December 13, 2009

December 13, 2009

From Amarillo, TX we drove an hour north to Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument. The tour of this site is open only by reservation. Luckily I checked the website a few days ago. On the positive side we got our own private tour by a very entertaining ranger. After watching the film, we make the short hike to the ridge top location of the quarries. Alibates is famous for flint used to make arrow and spear points. This beautiful stone was traded throughout the region for maybe 10,000 years. The Indians that lived here quarried the stone and knapped it into flat “blanks”. The ultimate “buyer” was responsible for final shaping. The whole area is littered with flint tailings from this ancient Indian “manufacturing” plant. Surprisingly Aimee and I both found the place to be very interesting. I don’t know if it was because of the fascinating story or the enthusiasm of the ranger.

The quarries also overlook the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area. This man-made lake was a spot that we have jet-skied several times in the distant past. No longer. The reservoir is 92% empty, having been almost drained from drought and water overuse.

From Alibates we head cross-country into Oklahoma to Washita Battlefield National Historic Site. In the fall we visited Colorado’s Sand Creek Massacre site, which touched off the Southern Plains Indian War. Washita brought it to an end. The US cavalry spent two summers unsuccessfully chasing the elusive Indians. Finally in 1868, they began a winter campaign to catch them when most vulnerable. George Armstrong Custer located an encampment along the Washita River. He made a surprise dawn attack killing most of the braves. Believing in total war he burned everything and slaughtered all 875 of their horses. The rest of the tribes soon agreed to move to a reservation in the Indian Territory (Oklahoma).


After learning about the battle in the Visitor Center we take a walk around the battle site. It is mostly uninteresting except for the fact the weather was unseasonably warm and summer-like, making for an enjoyable walk. We spend the night outside Oklahoma City.