Oklahoma State Capitol Sept 27, 2007

The Oklahoma Senate. For those of you who did not spend 18 years in the Maryland Senate Chamber, it looks a lot like Annapolis, just a little less marble.

Oklahoma State Capitol Sept 27, 2007

The Oklahoma State flag was designed by a Shawnee Indian woman, and depicts an Osage shield, covered by a peace pipe. She was way kinder than I would have been. When Oklahoma was admitted to the Union, the terrritory was new settlers on the West and 5 Indian tribes on the East. The Indians planned to enter the Union as a state named Sequoyah (see his pix), and had a constitution, etc. prepared, but only one state was admitted, and the Sequoyah constitution was so progressive and well done, that Oklahoma used most of it. The UFO hovering in the upper right is not part of the design, but a reflection, which even my Sony Cybershot could not avoid.

Okla. State Capitol, Sept 27, 2007

Look who else was an Oklahoma boy!! Mr. Walton! Married an Oklahoma girl and opened his first store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962. In 2005, when the picture was painted, hung and the accompanying plaque done, Mr. Walton had 3600 stores and was the largest private employer in America. The plaque did not say how many employees had health insurance.

Oklahome State Capitol, Sept. 27, 2007

Kinda scary, huh? There are stairs, rather than a 30 foot drop off here, but you didn't catch me going down them. I'll bet all the Legislators use these stairs, to avoid all of the lobbyists who couldn't talk and navigate these steps at the same time.

oklahome State Capitol Sept 27, 2007

Bet no one knows who this is!!! Here is Sequoyah, one of America's first one name celebrities, also known as George Guess or Gist. He invented/discovered/wrote down the Cherokee alphabet, allowing them to perserve their culture.

Okla State Capitol Sept 27, 2007

Turns out Will Rogers was an Oklahoma boy, of Cherokee ancestry.

Okla. State Capitol, Sept 27, 2007

Here is Oklahoma City, April 22, 1889, 12 hours after the land run. On April 21 it was a railroad stop with 4 small buildings. "Oklahoma" is a Choctaw word for 'Land of the Red Man.' Yes, that worked out well for the Choctaw.

Okla.City State Capitol, Sept 27, 2007

This lovely painting depicts the signing of the treaty between the Osage and the US. We paid them, the whole tribe, $7, 000 a year for 20 years to get off their land. Let's see, one could get a double wide on a 1/4 acre now for that.

Okla. City, Okla, State Capital Sept 27, 2007

Bobbi added Oklahoma to her State Capitol collection, but check it out- did you spot the oil well in the front yard???? Plenty of parking tho, compared to Annapolis.

Windmills, Arkansas, Sept 27, 2007

No carbon emmissions, no nuclear waste, but when they are used there are hundreds of them, everywhere!!

Fort Smith, Ark, Sept 26, 2007

Here is some of what is left of Fort Smith, an important place in American history, even if you have never heard of it. There were 2-3 renditions of it over the years, but it changed from being a defensive outpost to being the Army's 1840's number one commissary for all of its activities further West. In the end it was a Federal courthouse and the women's prison. But it is best known to Native Americans as the beginning of the Trail of Tears.

Crossing the Mississippi Sept 25, 2007

We are once again crossing the Mississippi, this time heading West, driving our sorta new Honda back to the 'ranch.'