Happy New Year! We are well into January now, I hope the new year is treating you well.
Last year, 2019, was the bicentennial of Nuttall’s visit to Oklahoma and Arkansas. For several years leading up to 2019 we gave talks and led workshops and tours to increase awareness of the anniversary and explore the land with his journal as a guide.
Now what? The bicentennial is past. Do we put Nuttall away for another 200 years? I have been ruminating over where we go from here.
What do you think? What interests you and what would you like to see us do this year and into the future?
I have some ideas, but I’d really like to hear from you.
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Comments (from Facebook):
I am really excited about highlighting Nuttall at Arkansas Post national memorial in a permanent outdoor exhibit. It is in the works now, and I will keep you informed in our progress. – Erik Ditzler
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I would like to see an event in NE Arkansas in the boot heel. Nuttall passed through here not many months after the New Madrid earthquake and wrote a few vague entries about the devastation left behind (he had been to New Madrid previously).I am a teacher and I would like to see recognition that he traveled through here as well as the River Valley.
I think he traveled on Crowley’s Ridge here also. – Teresa Cumbie Belk
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Erik and Teresa, it is great to hear of your interests. It would be wonderful to figure out a way to explore eastern AR as you suggest. It is a long way from my home base but I would like to keep thinking with you how we might plan a trip. – Steve Patterson
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You might guess my suggestion: to follow through by examining the fate and promise of native hay meadows in SE Oklahoma, including both their biological and the cultural heritage. – Michael Palmer