Visiting the "Lords of the Plains"

 

Friday - some clouds, but still very warm. Another Native American Museum: The Comanche Nation Museum & Cultural Center in Lawton Fort Sill was our first stop. In contrast to the other Native American Cultural Centers we've seen so far, this one is much smaller, but offers more precious, rare artefacts and less modern media. The Comanche, at home in the Southwest Prairie, were considered the "Lords of the Plains", living nomadic, and, they were famous for their horse breeding and riding skills. 

Adjacent: The Museum of the Great Plains, more of a "family museum" with hands-on exhibits and infos about agriculture/economy/people and life in this region.

 

The suggested driving tour to see the Lawton Murals - there are many of them, and the city, famous as a military base, is proud of them - showed a bit tricky. The mural map wasn't very helpful, and, the murals were very spread out in mostly industrial neighborhoods. We found a couple, nevertheless.

 

 

Continued to Medicine Park, just a short 15 min drive from Lawton, a scenic little town in a geographically idyllic location: surrounded by the Wichita Mountains, along Medicine Creek and with Bath Lake, a swimming lake. Medicine Park was not only well-liked by the Plains Indians, but, later became the "playground" for the state's rich, famous and notorious, and, is known as America's cobblestone town for the round red rocks used for construction. Founded in 1908, Medicine Park quickly grew and the natural beauty and the quirky shops and bars continue to attract people, first of all ,,, bikers! There was a big biker meeting taking place this evening and we watched the parade. 

 

 The main complex in town is The  Plantation Inn, hotel and restaurant. The 20-room Plantation Inn (photo below) was rebuilt in 2009 on the original foundation of the old Oklahoma Press Association's Clubhouse opened in 1916. We had excellent (and comparably inexpensive) steaks in the restaurant (FYI: there is typically white gravy on the mashed potatoes), a superb sunset (pic above), and great baking goods in the tiny little Mrs. Chadwick's Bakery this morning.

 

Just for fun: some more impressions of the day: a prairie dog town and Mexican Petunia in front of a typical Mediine Park stone wall :