More history was on the menu for the third day of our summer excursion. This time, we drove to Sulphur, Oklahoma. It had been years since my last visit to the Chickasaw National Recreation Area (formerly Platt National Park). This amazing park begins with a stop at an unsuspecting fountain, including a separate spout from which visitors can drink the freshest, coldest water directly from the spring. For a century, many people have sought the water as a healing spring.
Driving deeper into the park, one encounters a fantastic stream. At various locations along the waterway, one may enjoy beautiful waterfalls, including one known as Little Niagra. All along, people also enjoy jumping into this good old-fashioned swimmin' hole.
From here, it was just a short drive to the $40 million Chickasaw Culture Center. Build in 2010, the museum features exhibits explaining the plight of the Chickasaw and Choctaw people. I was happy to learn some things I had never known. Most of us know about native peoples being "removed" to Indian Territory in the mid-1800s. For years, I have known about the Cherokee people and their journey on the Trail of Tears. Now I know more about the Chickasaw's and Choctaw's Trail of Tears, as well, how two brothers led the nation by standing a pole in the ground and following the direction in which it leaned (If it didn't lean, they would know that was the location in which they would remain.). On one occasion, the brothers disagreed about which direction the pole leaned, and the people subsequently split into the two tribes. Behind the center was also a living history village, set up to look like an original Chickasaw village.
Driving deeper into the park, one encounters a fantastic stream. At various locations along the waterway, one may enjoy beautiful waterfalls, including one known as Little Niagra. All along, people also enjoy jumping into this good old-fashioned swimmin' hole.
From here, it was just a short drive to the $40 million Chickasaw Culture Center. Build in 2010, the museum features exhibits explaining the plight of the Chickasaw and Choctaw people. I was happy to learn some things I had never known. Most of us know about native peoples being "removed" to Indian Territory in the mid-1800s. For years, I have known about the Cherokee people and their journey on the Trail of Tears. Now I know more about the Chickasaw's and Choctaw's Trail of Tears, as well, how two brothers led the nation by standing a pole in the ground and following the direction in which it leaned (If it didn't lean, they would know that was the location in which they would remain.). On one occasion, the brothers disagreed about which direction the pole leaned, and the people subsequently split into the two tribes. Behind the center was also a living history village, set up to look like an original Chickasaw village.
Additionally, in a limited engagement, they exhibited some information about 101 dugout canoes that were discovered in Florida in the last decade. This is an incredible discovery. In the display, we saw how the native peoples made the canoes, and yes, I even touched one of them. The end of a canoe, just a fragment, was sitting on a table, only partially covered with a plexiglass guard. With the other end exposed, I proceeded to look in all directions. The docent was not looking, distracted at the other end of the room. There were no visible cameras. So I reached out, only to discover the sign on the display: Please touch. I must admit, it took some of the excitement out of the experience. Still, I can now say I have touched an authentic 500-year-old dugout canoe. Pretty awesome.
