Oklahoma Books

A man comes back to town, a successful doctor. But he is not looking to rekindle his past. Still, he gets put on auction, the
highest bidder winning a date. And that's when Leandra steps in.
She remembers Todd from years ago, and is determined to
exact a little coy revenge. This story heats up and
takes on some delightful twists. Great summer romance read!

An excellent overview of South Dakota rock art by a noted expert in the field. I had particular interest in the Cave Hills area, just south of where I live in North Dakota.

In 1883, when Hubert Collins was 11 years old and living in Iowa, he talked his father into letting him leave school to join his older brother on his recently acquired ranch just off the Chisholm Trail where it crosses the Cimarron River (present-day Dover, OK). He stayed at brother Ralph's Red Fork Ranch for 15 months before returning to Iowa. The experiences garnered there would last a lifetime, and later in life, after a successful career as an internationally respected engineer, and having seen the country change so much, he decided an account of what he had seen and learned during his youthful Red Fork Ranch days was worth writing. He spent four years gathering information, writing to relatives and acquaintances of that time period and conducting research in the Oklahoma Historical Society, before beginning his task.

Because of his initial youthful perspective and the passage of time, probably some of what Collins writes may not be absolutely true. He mentions, for example, some visitors to the ranch by name, but further investigation indicates Collins must have been mistaken. But this really doesn't matter because it's not the specifics of names and dates that Collins is interested in, but in life in general for a boy (and the adults) around him. The ranch was near the Darlington Indian Agency and he spent much time among the Indians, mainly Cheyenne and Arapahoe, playing with and befriending Indian kids his own age. He admires and respects the Indian ways, a view he carried over into his adult years. Because of its location the ranch was a busy place, and Collins's observations are fresh and lively. Although written as an adult, he tries to relate events as he must have witnessed them as a pre-teen; maybe in his mind's eye that perspective never left him. And that is the biggest satisfaction with the book, the novel, innocent-in-youth vision he brings to his chronicle. The book is wonderfully entertaining and will be enjoyed by all who like reading about the Old West on the Plains just before settlement would begin in earnest.

This excerpt is from one of the finest autobiographies I know. Appelfeld tells of the eight - year old Jewish child who had to survive on his own and avoid being captured by the Nazis. There are many harrowing parts to the story, and many instances of horrible human cruelty. That Appelfeld emerged from these early years not only to become an important writer but to become a considerable human being is a miracle. For anyone who has read this excerpt I strongly recommend the book as a whole.

What a brilliant way of looking at the world of "reading". Connections with art and religion: she is light years ahead of anyone else in her analysis of black culture!

In 1976-1977, archaeological investications were made on certain portions of the Arkansas River in Oklahoma to determine whether wave-action and shoreline erosion had damaged area cultural resources. Over 150 sites were checked, of which 34 were considered Register-eligible. Some sites would, if additional investigations were made, contribute to the closing of certain information gaps in the prehistoric record of the state. At the time of survey, sites were exposed by unusually low river levels. Most sites have since been re-inundated. The depth of analysis continues to make this a valuable reference work.

This is the definitve account, taken from over two thousand pages of documents from the National Archives, of the tragic action of the Cherokee Commission that ultimately removed fifteen million acres of land from nearly twenty tribes in Indian Territory and placed them in the public domain.
The intimidating, dishonest, subversive action of the Commission toward Cherokees, Pawnees, Poncas, Tonakawas, Wichitas, Cheyennes, Araphos, Sac and Fox and other tribes resulted in their accepting allotments in severalty and then selling the surplus to the U.S. Government. The surplus then went to white settlers and resulted in statehood for Oklahoma. The story of the bad faith strategy of the Commissioners and the heart breaking efforts of the tribal leaders to retain their land is familiar to those that study U.S.-Indian relations. It is an old story and not one designed to instill pride in this period of American history. Sadly, such efforts continue to date.
Highly recommended.

This a collection of fairly simple but fascinating myths and stories from the Mohave Indians, collected by Herman Grey (who is himself a Mohave, of the Beaver Clan). Together with the classic novel of late 19th century Mohave life, Crazy Weather, by Charles McNichols, it provides a strong sense of Mohave tradition and culture.

One of the unique features of Mohave stories (and Mohave life in general) is the central role played by dreams. As it says in the preface to this book: "The Mohave clings to his belief in dreams as a basis for everyday life. Not only all shamanistic power, but all myths, songs, bravery, fortune in battle, and good fortune in gambling derive from dreams. Every special event is dreamed. Knowledge is not a thing to be learned, a Mohave will say, but something to be acquired by each person through his dreaming.... Dreams, then, are the foundation of Mohave life. Dreams are always stated as if they had been cast in mythological modes. In no other tribes are activities so controlled by this psychic state. In no other Indian culture is daily life so completely reflected in myths and songs."

Some of the stories are legendary and illustrate the Mohave concepts of their relationship with nature, while others are based on actual historical events, such as an ill-fated raid by the Mohave and Apaches on the Pimas to the south.

If you're interested in Mohave traditions, American Indian cultures in general, or in the region of the lower Colorado River and its history and cultures, I think you'll appreciate this book.

The author Jay Upchurch does a fantastic job in relaying the story of Sooner Magic and what it means to OU fans. This book has 100's of stories for the Oklahoma faithful. Another book that you may want to read if you love Sooner lore is: UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA FOOTBALL: An Interactive Guide to the World of Sports (Sports By the Numbers). It has over 1,000 mini stories about the greatest team in the modern era.

I first read Talking to the Moon when living in Oklahoma's Osage County, only a few miles from where it was written. John Joseph Mathews, the author, was a native of that beautiful, rugged, still sparsely populated country. The scion of a locally prominent part-Osage family, he attended the University of Oklahoma and Oxford University, fought in WWI, and then came home to live alone for 10 years in a house he had built on his father's ranch. This book is the fruit of that time; it recounts his experiences and observations of the people, wildlife, and flora of that unique place. I found most of his observations to be accurate and pertinent 45 years later, except that if anything there are fewer people and better environmental conditions than there were in the 1930s and 40s, when Oklahoma's oil fever was still in full swing, and the Osage country was a hotbed of petroleum exploration and exploitation.

The book's structure is based on the Osage's concept of the moon's cycles as the basis of their year. The opening sentence of the third chapter, "Just-Doing-That Moon", says: "The Osage say that the moon is a woman and that she makes her appearance twelve times a year." Each of the moon's appearances has a name and, in the book, a corresponding chapter.

Mathews was deeply involved in Osage tribal politics, attempting to safeguard their lands and mineral rights from encroachment by state and federal government, and also attempting to preserve tribal history. He founded the Osage Tribal Museum in Pawhuska, and one chapter of the book is mostly devoted to his successful effort to have portraits painted for the museum of the leading elders of the tribe. This was in the summer of 1936, which still stands as the hottest on record in this area. His tales of dealing with the proud, recalcitrant elders and the somewhat clueless portraitist are both humorous and moving.

Mathews was a sophisticated, cosmopolitan intellectual, but he loved his people and his land, was always concerned with their welfare, and in writing this book, gave us an affectionate and clear-eyed account of the beauties and terrors to be found among the blackjacks and canyons of the land that Woody Guthrie called "the great Osage."