Author Archives: susandragoo

Finding the Butterfield: Brazil Station

An Unexpected Encounter Gravel flies as a Jeep skids to a halt in front of us. “What are you doing here?” the driver shouts as he jumps out. Joseph Wolf and I are both startled, and I am definitely puzzled. I had secured permission from the property owner to visit the site of old Brazil Station, orContinue reading “Finding the Butterfield: Brazil Station”

The Real Story Behind “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”

Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me home Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me home It is possibly the world’s best-known gospel song and was designated Oklahoma’s official “state gospel song,” in 2011. First popularized in the early 1870s, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” emerged from the pre-Civil War cotton fieldsContinue reading “The Real Story Behind “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot””

A Runaway Stage on the Butterfield: Unexpected Consequences

by Susan Dragoo A Runaway Stage In 1860, an eastbound stage of the Overland Mail carried Eadweard J. Muybridge, traveling as a through-passenger from San Francisco, from whence he had departed July 2. Best known for his use of photography to capture animals in motion for the first time in 1878, Muybridge laid the groundworkContinue reading “A Runaway Stage on the Butterfield: Unexpected Consequences”

Who Ran Fisher’s Station?

A Mystery Revealed By Susan Dragoo It’s been a mystery for many years . . . who was the “Fisher” of Fisher’s Station, the eleventh (counting east to west) in a chain of twelve official relay stations on the Indian Territory segment of the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach road? That mystery may now be solved,Continue reading “Who Ran Fisher’s Station?”

Newsletter -Oklahoma Chapter Butterfield National Historic Trail Association

Here’s the first edition of the quarterly newsletter for the Oklahoma Chapter of the Butterfield National Historic Trail Association. Contents include news about the Edwards Store, a trail guide for a segment of the Butterfield Trail at Lake Atoka, and a photographic retrospective on Nail’s Crossing. Join the National and Oklahoma BNHTA for early accessContinue reading “Newsletter -Oklahoma Chapter Butterfield National Historic Trail Association”

Finding the Butterfield – Now Available!

Now available on Amazon, the culmination of eight years of research and exploration on the Butterfield trail through Oklahoma, Finding the Butterfield! Finding the Butterfield: A Journey Through Time in Indian Territory takes the reader through the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, both in the late 1850s as a passenger on the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoachContinue reading “Finding the Butterfield – Now Available!”