Sign-In
Cart
Caves and Cellars: Making a Place in Oklahoma
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781413418583
Publisher: Xlibris Us
Published: Jan 6 2004
Pages: 62
Weight: 0.37
Height: 0.17 Width: 8.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
With photographs and anecdotes, Caves and Cellars gives a picture of the everyday life of the homesteaders of Oklahoma Territory. These are the people who went west to build up society by proving up the land they claimed. Most wanted nothing more than a place to support themselves and raise a family. They did not come for wealth or power but to live by their own hard work. The cellars or caves pictured were a central part of the pioneer life, storing a winter's worth of food when no food could be grown. Many of these structures remain though the houses and barns built by the homesteaders are in ruins. Many of the children and grandchildren of these settlers still live in north central Oklahoma reflecting the values brought to this land by homesteaders looking for a better chance at life.
It was the most wonderful life you could think of, says Alice Raupe McCorkle of her life in rural Oklahoma during the twenties and thirties. In addition to rising at 4 a.m. to begin her day as a farm wife, she was mother, seamstress, school cook, woodcutter, etc. During a time without the man-made conveniences of electricity and running water but with a host of natural disasters such as drought, wildfire, tornadoes, heat, and starving winters, her spirit represents the pioneers hope, dignity, strength, self-reliance, pragmatism, and compassion. And the caves and cellars that the pioneers left behind symbolize their legacy of survival, endurance, and partnership with the earth.
Ruth Raupe s photographs of the caves and cellars, spacious skies, weathered wooden homes and barns, and sod houses stand as silent tributes to these early years on Oklahoma s farms. Her research and anecdotes breathe life into history when she traces one stonemason s artistry, recounts a young wife s crushing sense of isolation, and conjures up the joy of summer expressed in homemade vanilla, strawberry, and peach ice cream at community baseball games. Ruth knows her subject well. She retired from teaching English at Mulhall-Orlando High School and has roots firmly embedded in this rural community. She and her husband Dick moved to a farm here and built their earth-sheltered home in the same soil as the caves and cellars she has studied. She says,I was trying to capture the essence...of the time and the work... And she has with the details of the physical labor and craftsmanship that created these testaments of man s need to survive hardships with a sense of style.You don t have to be from Oklahoma or the country to appreciate the timeless vignettes of human nature s ties to the natural world. When Fred was young, his grandfather paid him two heifers for some work. After Fred became elderly, he refused to let his children sell his cows. He had never bought a cow, only bulls, and his herd was entirely descended from his grandfather s heifers. Sam lived all his life in a sod house and watched the astronauts landing on the moon on a television in that house.
Caves and Cellars: Making a Place in Oklahoma is a vivid reminder of human tenacity in the quest to create a life, a family, and a community that future generations can admire.Also in
General United States History
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
Kendi, Ibram X.
Paperback
Up from the Depths: Herman Melville, Lewis Mumford, and Rediscovery in Dark Times
Sachs, Aaron
Hardcover
The Agrarian Seeds of Empire: The Political Economy of Agriculture in Us State Building
Bauerly, Brad
Paperback
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
Loewen, James W.
Paperback
What Every American Needs to Know about the Qur'an: A History of Islam & the United States
Federer, William J.
Paperback
American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union: An Anthology
Meacham, Jon
Hardcover
Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made
Kobes Du Mez, Kristin
Hardcover
When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America's Black Botanical Legacy
Montgomery, Beronda L.
Hardcover
Country of Lords: Neo-Aristocrats, Social Darwinists, Tech Utopians, and the Long Fight Against Equality in America
Phillips-Fein, Kim
Hardcover
1,000 Days in America: An Illustrated History of the Moments That Defined a Nation
National Geographic
Hardcover
Department of Fate: The Promise, the Power, and the Collapse of America's Most Consequential Institution
Maddow, Rachel
Hardcover
Miracles in American History: 32 Amazing Stories of Answered Prayer
Federer, Susie
Federer, William J.
Paperback
Mysteries of the National Parks: 35 Stories of Baffling Disappearances, Unexplained Phenomena, and More
Bezemek, Mike
Paperback
The Promise of a Nation: Commemorating 250 Years of Patriotism, Resilience, and Aspirations from the National Collection
Smithsonian Institution
Hardcover
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
Smith, Clint
Paperback
Freedom's Daughters: How a Generation of Black Women Resisted Oppression Through Literacy and Education
Headlee, Celeste
Hardcover
American Reich: A Murder in Orange County, Neo-Nazis, and a New Age of Hate
Lichtblau, Eric
Hardcover
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
Loewen, James W.
Paperback
The Price of Democracy: The Revolutionary Power of Taxation in American History
Williamson, Vanessa S.
Hardcover
Travels with Charley in Search of America: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
Steinbeck, John
Paperback
The Elections That Changed the World: Fifteen Pivotal Moments That Shaped How We Live
Bash, Dana
Hardcover
The East Wing: Power, Intrigue, and the Untold Story of America's First Ladies
Moaveni, Azadeh
Hardcover
The Lost History of Liberalism: From Ancient Rome to the Twenty-First Century
Rosenblatt, Helena
Paperback
We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America (Large Print Edition)
O'Donnell, Norah
Andersen Brower, Kate
Paperback
Old Glory: Iconic Flags and the Stories They Tell of America's 250-Year History
Miller, Roland
Hardcover
America in 25 Revolutions: The Story of Our Imperfect Nation's 250-Year Quest to Become a More Perfect Union
Graff, Garrett M.
Hardcover
Chosen Land: How Christianity Made America and Americans Remade Christianity
Sutton, Matthew Avery
Hardcover
The Girls Who Beat the Odds: Stories of Women Who Changed the Course of Sports History
Eder, Mari K.
Hardcover
Sunrise Through the Darkness: A Survivor's Account of Learning to Live Again Beyond 9/11
Jimeno, Will
Moats, Michael
Paperback
Princeton Review AP U.S. History Premium Prep, 26th Edition: 6 Practice Tests + Digital Practice Online + Content Review
The Princeton Review
Paperback
Forever Stamps: 250 Years of United States History Writ Small
Anderson, Gail
Smith, Brian E.
United States Postal Service
Hardcover
AP U.S. History Premium, 2027: 5 Practice Tests + Comprehensive Review + Online Practice
Resnick, Eugene V., M. a.
Paperback
American Soul: The Black History of Food in the United States - Including 40 Recipes
Malik, Anela
Wilson, Renae
Hardcover
This Haunted Land: Reckoning with Ghosts and the Stories That Shape America
Quammen, Betsy Gaines
Hardcover
American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America
Woodard, Colin
Paperback
Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America: Second Revised and Updated Edition
Gonzalez, Juan
Paperback
Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership
Baker, Brea
Hardcover
Aristocracy, American Style: Class Privilege and the Persistence of Elite Power
Isenberg, Nancy
Hardcover
Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools
Pember, Mary Annette
Paperback
1000 American History Facts and 101 True Tales: A Journey Through America's Defining Moments and Figures
Publications, Ahoy
Hardcover
Unusual Orcas Island: Ghost Stories and Other Legends from the Gem of the San Juans
Reigel, Joseph
Paperback
This Land Is Your Land: A Road Trip Through U. S. History (Large Print Edition)
Gage, Beverly
Hardcover
The Twilight War: The Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran
Crist, David
Paperback
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
Smith, Clint
Hardcover
Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America
Luo, Michael
Hardcover
Imperialist Realism: Politics and Culture at the End of the American Century
Bessner, Daniel
Paperback
The Last American President: A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party, and a World on the Brink
Hartmann, Thom
Paperback
Ohio Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff
Gurvis, Sandra
Paperback
Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch
Freeman, Andrea
Paperback
The Invention of Infinite Growth: How Economists Came to Believe a Dangerous Delusion
Jones, Christopher F.
Hardcover
The Grift: The Downward Spiral of Black Republicans from the Party of Lincoln to the Cult of Trump
Cane, Clay
Paperback
Colonial Williamsburg: The Guide: The Official Companion to the Historic Area
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Paperback
The Declaration Of Independence, United States Constitution, Bill Of Rights & Amendments
Fathers, Founding
Paperback
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Celebrating the Spirit of America: 101 Stories about the Country We All Love
Newmark, Amy
Paperback
Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden
Dugard, Martin
O'Reilly, Bill
Hardcover
The Cherokees: A Captivating Guide to the History of a Native American Tribe, the Cherokee Removal, and the Trail of Tears
History, Captivating
Hardcover
Not "A Nation of Immigrants": Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion
Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne
Paperback
Miracles in American History, Volume Two: Amazing Faith That Shaped the Nation: Adapted from William J. Federer's American Minute [With 2 Paperbacks]
Federer, Susie
Federer, William J.
Paperback
250 Great American Things: A Semi-Quincentennial Celebration
Kirn, Walter
Highway, County
Samuels, David
Paperback
Re-Inhabited: Republic for the United States of America: Volume II The Story of the Re-inhabitation
Hertler, Jean Hallahan
Paperback
A Student Workbook for Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story
McBride, John
McClay, Wilfred M.
Paperback
Land of Hope Young Reader's Edition: An Invitation to the Great American Story Volume 1
McClay, Wilfred M.
Paperback
Delivering for America: How the United States Postal Service Built a Nation
The United States Postal Service
Bruns, James H.
Hardcover
Sinister Forces: A Grimoire of American Political Witchcraft: 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Levenda, Peter
Hardcover
The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo: A Child, an Elder, and the Light from an Ancient Sky
Nerburn, Kent
Paperback
Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America
Luo, Michael
Paperback