Route 66 in the News
Indian Lodge Imparts History Lesson
2004-10-16 08:24:19
Smoked, buckskin hides dangle from hooks. Eyes of Indian forefathers stare out from an array of antique photographs scattered randomly across the room. Iron kettles are stacked in one corner, woven baskets in another.
And colorfully beaded moccasins are piled high behind the glass of a wood counter worn dull by more than a century of use.
The Mohawk Indian Lodge -- thought to be Oklahoma's oldest Indian trading post -- still mesmerizes its proprietor, Patricia Henry. She inherited the store 12 years ago from her late mother, Nellie Stevens. Now each day Henry ambles through the store's enchanting clutter and gives thanks that the weight of history has fallen into her lap.
"I've always appreciated this place because I love old stuff," Henry said. "Sometimes people ask me what is it like to own all of this. I always say, 'Honey, no one owns this stuff. We're simply caretakers for the next generation.' "
Neither Henry nor her husband, Charles, are of Indian ancestry, but for them, history is history.
The store has continually served as a trading post since 1892 when it was established by an eastern, Dutch reform church in nearby Colony. It's in Clinton these days on another piece of history, Route 66.Mingled among the store's overwhelming collection of merchandise are historical items Henry would never dream of selling, such as the hand-carved, wooden ladle with an old tag that reads, "Brought on the Trail of Tears." There's also a fully-beaded Cheyenne cradleboard that dates back to 1850 and a mammoth, buffalo-skin vest that was worn by the equally mammoth Big Ben, a legendary Apache man who died in 1940.
"Those things are displayed so people can enjoy them," Henry said.
The Henrys have even prepared for the future. Both are 70 years old and still going strong. In fact, Charles Henry is known for his keen remembrances of the names of people he has met and their stories. But both concede they can't change the inevitable.
So upon their deaths, they plan to pass the store's legacy to their youngest daughter, Stacey Henry, who works as an accountant in the Houston area.
"I don't have any intentions of retiring," Patricia Henry said with a beaming smile. "I'll probably be just like Mamma and work here until the day I die. But Stacey has shown a lot of interest in running the store someday, and we're happy about that. The last thing we want to see is the store sold because it would probably be moved out of this country."
Stacey Henry, 46, embraces the responsibility of inheriting an Oklahoma icon although, she says, she and her parents have never discussed the situation.
"It's just always been understood," she said. "I love that place, too, although I don't have all the knowledge that mother does. When I was a child, I would go and stay with my grandmother. I played around that place, and those were real happy times. I remember playing with the children of the customers who came into the store.
And not for its museum-quality artifacts.
"I don't see it as a museum at all," Stacey Henry said. "In the store, you can touch and feel and become intimate. You feel a connection with the people who came before you. And it really doesn't have to do with something's value, but rather 'Who made it? How was it used?' That's really what I'm interested in.
"It's really all about the people."
~Ron Jackson, the Oklahoman
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