We will resupply...

First off - Gene Autry's horses' names were Champion. There were 5 Champions, and the last ones were known as Champion, the World's Wonder Horse.

Now to what we have been doing - we spent the last few days in Edmond, OK enjoying a delightful, but cold and windy visit with my sister and her husband. Stayed (slept) right around the corner, literaly, from them at Arcadia Lake in Scissortail campground. This campground, as well as the lake and its other surrounding recreation areas, was originally developed by the Army Corp of Engineers in cooperation with the City of Edmond in 1987.  And although it definitely appears aged, location and price won out, especially since we spent most of our time at my sister's place, leaving just this morning.

We drove across Oklahoma and just arrived at Supply Park at Fort Supply Lake in northwest Oklahoma.This is another older COE park, built in conjunction with the dam and lake in the early 1940s . This is the 6th largest earthen dam in the  US, built for flood control and conservation.  The campgrounds within Supply Park run along the edge of the lake and provide multiple areas from which to choose.  Our site has a nice view of the lake and is somewhat protected from the wind and although we have a paved site, it is very unlevel side to side. It took 3 courses of our leveler blocks to get somewhat happy with our set up. The sites are small, many unlevel, the landscape is high plains and the bathrooms are vault toilets in conjuction with 2 newer bath houses and that is for over 90 sites.  Needless to say, with just 3 nights, we will be using Tempy for showers, etc. Even with the age though, the campground is pretty full. Seems many of the campers come from the oil fields to enjoy the lake in their spare time.

We will explore Woodward and Fort Supply over the next two days, as I am sure you are all anticipating some fabulous history from this area. Now it is toddy time.  Until then, later.....

Back in the Saddle Again....

OK all you oldie but goodies - who was famous for that song? Give up? Gene Autry. Well, Bruce and I found the Gene Autry Museum yesterday in, guess where......Gene Autry, OK, imagine that.  We were returning from Winstar Casino and decided a side trip was in order. Unfortunately it was not open so we did not have a chance to visit. Probably a good thing since Winstar had already suceeded in liberating several 20s from my wallet. Anyway, instead we returned home to an almost empty "C" loop and got to enjoy the sounds of night without people.  What a deal!!

But I know what you are really waiting for is our latest history lesson. Now no grimaces, at least you aren't required to read this and there won't be a test.  The Chickasaw National Recreation Area was created in 1976 when the 6th oldest national park, The Platte National Park, was combined with the Arbuckle Recreation Area and its 2300+ acre lake, along with additional lands to create a new 10,000 acre recreation area.  But what started the whole national involvement and who built the infrastructure?

It seems people have probably lived in this area of "springs" for thousands of years. The Wichita, Caddo, and other Indians believed in the healing properties of the sulpher and bromine mineral waters, came and stayed. Then in 1800s the government began moving Indian tribes from east of the  Mississipi including the Chickasaw and Choctaw to this area. In 1855 the land that is now part of the recreation area came under control of the Chickasaw Nation. The town of Sulpher Springs grew in 1890s to the north of the mineral springs and the Indian lands, with hotels and bath houses promoting the medicinal qualities of the waters. The Chickasaw and Choctaw, along with many concerned town residents began to fear that uncontrolled use would destroy the waters so they worked with the Federal government to save the springs, one of our first real conservation efforts to protect for the future? The  Chickasaw and Choctaw nations sold the springs and 640 acres to the Dept. of the Interior in 1902 & the area became Sulfer Springs Reservation. In 1906 it was expanded and became Platte National Park. Then in the 1930s,  as part of The New Deal (which president was responsible for that legislation? - think back now, use that history you learned) the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built pavillions, roads, trails, waterfalls and planted over 500,000 trees and shrubs. This link provides wonderful information, original plans and pictures and history for anyone interested.
www.nps.gov/nhl/Fall10Noms/ Platt.pdf 

In 1966 the Bureau of Reclamation built the dam and created The Lake of the Arbuckles. It now makes up the western edge of Chickasaw National Recreation Area. There is plenty more to learn about this area and if you enjoy fishing, this is supposedly the best bass lake in Ok. So make a trip out, enjoy the lake, the casinos and the park.

Oh yeah, and I leave you with this question. What was the name of Gene Autry's horse? Silver - no that was the Lone Ranger, Trigger - no that was Roy Rogers, Mr. Ed - come on now, a talking horse?  No looking it up on Google either.  Later....