Well, for Pete’s sake! What are you doing here?  Let me guess, you Googled “red dirt road” hoping for a close encounter with Brooks & Dunn, but instead found yourself meandering down a narrow lane just off the information highway.  May I kindly suggest that you tune in your favorite music player to a round of Kix & Ronnie?  Crank it up and let it provide the background music for this little trip down a red dirt road in Jackson County, Oklahoma.

Southwestern Oklahoma is home to farmers and ranchers, air force pilots and army generals, city folks and country folks, the Quartz Mountains and the Wichita Mountains, lakes and rivers, and yes, four-lane divided highways and a few red dirt roads.  Nestled between the Quartz Mountains and Wichita Mountains are a lesser known range, the Navajo Mountains, located in eastern Jackson County, north of US 62 about 3 miles and east of Altus about 6 miles.

Seeking a good dose of red dirt therapy, I recently set out on a drive down the red dirt road that ends at the western base of the Navajo Mountains.  For Pete’s sake, I stopped at the Navajoe Cemetery.  My cousin Jacquie told me about the town of Navajoe, and my other cousin, Jackie, told me about the cemetery.  There is also the Navajo School, but I’ll save that for another story.  Both had mentioned the historical marker located in the cemetery that documents the town of Navajoe.  The vertical marker is made of red granite, similar to the that of the surrounding mountains.  Navajoe the town fell by the wayside years ago when the railroad went thru Headrick instead of Navajoe.  The cemetery and memories are all that remain of the town.

Before climbing out of the car that bright sunny morning, I surveyed the area surrounding the cemetery.  Continue reading Well, For Pete’s Sake! ~ SW OK, Navajo and Navajoe →