6-20-19 Sallisaw, OK to Memphis, TN

Yes, we have been to Memphis a few times.  But we love it and I couldn’t resist.  We did run into a snag:  one of our favorite rv parks, Tom Sawyer’s in Memphis, is closed due to flooding.  Disconcerting on several levels!  We found another place to stay but it won’t be the same.  Rob keeps asking me:  “What is this park like?  Is there a restaurant?  Did you pay ahead?”  My standard reply, “Rob, I don’t know… that was a planning effort from 28 parks ago!” (I did make a note or two on the maps when I found nearby restaurants that serve walleye, but otherwise, honestly, I have not memorized our itinerary!)

As of Weds., we’ve been on the road for 4 nights.  It has rained on us twice.  Last night was particularly exciting and it got Rob out of bed to pull up the weather reports.  Seems we were on the edge of a passing storm but we had just escaped regions further west where “enhanced tornado watch” was in force.  I am not sure of the difference between a “tornado watch” and an “enhanced tornado watch.”  I guess the first means, “Watch out for a tornado,” and the other means, “No, we’re not kidding, seriously, you should really watch out for a tornado!”  So we survived all of that and today, it is sunny. 

Sallisaw has a few claims to fame.  When we drove down the main street, I spotted Ruger’s Bar and Grill (built in 1891) so we stopped in for a catfish lunch and a history lesson. 

Ruger's Grill.  Many of the original buildings
were built using the quarry rock you see
behind the current plaster wall.

Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd, an Okie, hung out at this establishment which was a saloon in a previous life.  His occupation is listed as “American bank robber.”  He had tried his hand at farming but when drought made that nearly impossible, he decided to try robbing banks.  An interesting career shift.  He became notorious after a shoot-out in Kansas City in which 4 law officers were killed and the FBI finally caught up with him and shot him dead in a corn field in 1934.  With his dying breath, he claimed innocence in the deaths of the officers.  He was 30 years old.  He reminded me a bit of Butch Cassidy, in looks and demise.  Locals brag about Pretty Boy Floyd’s bank robbery here in Sallisaw.

Butch Cassidy (You have to admit,
these guys look alike!)

Pretty Boy Floyd

Pretty Boy Floyd's plaque on the sidewalk
near the bank

A Cherokee Indian named Sequoyah lived in this territory.  He was born in 1765 and is considered a genius and scholar.  He is responsible for putting the language of the Cherokee on paper, that is, he created an alphabet and syllabary for them and is considered the master of teaching the Cherokees how to read and write.  In Arkansas, Sequoyah owned acreage on a “saline,” a natural salt spring.  It was valuable because they could harvest the water and boil it down for the salt, which was used for seasoning, preserving, tanning hides and even trade.  He was offered a spread in Oklahoma on a saline and accepted it.  At this historic landmark, his original one-room cabin still stands in an enclosed building on his land by the saline.  He was a patriotic American and served twice in the war of 1812 and was awarded the Peace Medal but because the Indians were not really recognized as citizens then, he never received a military pension.  His widow finally received a pension much later.  Now, the Cherokee nation is 350,000 strong and 100,000 live in Oklahoma where Sequoyah is highly-revered.  It is common for the Cherokee to adopt an English name (Right, Elizabeth?) and Sequoyah’s was George Guess.  Sequoyah/George was a self-made professor and honored American Cherokee figure.

Sequoyah's original cabin

Sequoyah, American Cherokee scholar

Rob at Sequoyah's bronze statue on his
Oklahoma land

Next stop:  Memphis where you can walk down Beale Street with a “Big Ass Beer,” eat the best pulled pork or beef bbq in the world while listening to BB King-style blues.  Take me there, Noobee!