OKIE IN OKLAHOMA

Carol and John Johnston Sarah and Carol

Friday Nancy and I took Bobbe and Yvonne Hightower to visit her son, John, who lives ten miles from Hartshorne, OK in the mountains. We drove the back road from Kiowa to Hartshorne on a winding road with 10 and 20 mph curves and shoulder drop-offs. We drove in the sunshine but saw clouds East of us. John said that it rained that morning. It was sunny all day but about 3 this morning lightning and rain came in and it rained off and on until about 10 this morning then turned sunny this afternoon. We saw deer come by this morning, but no other wildlife.

Bobbe and Yvonne Hightower

This is old home country for me. I graduated from Antlers High School just down the road from here. We plan to stop and visit my brother Robert after church tomorrow. John and his wife Carol are very active in the Thessalonian Baptist Church established in the 1800s by the Choctaw Indians.

John's home

Last night Carol's mother, Sarah, came for dinner. She has read everything that she can about the Oklahoma Indians with special consideration of the Choctaw. I told her about Don Birchfield. She had read all of Don Coldsmith's books and visited the Rune at Heavener, OK that was the subject of Don's book THE RUNESTONE. She has also read all of Hillerman's books. Nancy and I introduced her to James Doss. I told her about Robert Conley for Cherokee history. I also suggested the book by Paul Carlson on the Plains Indians.