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DANCES WITH SNAKES

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"CONSUMER ACQUISITION SITE"

 

 

 

The New Adventures of Dances With Snakes 

TRMS/DPS/OMGS Joint Field Trip - Chisum Quarry, Gore, Oklahoma

May 13th, 2006

    Our day begins at around 8:00am at an abandoned trading post just off Interstate 40 at Hwy 100 near Webbers Falls, OK. 

Just down the road is Gore, Oklahoma, and our planned collecting locality at the old abandoned quarry known as Chisum Quarry. The quarry was extensively used in the building of the McClellan-Kerr Navigation System, particularly Webbers Falls Lock and Dam only a mile away. The collecting is principally in the Pennsylvanian series of the Braggs mountain and Brewer Bend limestone members of the Sausbee Formation.

Of particular interest in this quarry is the possibility of finding the occasional Trilobite (Paladin morrowensis), several species of Goniatites, Gastropods, and at least one known species of Cephalopod. Also known from this locality are occasional remains of Deltodus angularis, and Petalodus ohioensis shark. More plentiful are Pentremites rusticus Blastoids, and numerous species of Crinoids, Brachiopods, Corals, and a Bryozoan, Polypora submarginata.

Pentremites Blastoids found by DWS

Crinoid plate found by Dennis Swing

Petalodus tooth. Recovered by DPS President Brian Bowles

Ditomopyge Trilobite This is the best example of this Trilobite our FT Leader, Dennis Swing, has seen come out of this quarry. This one was found by TRMS member Tony Morris.

Click here for a 180° panorama of the lower portion of the quarry.

In my wanderings about the quarry, I happened upon an old friend, well, actually a new friend. A king snake was taking a stroll to the watering hole, so we got acquainted for a few minutes before going about our business. He didn't seem to mind the attention much, but he did seem to take a shine to my geo-pick!

I think we both enjoyed the interaction. Jeannie Fulton of the Dallas Paleo Society assisted with the pics. Jeannie is a science teacher and enjoyed watching the interaction. The species is Eastern Black Kingsnake.

Lost City Lithics

Later that afternoon after leaving the group I decided to take time to visit a Native American encampment site near 14-mile creek, just north of Hulbert, OK. This is a site on private property with restricted access. The owner has given me permission to visit the site and do a little excavating from time to time in search of artifacts. Mostly what I find is debitage, but occasionally I'll turn up a partial point or scraper. The flint is abundant in one particular area, lending to the idea of a seasonal encampment as much as 4000 years BP. The partial points that have been found seem to support this. The site is currently about fourteen feet above the normal water level in 14 Mile creek, and testing of the soil indicates approximately that much top soil above the underlying gravel beds. Not far away are alluvial hills rising as much as 200 feet or more comprised of mainly of coarse , cherty gravels. The meadow where the site is located would seem to have existed for some thousands of years, and lend credence to the course of 14 Mile creek not having moved much in that period of time. It lies in a mile wide valley which winds it's way through the the hills at the bedrock level. It would seem that a nearby waterfall would have been a plus to the natives, and nearby springs also supply a necessary clean water source. The meadow is somewhat sheltered, and would have been an excellent site for a long term seasonal encampment. The surrounding hills would have been excellent lookout points.

There is evidence that extensive lithic manufacturing took place, including the "cooking" of spalls and blanks. A great deal of the debitage exhibits characteristics of heat treatment, both in the color and the enhanced fracture control of the flakes. There are some wonderful pinks and greys, to stark white material, which is not typical of untreated native flints and cherts in the area. Most of the chert gravels to be found in the creek are non-descript earth-tones, and somewhat less workable in their natural, un-treated forms. There is also evidence of charcoal in the lithic work area, lending credence to this observation.

The meadow, and the approximate six foot square plot that Brandon and I de-sodded on an earlier visit.

Some flakes of white flint, and a pile of debitage can be seen here from the small area that is dug to the right.

As you can see, the ratio of worked flint to un-worked stone is no comparison here. This area is loaded with debitage. I have sampled several plots some 60 to 100 feet from here and come up with the same type of lithic waste. Perhaps this area deserves a proper excavation and study. We'll see what I can wok out with the owner in the future for an organized dig here by BA Paleo members under the proper supervision... Maybe this will be a good site for students of Archeology?

                               

 

 

HAVE YOU BEEN THE TARGET OF A SCAM LATELY? DON'T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!

AUGUST 20TH, 2008 - BROKEN ARROW, OKLAHOMA

 

    If you are not on your toes all of time, you could be the target of a scam or con. Last evening while filling up with gas at QT in Broken Arrow a blue PT Cruiser pulled across in front of my truck. A casually dressed black man stepped out and in a hushed voice asked if I was interested in buying a laptop computer. He proceeded to tell me he had three or four of these for sale for $250 each. Claiming they were brand new Sony Vaio laptops. My first question was "Are they hot?" and I informed him I wasn't interested. He pressed on asking if I would pay $200, then $150. "I don't buy merchandise from the trunk of a car" I informed him. He then asked how much I would be willing to pay, and went back to his car, retrieving a package from the back seat that appeared to be a box about the size of a laptop, wrapped in brown paper, taped up excessively with packaging tape, and a photocopied ad from Office Depot advertising a Sony Vaio for $2099. In the process of getting the package from his car, he covered it with a sheet before bringing it to show me.... A lot suspicious... He handed me the package and returned to his car to retrieve a laptop from the back seat, again covering it with the sheet so no one else could see what he was doing. The laptop was an older Compaq, that he claimed a lady had dropped, but the ones in the packages were Sony. He very quickly returned it to his car, not letting me see more than a glimpse of it under the sheet. Meanwhile, I was hefting the supposed "new" packaged laptop, the entire time suspecting a scam more so than stolen merchandise. I strung him along a little while, squeezing the package (it was too lightweight, and compressed easily) Now knowing I was actually holding a package with nothing substantial inside, I told him I might be interested if he showed me what was in the box. He very quickly retrieved it from me, still trying to get me to pay $150 for it, as he gradually put distance between us getting back to his car. That pretty much ended the conversation. I told him again, "show me what's in the box, I might be interested." No go, he got back in his car and quickly went looking for another mark.

 

    I had meanwhile finished filling my tank, and drove to a strategic location in the parking lot to watch him and his accomplice as they drove about the lot, approaching literally everyone coming and going, I quickly dialed 911 and reported their activity, gave a description of the vehicle and what they were doing, stressing that I firmly believed they were scamming people with empty boxes. I waited for police to arrive, but before they did, the vehicle exited the QT, and drove down the street. I followed at a distance, again calling 911 dispatch to report they had moved to another location, near Chili's and Buffalo Wild Wings. Actually, they had gone to the Lowe's parking lot and by the time officers arrived, had already approached several patrons in the lot. As an unmarked Dodge Charger pulled into the BWW lot, I pointed them to the Lowes. Two other marked units quickly converged on the lot, and as the PT Cruiser approached another mark in front of the store, they hit the lights and surrounded the vehicle! Too cool! I watched from the lobby of Lowes as they talked to the "suspects", and got the passenger out to open the back of the vehicle. After some minutes, a couple came out of the store and saw that the police were questioning the pair, and hollered at them "What are they doin'? Tryin' to sell ya a laptop?" One officer motioned them over and asked if they had been approached, to which they answered yes. The officer asked if they would be willing to make a statement, and a citizens arrest on suspicion of fraud. When they said they would, one of the suspects started cursing at them, this just added resolve to the couple, and they immediately made the citizens arrest. (This was necessary because the officers had no evidence of a crime otherwise.) At this point the two were arrested on fraud charges.

 

    As it turns out, the packages were Fed-X boxes filled with newspaper... They had empty boxes, brown paper bags, tape, scissors, and flyers in the back to make more fake packages. Officers also found bolt cutters and a few personal items in the vehicle, along with three or four bogus packages, and the old, useless Compaq laptop they were using as a prop for their con. They did not find any weapons or drugs fortunately, but the passenger had a felony warrant for his arrest in Florida (the officer said that unfortunately, Florida would not extradite). Officers said they also had a fair amount of cash on them, leading officers to believe they were semi-successful with their con game. Both suspects were from Alabama, and the PT Cruiser had Alabama plates. Both are now sitting in the Broken Arrow jail, the PT Cruiser is impounded, and at least for now, they are off of the street.

 

    Do you think those who paid $150-$250 for a box of newspaper will report it to authorities? Probably not.... Wouldn't you feel a bit foolish for falling for the scam? How about the fact that anyone with common sense would know they were about to purchase stolen merchandise, had the package actually contained a new $2000 laptop...

 

    If you buy merchandise, especially new or near new expensive merchandise off the street, or from the trunk of someone's car, for pennies on the dollar, you should know you are about to buy stolen merchandise, and will be supporting crime. So don't do it! Don't be a victim! Report this kind of activity and save some other fool from making a mistake. These are tough times and if we don't stand up as citizens and do our part, then we are part of the problem!

 

    In all honesty, it felt good to help get these two apprehended! And yes, I gave a written statement, and if asked, would gladly testify against them in court!

 

Virgil

 

 

© 2006 - DANCES-WITH-SNAKES.COM        

VIRGIL G. RICHARDS

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