May 15-19 – Raymond Gary State Park
The week prior to leaving on a trip is hectic. Ha, Ha. It’s a mad rush. Getting everything done that required in-person contact kept us busy. Plus, making sure we had everything we need either in the RV or the truck.
We cannot keep the RV where we live. Therefore, during those last couple of days at home, we are getting all those things we have accumulated in the house into the RV. The final steps are the food from the fridge and all those things required for everyday living.
Our first stop is Raymond Gary State Park near Fort Towson, Oklahoma. As we neared the park, we began to notice how green the surroundings were versus the brown we left behind in north Texas. According to the camp host, the area had recently gotten 7 inches of rain, flooding some of the areas around the lake. No wonder it looks green.
Raymond Gary State Park is a small park that surrounds a small “flow-through” lake with the park on one side and private owner houses on the other side. The area reminded both of us of our lake house in Palestine.
We are here for four nights. We will take it easy, spend one-day visiting family in McAlester, and take advantage of the cooler weather.
Leo has a new antenna mount for the pickup. POTA will take place along the way.
Fort Towson State Park is located about three miles from the park. Built in the 1820s as a barrier to the Spanish, Fort Towson also served as the end of the Choctaw Removal and the boundary between conflicting cultures. Originally built with logs, later rebuilt with stone, all that remains of the fort are some stacked-stone walls and foundations squares.
The historic site is also home to a museum, specially built to accommodate a surprising artifact, a steam-powered paddle wheeler that navigated the Red River. Just imagine a 160-ton, 140-foot long, 40-foot wide ship bringing supplies to outposts along the Red River. Red River navigation, made possible by clearing the Great Raft (a snag in the river of wood and other debris), opened the river from Alexandria, Louisiana to Fort Towson.
The paddle wheeler, the Heroine, sank about two miles from Fort Towson after hitting a snag in the river. Completely loaded, the ship joined many others that had sunk in the Red over the years.
The remnants of the Heroine were discovered in 1999 following a flood. The Heroine was excavated through a joint project between the Oklahoma Historical Society, Texas A&M, and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Housed in the Museum at Fort Towson are the ship’s rudder and bits of hardware from the ship. Larger portions of the ship are on display at the Oklahoma History Center.
About a mile as the crow flies from the fort was the community of Doaksville. Josiah Doaks opened a trading post there that grew into a community. Eventually, Doaksville was the capital of the Choctaw Nation with 30 buildings and two newspapers. When the fort was decommissioned in 1854, with the coming of the railroads, and the end of the Choctaw Capital, Doaksville slowly disappeared.
The walls that at one time circled the cemetery were built by the CCC.
To access Doaksville, you have to go through the cemetery. Of course, we walked the cemetery.
We all have our own beliefs about headstones and monuments at cemeteries. This marker with ammo was a first for us.
May 19-20 – Texarkana, Texas
Overnight in Texarkana next to an interstate where there are hourly car, motorcycle, and truck races. Thank goodness for the overhead air conditioner and the fan we were able to sleep.
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