Oklahoma
Before we go on about Oklahoma we have to share our last
stop in Texas, Palo Dura State Park. This canyon park extends 11 miles through
a beautiful red Rock Canyon. Texans feel it is the grand canyon of Texas. The
canyon was the site of a famous battle between the Comanche Worrier Quanah
Parker and the US Calvary.
We are out of Texas and into OK. Our first stop was Boiling
Spring State Park in Woodward OK. It reminded us of the parks in FL with the
water boiling out of the ground. Here though only about 30 gallons/minute, not
the thousands like in FL. We enjoyed the trails in the park and did lots of
birding. We also went to the Lesser Prairie Chicken festival. We were going to
go out at 4 in the morning but because of the high winds they couldn’t set up
the bird blinds. Instead we met at 5:30 and went out in a van. As dawn came so
did the birds. The male Prairie Chickens do a dance; puff up a sack on the side
of their head and dance around trying to impress the hens. We also had 2 other
trips to see birds and prairie dog towns. On one trip it was just David and I
and our guide. Alex was a wonderful young man and so enthusiastic about birds
and plants. Our personal tour was memorable.
From here we went to Salt Plains State Park. This is the
home of Great Salt Plains National Wildlife refuge. This unique habitat is an
excellent stop over for birds migrating to their breeding grounds in sub arctic
region. We again went on many
hikes looking for birds along the way. At one site we watched a 5 ft rat snake
use downed trees to get to a man made bird house set up in the water. It
avoided the snake guard and slither up the post to the house and got inside.
Over time all 5 feet disappeared. I’m
sure the eggs inside did too.
We are now in Osage Hill country. For 2 nights we camped in the Osage Hill State Park. We again
hiked all around the park birding along the way. In Bartlesville we went to the
Woolaroc museum. The founder of Phillips Petroleum established it, Frank
Phillips. It is on 3800 acres. When you arrive you have a 2-mile driveway,
along the way there were 3 kinds of deer, a zebra, water buffalo (not bison)
and an emu. He established this because he wanted children to remember the
past. His collection of Indian relics went back to 200AD. The collection of
Indian chief portraits, clothing, blankets and jewelry was just stunning. The
cowboy saddles, one studded in diamonds, sapphires and rubies, was beyond
belief. The collection of great
western paintings, breath taking, Russell, Remington, Lee, Moran and Johnson just
to name a few. He had a collection of Colt guns of all makes. I didn’t know
they made that many. There were bison, elephant, deer and even a moose head on
the walls.
Mr. Phillips started out as a barber, owned a bank and got
into oil. There is a story that his banks never were robbed because the bank
robbers kept the money they stole from other banks in his. He would have huge
cookouts for eastern big wigs with cowboys, bank robbers and sheriffs. They
would all come together because Frank would make the law agree to let the
gangsters have a 24-hour head start when the party was over.
We moved on to a private campground near Pawhuska. This was
so we could get to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. It is about 40,000 acres
protected by The Nature Conservancy. At one time there were portions of 14
states and over 142 million acres of tallgrass prairie. This preserve also has
a heard of about 2,700 bison that roam free over certain parts of the range.
They have been genetically tested and are about 99.9% bison/ 0.1% cattle.
Besides driving through the park, visiting the Barnard ranch, which is now the
visitor’s center, we did a 3-mile hike. Ben Johnson Jr., the Hollywood actor, grew up on this ranch.
His father was foreman. You may remember him in the cowboy movies, with John
Wayne. Before getting into the movies he was a nationally known Rodeo cowboy
star. He started out in Hollywood training actors how to look like they could
really ride a horse.
We also came to this Prairie so we could see the Greater
Prairie Chicken. We were able to find out where on the range to hopefully see
them. Early this morning we lucked out. At first we only heard them but
eventually they showed themselves. Again the males strut around to look
impressive for the chicks.
We plan to go into Tulsa to a museum tomorrow then move on
come Monday.
While doing laundry today our campground host informed me
that we might have a tornado tomorrow night. She said there is a sever weather
warning for this county. I was shown where the tornado shelter is and she was
going to clean out the cobwebs and put new flashlights in them. She said the
Indians picked Pawhuska to live because they felt the way the land is it
wouldn’t have a tornado. When I asked if there has ever been one in town she
said no but we aren’t in town. I guess there have been some 30 miles to the
north and south of here. Well as David and I say it’s just like being on the
boat in a storm, just be prepared. We have a storm cellar right next to our campsite!
Oklahoma has been most enjoyable. The scenery has been
great. There is a great difference from west to east. It is anything but a flat
featureless landscape. That description would better fit the panhandle of
Texas. Furthermore the people of Oklahoma couldn’t be friendlier.
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| Palo Dura Canyon |
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| Rufous-crown Sparrow |
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| Palo Dura Canyon |
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| Golden Fronted Woodpecker |
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| Lesser Prairie Chicken in full display |
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| Two LPC facing off |
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| Snake in a box |
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| Blue Gray Gnatcatcher on her clutch |
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| Sun Set view from our trailer at Great Salt Plains SP |
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| Lark Sparrow |
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| Wild flowers covering prairie |
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| Bison cow and calf |
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| Scissor tailed Flycatcher |
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| Marsh at great Salt Plains |
