Three in One: Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee in one day!

14 Flags Museum

Quite often we think we should have started earlier and today’s no exception.  There’s a bit of a schedule to maintain on the eastbound leg of this journey.  That requires making a certain amount of progress each day.  Interstate 40 E becomes the main route of travel with scenic byways taking second place.  Nevertheless, we find a few opportunities each day to see something of local interest or history.

Today is no exception to that rule.  With lots of miles to go to reach our destination of Memphis, Tennessee we head east.  Sometime later tonight we’ll arrive and meet with Ben and his friend for some Elvis sightings.

Oklahoma is rich with Native American history which, unfortunately, we will largely miss.  Scanning the travel book for a small side trip along I 40 E we find a little museum called 14 Flags.  In Sallisaw, Oklahoma with

Cherokee Avenue

along the front and  railroad tracks along the back sits a row of historical log cabins.  These full size dioramas light up when you enter the alcove.  Mannequins wearing period dress stand in rooms showing life in simpler times.. A rag doll sits on a patchwork quilt covering a rustic bed.  Rough hewn boards make a table set with simple utensils.  A dry goods store front shows produce that may have been sold and the shelves are filled with dusty boxes of Ball Dome canning lids, liquid bluing, bar laundry soap that would be grated before scrubbing the clothes, tin cans of baking powder, bulk coal oil, and other necessities of life.

Staged neatly in front of the buildings are an old car and an even older buggy reminding us how far we’ve come technologically. This little museum stands as a testament to a few dedicated local people who decided to save each of these buildings.  Stories framed on the front of the buildings tell how each was saved, transported, or rebuil using materials from other older buildings in the area.  Someone has carefully saved the many artifacts displayed in the cabins.  Others have gathered these items arranging them for travelers and locals alike to see. 

14 different national flags have flown over the territory that is now the state of Oklahoma.  Of these 14 flags, one is of the Cherokee Nation.  The flags of Spain, France, Texas, Mexico, and the United States are represented along with the Oklahoma State Flag which replaced the Confederate Flag in 1911.  The Confederate Flag had been flown since 1861.