About Pawhuska, Oklahoma

"The town, originally known as Deep Ford was established in 1872 with the reservation for the Osage Nation, part of Indian Territory."  (Wilipedia)

"Other than cattle ranches nearby, local employment consisted primarily of a brick plant, a creamery, an ice factory, and a rock crusher.  The Osage Nation has opened a gaming casino here, hoping to generate revenue for the tribe."  (Wikipedia)

The headquarters of the Osage Indian tribe is located in the town of Pawhuska, and it takes up quite a large area of the town.  We visited the Indian museum, and I got what I thought was a perfect picture until I got it home and realized I must have moved while taking it, since it's slightly blurred.  Oh well, it happens. I was so excited at taking a picture of a real Indian, I was probably shaking.  

One point of interest was the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.  They give tours from 10 AM on; we were there at 10, but had to wait about 15 minutes.  The lady who showed us through the place had been called to substitute for whoever was supposed to be there that day.  She was a wonderful guide. 

The stained-glass windows are some of the most lovely you will ever see, and quite unique.  The Osage tribe paid for all the windows.  I took pictures, but the ones on their website are so much better, I'm using theirs.  

This one is my favorite.  They had to get permission from the Pope at the time to have a picture that included our native Americans.  Normally you only see pictures that illustrate Bible stories or saints.

The Sanctuary, as seen from the balcony.

This is one I took myself.  

This one was the favorite of our guide:  God (on the right) lecturing Adam and Eve for their sins.  You really need to see it in person to appreciate the details.

We learned that a handful of folks volunteer to feed up to fifty people, seven days a week.  Not all the volunteers are Catholic.  Wow!  I was impressed!  

The lady showing us through the place knows the Drummond family.  She asked if we'd seen any of them at the Mercantile, although she knew Ree was busy getting the latest issue of her magazine to the publisher.  I didn't even know she had a magazine!  She told us if we'd drive just a little further down the road we could see the house where Lad Drummond's grandparents lived.  It's now a bed-and-breakfast.

I should also mention the Osage County Historical Museum in Pawhuska, situated in the old town depot.  It's a cut above many of the small-town museums you'll find.  It doesn't open until 10 AM, but having nothing else to do at the time, we drove over there before 9 to look around the property.  

Of COURSE Cliff found a tractor-like machine to look at, and he looked for a long time.  He's outside right now, but when he comes in I'll edit this and tell you what he figured out about it, because I don't remember.  Some kind of super-heavy-duty winch, he says. Made by Case, a grand old tractor brand.

We learned that the first boy scout troop anywhere was right there in Pawhuska.  There's a stature commemorating that event.

A lady opened up the place early, and told us to come on in and look around since she was there early anyhow.  This is the sort of reception we got from everyone we ran into in Bartlesville and Pawhuska.  

I enjoyed our trip.