Oklahoma and Arkansas have interesting, sometimes violent or tragic histories. As my niece, two brothers, sister-in-law and I explored parts of the two states, we found fascinating clues to the past. I don’t know how some folk find history dull or dusty and not relevant. It is part of where we are today and how we came to be this way.
Just over the Oklahoma line from Arkansas is a beautiful, wild place called Natural Falls. Anyone driving down the interstate would never guess it was there if they missed the sign pointing to a small road leading off from the main one. It takes a hardy person to climb those steps to get to the bottom of the falls, but sitting on benches and looking up at the water cascading down rocks, enjoying the coolness and the stillness, trying to identify the various kinds of trees, bushes, and flowers, is worth the trip. And caves! Under and around the waterfall are dark caves. What’s in them? I don’t know. Signs are posted telling us to stay on the boardwalk! And, that’s where I stayed.’
Climbing back up those steep and rough steps is the hard part. But, we made it.
Not far away, in Oklahoma is an old courthouse, a beautiful spring house, lovely grounds, and a lonely graveyard. It’s just a small plot, surrounded by the kind of zig-zag wood fence my grandfather built at Etta Bend. But, those headstones tell a story. One such story is a sad one about a man named A. J. Colvard. He died a violent and useless death at the hands of two outlaws. On his stone is carved a poignant request, Take Care of My Children.
Photo by Missy Day Albrecht
Now that I think about it, it seems I’ve seen this before somewhere–caves, wilderness, old graveyard? Oh, yes! They figured greatly in the first Darcy and Flora book, The Cemetery Club. Writers have the privilege of being in these places, struggling through the tangled undergrowth, getting lost in dark caves, without suffering any of the hardships. As a matter of fact, so do readers! That’s why we write and why we read cozy mysteries.
So, as we drive down paved roads in our air conditioned cars and go home to the safety of well-built houses, we can be thankful for a country that prizes law and order, and for brilliant people who have figured out ways to make life safer, more comfortable, and less tenuous. But, it’s also pretty neat to remember those other people who walked down dangerous roads, who faced hardships and danger, who went before us and made it possible to have the comforts we enjoy today.
Manos Mysteries
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