Day 4/7 Comanche Sunrise

It was not lost on me yesterday, as I drove across the Texas panhandle—detour and all—and into Oklahoma, that I was passing through Comanche territory. Actually, I’ve been thinking about the Comanche quite a lot.

At the outskirts of Comanche country, south of the Canadian River in Clinton, Oklahoma, is where we landed on Day 3. There, we stayed at the only non-repeat hotel of this trip, another La Quinta. And I am happy to report: it’s a winner! Close to the highway, yet surrounded by fields.

I took Timi for a walk at sunset, and before bed read a bit more of “Empire of the Summer Moon.” From it, I learned the Comanche did not have a centralized government under one tribal chief. Instead, they were loosely divided into bands that cooperated with each other for activities like buffalo hunting and horse raids. Comanche riders were constantly raiding and pillaging villages, attacking and driving out rival tribes, killing men and babies, stealing horses—first from the Spanish, and later, the Pioneers—and being generally fearsome and terrifying, overall. Warlike is the word.

Just like us. What is it with people?

Another thing I’ve been wondering about is the buffalo, who used to thrive on this land. Why can’t they make a comeback? The prairie still exists, along with the rivers where buffalo watered—rivers which also delineated the various bands of Comanche. If buffalo communities were started near the rivers, and herds were allowed to roam free, would it be possible for these noble beasts to repopulate some of the region? I mean, no one else lives there! Driving through, I passed many long stretches of nothing but desert and prairie for miles upon miles.

Anyway, those are some of the things one might think about, alone in a car for six hours a day, driving through Comanche country.

And then one moves on…

Travels of Day 4 saw us veering off the I-40 West in Oklahoma City, and heading north to Missouri on I-44. We drove for three-plus hours before taking a break to refuel in Big Cabin, OK, where gas was only $2.99 a gallon. Two dollars less than in California!

From Big Cabin it wasn’t far to Missouri. Note the clear blue sky. Amazing.

In Missouri, we took break #2, stopping at a Travel Center where I bought a much-needed coffee and some tasty deviled eggs (score!), and also where this unexpected monolith resides. We have a similar pillar in Montague, perhaps slightly less imposing.

I felt a little tired behind the wheel today, so it was a relief to roll into Rolla around 5:00 PM. OBC old timers might recognize the lake in the next picture, as it’s our third time here at this hotel. Timi sure recognized the place, and Clyde may have too, although at this point, he is pretty fed up with the whole ordeal. Don’t worry Clyde! Only two more nights on the road (after this), and then we’ll be home.

OBC 🌵🦉🌿

Timi and the lone goose of Blue Lake, Baymont Wyndham Rolla, MO.