Fort Gibson

When we arrived at the town of Fort Gibson, we  accidentally went to the city cemetery instead of the historic national military cemetery which was where we intended to go.  But we were glad we stopped there!

We made our way to the fort that was established in 1824.

Fort Gibson served as a vital military post on the western frontier for nearly 70 years.

This was a final stop on the Trail of Tears for thousands of Cherokee, Creek and Seminole families.  Fort Gibson served as a supply point and source of protection for the newly arrived and often starving victims of forced removal.

 

 US authorities decided that Fort Smith, AR was too far east to effectively maintain peace between the newly arrived Western Cherokee and the more established Osage.  The two tribes had been on the verge of open warfare virtually since the Cherokee began to arrive in the region.

 

The home below belonged to Henry Clay Meigs, the first postmaster of Fort Gibson.  When the Civil War broke out, the Cherokee were divided in sympathy between the North and South, and as in many other cases, the line of division cut through Henry and his brothers. His two brothers joined the Union army and he the Confederate service from 1861-62. He was a private in Company H, First Cherokee Mounted Rifles, and saw action at Chuisto-Talasah, Cherokee Nation.

Eventually there was another site for a new fort, built more along the plan of a modern military post. It served as an important base for troops marching south to Texas and Mexico during the Mexico-American war and also as an important supply point for those headed to the California Gold Rush.

Next - The historic frontier burial ground of the National Cemetery.

August Cemetery Post - Part 1

Normally when we leave the kids' home in Fayetteville, Arkansas, we will travel north to Joplin, then 400 through Kansas.  Or we might go through Tulsa on 412 and north on 135.

But we wanted to visit the cemetery at Fort Gibson, southeast of Tulsa so we took Highway 62 east out of Fayetteville.  We had never gone this way before.  Here are a couple of photos of the drive from a moving vehicle.  I hate to ask Allen all the time to pull over for a photo shoot.  He always tells me he will turn around, but if I did that every time I "see" a great photo in my head, we would never arrive at our destination!  I liked all the fields with these bails of hay.

 Must be a turkey farm.

This post is dedicated to my friend, Connie T.  She told me that she "travels" through my blogs.  She gets terribly car sick - especially on curvy roads so she stays home!

See the curvy sign?  There were a LOT of them on this highway.  I even began to feel a little car sick!

This highway was steep and curvy!  I never knew eastern Oklahoma was so hilly!

 This photo is for my friend, Jan E.

Homes along the way...

It took about 3 hours to get to the town of Fort Gibson.  We pulled over at a cemetery and found out that it was the city cemetery, not Fort Gibson National Cemetery where we wanted to go.  But it was quite interesting.

A lot of "homemade" head stones.

Next stop - Fort Gibson

Happy birthday, Mindy!

I was reminiscing over the years....

Mindy's first birthday - she loved her squeaky pacifier that came with her from Korea.

We had a birthday along with our "adopted" grandparents - our neighbors, Harvey and Ila Mae, whose birthdays were August 1 and August 11.

On vacation, we stopped at a McDonald's for her party.  

We had arranged to have a cake made for her and she was so 

surprised that they knew it was her birthday!

 Some years we celebrate my Dad's birthday and Mindy's together.  Like this year!

Happy Birthday, Mindy!!!!

We LOVE you!!!!!!

Kids come - backyard

I've said this before; one of the pluses of waking early in the morning is enjoying the gorgeous Kansas sunrises!

We've been having storms almost nightly.  During the day, it is rather muggy.  

I haven't had to water much at all this summer. 

Last year we had over 50 days of 100+ degrees.  

This year we've only had 1 day topping the century mark.

 While the girls were here, we enjoyed playing in the backyard.

Hannah took some of these photos.  She loves to take pictures!

The baby brown thrasher showed up 

Each day while their daddy was at conference, he sent the girls a video clip.

Claire kissed the screen.  

She loves her daddy!  She said "Daddies" over 20 times the first day he was gone.  

We gave up counting after that, but each day she wanted her daddy!

When Daddy returned, the family went home.

Sunday morning found Claire in ER.  She pulled a chair on top of her and split open the inside of her lip, requiring a couple of stitches.  With her Daddy being the preacher and needing to be at church, I helped Jill with the girls while Claire went to get stitched up.  Papa works at the hospital and he was with Claire during this very traumatic procedure!

Luckily, they were still able to pack and go on vacation for a few days.