logo
Login Subscribe
Google Play App Store
  • News
    • Obituaries
    • Lifestyle
    • Opinion
  • Sports
  • E-edition
  • Calendar
  • Archives
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Advertisers
    • Form Submission
    • About Us
    • News
      • Obituaries
      • Lifestyle
      • Opinion
    • Sports
    • E-edition
    • Calendar
    • Archives
    • Contact
      • Contact Us
      • Advertisers
      • Form Submission
      • About Us
Tallgrass Prairie marks 30 years with bison
News
November 2, 2023
Tallgrass Prairie marks 30 years with bison
By KELLY BOSTIAN courtesy

PAWHUSKA – Thirty years later, bison still are making the world’s biggest little postage a bigger deal than ever.

The Nature Conservancy’s Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, celebrating the introduction of 300 head of bison there 30 years ago this month, has more than survived.

It’s home to a managed herd of 1,800 bison that thrive on a relative postage stamp of 40,000 acres, plus 11,700 acres of conservation easements that remain out of the more than 160 million-acre sea of grass that once stretched from Canada to Texas.

Recently featured in a Ken Burns documentary, “The American Buffalo,” and providing stunning backdrops for the acclaimed just-released Martin Scorsese film, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” more eyes are on Osage bison than ever before.

For Osage Nation Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, the event with about 100 people at the preserve headquarters marked a respite from an international movie promotion tour with Hollywood notables. He wasn’t in London or Mexico City anymore, but the fact that international eyes, and no doubt future tourists, followed him home to the land of the Osage was lost on no one at Wednesday’s celebration.

He seemed relieved to breathe the prairie air, share stories of the bison, and honor those whose influence brought the bison home. That included himself, as he was surprised by other honorees who received traditional Osage blankets.

Standing Bear said the spirit of the Osage and the land is always with him, no matter where or what the conditions, so it is easy to share that spirit internationally.

For the local crowd, he related tales of the wind on the Tallgrass ebbing and flowing with ceremonial dancers and a humorous bit about a herd of bison that photobombed a session with the five surviving chiefs, who stood for their photo as the bison moved in around them.

“Those are magical moments; if you just step back and accept them, you can see it,” he said.

Memories and wonder

Standing Bear’s expression, and that of others, was rapt as Tulsa historian and Tallgrass Visions author James P. Rhonda relayed a personal story of oncoming hearing loss but shared an audible and indelible image of thunderous, primal, guttural prairie roars of thousands of bison heard by explorer Merriweather Lewis in the summer of 1806 and compared that to an experience Rhonda said a century later on the Tallgrass.

The preserve’s first director and longtime spokesman, Harvey Payne, said the preserve is a success story created mostly by local people who, in some cases after initial solid objections, came to understand the value of that postage stamp and the majestic wildlife that could return to roam there.

He said it’s touching that the preserved lands and its facilities are all products of private donations. An example of private conservation funding at its finest, he said.

“From little school kids doing a class project and raising $25 or $50 and sending us a check with a touching letter to the biggest corporations, they all made this happen,” he said. He often quotes Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, a special guest for the first bison release, who then said, “This is truly a gift from the American people to the American people.

Jamie Williams, recalling his youth and the efforts of his father, Joe, reminded celebrants that the man whose name lives on with the preserve was not interested in notoriety but was a quail hunter and admirer of nature who happened to have a particular knack for business and advocacy.

Nature Conservancy of Oklahoma Director Mike Fuhr remembered his first arrival on the scene from Arkansas 19 years ago, a sunrise greeting surrounded by a herd of bison.

“A pretty neat start,” he said.

Of science and spirit While bison are a central focus of the preserve, he said the goal is researching and understanding a balanced system with the bison, grazing, fire, the elements, and everything else, from birds and insects and plants to bison and climate.

Preserve manager Tony Brown was one of the Pawhuska Elementary School children who attended the first bison release. He said he remembered having fun but was too young to understand what it was all about. However, he was hooked into a different study path when he returned to work as an Oklahoma State University chemistry student in the summer of 2004.

“Once you learn what you have and what’s here, you’re like, ‘wow,’ this is pretty neat. This is something worth keeping. This is something special here,” Brown said.

Bison management has driven agriculture and soil science research through various burning and grazing regimes, and the preserve’s cowboys have learned to let bison roam.

“We take a hands-off approach and let them do their thing,” he said. The herd’s health is good, and he estimated that, even with drought conditions, an average of 400 to 500 calves were born again this year, he said.

Osage elder Eddy Red Eagle, also recalling his experience at the first release, said the experience of living with generations of the bison is for the preserve now as it was for the Osage and their doctrine for centuries.

“They told us in the teaching, in the sharing, just look at that, just take a look, at it, study it, ponder on it, watch it, and then move along with it, and the bounty of Mother Earth will come your way, and you can move then, into the future,” he said.

The Oklahoma Ecology Project is a nonprofit dedicated to in-depth reporting on Oklahoma’s conservation and environmental issues. Learn more at okecology.org.

Checotah lit up the sky this 4th of July
A: Main, News...
Checotah lit up the sky this 4th of July
By LADONNA RHODES STAFF WRITER 
July 10, 2025
The City of Checotah showed off its bold stripes, bright stars and brave hearts this Fourth of July after working countless hours so residents could celebrate their freedom with lots of family fun and...
this is a test
A: Main, News...
Sexual Assault Awareness Honor Walk
July 10, 2025
Friday, July 11 at 12 p.m. Posey Park, Eufaula Show your support for survivors Take a stand against violence! Muscogee (Creek) Nation Center for Victim Services
this is a test
A: Main, News...
Annual Memorial Service planned at Honey Springs Battlefield
July 10, 2025
CHECOTAH — Honey Springs Battlefield will hold its annual memorial service on Saturday, July 19, at 10:30 a.m. to honor the 162nd anniversary of the Battle of Honey Springs near Checotah. The service ...
this is a test
Farewell to Checotah’s friend, Jerri Reaves
A: Main, News...
Farewell to Checotah’s friend, Jerri Reaves
By LADONNA RHODES STAFF WRITER 
July 10, 2025
Last Thursday family and friends said goodbye to former city councilwoman Jerri Reaves who had passed away on June 26 at the age of 82. Jerri graduated from Checotah High School in 1962. In 1980, she ...
this is a test
News
Trump administration freezes over $70 million state’s education funds
By NURIA MARTINEZ-KEEL OKLAHOMA VOICE 
July 10, 2025
States won’t receive funds from six federal programs, including after-school care and English learner support, until further notice. OKLAHOMA CITY — The Trump administration is indefinitely withholdin...
this is a test
News
Jeff Starling launches campaign for attorney general
July 10, 2025
TULSA ––Jeff Starling, Oklahoma’s Secretary of Energy and Environment, has officially announced his candidacy for Attorney General of Oklahoma. Starling is a conservative, attorney, businessman, and d...
this is a test
United for Oklahoma
ePaper
coogle_play
app_store
Editor Picks
Plumb Theatre News
News
Plumb Theatre News
By MATTIE AND PAUL MALOY PLUMB THEATRE 
July 10, 2025
Never too early to start singing and the HALLELUJAH HONEYS are representative of that. Kate Andrews will be singing and playing with two other Honeys, Aubree,13, and Charlee, 10. They are some cuties ...
this is a test
Freedom Fest
News
Freedom Fest
July 10, 2025
Checotah residents celebrated their freedom with lots of family fun and fireworks on July 4th weekend at Freedom Fest.
this is a test
Police training
News
Police training
July 10, 2025
Recently local law enforcement trained for two days on different scenarios that might arise during traffic stops, hostage situations, domestic disturbances, and more.
this is a test
News
Two from area on UCO Honor Rolls
July 10, 2025
EDMOND - Two from this area have made he University of Central Oklahoma recently announced the students named to the university’s honor rolls; a distinction given to those who achieve the highest acad...
this is a test
Warriors of God, ready yourselves
commentary
Warriors of God, ready yourselves
July 10, 2025
Of my 56 years of being in this world, 50 of those years I have been filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. I was only six years old when I attended my first Tiger Mount...
this is a test
Facebook
Twitter
Tweets
Twitter
Tweets

MCINTOSH COUNTY DEMOCRAT
300-A S. Broadway
Checotah, OK
74426

(918) 473-2313

This site complies with ADA requirements

© 2023 Mcintosh Democrat

  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility Policy