Hard Luck Okie
This poem was recorded by the Library of Congress at a migrant farmer’s camp in California in the late 1930s. Before
Roy Turner
Filter / Sort
Happy Trails
Co-written by Ron Honn & Heather Lindsey. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him: “Where are
This Land
Handwritten Letter 1934 (a found poem)
Tulsa Okla. 10th April Mr. Henry Ford Detroit, Mich. Dear Sir. --- While I still have got breath in my
Scott Gregory
Handout Horticulture
From River Republic: The Rise and Fall of America's Rivers by Daniel McCool, published by Columbia University Press and
Daniel McCool
Hair Squared
When Vidal Sassoon realized in the 1950s that he wanted to “change hairdressing to a different form of art,” he
Marcia Beauchamp
Gypsies, Tramps, and Me: Letter from India
At the end of a dusty day, we turned from the smooth comfort of good pavement and paused beneath a lone shade tree in
Sheilah Bright
Guy Logsdon
Dr. Guy Logsdon is a folklorist, writer, musician and Woody Guthrie historian. He’s known for his articles and
Shane Bevel
GUIDE: The Best Things to Do in Oklahoma in June
Summer is in full swing in Oklahoma, and June’s calendar is already looking pretty packed. To help you plan, we’ve
Tony Beaulieu
GUIDE: Oklahoma’s Best Music Festivals
Since Oklahoma’s festival season lasts just as long as its tornado season, it’s important to take precautions for
Molly Evans
GUIDE: Oklahoma’s Best Food Festivals
Nothing brings people together quite like food. Food can be a means of traversing cultural barriers, a way of
Brooks Nickell
GUIDE: Oklahoma Art Festivals
Oklahoma is filled to the brim with visual and performance art events—enough to occupy nearly every weekend of your
Molly Evans
Guide to Gordon Todd Skinner
Who is Gordon Todd Skinner? Learn the story behind one of Oklahoma's most mesmerizing, notorious figures. Read:
This Land
Guerilla Remembrance
At the Tulsa Artist Coalition gallery on Brady Street, you can peer in from the sidewalk through the glass
Denver Nicks
Greed Is Good
During the final phase of military conquest of the continent, surviving Indigenous refugees were deposited in Indian
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Grant McClintock
In this special Original Okie double feature, we present two portraits of Grant McClintock: one snapped in 1975 by
This Land
Grandma’s Panties
“I have something to tell you,” Daddy said as we sat around the table eating red Jell-o for dessert one
Janis Cramer
Grady Walker
Entering the home of Grady Walker is like stepping into another century. As he guided me through several
Michael Cooper
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
Government 2.0 in Oklahoma
There’s an app for Shawnee, Oklahoma. On Android-powered smartphones, on iPhone or iPad, or on a mobile web browser
Michael D. Bates
Gorillas in Our Midst
There are two high schools off of I-35 that are just about the same size. The first is 45 minutes out of downtown
Alexander Yates
Goose Dragoo
Michael "Goose" Dragoo is a longtime Tulsa drummer and vocalist in such acts as Soul Avengers and Jazzbos. In
Grant McClintock
God Says Yes to Me
I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic and she said yes I asked her if it was okay to be short and she said
Kaylin Haught
Go Home, Grandma
In 1955, 67-year-old Emma Gatewood became the first woman to walk all 2,050 miles of the Appalachian Trail by herself.
Ben Montgomery
Go Fast, Turn Left
I removed my contacts, washed off all the makeup, unbraided my hair, took off the bandages, slid the fishnets down my
Clara Nipper
Go Fast, Turn Left
I removed my contacts, washed off all the makeup, unbraided my hair, took off the bandages, slid the fishnets down my
Clara Nipper
Giving Poetry Another Chance
Salman Rushdie said: “A poet’s work is to name the unnamable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments,
Nathan Brown
Give the Gift of This Land!
No, your mother doesn't need another bottle of perfume. Your son doesn't want any more electronics clogging up his
This Land
Gingers Like This Land
Pictured here, Mark Kuykendall, local musician and visionary, reading the first print edition of This
This Land
Get a Head of Steam for Your Self-Esteem
Write a note of affirmation with a good fountain pen and thick creamy paper and put it in your purse, wallet or lunch,
Sam Lipsyte
George Matson
George Matson is a particularly beloved figure in the Southern Hills community, where he spent fifty five years with
Michael Cooper
George Matarazzo
“George was Italian,” his partner, Bill Ferguson, said, “and Italians in Brooklyn didn’t leave home until they
Shawna Lewis
Gateway to America
In many ways, southwest Kansas is just as you’d imagine it. The land is wide open, and the wind constantly races
Benet Magnuson
Gateway
The developers of Gateway Plaza wanted a politically neutral moniker for the project they hoped would set off a new era
Denver Nicks
Gaming: the Gift that Keeps on Giving
For someone who’s not from here, it must be eerie to head out for breakfast on a Sunday morning and discover the
Natasha Ball
Galarshes
drink me, rain says it’s hard to swallow the whole world dry so drink me everything tastes better in Oklahoma
Jennie Lloyd
From Russia, with Love
In southeast Tulsa, among dozens of strip centers whose anodyne facades betray all manner of capitalistic guts within,
Beau Adams
From One Fire
On an oppressively hot evening last May, David Cornsilk addressed a room of so-called “black Indians” at Gilcrease
Marcos Barbery
From Eumseong: the Teacher is Not Coming in Today
When you must leave a place you have loved, even if you never called it home, you are grateful that you inherited a
Jennifer Westbrook
Free For All: The 24 Best Displays of Public Art in Oklahoma
Art isn’t just found in galleries. Thanks to the talent and ingenuity of its creators, and funding by both public and
Molly Evans
Frank Roubedeaux
Frank Roubedeaux takes part in an Otoe-Missouria pow-wow. In 1855, the Otoe-Missouria people were confined to a
Alexis Newton
Four Years on the Rack
My father built a shadow box for me and filled it with memories. I often picture what he must have looked like while
Bradford Hill
Four Men Hanging
"The Masons came down in pairs, erect and orderly,” wrote Welborn Hope, “until at the foot their Worshipful Master
Tamara Logsdon Hawkinson
Foul Weather
Some things you can’t figure out. Not even with a whole heap of scratch paper and a ribbon of data from a chattering
Daniel H. Wilson
Forever Home on Mind
I wept into the sea; it did not overflow. (Buddhist meditation) Spread out over a great
Kyle Erickson
Ford Is Prepared for Rising Gas Prices
Wіth oil рrісеѕ оn thе rise, аutоmаkеrѕ аrе eager tо provide drіvеrѕ wіth fuеl еffісіеnt
Richard Higgs
For Rachel, Who Is Not Lost
A seagull on the moon is not lost, She is a student of lunar soils. A cookie in a salad is not lost, It is
Rob Roensch
Football Season Begins
God, but it's been an awful summer in Oklahoma. The grass has yellowed and gone brittle under the raging heat. For five
Nathan Gunter
Flooding the Arkansas River: A Pro and Con List
MEMO TO: Citizens of Tulsa FROM: Mayor Dewey F. Bartlett Jr. RE: Arkansas River Dear
Beau Adams
Flim-Flammery and the Devil: An Early History of the Tulsa World
Dr. S.G. Kennedy was furious. He had put his trust and money in a young man, who seemed to be making a name for himself
Lee Roy Chapman
Five Summers and John Steinbeck
"We are lonesome animals. We spend all life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story
Brian Ted Jones
First Families
"Pa Taken with Oklahoma Fever" is how my great-grandmother described her father's obsession with the exodus. He'd
Tamara Logsdon Hawkinson
First Charged, Last Freed
John the Baptist moved to Tulsa in 1899. The Stradford family called him J. B. He was a former Kentucky slave who was
Steve Gerkin
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
Filth of Any Kind
“That there is hereby created in the City of Tulsa, an office to be known as City Scavenger.” With those words,
Jack Blair
Fifteen Faits Divers on the Tulsa Race Riot
A faits divers is a short news item, usually about three lines; they’re often stories of strange murders or bizarre
Brian Ted Jones
Ferris O’Brien
Ferris O’Brien is an Okie music enthusiast and owner of the independent radio station “The Spy” in Oklahoma
Nathan Poppe
Father of the Brotherhood
As a young man, John Griggs liked to fight. And he was good at it. Short, dark, wiry, and mean, his flair with a punch
Brian Ted Jones
Father of Fight Club
In 1945, an unassuming black man from Oklahoma City began constructing an intricate book inside a barn in Vermont.
Michael Mason
Father George Eber
Father George Eber, an Okie since the '80s, is originally from Buffalo, New York. After three years as an infantry
Melissa Lukenbaugh
Fast Forward
As we move yet one more step towards dust Desire fades and jealousy and
Warren Brown
Excerpts from Wild West 365
Gaudy Liar In 1856, the appearance of the action-packed Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth, Mountaineer,
Michael Wallis
Everybody’s All-American
Roughly five miles outside of Prague, Oklahoma, I make the necessary turn onto Moccasin Trail road and head towards
Beau Adams
Evel Knievel Comes to Cooperville (and to Weldon Jack)
In 1972, Oklahoma City car dealer Jack Cooper brought Evel Knievel to town for a jump at the Oklahoma City
This Land
Eulogy for Ireland
*** Me, Shrouded in green, white, and orange I wake up tossing up electric blankets in my single-bed
Declan Kiely
Eugene Brady Adkins (1920-2006)
Eugene Brady Adkins was the grandson of W. Tate Brady, who came to Tulsa in 1890 and helped turn a tiny town into a
Shawna Lewis
Especially the Zebras
Two giant Aldabra tortoises with wide dark eyes are on the move around their scrubby domain. The front one stops. Not
Amy Leach
Ernest Wiemann (1910-2010)
“He’s got quite a story,” Doug Bracken said of the man who used to own his business. “Ernest had a lot of
Shawna Lewis
Ensigns and Sensei
On April 5, 1945, Oklahoma A&M President Henry Bennett received a telegram from U.S. Senator Elmer
R.E. Graalman Jr.
Enormity and Image
The evening of May 31 and the morning of June 1 marked an event of racial violence that culminated in the looting and
I. Marc Carlson
Elvis Presley and the Tea Party Nation
I first noticed it in 1973, when I was working at Harrah’s Tahoe, the populist casino that bussed in hundred of white
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Elliot Nelson
In 2004, Elliot Nelson must have been slightly nervous about the business he was opening. That business was James E.
Michael Cooper
Elizabeth Ashwood Davis (1977-2011)
While planning her wedding and shopping for a publisher, Tulsa author Elizabeth Ashwood Davis died suddenly in her
Shawna Lewis
Electric to Eco Trolley: Champions of Tulsa Transportation
Sitting at the bar in Doe’s Eat Place, I gazed up Quincy Street daydreaming a nostalgic movie reel of an era gone by.
Steve Gerkin
Eastland: Where Malls Go When They Die
Mock-tiled carpet, beige and hypnotic, spreads out beneath a grim gunmetal ceiling that is broken only by the central
Sarah Szabo
Earl Walker: Okemah’s Unsung Hero
On December 14, 1972, the New York Times ran an article with the headline, “Woody Guthrie’s hometown is divided on
Joshua Kline
Dust Bowl Dad
When Joe and I crossed the Oklahoma line, from Texas, still well before dawn, I let out a long sigh of relief. Almost
Richard Higgs
Dunk in the Name of Love
Baptism is usually a fairly traditional ceremony. It involves a baptismal, a preacher, and a person who has made a life
Isaiah Sheese
Duane and Mary Blevins
“If I was a gold digger, I think I could have done much better for myself,” Mary Blevins giggled and then added,
Rebekah Greiman
Dry Oklahoma
dry Oklahoma burns from Ponca to Tulsa green tip pushes through stalk fingering down to shit and char lily hood
Grant Matthew Jenkins
Driveway
Again I slid up over the horizon and the lights of Tulsa spread flat out before me. “Ah, there you are,” I
Ron Padgett
Driveway
Again I slid up over the horizon and the lights of Tulsa spread flat out before me. “Ah, there you are,” I
Ron Padgett
Drive-By Truckers
In the years since the interstate era began, the proportion of freight going over the road has steadily increased.
Ginger Strand
Dreams of a Black Oklahoma: On the Trail of the Forgotten Okies of Alberta
At some point during Coach McBride’s four week long excursion into Oklahoma History, I figured out I could sleep on
Russell Cobb
Dreamland Theater Marker
David Crosby and Graham Nash have been scheduled to open the Woody Guthrie Festival at the Cain's Ballroom July 13 of
Lee Roy Chapman
Drawing the Line
The estimated 1,000-plus songs he wrote have made him the de facto poet laureate of common humanity. Generations of
James Vance
Dr. and Mrs. Billy James Hargis
This photo is among those in the collection of Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett. The collection of negatives was salvaged
Howard Hopkins
Dowsing for Cartoonists
The Dick Tracy Headquarters occupies a small corner of the Pawnee County Historical Museum, and the exhibit looks as
Jonathan Gaboury
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
Down in the Dirt
“You lose racers in crashes,” he said. “What happened today, this morning, is different.” I’m talking to
Natasha Ball
Doug Rucker
Doug Rucker teaches fourth grade at Tulsa's Eliot Elementary, where he’s been for 20 years. He paints murals under
Alexis Newton
Dottie Clark (1924-2011)
Dottie Clark was thrilled when the judges named her first runner-up in the Mrs. Tulsa pageant. But her husband, Elmer,
Shawna Lewis
Done That Coming Soon!
This Land's associate editor Natasha Ball will be bringing you regular writings that take you behind the scenes of some
This Land
Dogs Playing Poker
A fine October Saturday in 1966, in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. A residential neighborhood within this community of a
Brian Ted Jones
Dixie Michell
Born and raised in New Orleans, musician and luthier Dixie Michell’s design sensibility grew from a childhood passion
This Land
Dispatches from the Weedpatch Camp
Like many pejoratives, the word “Okie” has been reclaimed—particularly within the borders of its namesake
Thomas Conner
Dinosaur Illustration Submissions
We asked artists of all ages to send us their best Oklahoma dinosaur drawings for consideration for the cover of our
This Land
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
Devotion and Consciousness
The Hindu Temple is non-sectarian and is open to all worshipers and other visitors who wish to know about Hinduism,
Subhash Kak
Devil’s Advocate
Mary McAnally poses no immediate threat. Most of her peers are at constant rest in the twilight of their lives, and her
Sarah Fonder
Desiderata
In the valley the treetops are bandaged in a dirty gauze the fields lusty with flames set to startle another growing
Justin L. Bond