#14: Skiatook
The 470 miles between San Francisco and Los Angeles looms large. On Thursday I cycled 51 miles and was sore for 4 days. There's a sense of relief now because there's no more training I can do. I just need to let my body heal over and peddle for 8 days in a row.
On Sunday I cycled to Skiatook, it was 35 miles there and back down the Osage bike trail in glorious weather. Life affirming stuff.
Date of creation: 1872
Skiatook was founded by William Charles Rogers, the last hereditary chief of the Cherokees, as a trading outpost in 1872. The origins of the name are contested. One story goes an Osage Indian called Skiatooka was frequently trading at the post, another says the town was founded on the lands of a prominent Indian called Skiatooka. A drunkards' tale says a tornado hit the town in the early years and, when trying to explain what happened, the natives said "sky-a-took". A phrase meaning the sky literally took the town.
Note this is earlier than the founding of Tulsa.
Rogers was the last elected chief of the Cherokee Nation before the tribal government was dissolved to form the state of Oklahoma in 1906. This all began with the Dawes Act of 1887 in which the 5 tribes ceding titles to land to individuals from the tribes (a form of privatisation, I guess) with the surplus land going to the Federal government to be distributed to white settlers. Many members of the tribe sold their land rights, further eroding land ownership. Legal battles rage to this day regarding who was a member and hence should receive land. This was determined by the Dawes Commission.
William Rogers essentially managed the peaceful dissolution of tribal Government:
Oh and it turns out the OKC aiport is named after Will Rogers, a cowboy comedian.
In reality the dickheads in trucks (aka 3 ton death machines) who enjoy intimidating cyclists are more dangerous and yet so much less scary. I'd say its a badly calibrated sense.
On Sunday I cycled to Skiatook, it was 35 miles there and back down the Osage bike trail in glorious weather. Life affirming stuff.
Date of creation: 1872
Skiatook was founded by William Charles Rogers, the last hereditary chief of the Cherokees, as a trading outpost in 1872. The origins of the name are contested. One story goes an Osage Indian called Skiatooka was frequently trading at the post, another says the town was founded on the lands of a prominent Indian called Skiatooka. A drunkards' tale says a tornado hit the town in the early years and, when trying to explain what happened, the natives said "sky-a-took". A phrase meaning the sky literally took the town. Note this is earlier than the founding of Tulsa.
Historical significance: 56
The town had 7,397 inhabitants at the last census. Instead of some tripe about the significance of tiny American towns, I'll talk about William C. Rogers. The Oklahoma City airport is named after him and I was curious as to why.Rogers was the last elected chief of the Cherokee Nation before the tribal government was dissolved to form the state of Oklahoma in 1906. This all began with the Dawes Act of 1887 in which the 5 tribes ceding titles to land to individuals from the tribes (a form of privatisation, I guess) with the surplus land going to the Federal government to be distributed to white settlers. Many members of the tribe sold their land rights, further eroding land ownership. Legal battles rage to this day regarding who was a member and hence should receive land. This was determined by the Dawes Commission.
William Rogers essentially managed the peaceful dissolution of tribal Government:
"The Government which our forefathers cherished and loved and labored so hard to perfect, has been sentenced to die. The scepter must soon pass to other hands. Still, we must force back the resentment we feel and accept the conditions as they are."When William Charles Rogers died in 1917, the Federal government began appointing chiefs to the Cherokee Nation. Then the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 encouraged tribes to reconstitute governments and write constitutions. The Cherokee Nation elected J. B. Milam as chief in 1938 but he wasn't confirmed by Roosevelt until 1941. It wasn't until the Nixon administration that tribal governments had self-determination.
Oh and it turns out the OKC aiport is named after Will Rogers, a cowboy comedian.
European-ness: 0.4
The trail starts in Greenwood, passes through a trailer park, hits a quaint town called Perry and then rolls through some fields before arriving in Skiatook. Autumn in the US seems so much more significant. An all American ride.Cowboy hats: 0
RIP the median and mode of this score. The lofty heights of 167 hats at Texas State Fair is a strong outlier. I was misled about cowboys in Oklahoma.Collective consciousness: 33%
How well calibrated is our feeling of safeness? My unsafe sense was tingling on this ride. The grafiti tag on the pavement read "welcome to hell". The majority of the people on the bike trail were homeless.In reality the dickheads in trucks (aka 3 ton death machines) who enjoy intimidating cyclists are more dangerous and yet so much less scary. I'd say its a badly calibrated sense.
Wokeness: +45
Cycling through Indian territory through some of the poorest parts of town seems woke. I never know where to go with this category.Overall
Training for this cycle tour has been a pain in the arse because its so time consuming. But I really, really enjoyed this ride. The weather was perfect and the autumn colours were bang on.
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