Product Description
Roadside History of Oklahoma invites tourists and residents alike to use the state's highways as avenues connecting the present with the past. Drive along the stage route used by the Butterfield Overland Mail, or follow the Chisholm Trail as the first cowboys did after the Civil War when they drove cattle to railheads in Kansas, or cross the state on "America's Main Street," Route 66. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Highly recommended for Oklahoma enthusiasts
I moved to OK. about 6 yrs ago and still haven't gotten used to all the towns and the history. This is a great book with LOTS of old pictures about all the towns past and present, with well written histories. High recommendation for treasure and coin hunters, also for anyone interested in travel.

An unexpectedly surreal and entertaining book
The corpse of an unidentified drifter is taxidermied and passed off asJohn Wilkes Booth to paying tourists. A con artist convinces an entire townto plan a big reception for a coming circus, makes off with hundreds ofdollars in ticket sales, and the townsfolk after realizing the circus was ahoax, celebrate anyway and begin a tradition that continues to the presentday. The sole survivor of a notorious outlaw gang moves to Hollywood andsocializes with cowboy movie stars. This book is filled with suchstories, hundreds of them. The age of rioting and looting Indians,ramshackle buggy rides through the wilderness, mobs of thousands bidding onridiculously underpriced real estate which already belongs to others,public executions, Messiah scares, genocide, and the like is broughtvividly and frustratingly to life. This book is like a cross between TomRobbins' outrageous humor and Italo Calvino's novel, Invisible Cities. Andall of it, every droll word, is true. 'Beliveve it or not,' as the mansaid.

I would recommend this book not only to Oklahoma history buffs, butalso to people who enjoy more fantastical fiction such as Gabriel GarciaMarquez, even to those with only marginal interest in Oklahoma at all. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Worth a read!
This book was actually required reading for a Communication class in college.

It was a surprisingly interesting and in depth read.I would recommend adding it to your collection.

Definitely enlightens you to how American's react to tragedy, as well as, how our society has grown accustomed to exploiting tragedy.

The limits of materialism...
Marita Sturken's "Tourists of History" is an enlightening overview about how America dealt with the two most catastrophic events of its recent history - the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 - by wrapping itself in a mantle of kitschy products which tried, but ultimately failed, to bring comfort to the bereaved.
The quintessential object of comfort is the teddy bear, given to children (and adults) affected by these two tragedies (and the sequential wars in Afghanistan and Iraq). These teddies (almost all of them cheaply manufactured overseas) are tasked with the job of saying, "All will be well over time" - a promise that neither they nor anyone else can keep. Nor can a teddy bear tell anyone about the social and political roots of terrorism, both domestic and international. What teddies do best is reinforce the intractable belief that America is innocent: We are the good guys, we have done nothing wrong in the world, how can anyone hate us? Anyone who has paid attention to history knows that America is not and has never been innocent.
Sturken urges us to take a good look at all of American history, and not be mere tourists only interested in the parts that are nice to look at. Buy this book today. ... Read more

Product Description
The product of two of Oklahoma's foremost authorities on the history of the 46th state, Oklahoma: A History is the first comprehensive narrative to bring the story of the Sooner State to the threshold of its centennial.

From the tectonic formation of Oklahoma's varied landscape to the recovery and renewal following the Oklahoma City bombing, this readable book includes both the well-known and the not-so-familiar of the state's people, events, and places. W. David Baird and Danney Goble offer fresh perspectives on such widely recognized history makers as Sequoyah, the 1889 Land Run, and the Glenn Pool oil strike. But they also give due attention to Black Seminole John Horse, Tulsa's Greenwood District, Coach Bertha Frank Teague's 40-year winning streak with the Byng Lady Pirates, and other lesser-known but equally important milestones. The result is a rousing, often surprising, and ever-fascinating story.

Oklahoma history is an intricate tapestry of themes, stories, and perspectives, including those of the state s diverse population of American Indians, the land's original human occupants. An appendix provides suggestions for trips to Oklahoma's historic places and for further reading. Enhanced by more than 40 illustrations, including 11 maps, this definitive history of the state ensures that experiences shared by Oklahomans of the past will be passed on to future generations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Wonderful insight to Oklahoma's history...
After accepting a new job offer, I recently relocated to Oklahoma City.Knowing next to nothing about the state, I wanted to get a background on Oklahoma's history before I arrived.I felt that this work did a spectacular job detailing Oklahoma's geography, Native American history, settlement and journey into statehood.It also provided a resident's view of modern political trends and cultural norms.Overall, I thought it was a well-written story of Oklahoma's past.

A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate this excellent addition to Oklahoma and American history collections
Historians and college professors W. David Baird and Danney Goble present Oklahoma: A History, an in-depth, narrative history of America's 46th state. From the geological and tectonic creation of Oklahoma's landscape to both well-known and oft-overlooked historical events, Oklahoma: A History narrates in a down-to-earth style accessible to historians and lay readers alike. "The collapse of the Socialist Party and the end of World War I brought no tranquility... High among the reasons for this political turmoil was the bitterness felt by former Socialists. Their party had not survived the war, but neither had the high farm prices that the war produced... On top of that, the former Socialists carried a bitter grudge against the Democrats, whom they blamed for destroying their party. Unable to vote Socialist and unwilling to vote Democratic, their first recourse was to vote for the one remaining alternative, the Republicans." A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate this excellent addition to Oklahoma and American history collections, highly recommended especially for public libraries.
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Customer Reviews (1)

Good History of Oklahoma
Book was very informative and easy to follow and understand. Was used for a college class. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Well Worth Reading
Journey Toward Hope is a history of African-Americans in Oklahoma,emphasizing the period after statehood (post-1907). Race relations andsegregation are detailed in this period of Jim Crow laws. This is alittle-told part of Oklahoma's history and one that needs to be morebroadly understood. African-Americans in Oklahoma faced many of the sameprejudices and difficulties that Blacks faced in the Deep South, but alsowere able to maintain a high level of involvement and activism in securingtheir full participation in American society. Ground-breaking court casesthat eventually led to the dramatic Supreme Court ruling of Brown v. Boardof Education and culminated in the 1964 Civil Rights Act are presented inan interesting writing style that never gets bogged down in legal-ese. Thisis a personal story of people and the contributions they made to improvetheir lives and their communities, improving their country in the process.It is well written with good notes on sources, of which the majority areprimary, with some personal interviews between the author and thehistorical figures. Journey Toward Hope is a very good account of alittle-told part of Oklahoma history and American history and well worththe read. ... Read more

Product Description
The Color of the Land brings the histories of Creek Indians, African Americans, and whites in Oklahoma together into one story that explores the way races and nations were made and remade in conflicts over who would own land, who would farm it, and who would rule it. This story disrupts expected narratives of the American past, revealing how identities--race, nation, and class--took new forms in struggles over the creation of different systems of property.

Conflicts were unleashed by a series of sweeping changes: the forced "removal" of the Creeks from their homeland to Oklahoma in the 1830s, the transformation of the Creeks' enslaved black population into landed black Creek citizens after the Civil War, the imposition of statehood and private landownership at the turn of the twentieth century, and the entrenchment of a sharecropping economy and white supremacy in the following decades. In struggles over land, wealth, and power, Oklahomans actively defined and redefined what it meant to be Native American, African American, or white. By telling this story, David Chang contributes to the history of racial construction and nationalism as well as to southern, western, and Native American history.
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Product Description
It Happened in Oklahoma ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Best History Book I've Ever Read
I've been a steadfast hater of Oklahoma for 10 years since I moved here.No more.After reading this book, I am amazed and intrigued with the history of this state.

Nothing will make me love the screaming throngs in Norman, but I can honestly say that this book made me not hate Oklahoma anymore, and that's saying a lot for a gal raised in Texas.

Good read for all Okies
This book is an excellent read for all persons who either grew up in Oklahoma or whose forebears did.I grew up in Oklahoma and graduated from an Oklahoma high school and the University of Oklahoma; yet there were several stories in Dorman's book about things that took place in Oklahoma history that I had never heard of.Dorman obviously did a lot of research in compiling these vignettes, and the interesting stories are well worth the read.This book is indispensable for anyone with ties to Oklahoma who wants to know "what happened" in the Sooner State. ... Read more

Product Description
The only thing wilder than Oklahoma in the late nineteenth century are the tales that continue to surround it. In the days of the Wild West, Oklahoma was teeming with assassins, guerillas, hijackers, kidnappers, gangs, and misfits of every size and shape imaginable. Featuring such legendary characters as Billy the Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, Machine Gun Kelly, Belle Starr, and Pretty Boy Floyd, this book combines recorded fact with romanticized legend, allowing the reader to decide how much to believe.

Violent and out of control, the figures covered in 100 Oklahoma Outlaws, Gangsters, and Lawmen often left behind numerous victims, grisly accounts, and unforgettable stories. Included are criminals like James "Deacon" Miller, the devout Methodist and hired assassin. Righteous and devious, he often avoided the gallows by convincing others to admit to his murders. Rufus Buck, a man of Native American descent, targeted white settlers. His crimes against them became so heinous as to cause the Creek nation to take up arms against him. The answer to criminals such as these came in the form of "Hanging" Judge Parker and other officers of the law. Although they were greatly outnumbered, they provided some balance to the chaos. This historical compilation covers every memorable outlaw and lawman who passed through Oklahoma. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

More than twice-told tales
100 Oklahoma Outlaws, Gangsters, and Lawmen, 1839-1939, 1875-1910, by Dan Anderson, with Laurence Yadon, Edited by Robert Barr Smith (Pelican Publishing Company, 2007), 336 pp., $16.95

This survey of a century of mayhem and lawlessness in the Sooner State covers some of the most venal criminals America has known. But it is a book not only about sociopaths and psychopaths, although they are present aplenty, but this book is also about sagas of sacrifice and courage taken from the annals of the law officers who chased them.Yet even as a number of law officers are capable of the last full measure of devotion to the law at certain times, at other times the same officers are shown to have crossed that same line without compunction.

The authors' compendium encompasses outlaws and lawmen from the nineteenth century till the 1920s and 1930s.It should be noted that they make the case that those automobile-bound criminals chased by J. Edgar Hoover form a logical continuation from the horse-bound criminals of territorial days.While a few of the subjects of the book come before the era of the Wild West and serve as logical prologue (Bloody Bill Anderson, Stand Watie), many pages are devoted to Prohibition era motorized criminals.Malefactors the likes of Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, Alvin Karpis, Bonnie and Clyde and numerous others take up a good portion of the narrative.Non-Oklahomans John Dillinger, John Wesley Hardin, Billy the Kid and others are brought in to the story in some detail, no matter how tenuous the Oklahoma links.An entire chapter is devoted to Billy the Kid's Oklahoma associates. But readers interested in Oklahoma evildoers and lawdogs will find many pages devoted to the usual suspects: The Doolin Gang, Poker Alice, Cattle Annie and Little Britches, Ned Christie, Henry Starr, the Three Guardsmen, and too many others to mention.Female criminals and Native Americans get their fair share of attention, as does the root of much Oklahoma crime of the period, whiskey running.

Virtually all the stories in this book can be found in greater detail elsewhere, especially in Glenn Shirley's many books, in the older writings of Wellman and Drago, and in the more modern works of Nancy Samuelson and many others who mine this rich history. All are listed in the bibliography.The authors' use mainly but not exclusively secondary sources, and label speculation, folklore and legend accordingly and properly.There is a section tacked on the end of the book that contains potted biographies of the major figures in the book, although there is nothing here that probably could not be found with a simple google search.There are a handful of typos and errors (e.g. the authors seem unaware of relative Judith Ries' book Ed O'Kelley: The Man Who Murdered Jesse James' Murderer, and spell his name Ed O. Kelly; Lincoln County Regulators killed Frank Baker, not Barker, as it is written more than once; Cole Younger is born in 1884, not 1844; the photo section contains highly dubious image labeled as Jesse James) but not enough to drive the reader to distraction.

The real strength of this book is in its storytelling.The writers' non-academic popular style is breezy and sometimes humorous, even when the subject is willful and violent criminality.There are no dime novel heroes to found here among the criminals.There is no sentimentalizing of the evil done by assassins for hire like Tom Horn and Jim Miller. Nasty and often stupid thieves like Red Buck Weightman and Al Jennings are presented as just that. Ruthless killers like Bloody Bill Anderson, Henry Starr, Henry Brown, Rufus Buck and others, many who were romanticized by their friends and neighbors in their own time, are shown in all their viciousness.There are too many fascinating characters in this book to mention, and I enjoyed reading these more than twice-told tales again.

An exceptional work of historic value
Contrary to popular belief, Oklahoma's worst outlaws and bad men lived in the 19th century before Oklahoma was even a state.Lawless men frequented the area, sometimes using it as a hideout, sometimes just drifting through before it was formalized into what was called Indian Territory.

Not since Ken Butler has there been an Oklahoma historian that has delved deeper into the mystique surrounding the Oklahoma territories.It would take an attorney, which Mr. Yadon is, to penetrate the veil of the dime store novels that were written about the actual fantastic goings-on that happened in the territory that was to become Oklahoma and a newspaperman, which Mr. Anderson has been, to come up with an exceptionally readable series of profiles of people that no Chamber of Commerce would ever want to admit had graced what would become the state of Oklahoma.

Starting with the first chapter about a man who was indeed, "a man too bad for Hollywood," and continuing with sometimes whimsical looks at the best and the worst of the people who populated Indian Territory in the years 1839-1939.This book is well documented and annotated and is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the wild and woolly western years. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

To the Victor . . .
This "cafeteria Catholic" reviewer was born in ChicagoLand during the reign of Mayor Richard Daley I (American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley - His Battle for Chicago and the Nation), and graduated public High School in Wisconsin, in 1972, having never heard of Shakespeare, or Hamlet, knowing how to milk the cows of America's Dairyland, but never having heard mention of Joseph McCarthy, former US Senator from WISCONSIN and those in his wake (No Sense of Decency: The Army-McCarthy Hearings: A Demagogue Falls and Television Takes Charge of American Politics.)I proceeded onward to a Lutheran College in Northfield The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid, Minnesota, where they made us eat this Gawd-Awful lye-soaked fish and never spoke of the James Gang, but raged on and on about the evils of the Vatican, and the Glory of Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in mandatory twice weekly religion classes. They taught me about that Shakespeare guy and his man Hamlet.
I spent a lot of time out in Wounded Knee, and one day turned South back on I-35 and wound up in Oklahoma.
I throw in all that personal geographical history because it illustrates Professor Joyce's (and, in a countrywide view, Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present (P.S.)) point that "History" is often fabricated, or at least selectively reported, by the prevailing "Power Structure." (Read Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto (Civilization of the American Indian)).
At the University of Oklahoma, I was dutifully instructed on how to contain, and eventually stop, a cattle stampede.I was *not* taught about Angie Debo's watershed book on the travesties against the survivors of the Trail of Tears And Still the Waters Run nor the fact that the Founding FATHERS at OU refused to allow her to teach there.
But they must be getting better - or at least getting a sense of humour. In his intro, Joyce writes "... in that inevitable takingof sides which comes from selection and emphasisin Oklahoma history, I prefer to tell the story of Oklahoma's pre- (and history)from the point of view of... the Run of `89 [for you non-Okies, this is when Oklahoma and Indian Territories were "opened up" to land-grabbing non-Indians, despite the fact that the grass was still growing and the Rivers still Flowing, and therefore the previously promised perpetual treaties had not expired.The "Boomers" were the "law-abiding" land thieves who waited for the "official" Boom of the start gun, the "Sooners" snuck in- well - sooner!] as seen by the Indians already here, ... the University of Oklahoma's much vaunted football success as seen by the bright students who feel compelled to leave the state for high-quality education and jobs, or as seen by the athlete who never gets a degree; and so on ..."
Boy Howdy! This book was published in 1994 by THE University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OKlahoma, the institution former University President George Lynn Cross urged to become "a university our football team can be proud of."

One more thing about the introduction: Joyce asks "Couldn't our view of Oklahoma history use a little reshuffling of heros and villians?Why, for example, isn't Woody Guthrie in the Oklahoma Hall of Fame?"
What?This reviewer was flabbergasted. So, while singing "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land" to myself (and hoping that I wouldn't have to rouse all the folk on son Arlo's infamous Group W bench into action,) I did some updated internet research and am pleased to announce that Woody was rightfully but belatedly inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. In 2006.(Angie Debo got in in 1950.)
This book should be required reading in all Oklahoma curricula.And every state should have one like it. Bravo, Professor Joyce! (See also Alternative Oklahoma: Contrarian Views of the Sooner State.) The footnotes are great, except that it required massive use of my Amazon Prime membership and the construction of yet another "Some Assembly Required" bookcase."The Southern Influence of Oklahoma" article validated every inchoate concept I had about the Sooner State - my internal guide has always been any state wherein the predominance of the populace drawls and avails itself of some form of "you all" as the Second Person Plural is "Southern," linguisticly, socially, and politicly - despite Frederick Jackson Turner and Okie protestations that they are a "mid-western" state just because they have an Oklahoma City suburb named Midwest City!And the article on the integration/lunch counter sit-ins is important for younger generations to understand.It's the Santayana thing: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
/TundraVision, back in Minnesota's Land of Sky Blue Waters

Informative essays about the "flip-side" history of Oklahoma
As the reviewer below was, I too was a student in Dr. Joyce's Oklahoma History class and this book was a required text for the course.After reading the essays of the book which deal with a more radical history of Oklahoma that is definitely not as well known in this state such as the Abortion Rights Movement, Gay Rights, the stealing of land from the Native Americans by White Men during the land rush of the 1880's-1890's, etc,.

Dr Joyce has brought together some very eye opening essays from various writers who have either first hand experience or from those who are subject matter experts.

This is the type of book that should be required reading to all high school students in Oklahoma.Yes, the book is definitely controversial and would upset those with conservative, "right-wing" viewpoints, however with that said, it describes events in the state's history that everyone should be concerned about.

I admire Dr. Joyce and the conviction that made him write this book, and I highly recommended it to all who want to know a viewpoint of Oklahoma, its people and history that is generally not well known.

Good Collection of Essays on Oklahoma
This was a supplemental text to a section of Oklahoma history (not the one taught by Dr. Joyce though) I took last semester at college. The essays cover a wide variety of topics and are very thought provoking. One essay in particular debates the value of "celebrating" the Land Run of 1889. When I was in second grade, my elementary school commemorated the Land Run by holding a mock run and we were made to believe it was a fun, adventurous event. Now that I'm older and have learned more about the Run, I have great uncertainties about whether such a celebration should take place.

Goble's "Southern Influence on Oklahoma" was also intriguing. Political scientists and historians aren't sure how to classify Oklahoma because this state is a combination of Midwestern, Western and Southern. In his essay, Goble lists the many political and religious elements from the South that have shaped Oklahoma over the years. All things considered, this would be a great buy for anyone interested in Oklahoma history. ... Read more

Product Description
In this companion to his previous volume, "An Oklahoma I Had Never Seen Before," Davis D. Joyce presents fourteen essays that interpret Oklahoma's unique populist past and address current political and social issues. Joyce invited scholars and political activists to speak their minds on subjects ranging from gender, race, and religion to popular music, the energy industry, and economics.

These decidedly contrarian Sooner voices reflect the progressive, libertarian, and even radical viewpoints that influenced the state's creation. Contributors talk of growing up "Okie and radical," of the legacy of Woody Guthrie in the Red Dirt music scene, and of the Sunbelt Alliance that helped to stop the building of the Black Fox nuclear power plant. They look back at Oklahoma City's role in the early civil rights sit-in movement and at an Oklahoman's experience with Vietnam Veterans Against the War. They consider religion outside the mainstream--and everyday women squarely within these unique expressions of faith.

Alternative Oklahoma urges an honest alternative exploration of the state's diverse past. It's an Oklahoma history that takes into account the overlooked and the left behind and contributes to a more open political dialogue in a state too often dismissed as unquestionably "red." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Inside out & downside up
Like a jackrabbit, at first I hopped in and out of the Index, not only delighted with its presence, but checking out some 'hidden history' omitted from my textbooks of yore -- growing-up-Oklahoma. Satiated somewhat, albeit lacking enough on the Tulsa Race Riots (1921) and recent Commission and the state's early Freedmen players, I delved into first and second-hand reports from the Green Corn Rebellion, introduced to me in the fifties by a bullet lodged in the skull of the Bailiff's head in Seminole County Courthouse.Thenthe hard facts (statistics and boom-bust psychology and oily reality)behind Oklahoma's hapless history of economic distress.
"Alternative Oklahoma" delivers at lots of levels: for the researcher looking for different voices and perspectives on the historical horizon or as Progressive filler for many of the 'black hole' left-overs from childhood, such as profiles of the heroines -- and activists -- and tons of censored material pushed to the back of the stacks by "Boomer, Sooner". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Money well spent
A book for treasure hunting in Oklahoma is long over-due (even though this was done several years ago).Precise information along with very well done maps and easy to follow stories.There is no other book like this nor can any other book compare with it's information.Money well spent for this interesting Oklahoma book is a treasure hunters dream come true.A must read book.

genuis!
Steve captures the essence of the Wichita Mountains in an inspiring way.As someone who grew up in these magaical mountains, I appreciate the insight he brings to the book.The photos, maps, and stories offer great depth into an area that I've enjoyed exploring since I was a young girl.Thanks to Steve for sharing the stories of Oklahoma with the world. He's a great storyteller, an amazing author and photographer.

A wealth of information for those who seek buried gold
Although this book was originally published several years ago, it remains "the best" reference book for authentic treasure leads ever published, particularly for Oklahoma.

Many of the old west treasure stories recorded here would now be lost to history if not for Steve Wilson's thorough detective work.

I was shocked to read one review here stating "there are no detailed maps" in the book. I beg to differ with that opinion. This book contains several authentic treasure maps. It is an absolute fact that treasure was recovered using some of those maps. (Read "Shadow of the Sentinel" or "Rebel Gold" for the story of one treasure recovery).I'd go as far as to predict, that in the near future, other treasures will be found using the maps in this book.

Every day another treasure hunter enters the ranks of those who seek buried gold.They can do no better than to read, and read,then re-read the OKLAHOMA TREASURES AND TREASURE TALES.

To truly understand the way treasure maps are actually drawn and how they work this book is a must. Study these maps paying careful attention to the codes and ciphers hidden in them, then with some luck and lots of hard work you might be the next person to get rich from Steve's work.
Bob Brewer
Author/Historian/Cache Hunter

A Classic
This is the definitive work on lost treasure in Oklahoma.The author gives an excellent survey of most of the lost treasures in the state which are commonly known (and some which are not so well known).The authorseems to have researched the treasures in the western half of the state,particularly those in the Lawton area, more heavily than the treasures inthe eastern half of the state.Nonetheless, on all of the treasuressurveyed, there is sufficient information in the bibliography for theserious student to start researching any of the treasures.

Really interesting!
I thought this book was really interesting! It provides the stories of lost gold mines, buried outlaw loot, old Spanish mining efforts, and more. Includes lots of pictures.

For the serious treasure hunter, this book mayprovide a place to start looking for sources, but it doesn't contain anydetailed maps or secrets.

Nonetheless, I would strongly recommend thisbook to people with an interest in lost treasure or with an interest in thehistory of Oklahoma. (I found out from this book that I grew up about 20miles from a lost gold mine area!) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

What they didn't teach me in high school.
I have just read the first few chapters. Being born and raised in Oklahoma, I was very surprised about the conditions in pre-state Oklahoma. In school, I remember the only 'bad' examples of people were a few that got an early start on the Land Run. What we were taught is very different than what the author states. I guess you don't want young people to learn how lawlessness Oklahoma was before it became a state.

Outstanding Value Deal
When purchasing anything "sight unseen", especially USED, most people are a little apprehensive.However, my experience with Amazon has been very good.My recent purchase of "West of Hell's Fringe", by Glenn Shirley, was an outstanding value!I highly recommend using Amazon.com.

A Flawed History of Hell's Fringe and Its Denizens
Glenn was an Oklahoma Lawman and as such his predjudice keeps this book from being as good as it could be. Your reviewer is the son of Oklahoma bootleggers and a descendent of a Doolin gang member...as you read the booknotice how many times Marshalls supposedly call from perfect ambushpositions.."hands up"....For someone who has seen Oklahoma lawenforcement at close range I find those scenarios tough to swallow....notthat I blame the Marshalls for this, these outlaws were desparate men andhave already killed 3 marshalls in a direct confrontation in Ingalls....tohis credit he does show the importance of informers as opposed to smartdetective work...all in all if he wasn't so ready to swallow whole all theMarshalls accounts this would be a better book..but then in so manyinstances the lawmen were the only surviving witnesses

Justice in Indian Territory from gunslingers to US Marshals
Glenn Shirley provides a wealth of information on various outlaw groups of the Old West. West of Hell's Fringe earmarks the accounts of gunslingers that occupied Indian territories inside what is today Oklahoma. Shirley hasgone through what seems to be great detail in separating what are factualand fictional accounts of the episodes that occurred. Such names as theDalton Gang, Bill Doolin, Charley Bryant, the reader not only gets luredinto the eyes of these outlaws, but it gives them a taste of how life wasin an era infamous for lawlessness and liquor.The book is broughtmore seemingly to life through the pictures shown of the outlaws and theircaptors. The book places repeated emphasis on the U.S. Marshals of thetime. The booknot only tells the story through the glimpses of theoutlaws' eyes, but it allows one to stare down the barrel of the lawmen'sguns as they and their posse's ride for the wielding of justice and thestanding reward.Glenn Shirley does an excellent job documenting theaccounts given in the book. Every complex and tangled idea that ispresented is well annotated with: where the information is gathered, andwhere further information can be located. What is really exciting about thebook is it offers up the accounts of the United States Marshals and theirrides by giving up the false deception, and by offering the informationthat this is the most widely held belief. It also says this is what couldhave happened as well. The subheading of this book tells all Crime,Criminals, and the Federal Peace Officer in Oklahoma Territory, 1889-1907. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

great book on Oklahoma history & folklore
This is my second copy of this book (the first was lost in a move).I love the stories about long-forgotten places and getting a glimpse into another time.Enough detail is given that we've tracked down the location of many of these "ghost towns".A great addition for anyone that's into Oklahoma history!

Informative, with good location notes
This excellent ghost town book identifies and briefly describes about 130 once thriving (at least kicking) towns from across Oklahoma that are today totally gone or are mere shadows of their former selves. About 75% of them can still be found in decent atlases (i.e., The Roads of Oklahoma), and author John Morris makes it fairly easy to locate the remaining 25% with excellent location notes. There are also maps included, though they are only useful in the most general sort of way. The book is also loaded with excellent historical photographs of all the sites, along with more recent pictures as well for some of them. Morris also gives postal information for those town that had post offices, which is most of them. Oklahomans with an interest in their past history will find much inspiration in this book, though any ghost town enthusiast will be pleased with the information found here, too.

Ghost Towns of Oklahoma
The history of such a "new" state is intrinsically colorful, and the stages of growth and development make for the rise and fall of towns and small cities for a wide variety of reasons.The white man mostly ignored Oklahoma prior to the 1840s, giving said growth and development a dynamic unique among the states.

The author has collected several dozen stories of such locales, and in addition a vast collection of historical photos and plats, gives regional maps, dates, names, commerce info, populations, etc.His monographs on each "ghost town" (a few of which still exist but are seemingly at the end stage of their existence) are well written, informative, and suitably colorful.

Oklahoma has towns that were relocated en toto for the building of reservoirs, towns that were founded as socialist experiments, towns that served primarily as Indian trading posts and withered with the relocation of tribes, etc.Each story is intriguing in its own right, history buff or not.The only reason I rate it less than five stars is its publication date of 1978; an update with rewrites and newly mined information would be wonderful. ... Read more

Product Description
To settle and remain in the American Outback, the unforgiving land of the Oklahoma Panhandle, was an achievement. Prosperity and risk were present in equal measure. Comprising land that Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico did not want, and that Texas, after entering the Union as a slave state, could not have, the Oklahoma Panhandle was dubbed "No Man’s Land." This geographical anomaly, 165 miles long and only 35 miles wide, belonged to no one and, before statehood, served as a haven for desperadoes and villains. Only with the creation of the Oklahoma Territory in 1890 was the area finally claimed by a government entity.

The history of the Oklahoma Panhandle is an integral part of the history of the Great Plains. In the 1930s the Panhandle attracted attention as the heart of the Dust Bowl. Later the area became a world leader in the production of natural gas, and in the 1990s corporate mega hog farms moved in, creating a new set of challenges. As the twenty-first century unfolds, despite concerns about water, pollution, and population growth, the Panhandle remains the most prosperous part of the state, with wheat, meat, and energy as the largest contributors to its economy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Oklahoma Panhandle: from Bust to Boom
Richard Lowitt concisely and insightfully describes the cyclical effects of a contrary land upon a steady and
humble people.The farmers, ranchers and agri-businesses that now thrive on what was the heart of the 1930's
Dust Bowl have a mighty story to tell.Lowitt shows the triumph of soil conservation practices and the growth
of natural gas, beef and hog production to maintain and grow the economy of this once overlooked land. Once home to
renegade Indian and outlaw bands for years it bore the forboding name, No Man's Land.This is a topically-driven,
highly readable account that balances whimsical follies like the Optima reservoir debacle against the practical and
highly productive agri-business practices of today.I was entertained and informed about this land with which I was
already familiar. I'd highly recommend this to anyone who has a love for the High Plains and western Oklahoma region.

Geography and Economic History of the Best Part of America!
This small volume with 111 pages of text contains four essays on the history of the Oklahoma Panhandle.The changing nature of the region's economy throughout the twentieth century is the main theme.

The first essay discusses the unique geography of the region and how it impacted the economic development from 1907 to 1930.Lowitt highlights the agricultural prosperity of the region as well as the possible risks of drought and severe weather.

The second essay narrates the causes and impact of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression.He tells of the efforts of the federal government, the agricultural experimental station at Goodwell, and the farmers in introducing soil conservation efforts and the recovery that resulted by 1940.

The third essay tells the story of Optima Dam, first planned in 1936 but only completed in 1978.He discusses how it resulted from the drought and flood prevention efforts of the 1930s but also how economic realities prevented it from being built until 1978.The political efforts of Oklahoma's senators Kerr and Harris feature in this essay.

Finally, Lowitt describes the economic development after World War II, showing how the region depends on the Ogallala Aquifer.Farmland could not be irrigated without producing natural gas to pump the groundwater.Cattle (Swift) and pigs (Seaboard) could not be raised commercially without groundwater.Although the region has diversified its economy, it has come to depend greatly on the aquifer, which may be depleted someday, depending on unknown recharge rates.Lowitt closes the book on the note that no one knows how sustainable the aquifer-based economy is.

The book contains thoughtful analysis and not oral history.He describes how transportation, Oklahoma law, and the climate have affected the Panhandle and the differential development of each county.He has done extensive research in the museums and historical collections of the region as well as at the University of Oklahoma.Perhaps most surprising, Lowitt does not take a doomsday view of the Great Plains, showing that the three Panhandle counties have consistently ranked in the top five in Oklahoma in terms of per capita income.He sees the region as having successfully overcome great hardships and having not just survived but prospered. ... Read more

Product Description
When it adopted a new constitution in 1969, the Seminole Nation was the first of the Five Tribes in Oklahoma to formally reorganize its government. In the face of an American legal system that sought either to destroy its nationhood or to impede its self-government, the Seminole Nation tenaciously retained its internal autonomy, cultural vitality, and economic subsistence. Here, L. Susan Work draws on her experience as a tribal attorney to present the first legal history of the twentieth-century Seminole Nation.

Work traces the Seminoles' story from their removal to Indian Territory from Florida in the late nineteenth century to the new challenges of the twenty-first century. She also places the history of the Seminole Nation within the context of general Indian law and policy, thereby revealing common threads in the legal struggles and achievements of the Five Tribes, including their evolving relationships with both federal and state governments.

As Work amply demonstrates, the history of the Seminole Nation is one of survival and rebirth. It is a dramatic story of an Indian nation overcoming formidable obstacles to move forward into the twenty-first century as a thriving sovereign nation. ... Read more