Oklahoma: My 41st State
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Good evening,
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Exploring Broken Arrow + Tulsa
Substack limits how much one can write in an email, so I’m continuing my Oklahoma recap here.
On the final night of our POMA conference, I snuck away during our after-hours event to Broken Arrow’s nearby award-winning Rose District. Since we had just eaten dinner, we settled on gelato at Bagelarium & STG Gelateria.
Why was Broken Arrow bestowed its name? The town website explains:
Many eastern Oklahoma towns of today existed in the earliest days of Indian Territory. Broken Arrow is such a town, settled by people of the Muscogee (Creek) tribe who were removed to these lands in the early 1800s from the southeastern United States. The removal was called The Trail of Tears due to their not wanting to leave their homelands and due to the number who died i during removal. The Muscogee people who settled along the Arkansas River from Coweta to where Bixby is today, were the Thlikachka or Broken Arrow tribal town. The original town of Broken Arrow had been on the Chattahoochee River in Alabama. Broken Arrow was one of about 50 Muscogee towns who moved intact to the new lands. Broken Arrow is a daughter town of Coweta. The Broken Arrow Muscogees had separated from Coweta when the Coweta group grew too large to hold ceremonials. A group who had been away gathering river cane and bois d’arc tree limbs by “breaking” them, offered to start a new town and called themselves the Broken Arrows after the act of snapping or breaking materials for making arrows. This was the manner in which new towns, known as daughter towns, were formed.
Following the conference, I explored Tulsa proper before returning home to Virginia. I wanted to make the most of time before my flight back home.
Some friends and I first ventured to The Gathering Place - a riverfront park due south of downtown Tulsa.
The 67-acre outdoor space opened in September 2018 with the backing of the George Kaiser Family Foundation. Mr. Kaiser is president, CEO and primary owner of GBK Corporation, parent of Kaiser-Francis Oil Company. (That evil oil and gas industry so many decry but rely on? You betcha!) But I learned Mr. Kaiser was invested in Solyndra - uh oh. Not good.
That aside, it’s a lovely space near the Arkansas River. Lots of walking trails, fishing paths, and great play area for kids. How cool are the storks, paddlefish, and elephant?
For lunch, we opted for Freya: Nordic Kitchen in the Brookside neighborhood in Midtown Tulsa. An Instagram follower recommended it and it didn’t disappoint. I opted for the smoked salmon and BLT Smorrebrod. The $11 price point is reasonable.
And we rounded out the Tulsa adventure at Philbrook Museum of Art in midtown. This is the former mansion of Waite and Genevieve Phillips, previously known as Villa Phillbrook.
Fun fact: Waite Phillips started Phillips Petroleum Company - today Conoco Phillips - with his brothers. (That pesky oil and gas connection again. Muah!)
The museum first opened its doors in 1939. After decades of economic and financial tumult - and some name changes - it experienced a renaissances in the 1990s.
The museum has been dubbed “the most beautiful places in Oklahoma.” Deservedly so. The grounds are exquisite and lovely. Clearly, the pictures don’t do it justice.
In total, we walked about 3.5 miles around midtown Tulsa and crammed a lot in a short time. I hope this is the first of many trips to the Sooner State. I’d definitely come back.
What new state is on the horizon next? I’m heading to Alaska in August to film two new episodes of my CFACT “Conservation Nation” video series. That’ll be state No. 42.
Look out for a travel blog then. I’ll resume regular posts on Friday. Hope this recap is helpful and inspires you to visit Eastern Oklahoma!
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—Gabriella
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