/2011/04/chickasaw-national-recreation-area-in-sulphur.html

http://obscurity.typepad.com/expedition_oklahoma/2011/04/family-day-at-the-little-niagara-.html

http://obscurity.typepad.com/expedition_oklahoma/2011/06/a-birthday-in-sulphur-.html

 

Photographing from Mount Scott

After spending the weekend removing over 10,000 images from the hard drive of my computer I hope to be able to compose a post without my computer crashing.   Friday I took the boys to the Wichita Mountains, we drove up Mount Scott, and Rowan played photographer.  We also went hiking and then to the Prairie Dog village, after that fun we went to Medicine Park where they went swimming (they didn't care that the wind was blowing 40 mph).   We finished the day with burgers at historic Meers Store.   A very nice day with my two young men.    

Our second stop was the Wichitas I will save the first stop at the Ft.Sill National Cemetery for a later posting.  Where I gave my newly turned 13 year old the Canon Rebel and told him to go take photos for me.   He did, he is my technology boy so I thought turning him loose on nature with something to do.

Here is one of Rowan's Photos.  Shot with the Canon Rebel. 

The boys on Mount Scott, it was windy that day.  Windy enough to blow us off that mountain! 

Another shot by my oldest Son. 

Its nice to have two cameras. One to teach with and also photograph the kid who is occupied so he can't hide from me.  

another landscape by Rowan.  

They love climbing on the rocks!

Rowan's last and my favorite shot on Mount Scott.  

 

 

Oklahoma City Saturday

Last Saturday we had a family day in the city with the teenagers.  We went to see Rand's "Atlas Shrugged," which I highly recommend the dystopic novel for an eye opening read and statement on today's society as well as a look at the history of the early years of the Soviet Union.   A dystopic vision of the idealism we are faced with in political correctness.  Anyways,  after the show we took a walk around Bricktown and Downtown OKC.  

The buildings in bricktown reflecting off of the canal.

Downtown Bricktown

Me, the Husband and the teenagers...this photo is cool because it is in the window of a building in downtown OKC. 

 I had very good intentions of taking the "You are a Man" 13 year old birthday photos. Unfortunately my son is not agreeable when being photographed.  He's a downright pain.   This is the best shot of my "little Man" -I don't think I'm allowed to call him that anymore....

This child, likes to be photographed.  

Giving my husband photography credit, because I didn't take this shot, as it is of yours truly.  But since I was nice enough to let him take a photo with his new camera that I use....  I thought I'd include it.  

Photographing the photographer, it was prom night in OKC.  Plenty of photographers hanging around Bricktown. 

Downtown OKC, I like this shot. 

Someone wanted a picture in front of the limo... 

My daughter again...  actually smiling.  

We ended the day looking at the landrun statues in the park which I'll save for another post! 

The University Of Oklahoma

Last week I got my acceptance letter from OU.  Next year I will be attending the University of Oklahoma to pursue my Masters Degree!  So, I went to Norman last week to check out the campus and try to find out some information about enrolling.  Of course the camera went with me to check out the campus.  To say I'm excited about going back to school is an understatement!  

The stadium, I finished a 5K in this stadium last fall.  I've also been there to see U2 in concert...never for football. 

A love affair with knowledge will never end in heartbreak.  ~Michael Garrett Marino

Real education must ultimately be limited to men who insist on knowing, the rest is mere sheep-herding.  ~Ezra Pound

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.  ~Henry Ford

Squirrel!!!  This little guy was watching me... posing.  Not afraid.