Sometimes it takes decades for a story to come around. Years ago I made a deal to acquire a particular guitar, the 12 string pictured here, and though many a day has passed since the agreement was made, the instrument has made it into my home. It’s a story of youth, hopes, dreams and loss…but mostly about the friends you find through music.
Chief Bowles or Duwali was a name familiar across the American Frontier two hundred years ago. As headman of the Cherokees west of the Mississippi River, he saw his people through many a trying time. His favor was curried by the many rulers and would-be rulers of the territories where the Cherokees resided. As a gesture of friendship, he was given a sword by soon-to-be Texas President Sam Houston. That sword is now in Tahlequah, the Capital of the Cherokee Nation, but how it got there is a story you need to hear.
In the early days of the 20th century, things were changing – and fast! Electric lights, flying machines and the automobile were pushing their way into the center of attention. Folks, especioally here Within The Realm, were a scrappy sort. When the autos did make their way to the streets of Stilwell, splendid Stilwell, a local took up the challenge to make one for himself.
There were some heroes from the Second World War that didn’t get much further than a few miles from home to perform a service that resonated from the Heartland of America to halls of power in London. This is a story about quiet duty and humility, about the work of half of one’s life and the British Plot in a part of Oklahoma that is Forever England.
There is a little out of the way place in the Ozarks, tucked down in the corner of Missouri, not far from Arkansas, not far from Oklahoma, that has carved out a name for itself during the Christmas holiday. A few things had to fall into place, even a little change of name, to give rise to this mountain tradition, one that is still going strong today and one you can take part in!
Within the Realm 