Goodbye Texas and hello Oklahoma! After spending seven weeks in Texas where I enjoyed another Starship launch, relaxed at Padre Island National Seashore, and watched the total solar eclipse within the path of totality with friends on a cattle ranch, it was time to ramble on.
While passing through Chickasaw Nation I stopped at
Fort Washita Historic Site and noticed this book:
The Prairie Traveler. This historical book is "a hand-book for overland expeditions. With maps, illustrations, and itineraries of the principal routes between the Mississippi and the Pacific." For my second night in the Sooner State I found a spot to camp along Atoka Reservoir inside Choctaw Nation. The big name associated with the nearby towns of Atoka, Kiowa, and McAlester is Reba McEntire who most recognize as a famous country music singer. Reba even has a nice restaurant in Atoka named
Reba's Place - next time I am passing through I will stop and try the chicken fried steak!
Some may not realize that McAlester Army Ammunition Plant is in McAlester, Oklahoma are responsible for manufacturing the
GBU-43/B MOAB (Mother Of All Bombs). This is the largest conventional weapon ever used in combat and produces a yield equivalent to a small tactical nuclear weapon.
The particular weapon has always been interesting to me since I was in the area when the first one was tested on Eglin AFB back in 2003. What few realize is that prior the "first test" that was publicly announced there was an identical test approximately one week earlier that was secret. By the way, those grid fins on the rear - a Russian invention, amazing. Yes, I am an aeronautics geek!
Moving to the east I entered the
Choctaw Nation - this is Tvshka Homma, which means "Red Warrior." The building was also the Choctaw Capitol building until 1907 when the Tribal government was dissolved and the Federal government took control. All bricks were manufactured on site using clay from nearby. The sandstone sills were also from the area as was all wood used.
This is the Tribal Court where I sat for some time trying to imagine what historical discussions, debates, and decisions, took place here. I love visiting historic places such as this and just relaxing trying to imagine what took place in the past. Upstairs is the
Choctaw Nation Museum and the section I enjoyed the most featured the "
code talkers" of WWI and WWII.
Here I am camped beside Nanih Waiya Lake in the Choctaw Nation preparing for my next overland adventure. This lake was named after a sacred location in Mississippi called Inholitopa iski, or "mother mound," where some believe the first Choctaw was born into this world. Nanih Waiya was also the name of their first capitol in Indian Territory after being forced to move from Mississippi to current day Oklahoma in 1838. There's so much history everywhere I go an I just love learning about everything.
My next adventure will begin in Oklahoma and end in central Arkansas - I will spend much time in the mountains alone
'cause I'm an Indian outlaw...
