Wounded Autumn

Date: Nov 27, 2014
Where:Cheyenne, Oklahoma

Last year, our China Exchange Program teachers from China went on the trip of a lifetime to Yellowstone National Park only to find out the Park was closed due to the government shot down. What a luck! I, too, want to see Yellowstone. One of our inspirations for Greenbelt Meridian, in fact is a grey wolf from Yellowstone.  However, when we decided to pay Yellowstone National Park a visit, we were informed most of the parks facilities, roads, and services are shut down by November. James and I started looking at our options for visiting the Greenbelt Meridian sites.in far western of OK. There was a National Park there, on the map, the Washita Battlefield in Cheyenne, Oklahoma. It also felt worthwhile to spend Thanksgiving with the spirits of Native Americans.

The surprise attack on a Southern Cheyenne village by Lt. Col. George A. Custer killed Peace Chief Black Kettle and  his wife  along with women, children and more than 600 horses on November 27, 1858 made Washita a sacred site  . These grounds now stand as mute testimony to those who fought and died there for their way of life.

This year, November 27 , the memorial date happened to also be Thanksgiving day. The Visitor Center at the Washita Battlefield National Historic Site was open and when we called we found out there would be a candle light vigil on  Thanksgiving Day evening!

A mural portraits a peaceful day before the attack.

Walking toward the dry-out Washita River 

A line that divides

Welcome to James and Yiren's land walk! The purpose of this journey is to introduce the border of Texas and Oklahoma. We are attempting to adopt this borderline as a National Monument and commence a  great circle of uninterrupted natural path around the globe called the Greenbelt Meridian.

We will mark four segments of the state line, and use interviews, photographs and moving images to define our mission. Meanwhile we will give firsthand impressions of marginal farmland, isolated communities, and local histories that have been able to stay off the radar from the rest of the world. This OK/ TX border would appear less than perfect for a Greenbelt Meridian, yet it is in reality tailor made for our project. We are dedicated to putting back a continuous path around the globe ... No roads, no fences, No Man's Land, No Shoes Land as a symbol of hope for the Earth carried forever into the future.

map of  100 meridian west (TX/OK border).

In Erick the first building that will make you take notice of it is on the corner coming to town. It is wild. We are informed of the owners unique flair for living, which they freely shared. The couple who owned this store made everyone feel connected. Sadly two weeks before our arrival the wife of this colorful team passed away after a long illness.

100 Meridian Museum in Erick, OK

It museum was closed when we visited Erick but I feel it will be open in the future. The proposed Greenbelt Meridian lies west of the town on old rt 66.  Roads that cross state lines present a problem that can be addressed with an overpass.

Old Route 66

Aligned path, Oklahoma side of proposed Greenbelt Meridian