Nuttall in Oklahoma–A friend reading Nuttall’s journal said to me “I didn’t know he [Nuttall] spent so much time in Oklahoma!” Perhaps it is the title: “Travels into the Arkansa Territory” that throws people off. In 1819, most of what is today Oklahoma was part of the Arkansas Territory. It was not yet even Indian Territory, much less Oklahoma.Nuttall’s original objective was to follow the Arkansas River from the Mississippi to Colorado. Malaria and bad luck got in his way. He made it west in Oklahoma to somewhere around present-day Gutherie and north to around present-day Tulsa before turning back to Three Forks (where the Verdigris and the Grand enter the Arkansas) and then to Fort Smith, and thence to New Orleans.
From Scott Thompson (via Facebook: In 1994, for a multi-part story here at KOTV in Tulsa, I followed the Arkansas River in reverse from what Nuttall hoped…. from the beginnings of the river in the Rockies to its confluence with the Mississippi. It was the story of the river told through the eyes of the people who lived along it, and dealt with the river, in some way or another, every day. It was a magical journey and a wonderful 5-part series.
Steve: Is the series available somewhere? Maybe video tape?