Tennessee and Oklahoma

Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park, Tennessee

See Rock City Barn

We spent a night in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which is my Mom’s hometown. Chattanooga is famous for two rather kitschy attractions – Ruby Falls and Rock City. Rock City did not rise to iconic status because of what’s there (ancient rock formations, native plant gardens, a "See 7 States" panoramic view, Fairyland Caverns and Mother Goose Village on top of nearby Lookout Mountain). 

Photo: Rock City

Rather, it became famous because of how it was marketed.

In 1935, Depression-weary Americans were rekindling their love affair with the automobile when Rock City Founder Garnet Carter turned some country barns into billboards that spread the word about the attraction's charms. When official barn painter Clark Byers retired in 1969, he had painted some 900 barns in 19 states.

Photo: Nooga.com

The usual arrangement was that the property owner got his barn painted for free plus he received free passes to Rock City and promotional items (including Rock City thermometers) for the use of the barn. Those who didn't need thermometers might be paid a modest sum of $3.00.

Map: Rock City

President Lyndon B. Johnson's highway beautification movement changed all that. 

Roadside signs became eyesores and billboard-banning legislation nicknamed the "Ladybird Act" put many of Rock City's rooftop messages out of commission. 

In Tennessee, some of the remaining painted structures are now deemed historic landmarks. But, there are very few left and several we tried to see after consulting the map on the Rock City website were not there.

We did see some pretty scenery along the Tennessee River and found a pair of multi-ethnic vultures – one Turkey and one Black – sharing a lamppost.

Turkey Vulture and Black Vulture

A Big Disappointment

Our next stop was something Scott had been wanting to do for quite some time – and a major disappointment. Scott is a big fan of the American Pickers show on the History Channel. The founders/stars have two stores – the original in La Claire, Iowa, and a second in Nashville, Tennessee. Twice we have planned to go, but decided it wasn’t worth the drive. So, this time, when Scott started talking about it again, I said that we needed to do it. So, we drove to Nashville.

Called Antique Archaeology, the store is in the massive early 20^th Century Marathon Automobile car factory. 

Marathon Motor Works Building; Photo: Scott Stevens

It looked promising – a huge old building that could house tons of interesting stuff. I was afraid we’d end up being there all day. But, that was not the case. 

Photo: Scott Stevens

The Marathon building is a touristy “mall” with lots of shops (and, I presume, eateries) in it. 

The Antique Archaeology store is small and has very little “picked” merchandise. Rather, it’s full of tee shirts, hats and similar tourist crap. It does have a few cool things, but almost all of them bear "not for sale; part of a private collection" tags. 

We felt cheated. 

We drove all that way for a tee-shirt shop! 

Later, we read some TripAdvisor reviews that pretty much confirmed our experience. It seems that the pickers mainly pick for themselves or for private collectors. Very little is sold in the shops. 

Never again! 

We were out of Nashville and back on the highway within 30 minutes.

Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park

Our next stop was the Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park, which comprises a prehistoric Native American complex that includes 17 mounds, an earthen geometric enclosure and numerous habitation areas, was most likely built during the Middle Woodland period from 001-500 AD. The complex is the largest group of Middle Woodland mounds in the United States. 

Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park

It is similar to Poverty Point National Monument in Louisiana, which we visited a few years ago.

It was extremely hot when we arrived, so we didn’t explore the entire complex. We visited the museum, which is built to resemble a mound, and contains many of the items that have been excavated from some of the mounds.

Pinson Mounds Museum

Many are burial mounds and, as such, contain a number of artifacts, including carved dog’s teeth ornaments. 

Pinson Mounds Museum artifacts

The Pinson Mounds complex covers approximately 400 acres and contains at least 30 mounds, 17 of which have been identified as being completely or partially constructed by prehistoric peoples. The mounds range in height from the prominent 72-foot Saul's Mound to barely noticeable rises.

I climbed up Sauls' Mound at the center of the complex. Named after property owner John Sauls, this mound is the second-highest prehistoric mound in the United States. It is rectangular in formation, with each corner aligned with one of the four cardinal directions, leading scientists to believe that it was ceremonial in purpose. 

Sauls' Mound

The eastern and western sections of the complex are roughly equidistant from the Inner complex, although the alignment is not exact. Mound 29 in the eastern section is aligned with Sauls' Mound in the direction of the equinox sunrise and Mound 28 is almost aligned with Sauls' in the direction of the summer solstice sunrise. To date, no mound has been found in the direction of the winter solstice sunrise.

Trail to Sauls' Mound

After that walk, I was dripping wet, so I gave up on further exploration – despite the loud chirping of (primarily invisible) birds. I saw only a few juvenile Chipping Sparrows.

Juvenile Chipping Sparrow

The land used to be owned by Native Americans. After the Chickasaw Nation ceded much of West Tennessee in 1818, land speculator Joel Pinson "discovered" the complex while surveying the area. When local journalist J.G. Cisco began writing about the mounds in the late 19th century, the Smithsonian Institution became interested and, in 1916, sent archaeologist William E. Myer to investigate the site. Myer suggested that the entire complex was built according to a master plan and created a map for the site. In 1947, the Tennessee Division of Forestry purchased the western section of the Pinson site. Excavation has been ongoing since that time, with new discoveries still being made.

Chickasaw State Park

Following that stop, we decided that it was just too hot and humid to do anything outdoors and we soldiered on. We made a brief stop at Chickasaw State Park, one of Tennessee’s beautiful resort-style state parks (Fall Creek Falls State Park is another). 

Chickasaw State Park; photo: Scott Stevens

These summer camps for families have campgrounds, hiking trails, tennis courts, rental bicycles, sometimes golf courses, water sports options, cabins and lots of other amenities. They are just gorgeous. And, as we were leaving, we saw a Broad-Winged Hawk deep in some dark trees.

Broad-Winged Hawk

Oklahoma City

We spent that night in Lonoke, Arkansas, and the drove on to visit daughter Rebecca in Oklahoma City. Once again, it was a bit too hot to do much. We started with OKC’s famous onion burgers at Tucker’s. Delicious.

Becca and me; Photo: Scott Stevens

Then, we went to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, which houses more than 28,000 Western and American Indian artworks and artifacts; the world's most extensive collection of American rodeo photographs, barbed wire, saddlery, firearms and early rodeo trophies; and displays on Western movies and TV shows. The museum also houses Prosperity Junction, a 14,000-square-foot indoor turn-of-the-century Western prairie town display. 

Established in 1955 as the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Museum, it focuses on preserving and interpreting the heritage of the American West.

It was a nice (air-conditioned) afternoon with some very interesting – and nostalgic – displays.

We finished up the day with dinner at a fabulous – although rather threadbare – Thai restaurant in downtown OKC with Becca and friend Alexis (she was one of my Africa traveling companions) and Alexis’ husband, Nigel. It was a fun evening with great food and a quick drive around OKC’s historic district to gawk at the beautiful restored historic homes.

We left the next morning and were home before dark!

Home!

Trip date: July 3-12, 2018