Facebook Twitter Email
MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2003

"You’ve never heard of Pawhuska. That’s a little cow town 30 miles west of Bartlesville on U.S. 60 in the northeastern corner of the Panhandle State. We spent a couple of nights in Pawhuska because it serves as the capital of the Osage Nation. It’s also just about 30 miles east of a place called Gray Horse.

From the Black Gold Motel in Pawhuska, we drove another 30 miles into the Oklahoma wilderness to locate the Osage Ceremonial Dances in a dusty place called Gray Horse. Gray Horse, Okla.

I get it. Black gold! Those who know a bit of American Indian history know that when Frank Phillips discovered oil beneath the red Oklahoma soil, a lot of that oil lay under the reservation set aside for the Osage people. Our forefathers forcibly moved the Osage Indians from southern Missouri to a place we once called Indian Territory more than a century ago, and unintentionally located them on top of one of the world’s great oil fields. Even today the Osage people whose names are listed on the official rolls receive a sizeable monthly check from the black gold reserves belonging to their tribe."

Get the Story:
John Warner: Osage Nation: Teacher instilled appreciation of Western world artists (The Charleston Gazette 6/23)

Relevant Links:
Osage Nation - http://www.osagetribe.com