Off to Wichita (pronounced wash' i taw) NWR on a peaceful, very quiet sunny morning. I talked for 15 minutes with an attractive woman who greeted me when I walked in the office. She knew birds and told me about the variety with strays and regulars that come through her refuge.
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| Black-tailed Prairie Dog - Washita NWR - OK |
I heard the cooing of Eurasian Collared Doves before I saw them. Yellow-rumps were moving through the trees at the VC deck overlooking the Wichita River Valley. This is a place where eastern and western birds can be (and are) seen, and is one more set-aside place of serenity and sanctuary. Of course, I do have the niggle that hunting is allowed on most refuges at certain times of the year, but I suppose this is also a management tool. Any endangered or threatened species are protected of course, and too many elk or deer or geese or ducks can disturb the equilibrium of biodiversity. Still, the sound of shooting means killing which isn't exactly synonymous with "refuge." Trusting the government to do the right thing is tempered by unexpected consequences and sometimes outright duplicity. It is also true sportsmen contribute financially to support of the NWRs. Hunting is also allowed in Wilderness Areas where the first rule is to "Leave No Trace." As I mentioned earlier, there are currently 758 Wilderness Areas totaling over 109 million acres in the US. A cool map at: WWW.ECONOMICPOLICYJOURNAL.COM (search for "federal land percentage" on this site) has a graphic showing what our government owns / what you and I own. It's well over half of 12 western states, including Alaska.
My next stop was a slight detour to the Wichita National Battlefield, a sad place where Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, in November of 1868, surprised a band of Southern Cheyenne. The number of deaths varies: the Natives say around 50; the government estimates over 100. Four years before, another shameful and similar incident occurred at Sand Creek where over 200 (mostly women, children and the elderly) were killed. The web site: WWW. NPS.GOV has a brief overview of how, why and what happened at Sand Creek and Washita (search for Washita National Battlefield and then look under FAQs). A Cheyenne teenager named Magpie survived the battle and lived a long life; his story is also available on the Internet.
The museum at the VC is worth a visit. Along with exhibits of the battle / massacre on the Washita, there is a garden of native plants and restoration of a sod house with stories of the early white settlers, the role water played and the devastation of the dust bowl. The adjoining Black Kettle National Grasslands offices, managed by the USFS, are here also. These vast plains offer educational opportunities wherever one travels.
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| On the Washita National Battlefield - near Cheyenne, OK |
Because I stopped here, I then drove through Texas for most of the afternoon. Right over the state line, the speed limit changed to 70 on a narrow two-lane with NO shoulders and a stretch of steep short hills that were like riding a roller coaster. The land flattened out again when I moved north and then west. The whole staff and all the customers at a McDonalds along the way were Hispanic, generally enjoying each other, cheerful, polite, soft-spoken. A group of older men often spend an hour or two in most McDonalds I've been in, discussing crops, weather, Obama ("Yeah, now Obama wants Michelle to get paid; he think she should be on the payroll..."). They gossip a little and check out the scene. Their faces are weathered; they watch what goes by on the road.
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| Near Guymon, OK |
Optima NWR, a small grassland refuge, is just east of Guymon but the gates were closed. I did drive through it late in the afternoon, albeit briefly, so checked it off. The next morning, a talkative kid in the grocery store, who insisted on carrying my groceries to my van, said he never saw the gates open at Optima. He asked if I were going to Yellowstone when I told him what I was doing and said his father drives the pilot car for extra-wide loads and has seen Yellowstone, telling his son how impressive it was. "You need to go there; it's not that far," I said. I got the feeling it is entirely possible that going to Yellowstone may never happen in the same way that moving out of Guymon would be a high risk activity for him. These are the kids that stay and keep certain small towns viable. Of course, being on a main auto route helps also.
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| On Washita National Battlefield - OK |
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