SPENCER

    þ Continue on Hogback Road and cross the North Canadian.
    þ When you reach Britton Road, turn right/west. Britton Road will become Spencer Jones Road.
    þ Continue on Spencer Jones Road until you reach Douglas where you turn left/south.
    þ Continue on Douglas to Spencer. You will see mistletoe in the trees on the right/west of the road.
    þ Oklahoma City is a short trip west. All that is happening in 1832 could have been seen by the guardian on the dome of the Capitol.

 

. . . we forded the North Fork, a rapid stream, and of a purity seldom to be found in the rivers of the prairie . . . we again ascended among hills, from one of which we had an extensive view over this belt of cross timber, and a cheerless prospect it was; hill beyond hill, forest beyond forest, all of one sad russet hue . . . WI 151

Keep traveling on Hiwasee until you reach Britton Road, where you turn right/ west. Continue when Britton Road becomes Spencer Jones Road.

Keep looking up into the trees that shelter the road. When you see mistletoe, you are perhaps right where Irving camped under trees covered with mistletoe on October 25.

We encamped toward evening in a valley, beside a scanty pool, under a scattered grove of elms, the upper branches of which were fringed with tufts of the mystic mistletoe . . . the wild colt whinnied repeatedly; and about two hours before day, there was a sudden stampede . . . along the purlieus of the camp, with a snorting and neighing, and clattering of hoofs . . . As usual, the noise was at first attributed to some party of marauding Indians . . . WI 151 152

Again it was not Indians, hostile or otherwise. It was a couple of wild horses in a nearby meadow, which set the party’s horses on edge. Irving and friends are now deep into the Tour. Irving has forgotten his former hatred of skunk. Game was dwindling. They had found a few buffalo, but they were bulls, old and stringy to eat. The great buffalo hunt with masses of good meat was ahead of them.

Tonish thought he would make some excellent cakes . . . some fritters by mixing flour, hot water & salt together, and fried them in the fat of a skunk - they were delicious and so excellent, as well as the stew made from the same animal, that M Irving yielded his antipathy and indulged his appetite freely - From this time no objections were made, against Pole cats and they were a frequent dish. HLE 109

And he went on about the plenty that night.

. . . we have Buffaloe, Elk, Deer, Bear, Duck & polecat - HLE 112

[My Story]  [A Tour on the Praries] [A Tour through Tulsa] [A Tour through OK City] [Links] [Order the Book]