FROM STOCKYARDS TO SPACE

Hey there Campers;

Well campers, the day is starting off cool but you know that heat is a comin'. Every day we have been in Tulsa we get on the freeway. We promised ourselves that we would stop by the Cherokee Nation welcome center.  Since this is our last day here we decided it better be today. As soon as we got off the exit we see the sign for the Tulsa Stockyard. So since it came up first we went there. Boy what an experience! Lo drives around the pens like he knows where he is going. I remind him this is probably private property. He says we are not doing anything wrong. For real!! Are we not on public land. After he sees all he wants we drive back to the front. I decide to go to the office and ask if this was part of the Chisholm trail stockyards. Upon entering the office 3 sweet girls ages 9-12 let me know that their grandmother could answer my needs. I never got a chance to say a word. Edna Young is the office manager. I asked my question. She said no this was not a part of the trail. She did ask me if we wanted to see how a stockyard ran. I jumped at the chance. I went to go get Lo. When I got back she had arranged for Stevie G, one of the ranch hands, to give us a personal tour. Talk about a lesson. We started with the Auction room. Everything is ran by hydraulic doors so no person is physically in the pen with the animals. (Unlike the old days. Animals were being led by a person with a rope around the animals neck.)

Stevie G took us down the catwalk to step us through the whole process. The trucks/farmers/ranchers bring in their animals to be auctioned off. They are sorted according to their type & age. The vet test every animals that are 2 or more years old. Did you now cows are aged by their teeth? At 2 years old they will have 2 bottom teeth. At 4 years 4 teeth 8 years 8 teeth. Some time it is hard to determine how old the cow is if they have worn down their teeth. If the vet cannot determine the age the seller will get less money. Most calves are sold to ranchers who to need to increase their herd. Animals are sorted better when they use the smaller pens. When the animals are in the pens no one is allowed in. This assured the buyer that no has changed anything.

 

 

As the animal comes up for auction the paperwork about this animal is put on a conveyor belt and sent to the person inside the auction hall and is entered into the computer. Each animal is weight just before they are sent into the auction hall. Once sold they will go do another pen and sprinkler down to keep them cool. Look at the center plaque. It states that Blaine Lotz was the Livestock Auctioneer of 2014. What is amazing is he is only 18 years old.. The joke around the yard was he was too young to celebrate with a beer. I  asked Stevie G if the hall is hot and smells like animals during the auction. He stated no because they have a really good venting systems and they bleach down the hall after every sell. He said it "smells like money"

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When we got back to the office Edna had her granddaughter give Lo a hat. You know he was happier than a Jay Bird in the spring.

We thank you Mrs. Edna, Stevie G and the girls for giving us city folk a tour of selling livestock. Mrs. Edna said if you want to see how a live auction takes place Google Cattle USA.









We journey onto the Cherokee Nation Welcome Center. We meet Andrea. She was a wealth of knowledge. We learned a Cherokee word. Osiyo. It means hello. Like being black, if you have a drop of Cherokee blood in you then you are Cherokee.  She also gave us a book called "A Long Road to Liberty". It is about black in OK and with Indian Tribes. Indians also have their own license plates.

We journey on to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium. We keep seeing this crazy penguins around town and finally ask what does it mean? When the Zoo finally added penguins to the program thy need sponsors. So anyone who sponsored got a penguin statue.

 

The museum for full of history of how aviation got started in Tulsa. The first aviation encounter was in July 4, 1897. It was with a hot air balloon.

Tulsa is home to the Aeromet plane. It was designed to supply the need for an optional manned or unmanned vehicle that could deliver lethal and non-lethal applications. It was computer operated from the ground.

John Herrington was the first American Indian in space. He is from OK.

Tulsa aircraft companies build parts for several space ships.

Do you know what this is on a military plane? It is the only thing that keeps the plane from flying off the aircraft carriers deck.

It was good to see that they had a section for women pilots. Did you know WW II had women pilots. It is hardly discussed. Women pilots were call to fly airplanes from the factories to the military where they would be put on ships or flown to the combat area by men. The Women were known as WASPs - Women Airforce Service Pilot.

 

American Airlines used women for several operation in their course of having an airline.

Bessie Coleman was born in Texas and attended the Colored Ag and Normal University in Langston, OK. She was the first African American woman to earn her pilot license in France in 1921. Why is it that other nations are much more advanced than us when it comes to women??

There were lots of items to see in the museum on WW II.

Wiley Post and Will Rogers were very close friends. They both wanted to go to Alaska so they used Wiley's new airplane. They got lost in the clouds and landed near a Eskimo trading camp. They were told that their destination of Point  Barrow was only a few miles away. So they got back in the plane and took off. Just as the plane started to climb the engine sputtered and quit. The aircraft was heavy and nosed into the water killing them both. They were Ok's most famous citizens. Google both of these men. They both have a story to tell.

 
 

The first African Americans to fly across the US from LA to NY were James Banning and Thomas Allen. They met by chance in California. Realizing that they shared a common Oklahoma background they decided to try to win a $1,000 prize tht was said to be offered to the first Black American to fly across the  country. They billed themselves as the Flying Hobos. Leaving Los Angeles with only $100 cash between them they headed to New York. Staying with family and friends along the way they collected donations to buy gas and keep their old airplane flying. They spent 21 days between the two coast arriving in NY in October of 1932. They only had 41 hours and 27 minutes of actual flight time but most of their time in route was spent collecting money and repairing their aircraft. The $1,000 prize money turned out to be a hoax but the pair proved that the sky was not just a white domain. I thought about our family friend Irving Vanderberg who is an amazing pilot and has been all over the world.

Tulsa is the primary maintenance hub of American Airlines.

We took time to find the Golden Driller Man of Tulsa. He is 76 feet tall and weights 43,500 lbs. He is the 5th largest statue in the USA. He is located at the Expo Square.

We ventured on to Oral Roberts Univ. While I am not a fan of Pastor Roberts politics his university is very beautiful and serene.

 

 

 

 

The 15 story Boston Avenue United Methodist church is Art Deco architecture. It was completed in 1929.

 

Downtown Tulsa is full of architectural  designs.

 

 

The BOK was built to attract venues. It has done that as it is home the WNBA team the Shock.

 

The Blue Dome is the center for Tulsa nightlife

Anderson women. I took these pics just for you. See you can travel in the motorhome and still keep those golf clubs kicking.

 

It has been a long day and we are going to the Hilton.

Question of the Day:

What type of housing did the Cherokee Indian live in? It is not easy as you think.

Bonus Question:

What year did the first female flight attendant fly on American Airlines? And what skill did they have to have?

Well, until next time Campers

Lo & Bren