Tish
Tishomingo was a place I never had to lock my bike and I rode it all over town: to school, to Larry's IGA, to Mill
Eddie Chuculate
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The Imaginary Oklahoma Podcast Episode 7: The Violinist
*** Illustration by Jeremy Luther In this episode of Imaginary Oklahoma, Emily St. John Mandel's "The Violinist"
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The Imaginary Oklahoma Podcast Episode 3: Stillwater
– Illustration by Michelle Duckworth In episode 3 of Imaginary Oklahoma, Matt Bondurant's mystical and
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The Imaginary Oklahoma Podcast Episode 1: Tom Mix
– Illustration by Jane Radstrom. ***Episode 1 of Imaginary Oklahoma features the story Tom Mix by John
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The Imaginary Oklahoma Podcast
What do you think about when you think about Oklahoma? Imaginary Oklahoma is a new podcast from This Land Press,
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Tulsa’s Forgotten Creek Heritage
Excerpted from The Great Oklahoma Swindle: Race, Religion, and Lies in America’s Weirdest State by Russel Cobb by
Russell Cobb
Brave New Park
It’s one of those steam baths of a late August night. Cicadas are revving up their engines in the post oaks and
Russell Cobb
The Ballad of Sis Cunningham
In late May 1940, Woody Guthrie was riding high in New York City. Although Guthrie had already made a name for himself
Richard Higgs
The Secret Wheat Deal
In 1968, Richard Nixon began calling for an end to the Vietnam War. As a candidate for the presidency in 1968, he gave
James C. Thomas
The Pacifist Preacher & Quanah Parker
The Fourth Cavalry mustered at the gates of Fort Concho in San Angelo, Texas. Led by Colonel Ranald Mackenzie, the
Jay Cyril Mastrud
‘Til the Clowns Come Home
Passing Oaklawn Cemetery, on our way to Mazzio’s, Michelle made her request: “Mitch, can you take off your hat?”
Mitch Gilliam
Firelight Along the Frontier
Flames rushed skyward from a structure less than a mile away across the sagebrush. At the height of another dry desert
Michael Canyon Meyer
The Native Hue of Resolution
The Riverside Indian School is perched on a hill along the Washita River in the wind-whipped town of Anadarko,
Marcos Barbery
A New Day
Last September in the town of Bartlesville, 15-year-old Blue Haase got a ride to his local school board meeting. During
Molly Bullock
The Mummy of John Wilkes Booth
"My ashes, as the phoenix, may bring forth A bird that will revenge upon you all." — William
Gordon Grice
The Piano Player
For a divorced woman getting by as a music teacher in 1921, Patti Adams Shriner achieved an incredibly bold ambition
Scott Pendleton
Down Through There
I took a moment to see all my friends and Brothers one last time, then I was off to the laundry. My closest Brothers
Jimmy Maxwell
Kurt Vonnegut’s Oklahoma Eden
On a warm day in December, Woolaroc ranch hands are rounding up the bison for the annual inspection and culling. A
Ginger Strand
The Horror in the Ouachita Mountains
This story was made possible in part by our friends at City of Guthrie. Thank you, City of Guthrie, for supporting
James McGirk
Lee Makes the Flowers Grow
West of Sand Springs, Oklahoma, on old Highway 51, past the grounds of the razed Hissom asylum, stand two stoplights.
Mitch Gilliam
The Filth and the Fury
Although Tulsa’s Cain’s Ballroom later became famous for catching future superstars like U2, The Police, and Van
John Wooley & Brett D. Bingham
The Last Lynching in Cimarron
At the little weather-beaten station one hot Sunday morning a single passenger alighted from the dirty car pulled by
Cyrus Townsend Brady
Shalom, Ardmore
I went down to Ardmore looking for the last Jews in a town that could—if it were so inclined—lay claim to the title
Russell Cobb
Heaven Is a Place for Sale
Roberts Liardon loves talking about the sofa he sat on in Heaven. “It was alive,” he tells the congregation at
Sarah Morice Brubaker
The Condemned Man’s Son
William Clifford Bryson III walked into the viewing room of Oklahoma’s execution chamber clutching his
RJ Young
9:02 AM
I hurtled down Interstate 40, late for work, as usual, barely noticing the beautiful spring morning. I was frustrated
Tiffany Doerr Guerzon
An Odder Science
I pulled up behind Dr. Randy Wymore’s pickup right as he pulled up in front of Sidney Presley’s house. “Sorry I
Mitch Gilliam
Horse Teeth and Heartbreak
Elbow deep inside the jaws of a stallion, Edye Lucas closes her eyes as her fingers explore a landscape of slivered
Sheilah Bright
The Unlikely Baroness
The young black girl poses in a common, patterned dress by an ordinary side chair. Her shadow creates a ghostly
Steve Gerkin
Lafferty Lost and Found
They convened in a meeting room in the back of an old Borden’s Cafeteria. A bald man with a soft paunch, looking
Natasha Ball
This Is My Beloved Son
The fall of the first family of televangelism came swiftly. Two Oral Roberts Ministries employees crouched on a desk
Kiera Feldman
Wild Life
The rock formations that spill out from the wooded foothills of the Sans Bois Mountains in southeastern Oklahoma were
Jezy J. Gray
Snake Ball
Joey Rigoletto is a spazz. We know this. What a dickhead, we said as he went by, tipped over practically, calling out,
Bayard Godsave
Among the Tribe of the Wannabes
Let’s take a voyage to a not-so-distant land and visit a strange tribe. Or maybe not so strange. In fact, you may
Russell Cobb
The Tiger King Untamed
“Hang on, I’m gonna go out there and throw up.” Near the end of our first hour-long interview, Joe Exotic, a.k.a.
Holly Wall
The New Joads
Part of the work put in by John Steinbeck in preparation for writing The Grapes of Wrath was a series of articles
Brian Ted Jones
A Stiller Ground
I walked in graveyards, gathering trash and fallen branches. I pulled weeds that obscured the names on old headstones
Gordon Grice
Pop Life
Harold Stevenson is a tiny 84-year-old man wearing a knit shirt with a frayed collar. He lives in a log cabin nestled
Steve Sherman
Watts and Clary
Dressed only in his boxers, Wade Watts, a black civil rights activist, reclined on the sofa. He read the morning paper
Steve Gerkin
Subterranean Psychonaut
He stood naked by the roadside with a blanket draped around his hips, feebly reaching out for the glimmering cars as
Michael Mason, Chris Sandel and Lee Roy Chapman
Youngwolfe Accused
Phyllis Jean Warren was missing for three weeks when she was found strangled in a brush pile 300 yards from her home.
Hunter Howe Cates
The Hawk Is Howling
Eighty-one-year-old Chris Rhodes has been eating the same thing in the same restaurant for 71 percent of his eating
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From One Fire
On an oppressively hot evening last May, David Cornsilk addressed a room of so-called “black Indians” at Gilcrease
Marcos Barbery
Diamond in the Rough
Diamond Dick Roland disappeared. Secreted out the door of the Tulsa County Jail into an awaiting car provided by
Steve Gerkin
A Symphony of Bees
Out off Aspen Avenue, deep in the tree streets of Broken Arrow, a very typical three-bedroom, single-family unit is
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Mr. Ray Fits a Suit
When I walk into Ray’s Tailor Shop, I immediately notice the ordered disorder of the two-room store. Directly in
Michael Berglund
Something Good is Going to Happen to You
I was twelve years old when it happened, in the 7th grade, attending Victory Christian School on 71st Street in South
Randy R Potts
South by Midwest: Or, Where is Oklahoma?
I'm not much of a Facebook person. Most of the time, I passively scroll through status updates while avoiding doing
Russell Cobb
The Strange Love of Dr. Billy James Hargis
Little Rock was shell-shocked. It was July of 1960, and in the past year, five bombings had terrorized the city’s
Lee Roy Chapman
Troubled Waters III: Balancing Act
This is the third installment of a three-part series about Oklahoma's water wars, starting with the edition of This
Ginger Strand
Troubled Waters, Part II
Oklahoma's Water Wars Pit the City Versus the Country, the State Against the Tribes. While the Parties Do Battle in
Ginger Strand
The Last of Kenton
I have been trying to tell the story of Kenton, the westernmost town in Oklahoma, since last November, when I
Sheilah Bright
The Trouble with Henry
Mary Popkess marched into the Sand Springs football stadium under a full head of steam. She made straight for the
Anne Barajas Harp
Troubled Waters, Part 1
This is the first installment of a three-part series about Oklahoma's water wars, starting with the edition of This
Ginger Strand
The Demons
Sing with me, sing for the year, sing for the laughter and sing for the tears. —Aerosmith, “Dream On” Tommy
Eddie Chuculate
Bearden Unbound
“I wonder if Dave Bearden still dislikes me.” —Ted Berrigan, The Sonnets LXXVI David Omer Bearden was born in
Robert Dumont
Grace in Broken Arrow
Editor's Note: Names of victims have been changed. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord
Kiera Feldman
The Nightmare of Dreamland
The seventeen men were terrified, and with good reason. They stood shivering in the November midnight air, their bare
Lee Roy Chapman
Who’s Afraid of Elohim City?
The following is a collaboration by Lee Roy Chapman and Joshua Kline. Bad men are drawn to the City of
This Land
Drive-By Truckers
In the years since the interstate era began, the proportion of freight going over the road has steadily increased.
Ginger Strand
Death’s Yellow Door
"We may be indifferent to the death penalty and not declare ourselves either way so long as we have not seen a
Kelly Kurt
Dear Uncle Ronnie
My uncle, Ronald David Roberts, was born in 1945, the oldest son of the late televangelist, Oral Roberts, my
Randy R Potts
Holy Frack
It started with just a few tremors. Then a few more. Then it seemed like a swarm, each one following thick and fast on
Ginger Strand
One Long Soundless Scream
Yevgeny Yevtushenko teaches English at the University of Tulsa. His poetry has been translated into 72
Jeff Martin
Ashes to Ashes
Just outside Bokoshe, Oklahoma is a winding stretch of properties known as “the loop.” The land is heavily wooded
Gene Perry
What Lies Beneath
In 1997, when Clyde Snow agreed to investigate claims from the Tulsa Race Riot, the forensic anthropologist was at the
Kevin O'Connor
The Gospel of John Lennon
In Search of Lennon's Lost Letter to Oral Roberts In the early 1970s, Oral Roberts’ evangelical TV program was at
Lindsey Neal
Private Manning and the Making of WikiLeaks
The Inside Story of the Oklahoman Behind the Biggest Military Intelligence Leak Ever Editor's note: Since it was
Denver Nicks
Asylum
I wrote this all down to keep myself alive. For six days and five nights, I was a mental patient in total
Jennie Lloyd
The White Dove Review
“You can leave your contraband at the door,” the woman tells me. I’ve filled out and signed several forms and
Joshua Kline