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This is the old highway 15 which has been
resurfaced.. This the first leg of our trip as we
drove to Pawnee, Oklahoma to visit the Indian clinic. I never say
anything about how old timers
called it haunted to the people who drive over this. The road is
straight, not used by trucks
and usually with little traffic so it is a nice drive. There are too many
stories I remember
being told about that somewhere along here is a portal to another world
that exists along side
our own. Mostly folks do not believe that anymore so, "let sleeping dogs
lie."
The entrance to the relatively new Indian clinic is an clean,
well-landscaped edifice with
an expensive tin roof. As we drove around a slow curve to come upon it,
the building was
exciting to see.
This shot is closer to the entry way.
The first of a great collection of really outstanding Indian art. I can't
even imagine how
much this collection is worth. The only thing I missed was a descriptive
tab beside the
pictures to explain their knowledge. Some of understanding will be lost
without a recording of what it means.
This wide, very clean hall way is only one of
the walkways through the building. The recessed
lighting adds a soft light to enhance the painting and antique photographs
which are covered with glass. Even the floor holds a Native American
design.
The flashbulb detracts from the painting under glass but I left it because
it is a good example of
how the paintings have been appropriately positioned for the particular
place where they hang. This
is an elderly woman teaching a young woman and is what happened, without
fail. So much of what
I learned was from my grandmother.
This subject matter is not clearly seen, again, because of the flashbulb.
Positioning it over the
water fountain where cool refreshment is available, to me, well
illustrates the beautiful sound of the flute
on a cool evening as seen here.
This is a small niche within the great building. I can't remember what
this particular area served but
seems like it was for the eyes. Each section has its own area, eyes,
diabetics, pediatrics, family, etc.
We are outside the building here and this is a part of the old boarding
school that has been closed
for too many years to remember. I watched the children play on these lawns
when I was a child and
remembered asking Mother if I could go to school there and I remember her
set jaw and unresponsiveness and didn't understand why at the time. I do
now.
The marker on the front lawn of this building
tells us the historical society has probably saved these
old buildings. I didn't get a good photograph of the old hospital but it
was a really large building and is
still outstanding. This smaller house is where the superintendant of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs lived.
I also remember this building well since we drove here many times during
my childhood. The Pawnee
hospital is where all our health routines were met. This house would make
a wonderful living museum
where records of genealogy could be kept, second floor. This area does
flood and records in the
hospital have been lost.
On our way back over highway 15 again a large spread of water can be
seen. This is the back
side of the Oklahoma Gas and Electric power station. You can barely see
it on the horizon. Here is information on it:
http://www.cleartheair.org/reports/fishing_for_trouble/fishing_for_trouble.pdf
A barn constructed way back, when I can't tell you at the moment. It
burned at one point in time as
I remember and was rebuilt in stone as you see here. It is now on the
historical list and can be purchased if you have a million dollars. This
barn on HWY 77 is called the big barn. It was and probably still is, the
largest barn in the U.S.A. Some say the world. The bachelor who built it
was named Schultz. He also owned the land across the highway and built the
rock chicken house or small barn that is there. He and his family were
German immigrants and his large holdings and farm operation was with his
sister and some other family members.
A closer shot of the O.G. and E. plant. Brown and Root construction
company out of Texas built this.
My husband worked on it and I was always uneasy with him doing electrical
work there. Sure enough, one evening Rod was on his way home at 4:30 when
it came over the radio that a sudden gust of wind had caught the steel
framework and it fell flat. A neighbor who was working there was on that
shift. He commented to me about it, "Have you ever felt like you were
running for your life?" |
