My wife Kitty and I brought our little 3-month-old baby, Holt, down to Oklahoma to introduce him to mom's side of the family. Both of her parents live in Oklahoma City but we drove up to see her grandparents, Gene and Nadean, in Skiatook north of the city. While we were there Gene took us to a neat museum called Woolarock where we saw hundreds of arrowheads and other Native American artifacts. I told Gene about my upcoming PolarTREC archaeology expedition to north western Alaska and he told me he had found some stone tools when he was a boy in the 1930s. Back at home in Skiatook, he carefully unwrapped the tools and showed them to us. As you can see in the picture, there is an arrow head and a flat 5-to-6-inch blade. They are tan in color and carefully worked across their entire surface. I think they may be chert - not translucent obsidian like I have seen in Oregon.
Grandpa Gene Fritz in Skiatook, Oklahoma found these stone tools when he was a young boy in in the 1930s. He attached them to these makeshift handles using the skin of a squirrel his dad taught him to tan.
Gene explained how his father taught him how to tan a squirrel hide back in the 1930s so he could use the strips of tanned leather to secure the blades to an improvised arrow shaft and split hickory axe handle. Gene found these stone artifacts atop what he called "Bald Knob" which was right near his family farm in southwest Skiatook in the 1930s. He explained how the site was the scene of Civil War fighting between Indian tribes loyal to the Union and a group of Confederates. A stone marker in Skiatook calls this the Battle of Chustenahlah which occurred on Dec. 26, 1861. Apparently Col. Jas. McIntosh of the 2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles routed the warriors on the hill, who eventually fled to Kansas. It's not clear whether these two stone tools were left during the fighting or if they were left at some other time.
As you can see a battle took place in Skiatook between Native Americans loyal to the Union and Confederate troops in 1861. This stone marker put up by the Oklahoma Historical Society is a reminder. The battle started on the hill where Gene found the stone tools. His family called it Bald Knob because it had no trees but the marker calls it Patriot's Hill.
Now that I'm paying more attention to these stone tools and archaeology, it's fascinating to find history where ever we go. Thanks to Gene for sharing these incredible finds with us!
A fine display of carefully crafted arrowheads shown at the Woolaroc Museum started by Frank Phillips near Skiatook, Oklahoma. Some of these have the same aerodynamic shape of modern fighter jets!
A fluted projectile point shown at the Woolaroc Museum started by Frank Phillips near Skiatook, Oklahoma. This looks like the same type of stone which was used in the tools Grandpa Gene found in the 1930s. I think it might be chert - what do you think? Let us know on the Ask the Team link above.