Indian Trading Post

Saturday, after seeing my daughter off to work, I decided to take a drive west on Route 66. I went as far as Geary, OK, which is only around 40 miles west of OKC, but it was evening and I wanted to see the sunset from closer up. I noticed I was in Seminole/Cherokee territory. I took I-40 back to OKC, which has a couple of Indian Trading Posts at each of its highway exits so I decided to get out and take a look around before returning to the city. My happy hunting grounds turned out to be an antique store/art gallery/trading post with lots of interesting items and artifacts.

The first trading post had a KOA camp with bronze painted buffalo outside. Inside, I spoke to one of the shopkeepers and he said the trading post had been there since the 1950's. It had first started at the owner's home, where they would hang hand-woven rugs on their clothesline and set hand woven baskets and arts and crafts out in their yard since their home was on Route 66. Once they began building their business and the interstate was built, they decided to open their store where it is now, not far from their beginning. The owner and his wife have died, but their daughter still operates the store. The store still carries buffalo and cow hides, hand woven rugs and baskets, and hand beaded moccasins of all sizes, as well as some handmade jewelry, pottery, and kachina dolls.

Up the street from the first trading post, I found the second one (photos above). The shopkeeper was laughing that the man who had just bought a large piece of furniture didn't believe she could help him load it on his truck. She showed him she had no problem with the chore. Time was running out, since the sun was about to set, so I didn't get to explore for long.

One artifact was the Native American statue, which I remember seeing when I was a kid traveling with my parents. He was also saluting the sunset and much closer to the sun than me, being three stories high. I found a large gourd that was perfect to use with a wreath of fall leaves I made.

The weather was perfect, not as windy as it has been. The trip was a nice get-away with many wildflowers and wildlife to see on the way, as well as a view of Fort Reno with its history on the prarie. I hope to take a trip to the Alabaster Caverns and to "No Man's Land" in the panhandle sometime before summer gets here, although I hope to keep going west into New Mexico and visit the Santa Fe area.