On Oct. 24, 2009, I was heading to Texas from Kansas to my daughter's wedding. My daughter and her fiance(now husband) drove up and picked me up to go to the wedding. They told me about a town they had gone through. they said... momma, it is very strange and very very sad.. there is a town.. but no people.. it haunted them..
Now it will haunt me until the day I die!!! I cry so many tears. I found out last night, what happened to Picher, Oklahoma. My heart aches for everyone that has been affected by this most horrific...I am trying to think of the right word but can not!! I ache for all that has been touched by this.. my daughter and new son is also heartbroken..
I do not understand, How can our government could let this happen??? Why???? I don't feel the people were/are compensated enough. I feel that this story needs to be shared with everyone in this country!!
My heart breaks for all, my prayers are with all.. but my tears can not stop.. my voice will tell all!!
As a child growing up in the town of Picher I felt that I should have been born somewhere else. I hated the gravel piles and the old ponds and the small town way of life. I never dated because I did not want ties to the town. And was chosen as the shyest male student in my graduating class. I left soon after graduation for the military and except for a brief spell between tours of duty I have never been back until this year. I wanted to see the damage from the tornado and with all the homes gone I felt a since of happiness. I know it sounds strange but I have traveled the world and I started a computer company that allowed me to retire while still in my forties. I feel sorry for the folks I went to school with who got married and stayed in the ruins of the old mining town. I hope they get on with their life's and try seeing the other side of the fence while they are still able to do it. Don't get me wrong I am sure that I would be sad to have to leave my home where I had raised my kids and had memories. However I believe this is all for the best. I see names of people I know here on these pages and I just want to cry for the wasted years. Kids like Donna Walton who was one of the smartest and most attractive girls I ever knew should have left years earlier.
I just finished watching this documentary. I am still trying to process what i heard!! I appreciated the way Mr. Mathews brings up the subject that the townspeople may be told to move, or even lucky enough to be bought out seem to forget that they are certainly not the FIRST PEOPLE to be uprooted or told to move!! We survived they will too!! Kinda Karma or destiny that has laid out this towns path. So true about the way the creek looks like an open wound of a respected elder that we love so much. It is our EARTH showing the damage and I hope it's just not too late for her repair!
I first learned of your town via Joe Don Rooney, who is guitarist for the band Rascal Flatts and also a purebred Picher boy and alumni of PHS. From there, my passion for Picher kind of took on a life of its own, and after much pining and pleading I finally convinced my folks to drive me to Picher for a visit.
At my first glimpse of town-- the water tower and Hoppy's old place (is he still around?)-- I understood instantly why the people who are still there elected to stay. It's easy to see that Picher was once just as beautiful as Baxter Springs is today. I can imagine how HWY 69 looked on a Saturday night in 1975, with the Country Girl Cafe still jumpin' and the Picher Express in comission. I stood there beside City Hall and I heard your voices; I just want you to know that I heard your plight. Just because I'm from Pocahontas, Arkansas and not Picher, Oklahoma does not mean that I cannot love it. And believe me, I do.
I'm only fourteen but I feel as if I had grown up against the backdrop of those chat piles myself. I will always be a Picher girl at heart and no matter what happens in the years to come, the town will never fade away from my memories.
I love you, Picher, and I believe in you still.
Ballad of Picher,Oklahoma
Only Tears Remain
___________________________
© 2008, By Sara McCormic
A Tornado ravished the town of
Picher, Oklahoma on May 10, 2008.
---------------------------------
A drink of tears
Was our final toast
To our home town
A grieving ghost.
Her history - hero of wars
A tested veteran of pain;
Scars on the soul and scars on the earth,
Old mines left to drain.
She tucked in begotten families,
Knitting kin, weaving strength;
Their lives measured out by love,
Not as much by number as by length.
Politics swore illusive words
As they played fetch with future.
We waited calmly, lived each day
Leaning on family for nurture.
Some struggled with doubt
Whether to stay or to go;
Others, roots tangled deep,
the answer was, "no."
Winter’s hard with flood and freeze
But mining made us tough
It‘s never been a life of ease
Power outage, just small stuff.
When resolution seemed so near,
We looked up to the sky
To see the storm cloud coming;
Our wounded town cries, "Why?"
I guess my Picher was always plagued;
We thought we'd seen the light,
Then learned the deck was cruelly stacked
To spin her out of sight.
A drink of tears
Was our final toast
To our home town
A grieving ghost.
I spent most of my life in Miami, Oklahoma. My husband is a Picher "Chat Rat". Funny, the things one remembers after seeing home, family, and friends.... My husband Ronnie was born on a pool table in Hoppy's pool hall. This was in '51, when it wasn't so easy to make a trip to the hospital. He graduated from PHS in 1969. He and his best friends captured pigeons on top of the mining remains to sell for profit...they used the abandoned mining tunnels to walk underground from Picher all the way to Baxter Springs. My husband said it was "dark, but we knew the way by heart". One thing I remember, is the testing for elevated lead levels in our blood. There would be testing centers set up at grocery stores, schools, other places. The water running from the taps would stink with contaminents...but after the "minerals" settled, most folks would still use it for drinking and cooking. Most of our family was bought out, but there are still a few living in/around Picher. The film tore our hearts, Ron's and mine. This is/was/has been our home, our family, and our life. Bless you, for showing some of what has happened to "the town that Jack built".
Although I left the area in 1973, I was born & raised in Baxter Springs KS. My mother was born in Picher Oklhoma in 1922 if memory serves me. I had a few friends from Picher as a teenager in the late 60's & early 70's. Picher will always be a part of me just as much as Baxter Springs will always be with me.
As an area resident who just recently saw your film, the greatest gift the The Creek Runs Red might have given us is one last look at the spirit of Picher. Last night a 20-block wide tornado swept through the town leveling much of the residential section, and killing several residents. My heart goes out to all the people of Picher, it seems they have gone through so much and have so little to hold onto, but heartache and memories of better days.
And, as if all of this wasn't enough, the poor folks of Picher have been hit by a devastating tornado that has taken seven lives so far. My thoughts and prayers are with the fine people of Picher, their families and relatives. God, please grant them some rest from this never ending nightmare....
I don't want to sound cruel, but it doesn't matter anymore. There was a tornado tonight (May 10,08) that demolished the entire town. So far, 9 reported dead. R.I.P Picher, I'll miss you.
Excellent documentary! If anyone is interested in learning more about Picher's history, the evolution of its environmental troubles, and the attachments residents hold to the community, please consider taking a look at my book "Hard as the Rock Itself" from the University Press of Colorado. The book is based on PhD work I conducted at the University of Oklahoma and it follows-up with many of the same individuals from the film including Hoppy Ray and John Mott.
Excuse the self-promotion, but I don't think you will find a more thorough analysis of Picher, a town whose tragic but enduring story has received far too little attention.
That was an amazing documentary. Thank you.
I live in Anchorage Alaska and I love my beautiful state, however in bristol bay there is a very controversial/political Pebble Mine project where they would build a mine to extract copper and gold. The runoff from the chemicals used could devastate bristol bay and its residents. This proposed site is where the Native people survive on the salmon for subsistence, and their economy relies on healthy fish. I hope that Bristol Bay doesn't end up like Picher!
This was an amazing and astounding documentary. What a public service. It should be required viewing in every high school to teach students the value of community life and the need to be vigilant about the environment and know how to fight the government for the right to clean air and soil. It is egregious that the residents of Picher are still living with that contamination. Thank you thank you for opening our eyes to this disaster.
Atlthough I do not live in Picher, Oklahoma I do live in a small town in Missouri. My heart is sickened for the children of Picher. I believe that what has happened in picher needs to be a WAKE UP call for all Americans. It is unbeleivable that hard working families have for generations have been poisened by these extremely toxic materials. I hope the mining companies and the Government PAY UP.....whether families move or not !!!!!!! It is purely CRIMINAL that this is happening there....it should make us all aware of the possible environmental pollution in our own communities
While I was born and raised just across the Missouri border in Joplin, my grandparents lived in Picher for many years until just before they passed away in 1999.
I last drove through Picher a little over a year and a half ago. I remember being struck by the huge chat piles dwarfing everything else in Picher. The film emphasized the tragedy.
We have our chat, sink holes, and the heavy-metal tainted water on the Missouri side as well, but not on the scale of Picher. It's heartbreaking how shortsighted we have been as stewards of this Earth.
I totally understand where the residents of Picher are coming from. What I can't understand is how they allow themselves to be exposed to something that is so deadly and could possibly hurt them in the long run. Sure, nothing is wrong and they feel fine now, but what about in 20-25 years when those young girls are infertile and the young men arent able to produce children or worse? I am not saying that this is their fault because it is not at all. The government needs to step in and take responsibility for leaving this town in the dismal and dangerous state that it is in. Honestly, I think the government didnt anticipate that the residents would stay on after they closed the mines down. I think they figured that with the main employment gone that the town would just die out and become one of these ghost towns of yesterday. But that is not what happened at all.
After a recent relocation myself, I do feel for the people of Pitcher Oklahoma. They really have a lovely community, with beautiful vibrant people, long history, good morals, and friends.
However, can your love for your city shorten your life? Is it a selfish act to not take your family out of harms way? What is the ultimate cost if I do not move?
These may be issues that more of us have to deal with as environmental hazards continue to be discovered, and introduced into our environment.
hello, i just watched the documentary on tv tonight, it brought back alot of memories of when i was growing up. i didnt live in Picher but in Commerce, and Miama.Alot of my mothers family is still there in the area. I used to play in the chat piles, swim in the green or red waters and had the time of our lives. We used to wonder about the mines and knew we shouldnt be playing there but we did.My mother and her family grew up there and always had high levels of lead and zinc but lived good lives for those who are gone. i am happy for all those who have been able to get out. It was a very good documentary and needed to be done so everyone can see it. Thank you for all your hard work.
Song captures uncertainty of Picher's buyout, relocation
By Wally Kennedy
wkennedy@joplinglobe.com
3/17/08
"The Plight of Picher" is included on a CD that has been released by singer/composer Mark Kershner.
The old folks sure have suffered but kids are hurt the worst. The lead has done its damage, their future's now been cursed.
From "The Plight of Picher"
Lyrics by Sara McCormic
PICHER, OKLA. -- The ongoing buyout and relocation of families from the Picher Mining Field has led to the creation of a mournful song that reflects the desperation of those who want to leave and the despair of those who have left.
The lyrics of the song were written by Sara McCormic, of Bend, Ore. Her connection to the area is a former student, Timothy Kirk, now age 32, who still resides in the Picher area with his 11-year-old son, Timothy.
"I met Sara when she was my first-grade teacher at Hugoton, Kan., which is north of the Oklahoma Panhandle. She was good to me," said Kirk, now age 32.
"To encourage me to keep reading and writing, we wrote back and forth to each other over several years. She came here when my son was born," he said. "I have kept her up to date about what has been happening here. I have sent her newsletters and reports."
Then one day, McCormic sent Kirk a copy of her song.
"I thought it was a pretty good song. I have had a lot of people tell me what a good song it is," he said. "It captures what is happening here. It's been very emotional for a lot of people. Some people have gotten good values for their homes and got out. Some have got low values for their homes, and it will be difficult for them to get out."
The song's lyrics reflect the uncertainty in Picher.
Uncertain what will happen,
Uncertain what's to come,
Uncertain about our home
The waitin' leaves us numb.
Kirk said he will know where he stands with regard to the buyout when he gets an offer on his home from the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust.
McCormic said, "After researching, I became aware that for some, living in such an area was perhaps a personal disaster that might never heal. I felt that my awareness could be expressed in song lyrics that could arouse empathy for the 'Plight of Picher,' and
other similar sites were many are suffering silently."
McCormic said. "It seems that tragedies, like Katrina and Greensburg, Kan., tornado, receive national attention, but the population in a Superfund site, which (provided the lead) to help win World War II, must suffer in silence."
The lyrics reflect that, too.
A tragedy that's silenced
To hide a nation's blight
Will no one speak for us?
Will no one make it right?
Singer/composer Mark Kershner, of Sisters, Oregon, read McCormic's lyrics and watched "The Creek Runs Red," a documentary about the Tar Creek Superfund site. He was moved to adapt the lyrics to a song.
Said McCormic: "It is Mark's and my hope to provide some solace for these victims by giving them words and music to express their frustrations. It was also our intention to raise awareness of this devastating situation."
http://www.picheroklahomagenealogy.com/ http://www.markkershner.com/
I lived my first 19 years in Picher Oklahoma and I want to thank you for such a poignant and expository view of my hometown. I spent most of my youth playing among the chatpiles and mining ruins scattered throughout picher. The mounds of chat were the backdrop of many firsts; My first kiss, my first beer, my first car accident (all unrelated). Growing up in Picher we had the freedom to expand our minds and dream without boundaries. We learned the valuable lessons of community and reflected during times of solitude. We welcomed new friends and said goodbye to those who were lost. This documentary exposed picher for what it is, a community of passionate people who understand that family, friends, and community stand above all other issues. Their only differences are the ways that this feeling manifests itself. I hope that as visitors pass through Picher they see what I see, not the environmental disaster, but the hometown that fostered so many passionate and creative minds. Wishing you well.
Thank you for this sensitively done film. I grew up in Picher and the Quapaw Nation. I still love the people and knew some in the film but most of all recognized the spunk, spirit and humor of a people who knows what it means to be a real community. We all miss that feeling as we now live spread around this nation. The heart of Picher, with its diversity, often reminds me of my current home (New York City) with the acceptance and valuing of people from many different places. America needs to rediscover the values of small classrooms, loving teachers and what it means to be connected to a place even though it was environmentally terrible. The place is the people and the heart and people of Picher will always be my relatives and the center of heart. Picher, Commerce, Miami and Quapaw have given the world greatness. A Prima Ballerina, a section leader in the Chicago Symphony, the CEO of the Modine Corporation, Prominent lawyers in Washington, D.C. and Houston, a New York Opera Director, a former bandleader for Barnum and Bailey Circus, America's greatest Native American Composer and the greatest baseball player for 20 years with the New York Yankees. Not bad and it was all done, like ancient Rome, in spite of the horrors of lead and heavy metal poisoning. Picher has nothing to be ashamed of and America with its affluence, drugs and addiction to violence could take a lesson from the spirit of the beautiful children of Picher.
Ray Evans Harrell, Performing Artist
New York City
"The Creek Runs Red" by Independent Lens was trying to alert America to an envirnmental problem with lead and zinc mining. One reason,I believe, the town Picher, Oklahoma was not properly organized to handle the kind of mining they were involved. The level of the problem was that of a day care center. A problem in a day care center results in a problem through out the town or schools. THe town Picher needs to get more sophisticated. Picher schools should have seen what the mine would do. This is why they are having trouble getting help. I hope one can learn from this.
What a surprise, while channel surging, I see my cousins, John Mott and Hoppy. I didn't grow up there but I vistied there often as a child. I remember being taken for rides on the chat piles. It seemed natural, we didn't know anything different. My Dad was born in the area, although we was mainly raised in Springfield, MO. My grandmother lived for many years in Miami and my father moved back to Miami when he retired. Although I don't know them all well, I have many cousins in the area and feel for them. I didn't know about this special and hope to catch the entire show when it gets played again.
I watched the documentary and thought it was excellent. The timing of PBS' broadcast couldn't have been better for our family as we all came together to move my sweetheart of a mother from our childhood home in Picher to my sister's home in Miami this past weekend. My mother had lived in the same two block neighborhood for 80 of her 88 years and told me it was like leaving home for the first time. As for her children, we were born and raised in Picher and consider it our hometown. As was the case with my father, we attended and graduated from Picher High School and are proud of our heritage. My heart is heavy to know that my last walk-through of our empty homeplace is behind me. I was able to envision our neighborhood as it was during my youth. The two block area of North Emily and North Francis that bordered Highway 69 was my entire world as a child. The frame houses were mostly white and the yards always mowed. My Grandma Striplin was so proud of her roses and her vegetable garden. The hours spent riding bicycles, exploring the mine tailing piles, and playing baseball with Jeff and Greg Cruzan, Kathy and Treva Osborne, Larry Poole, James Osborne, and others are still etched in my memory. It is difficult to comprehend that, soon, I will not have a hometown to visit or a high school to take my grandchildren to see. But, as we all know, the world does not stop simply because our world has changed. I owe a lot to the fine folks of Picher, Oklahoma! I wouldn't be the person I am today if I had not grown up around the likes of my dear sweet Mother and my Grandma Rosie, the late Billie Marie Douthitt, Joni Dial, Janelle Hart, Chuck Heatherly, the entire Cruzan family, and many, many others. I love you all!
I grew up in Picher Oklahoma and use to swim in those alkali ponds. As a kid I can remember drinking more than my share of that water after playing baseball for 3 hours. I recently at 53 had a 5 vessel bypass heart surgery. Drinking that water was foolish but tell a thirsty kid not to drink water when he's playing ball on a chat pile and there is nothing but a water puddle around. Anyway for what its worth I am an engineer and not a stupid person just a victim of industrial waste and ignorant of the long term problems associated with the lead and zinc contaminates as a kid.
I watched this last night on PBS, and it just made my heart sink. I wanted so much to tell these people that the problems with their land just aren't their fault.
To me it seems like this is a town full of people who've been made the victims of circumstance. And this is something that cannot be helped. It's not a reflection of who you are, or the choices your parents made.
If leaving a proper legacy is important to residents of Picher, then get yourselves out of a town that is so toxic it's more likely to kill you with cancer than give you a rich and fulfilling life.
The government is desperately trying to cover their ass where your town is concerned. So, get yourselves outta the lead contamination and into a new place, breathe some fresh air, and then find some seriously fierce legal representation.
I grew up in Cardin, Picher, Commerce and Wyandott Okla. My dad Sam Duncan moved around a lot. When the mines closed in Picher we moved to another Toxic site that the EPS is cleaning up, Kellogg, Idaho. Responsible polluter was the Bunker Hill Co. I remember playing on the chat piles as a child. My aunt died of TB and so did both of my grandfathers. The chat was put on the roads and the ore trucks would keep the dust stirred up night and day. I understand that some call this their home, but if it the EPA doesn't clean it up, they should move for the sake of their children and their health. My husband, Danny Byrd, loved Picher, we only returned once after we left and moved to Idaho, but we had fond memories or our friends and relatives that remained. Great Documentary.
My Mom graduated from PHS in 1954, my Dad in 1955, my brother in 1975, my sister in 1978 and me in 1983. Since then I've had two nephews (one was valedictorian of his class) and one daughter (valedictorian of her class) graduate from PHS. My youngest daughter has now transferred to Quapaw to complete high school. As I watched the documentary I felt a lot of sadness. Unless you were born and bred in Picher you don't understand all the mixed emotions. Like Karen said, we had so many 1st's there and we'll never go be able to go back to those places. The building that I went to in high school has been torn down and replaced but we always had the elementary cafeteria which is the same as when I was in the first grade. We could have class reunions there and reminisce. Before long we'll have to do this in a completely different town. It's just so hard to think about the football field and all the games we attended and the new softball complex that the people of Picher worked so hard on. It was a beautiful place and the girls were so proud of it, now it's nothing. It just gives me an empty spot way down deep that I can't seem to fill. I know this buy out is probably for the best but it's just something that is hard to watch. I actually live in Commerce now but I'm a Picher girl at heart and I truly believe "ONCE A GORILLA - ALWAYS A GORILLA, GO BIG RED"
They should get out as soon as they are able. There is one thing that is worth more than image, memories, nostalgia, and growing up near all of your extended family, and that is being healthy.
This was a powerful film on many levels. It made me think about what “home” means to me. Although the ancestral home of my birth holds many fond memories, it is the house in which I live presently -- and I have moved several times -- that I think of as home. I like having the security that whatever house I’m living in, is a reasonably safe, healthy place.
Even with a nice hometown as I had, you can’t go back. It is trying to live in the past to attempt it. My advice would be that if you have the whole clan living on a street in Picher, find a cheap piece of land somewhere safe, and resettle the whole bunch of them.
We live in an increasingly mobile society, unlike a few hundred years ago when many people seldom strayed more than a few dozen miles from where they were born. I thought of leaving home as a right of passage, a minor parallel to the pioneering spirit in the westward expansion.
Although millions are driven from their homes and even countries by wars, floods, earthquakes and famines, and there are metal mining communities all over that have environmental issues, Picher is in a special situation. For years, they’ve been living on hope and promises that the millions spent on cleanup would fix things, but it hasn’t and won’t. If I were in their situation, and I was getting a settlement check, I’d wake up from my electric train fantasy and be on the first bus out of Picher. The guilt and anger of adults who have sick children, is going to plague them for the rest of their lives.
I wouldn’t stay home and bury my head in the slag, like the family that was out ATV/go-carting, kids in dresses. Although I didn’t grow up in one, I’ve lived in two former mining communities, one that had its little downtown entirely boarded up, and the other was thriving on tourism and the natural beauty of the surroundings. Neither of them had pollution problems, but the isolated one had employment problems. There were many houses there that were livable and cost one tenth of the national average.
Maybe I missed it in the film, but I would have been interested to know what the people were doing about the drinking water situation. Were they filtering it or trucking in all their drinking water or were they scarfing it down like Koolaid at Jonestown.
Consider that in the U.S., many old people relocate just for warmer weather and to be closer to better medical facilities. These days, very few people remain grouped together with all their extended family around them, living in their birth town. I think the reason the people of Picher are living in the past, is the promises. I hope they ALL get a settlement soon, and get out of there.
I think the film was outstanding. I have worked for the last several years trying to get the EPA to use a permanent process that address the many issues of superfund sites like Tar Creek. I even offered to pay for the pilot project, so it would not cost anyone any money and the government and people could have the best of both worlds and have been refuse every time. Makes one wonder why the government does not want to fix superfund sites like Tar Creek. What is even more confusing is that 80% of the land is owned by the Indians and the Indians do not want the land return to a useful purpose. I would like to see more issues like this presented to the public so they can be informed to events such as this and what hazardous materials does to the health of people when left exposed like this. It does not say much of agencies of government allowing the co existence of people and hazardous materials like the last 25 years at Tar Creek and then still wanting to allow more of these issues to continue as EPA has requested.
I just finished watching the film on TV and decided to share my opinion and thoughts about the certain situation in Picher, Oklahoma. I totally understand that for the many residence living there feel deeply attached to the town because they as well as their fathers fathers have been calling it their home. But in the other hand, giving the certain situation, that's just plain selfish. Think about your loved ones which are more important. They are your life. You can have as many "homes" as you want. No matter what, they will always be there for you. I am happy for those residence who took the opportunity to relocate to somewhere safe for them and their family to live life. Picher is not the home as it use to be for those who have build history there. It seems like a place where the people have no control over and the government is having hard time debating on WHAT IS RIGHT because some of the residence tend to stay due to their own liking. News flash. Life isn't about where you live your life. It's about the choices you make that affect the people around you, especially your close ones. GOD counts what you do in life, not what you have. You can have a home in a billion places, but takign the chance to make your family safe and protected so that you can see them to grow up and live life and see the beauty of it is priceless. So take the chance to do whats right.
Its easy for me to tell others what to do. Its easy for me to say what I would do in a situation. I will say that this is another addition to the growing list of attributes of the "negativity" of being AMERICAN.
I grew up in Miami, Oklahoma, but was a Police Officer in Picher for several years. Watching this documentary brought back many fond memories of that time in the 1980's & early 90's. The residents of Picher are some of the greatest people on earth and it's very difficult to see them in a situation where they have become divided over such a serious issue, the potential death of an extraordinary community.
I observed the initial attempts of the EPA to make the community environmentally safe and have since been distressed by the millions of tax dollars that have been thrown into project after project, none of which were broad enough to address the totality of the crisis. I concur with Bill's statement "EPA representatives... had little knowledge of the situation. Spend money, get paid and move on seemed to be their credo." I've been away from the area 15 years and just now see some action being taken to allow the residents that want to leave, actually leave with hope of having the financial stability to build a life elsewhere. Will the EPA leadership ever be held accountable for this fiasco? In addition to fair market value for their property, shouldn't there be some punitive damages paid to all those that are victims of the environmental misconduct of mining companies (who are paying large settlements to Federal Agencies)?
Thank you to those that made this documentary. I was disappointed to see that the two show times here in Albuquerque were 4 & 5 A.M. I certainly think it's worthy of primetime viewing. The film seemed to be very balanced and skillfully avoided showing prejudice to either group. Everyone should have the right to make his or her own decision. I just hope that they consider all the available data and make an informed decision, especially those residents with children.
My wife's father was a Mail Carrier in Picher and died of lung cancer at an early age. I can't help but feel that his exposure to the contaminated environment contributed to his death. This is only my opinion but I don't think I would take that chance with his grandchildren.
To all our friends and family in Picher, we think of you often and wish you all the best. We will always look forward to visiting you in Picher, Oklahoma, anytime we can make it back "HOME".
This documentary was exceptional. My mother was raised in Picher and I took her back when she was in her 70’s. Even though I have only visited Picher once in my lifetime I felt the pull of the memories through my Mom’s eyes. She talked about how my Grandfather would walk with them part of the way to school, him turning toward the mines and the children toward the school. My great-grandmother is buried near Picher, so even though I do not live there I do feel a kinship with the residents. You are in many thoughts and prayers.
This is one of those rare films that have captured my full attention. I have family members that are in such situations, and I know it can be a hard thing to deal with. There's always a battle between your memories and what you want to hold onto and what the future holds. It's a very powerful story that shows most, if not all, of the ups and downs of Picher.
I've visited ghost towns before here in Utah, like Helper, some of them still have people living there that just refuse to leave because of memories or work with keeping history. Many of those ghost towns were once sites for mining. This film has also captured my attention because it's showing just that happening right before your my eyes.
Fabulous work.
I grew up in Southeast Kansas across the border from Picher in Cherokee and Crawford counties. In both counties coal and metal mining was common up through the 1960's and possibly the 70's. In the 70's and 80's there was a large land reclamation project of the strip mines. I wonder if there has been any follow up on the reclamation and if it helped prevent some of the problems Picher has faced or if it was purely cosmetic recovery of mines to farmland and if contamination still exists.
As to the previous post regarding Alzhiemer's my great grandmother, grandfather and other family members have suffered and died from it and lived a large part of there life in Roseland, KS.
Long overdue documentary about a great town, great people, and a tough situation with the mines closed down and the pollution the mining activity created. I grew up near Picher in Miami and remember growing up and being able to see the massive chat pile mountain from near my house which was about 8.5 miles away! I can always say I grew up near the mountain (It's gone now)... Also have memories of going there to the mine machine shops looking for used equipment with my Dad and being told by my folks not to play near or in Tar Creek.
Sad situation for a town that meant a whole lot to America through two World Wars.
People that live on property they own should be able to stay where they live if they want to... I do think that if folks do decide to move then they need to get a fair price. If the Trust is employing only a single firm to do the appraisals on the buy-outs that there is a risk of bias against the property owners and this should be corrected....As an example, if one of the Trust Board member's family had a business, (a chain of drug stores for example) and they were to sell this chain of drug store but couldn't use their appraiser for a valuation and had to accept an appraiser the buyer used and couldn't look at comparables used for the appraisal I think they would be a little upset especially if they felt they were getting less than what they felt their pharmacies were worth!! Fair price for property for folks giving up their home, not just a house......
Thanks to the folks who made this documentary.....
The filmmakers were effective in showing that apart from the contamination, it did look like a wonderful place to live. Yet those children have no choice in suffering the consequences of their parent's decisions. Of all the things for which our government spends our money, I'm glad the people who wanted out of Picher were given the funds to do so.
I was born in Miami and raised in Picher. I graduated from high school there and attended a church which was founded by a distant relative. It was actually the first church in town, built to accommodate the various faiths of the miner's and became known as the Union Church for the "union of faiths" it represented. I also served as the Executive Director of the Housing Authority in Picher for 7 years or so in the 90's-- which eventually led to my education and future career in social work. I agree with Karen's comments previously posted about there being no place like Picher. For those of us who lived there it is easy to remember quiet summer days, and draggin' main (which was basically driving back and forth between the two dairy queens on Connell Avenue on weekend nights!), Friday night football games in the Fall and Little League baseball in the summer. If you lived there you felt like you knew or were related to everyone else. I moved away for more education and a career, but I feel that I took Picher with me, and it will always be part of me. My family lived and died there, and ran a business there-- and it is hard to believe it may cease to exist as anything but a ghost town. I want to remember it as it was when I was young: Sanders Lumber Yard, First State Bank, Keithley's Market, Koronis Drug, Carlin's Hardware and Vickie's Cafe lining Connell Avenue; sweet, cold water coming out of the garden hose to drink during the hot summers, and watching the world go by for hours at a time from atop a chat pile. I can't bring myself to go back and see it as anything else.
Please help prevent this from happening elsewhere by asking your representatives to co-sponsor and support the Clean Water Protection Act.
Having been born in Miami long ago and my dad having been a driller doing exploration work in and around the are until we moved to the upper midwest for the lead/zinc operations there I have seen the damage and despair of abandoned mining sites in both places. I eventually worked for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources over seeing some lead and zinc mine related reclamation work and used the Tar Creek fiasco as an example of what not to do and what will not work. In my opinion the area can never be reclaimed to what it once was nor can man ever make it productive again. Maybe nature can do that in a few hundred years or longer. Removal or relocation of the people is a term that many native Americans are suspicious of because of past experiences with the government. However I believe it is the best solution. Unfortunately the tax payer rather than the mining companies are going to have to foot the bill. We last visited the area a few years ago and the removal of the "contaminated" soil was ongoing. Talking to the operators of the project and the EPA representitive found that they had little knowledge of the situation. Spend money, get paid and move on seemed to be their credo. An unsolveable problem.
My mother (Marguerite Haines) and her six sisters were raised in Cardin Oklahoma, next door to Picher. When I was 15 years old, I (and my sisters,father) traveled back there with her. Although that was over 45 years ago, I vividly recall seeing open mine shafts that were filled with water. We were cautioned not to go near them. Then we went on to Joplin, Mo, where she also spent a good deal of time. Evidently my grandfather (Carl Haines) worked the mines in Cardin or Picher until they moved to California(in the 1930s, I think). He died relatively young of some kind of heart problem, leaving my Nana to raise the six daughters still at home. Four of the seven sisters developed Alzheimer's disease (two of those have died two are still living). I wonder if contamination as they were growing up contributed to this horrible malady. My sister recalls Mom telling us that the rivers were red in her home town. I recall her fond memories of her home town and I'm looking forward to seeing this documentary.
Hello as a person who has grown up in Picher, Who's whole family was from Picher I would like to say thank you this was awesome. While it gave a partial reality of the problems we here in Picher face it can no ways produce the Hearts Pain of having to let go of your Home and literaly have No Place to call home.
No place to come and visit on Holiday's No place for a family reunion, To set around the table and talk about days gone by or remember whens, or jump in the car and drive by and look at what use to be.
I myself I am for the buy-out. Simply because I was raised here. And I have been sick my whole life. I know the trumoil this red creek reeks on ones body, mind, and soul. But it is still sad. I appericate your work, It was great and professionally done it made me cry. Seeing all those who I had grown up with and around and to hear how sadden their hearts are. I too am sadden because I also know how hard it is to walk off from a life of memory's and start over.
There was a lot of first here for me 1st Kiss, 1st Dance, 1st lot of things I can't tell, I was as I like to say Born and bread in Picher Okla. And theres no Place like home.
I moved away a few times but I always came back to Picher because this I have found out in all my travels, No matter how big or how beautiful, There are NO people like the people of Picher Okla.
We haven't been bought out yet, and while I think it's the right thing to do, I am in no hurry to go. To close that final door. But I so appericate every piece of History I can get. And your piece will respectfully be added to that pile of Memory's. Thank You all for your hard work.