Oh, These Oklahoma Stories!

Hello and happy Wednesday!  I love old ghost stories, and I came across this one the other day on the website http://www.americanfolklore.net

So, here we go....

You Can't Get Out

A Oklahoma Ghost Story 
retold by
S. E. Schlosser
 
One dark, windy night, the town drunk was meandering his way home after the bar closed. Somehow he got turned around and ended up walking through the churchyard instead of taking the road home.


The wind picked up and he thought he could hear a voice calling his name. Suddenly, the ground opened up in front of him, and he fell down, down into an open grave! He could hear the voice clearer now, calling to him. He knew it was the devil, coming for him just like the preacher said, on account of him being the town drunk.
The hole was very deep and inside it was pitch black. His eyes adjusted to the darkness after a few moments, and he made out a form sitting in the darkness with him. It called his name, and he scrambled away in fear, trying to climb out of that terrible grave. Then the figure spoke. "You can't get out," it said.

The drunk gave a shout of pure terror and leapt straight up more than six feet. He caught the edge of the hole in his hands, scrambled out, and ran for home as fast as he could go.

Inside the open grave, his neighbor Charlie sighed in resignation. He'd fallen into the hole a few minutes before his friend and had thought that together they might help each other climb out. Now he was going to have to wait until morning and get the mortician to bring him a ladder.

The Legend of the Cherokee Rose

An area of present-state Oklahoma was the final destination for the Cherokee tribe after they were forced from their home in the Eastern United States because the settlers and speculators wanted the gold and other natural resources in their mountains.

I love visiting Tahlequah because of its rich history and the citizens' love of this history.  There are double street signs in Tahlequah - one in English and one in Cherokee.  The Cherokee History Center there is a must-see for visitors to Eastern Oklahoma. Walk in the woods near Tahlequah and you can literally feel the spirits around you (or it may be the Little People...But that's a story for later)....

Oklahomans as a lot aren't terribly fond of President Andrew Jackson and his minions, and although we love Tahlequah and our Cherokee, we are a bit sensitive over the subject of the Trail of Tears.  What was done to the Cherokee people around 1830 was nothing short of a death march sanctioned by our own government. The fact that the Cherokee flourished and prospered in Tahlequah and the surrounding area is a credit to the Cherokee people, and should never be used to diminish the travesty that was done to them at the hands of the greedy.

There are two great legends associated with the grief experienced on the Trail of Tears.  One is the legend of the Rose Rock.  The other, featured here today, is the legend of the Cherokee Rose.  Credit for compiling and editing this story goes to Kathy Weiser of http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ .   Visit this great website for more beautiful legends and stories of our past.

The Legend of the Cherokee Rose (nu na hi du na tlo hi lu i)

More than 175 years ago, gold was discovered in the mountains of North Carolina and Georgia and as thousands of new settlers invaded the area, it spawned tensions with the American Indian tribes. As a result, President Andrew Jackson established the Indian Removal Policy in 1830, which forced the Cherokee Nation to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and migrate to Indian Territory (now present day Oklahoma.)

The forced march, which began in 1838, was called the "Trail of Tears," because over 4,000 of the 15,000 Indians died of hunger, disease, cold, and exhaustion. In the Cherokee language, the event is called Nunna daul Tsuny -- "the trail where they cried."

Along the way, the Cherokee mothers cried and the elders prayed for a sign that would lift their spirits to give them strength. One night along the trail, the old men spent in the evening in powerful prayer, asking the Great One to help them with their suffering and save the children to rebuild the Cherokee Nation.

The Great One responded to the elders by saying: "Yes, I have seen the sorrows of the women and I can help them to keep their strength to help the children. Tell the women in the morning to look back where their tears have fallen to the ground. I will cause to grow quickly a plant, which will grow up and up and fall back down to touch the ground where another stem will begin to grow.

The next day when the Cherokee continued their journey, the elders advised the mothers to look behind them. In each place where the mothers' tears fell, a beautiful white rose began to grow. As the women watched the beautiful blossoms form, they forgot to cry and felt strong. By the afternoon they saw many white blossoms as far as they could see.

Its rose's gold center is said to represent the gold taken from the Cherokee lands, and its seven leaves on each stem signifies the seven Cherokee clans. Today, the wild Cherokee Rose can be found all along the Trail of Tears from North Carolina to Oklahoma.

Time For Another Ghost Story....

Doesn't everyone love a good ghost story?  Especially when it involves a place that we know well?  I came across another good one the other day, involving an area around Tishomingo, Oklahoma.  I grew up north of Tish, and have been there many, many times.  Tishomingo was the original Oklahoma Chickasaw capital, and the old, stately building still stands proudly there today.  Tishomingo is the home of Murray State College, an excellent 2 year school.  Part of its beauty comes from its river, the great Blue.  When I was a kid, there was a terrific swinging bridge over the river - cars would creep across and the bridge would swing back and forth.  Crazy stuff.

Many of Oklahoma's ghost stories come from our Native American population, and the Tishomingo story today is no exception.  If anyone knows the area around Tish well, and has seen the burial mounds mentioned in the story, please post a reply - I would love to take a look at them.

Credit goes to legendsofamerica.com for this story, which was written by Charles M. Skinner in 1896.

A Battle in the Air


In the country about Tishomingo, Indian Territory, troubles are foretold by a battle of unseen men in the air. Whenever the sound of conflict is heard it is an indication that many dead will lie in the fields, for it heralds battle, starvation, or pestilence. The powerful nation that lived here once was completely annihilated by an opposing tribe, and in the valley in the western part of the Territory there are mounds where hundreds of men lie buried. Spirits occupy the valley, and to the eyes of the red men they are still seen, at times, continuing the fight.

In May, 1892, the last demonstration was made in the hearing of John Willis, a U.S. Deputy Marshal, who was hunting horse-thieves. He was belated one night and entered the vale of mounds, for he had no scruples against sleeping there. He had not, in fact, ever heard that the region was haunted. The snorting of his horse in the middle of the night awoke him and he sprang to his feet, thinking that savages, outlaws, or, at least, coyotes had disturbed the animal. Although there was a good moon, he could see nothing moving on the plain. Yet the sounds that filled the air were like the noise of an army, only a trifle subdued, as if they were borne on the passing of a wind. The rush of hoofs and of feet, the striking of blows, the fall of bodies could be heard, and for nearly an hour these fell rumors went across the earth. At last the horse became so frantic that Willis saddled him and rode away, and as he reached the edge of the valley the sounds were heard going into the distance. Not until he reached a settlement did he learn of the spell that rested on the place.

Have You Seen Oklahoma’s Spook Light?

Oklahoma is bursting with ghost stories, strange happenings, outlaw tales and Native American legends. Some of them are actually true. One of my favorites is the Spook Light of Northeastern Oklahoma.

I first heard of the Spook Light at a dinner party in Miami, Oklahoma, several years ago. I was there on business, and one of the locals asked me if I had seen the Spook Light. I was immediately intrigued, but also wary that I could be going down a snipe hunt trail. The locals were enthusiastic about this thing, and some of them actually claimed to have seen it.  By the time I dug into my dessert, I was hanging between wanting to see this thing and feeling as if the city girl was being taken by the joking country folk.

A group of them promised to take me there on my next trip to Miami, but I laughed it off and said I wasn’t falling for that. A few days after I got back home, one of them e-mailed me a site that described the Spook Light in detail. Ok, now I was intrigued.

About a month later I was back in Miami, and my dinner partners had arranged a cookout and hayride to the road where the Spook Light made its occasional appearances.

The first reported sighting of the Spook Light was in 1881, and there have been countless sightings since then.

Located east of Quapaw, Oklahoma, the Spook Light road (known as the Devil’s Promenade by locals) is out in the country and during the day resembles every other dirt road in the state. It’s about 4 miles long, but the Spook Light only appears in a certain smaller area of the road.

The Spook Light appears as a moving, bouncing, reddish-orange ball of light. It dances around and has even come into moving automobiles. Some people walking along the road have reported feeling the heat as the light zooms by them. The light is not affected by wind or rain – it appears no matter what the weather happens to be.

There have been various theories over the years on what causes this light, most of them quickly discounted. One theory that seems most plausible is that an electric charge from grinding rocks underneath the ground causes the Spook Light. The area is over a fault line, so this idea is a possibility, but has never been proven.

Other theories are more interesting and involve ghosts. One story is that a Quapaw brave and maiden fell in love, but her father was against the romance. A real Romeo and Juliet story. The couple fled and were chased by Quapaw braves until they took a lover’s leap into the Spring River and died. Their ghosts, for some unexplained reason, converged into the Spook Light. Another one involves an Indian chief who was beheaded and travels the road with his lantern looking for the head. The lantern is the Spook Light - that's why it bobs around.  But why would he need a lantern if he doesn’t have a head? Didn’t his eyes go with his head? Well, I don’t want to get in the way of a good ghost story….

Bottom line is that I did go to the cookout that night, and afterward we loaded onto wagons stacked with hay bales and rode behind tractors to the infamous Devil’s Promenade. It was about 10:00 pm, since the light usually appears between 10 and midnight. Our group of about 30 or so walked the dark, lonely road for an hour or more, wishing and wanting the Spook Light to appear, but kind of not, too.

The Spook Light did……not appear. Oh well, we all had a terrific time at the party and really loved the hayride. I hadn’t been on a hayride in a long time, and had forgotten how much fun they are. And the walk down the dark and scary Devil’s Promenade was hair-raising and a great experience.

Does the Spook Light exist? Of course it does – there have been too many witnesses over too many years for it to be figment of someone’s imagination. Is it a ghost? You be the judge.

Plant Your Garden By The Moon and Stars!

In the early days, people believed that planting should be done by the moon and the Zodiac calendar. As early as 1300 B.C. there were planting charts based on the twelve signs, which later became the Zodiac.

Almanacs are still published today that recommend planting by the Zodiac calendar and the moon. While most of us just consider this a fun thing to read about, some still plant, cultivate and harvest their gardens according to the twelve signs and what stage the moon is in. Who knows, the relationship between the planets, sun, moon and nature may be more significant than we think. Our ancestors certainly believed it.

The following is a guide to planting according to the Zodiac calendar….

Plant during the fruitful signs – Scorpio (loins), Pisces (feet), Taurus (neck) or Cancer (breast).

Always set plants out in a water or earth sign – Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Pisces.

Flowers should be planted in Libra, which represents beauty. Plant while the moon is in the first quarter.

Plow, till and cultivate in Aries.

A crop planted in Taurus or Cancer will withstand a drought.

Never transplant in Aries or Leo.

Plant things that yield above the ground during the growing of the moon, and plant things that yield under the ground during the decreasing of the moon.

Potatoes should never be planted in Pisces. The best time to plant potatoes is a dark night in March.

Never plant anything on the first day of the new moon, or on a day when the moon changes quarters.

If fruit is picked on the increasing of the moon or in the new moon, there will be more rotting. Pick fruit only during the decreasing of the moon.

All crops will keep better if picked during the decreasing of the moon.

Never plant on a Sunday.

Corn planted in Leo will have small ears.

Plant beans in Gemini.

Did the old-timers have it right? I guess the only way to know is to try it for yourself the next time you plant or harvest.

Predict The Weather By Using Nature!

Happy birthday, Mom!

Well, we're getting into the interesting part of winter, and Oklahoma has already experienced a record-setting snowfall and blizzard.  Nice.  Nature has a way of letting us know what kind of weather is making its way toward us if we just understand the signs. Our farmer forefathers knew all of this, of course, but we have lost this passed-down knowledge over the years as our weather forecasting became easier and more sophisticated.

The nature method of weather forecasting was surprisingly accurate, and still is today. This article will tell you how the farmers used nature to predict how the weather….

The first twelve days after Christmas will indicate what each month in the next year will be like. A mild day the day after Christmas means that January will be mild. A stormy day on the fourth day after Christmas means that April will be stormy, etc.

If it hasn’t rained in a long time, and the rain starts before 7:00 A.M., it will be over by 11:00 A.M.

If it rains on Easter Sunday, it will rain on the next seven Sundays.

If it starts raining on the first day of the full moon, it will keep raining until the moon quarters.

There will be nice weather if you hear a screech owl.

There will be nice weather if smoke rises.

When crickets sing the temperature will get warmer.

If the first snow stays on the ground for three days, another snow will come along to add to it.

A late frost indicates a rough winter is ahead.

It will rain if:

Cows lie down in the pasture.

Earthworms come to the top of the ground.

The ants cover up the hole on their mound.

There is a ring around the moon. The stars in the ring indicate how many days away the rain is.

Birds are flying low.

The sun sets with clouds.

The number of days old the moon is at the first snowfall will tell you how many times it will snow this season.

Lots of rain and two frosts close to each other indicate that cold weather is approaching fast.

With this knowledge, you can now predict the weather as well as your farmer ancestors. Let’s all hope for a nice, peaceful January and February for everyone this year.

 

Are We In For A Bad Winter? Ask The Insects!

How many times have we heard that the woolly-worm can predict a bad winter? Well, there’s something to this. Back in the old days, the farmers had to use something other than television weathermen to tell them what kind of weather was on the horizon.Over hundreds of years they learned, and passed down to new generations, how to predict a bad winter by using animals, plants, insects and other natural things. This article will tell you how the farmers used insects to predict how bad the approaching winter would be.

Here are some signs:

Butterflies migrate early. If they do, winter will come in early.When butterflies bunch up together in the sky, winter is coming soon.Three months after the first katydid begins singing, the first killing frost will come.

It will be a bad winter if….There are crickets in your chimney.

The ants build their hills higher than normal.

Hornets and yellow jackets build their nests lower to the ground than normal.

Miller moths keep hitting the screen door to get in.

There are lots of spiders in the fall.

You see worms in your house or outbuildings in October.

And now, the trusty woolly-worm, who is a great predictor of weather. Here’s how to watch the signs of the wooly-worm and what they mean….

If there are more than usual crawling around, and they have heavy coats, a bad winter is coming.If the black band on his back in wide, the winter will be bad. The more black a worm is, the worse the bad winter will be. If the worm if mostly brown with very little black, the winter will be gentle.If his front has a lot of black, the bad weather is coming. If his rear end is black, the worst is over.If he’s brown on both ends and orange in the middle, the winter will be gentle.If you see a woolly-worm before the first frost, the winter will be bad.

So, there you have it. Who needs the slick weathermen on the television when you have the woolly-worm, spider and Miller moth to tell you how bad the winter is going to be?

Are We In For A Bad Winter? Ask the Animals!

Brace yourself, winter is approaching quickly. How bad will it be? Will we suffer through multiple ice and snow storms, or will we see a mild, pleasant winter?

You can ask the animals to predict the winter season – well, at least according to old-timers. In olden times, people had to use something besides a local television weatherman to tell them how much food to put away for winter, and how much wood to cut. They came to depend upon the actions and appearances of animals. Handed down over generations, these signs of a bad winter were fairly dependable.

You will have a bad winter in your area if…..

The squirrel tails are bushier than normal.

The squirrels build nests low in the trees, rather than near the tops.

The squirrels gather nuts early – in mid to late September.

Birds finish up all the berries on the bushes early.

Animals grow a short, fuzzy coat under their regular coat.

The fur on horses and mules is thicker than normal.

The fur on the bottom of a rabbit’s foot is thicker than usual.

Crows group together and stay together.

Wild hogs gather up corn shucks, straw and sticks to make a warm bed.

The north side of a beaver dam has many more sticks than the south side.

The beaver homes have a lot more sticks and logs than normal.

Owls hoot late into the fall.

Screech owls sound like they are crying.

Birds huddle up on the ground.

Now, I don't see many wild hogs in Oklahoma City, so if they are making their beds I don't know about it.

And who would pick up a rabbit's foot while it was still attached to examine how thick the hair is? How would you know whether it was thicker than last year - ask the bunny?

However, you can observe what's around you, which, for me, is a bunch of wily squirrels and some huddled-up birds. Since the squirrel tails seem a little fuzzier this year, I think we're going to have a baaaaad winter season.

How do you predict the severity of the winter? Please comment and let us know!

Are We In For A Bad Winter? Look At The Plants!

Our farming ancestors became experts at predicting whether a bad winter was on its way. However, they could not even imagine the sophisticated means of weather forecasting that we have today. Instead, they used such things as plants, animals and insects to forecast the winter.

These methods were surprisingly accurate, and still are today. This article will tell you how the farmers used plants to predict how bad the approaching winter would be.

A bad winter is on its way if….

Trees still have lots of green leaves late into the fall.

The trees have thicker bark than normal.

The tree bark on the north side of the tree is heavier than the other bark.

There is a heavy crop of dogwood and holly berries.

There is a heavy crop of pinecones and acorns.

The sweet potatoes have a tougher skin than normal.

There are more layers on the onions.

Apples mature earlier than normal.

The carrots grow deeper than normal.

The blackberry crop is especially good.

The grapes mature earlier than normal.

Cockleburs appear earlier than normal.

Pine cones open up early.

Tree leaves shed before they turn color.

Tree moss is heavier than normal.

The grass is darker than normal during summer.

This is a good time to test this method of predicting the weather. You might just be surprised to find that the plants are more correct than your local weatherperson in forecasting.