Woody Guthrie, Cherokee Bill and Bass Reeves
Started the year with another grave-hunting trip!
First stop: Highland Cemetery in Okemah, OK to see the cenotaph for Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) (Fun fact: his full name was Woodrow Wilson Guthrie!) as well as the graves of his loved ones. We also went looking for his childhood home before realizing it was torn down in the ‘70s due to the demands of some very vocal locals who were whining that it had become a hangout for teenage hoodlums (when really it was likely they just didn’t believe that “commie” deserved any kind of legacy). There was a really cool old carved tree where the house used to be, however. Guthrie’s life was just packed with tragedy and he died from Huntington’s Disease in his 50s, something I hadn’t known until today.
Our next stop was Citizens Cemetery in Fort Gibson to see the grave of Crawford “Cherokee Bill” Goldsby (1876-1896), a part African American, Sioux, Cherokee, and white outlaw and “one of the most notorious and feared renegades on the frontier.” His gang included other outlaws like Billy the Kid and Henry Starr. Dude killed his first man by the age of 12 (or so it’s rumored) and by the age of 20 he was responsible for possibly a dozen murders and was sentenced to hang. When asked at his hanging if he had any final words he stated, “No! I came here to die, not to make a speech.” God damn.
We also planned to stop and see the grave of Bass Reeves (1838-1910), freed slave turned U.S. Deputy Marshal, in Muskogee but didn’t realize until we were looking for it that no one actually really knows where he’s buried (Find a Grave was a bit misleading in this regard). It’s theorized he’s in an old abandoned cemetery that is now part of private property but it’s not certain. I was pretty bummed to realize the site of his burial is actually unknown and remains a mystery.
P.S. It is devastating and angering beyond belief to see the Trail of Tears plaque on some of the headstones in the Citizens Cemetery for those who actually endured such atrocities. (Who among us still trusts the US government for absolutely any reason whatsoever? Kindly knock that shit off.)
