Yep, Oklahoma has the finest. I do not know about you, but I am tired of the condition of Oklahoma's battlefields and forts being rundown and neglected. It is not necessarily the fault of the staff and crew working at these sites, but that of the legislature and the Oklahoma Historical Society board of directors. Historic site preservation and development takes money and lobbying. Proper development means tourism and tourism means economic development and benefits, not only to the local economy, but to the entire state. Since about 1933, the OHS board of directors has passed resoulutions regarding the importance of Fort Gibson to the state history. Now, in this, the centennial year, this site, and others, are suffering from neglect, in spite the hard work of the staff.

Lobby! Write your state legislators. Offer to volunteer at these historic sites. Talk development and preservation to reenactment groups, friends and local residents. Kansas and Arkansas, not to mention Missouri, have some very fine military related historic sites, some state, some federal, and I am ashamed to say, Oklahoma lags behind.

Okay, I'll get off my hardatack box and let someone else
get on board.