They call it Fort Supply, the last outpost of the U.S.

Army on the boundary of Oklahoma Territory, home to the damned, the disgraced, and the disputed.

Now doc McReynolds, a military surgeon who fought his way out of a bloody killing field, has been ordered to establish redoubt at Cimarron Crossing.

My name is Sheldon Russell.

I'm a writer.

I write historical fiction, primarily.

I have written mystery, suspense.

But, I found that that I enjoy the research.

I enjoy history, and it ties in well with fiction writing.

So I'm neither face nor file.

I'm neither a historian or a novelist in the true sense.

But a little of each.

So I take the, I take the historical event that's occurred, and then I take my artistic license with my characters and develop my story and try to make it an interesting story.

A hard earned career sergeant in the army fail to prepare doctor McReynolds for what now lay quivering before him in the tent.

What is a soldier?

He asked, leaning into the dim light madness stared back at him.

Anguish, pain, fear sliding against the tent wall.

Private with him.

Gulp for air.

Eyes rolling wide, sweat beating across his forehead as he searched for McReynolds voice.

Behind those eyes, something loathsome and ignoble scrambled his brains with a stick.

And it was there like death.

And at the dim light of the lantern, with deliberate care of the private, formed his words, issuing primitive and contorted sounds that caused the hair to move on.

The crimson neck.

My latest books, the last two books that I've written, are set primarily in Oklahoma and deal with Oklahoma history.

The Savage Trail, which was set in 1834, in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, which at that time was the jumping off point into the frontier, is where my first book is set, second book, Requiem of God, is set in ports by Oklahoma in 1868.

And then I've just completed the third book, which will be set in Guthrie proper, in 1889.

So, in essence, I have the story of Oklahoma in fictional form from 1834 to 1889, the beginning of statehood.

Of course, when you write historical fiction, they depend heavily on history.

So I spend, or at least half the time on writing a book, getting ready to write it.

And I do, a great amount of reading.

First of all.

And then I visit museums.

I actually visit the sites.

Well, the publishing company, museum deals specifically with the third book.

One of my main characters in there is the publisher, turn of the century publisher.

Well, it turns out that we had one here in Guthrie, turn of the century.

And that particular museum has all of the presses and everything that was required at that time.

So you can walk in there and and get the feel of what it was like in 1889.

So I find those kinds of experiences necessary to writing.

I think I like the Oklahoma history specifically because it's so new, so recent is it's still alive and there's so much of it that's been unexplored.

I mean, you know, in 1907 was the King state.

Up to that time, we were the last of the frontier.

It's so available still.

And, it's been a colorful history from the beginning, both as a frontier and even into the oil boom and all that happened there.

There's plenty of there's plenty to write here in Oklahoma.

Out there beyond the hills, the way that half the Indian nation, Cheyenne dog soldiers, Arapaho, those Kiowa, all driven to the wall by the land hungry foreigners whose malignant growth doubled every month at the border less than 100 miles away.

No one in Washington understood what the soldiers did, because on a still night, the Indian drum beat in the distance is voice crying of fear, of hatred, of bitter resentment.

The sound throbbed hour after hour, like an open wound, riding in on the night and settling among as I slept on the hot sand.

At the darkest hours.

The beat pierced their hearts.

And in the blackness their souls rose up and winged away.

Well, while I'm writing, there's often strange noises coming from downstairs.

That's my wife, of course, with her power tools, creating sculpture, while I'm writing the, bestselling novel upstairs.

Sheldon Russell.

He's been my love for 42 years now, and, he just.

I can't imagine, life without him.

We're so, so intricately entwined in each other's lives.

Having two artists under one roof is is very interesting because, especially especially since we're in different areas of art, I don't think I would like it if we were both in the same area, because I don't think we'd be able to help each other as much, and we would feel like maybe that we were in competition or something.

And, I wouldn't like that.

We complement each other, our works being his his writing and mine being visual.

It's just it's like the best of both worlds.

I think I sculpt what I do and how I do because each piece that for me is so different, and the mediums I use are so different.

Oh, watch.

There.

I like things that fight back.

I like to use stone.

I like to carve hard wood.

I know a lot of people want to stone at all, and they don't like hardwood.

They like bass and Catawba and Angelia Tong and all these woods that you can pull a knife through.

I like to drive a chisel into things with a mallet.

I really don't know where the sculpting came from.

It had to have been there all along.

Just hiding.

I've always been interested in art.

I've always done creative things original to me.

Instead of doing things from kits and things like that.

Well, in kind of a spiritual sense with the.

Yeah, with the wood and the stone that I work with and the clay, it's not so much a matter of improving on it.

You don't want to over carve it.

It's already beautiful.

You want to compliment it.

And that's how I think about it.

This clay was a little bit of a different feeling because you're creating something from, from dirt.

It's it's fun and it in it's.

And I can do like almost all creating from it is kind of cool.

And I think artists would feel that way, too.

I think that's maybe why a lot of artists working clay, because they have like, total value in the total thing.

But I do wood and I'll always do some wood also, because I'm participating in the creative part there, because God's pretty part of it, and I'm trying to compliment it and not mess it up.

I think that working on materials that are hard and that fight back, like the real hard woods and and stone and large logs, it's almost like, a challenge to me.

And my subject matter has to be a challenge for me, or I don't like to do it.

These are my favorite kind of pieces to do.

Or I can just have fun and not have to worry about very strict anatomy.

Having everything correct.

People are always asking me, when are you going to settle down and settle down to one theme?

And I said, I guess I'm never going to because what hits me at one day, you know, isn't what I want to do the next day.

And that's why I have several projects going at one time.

Usually.

Well, it's it's kind of funny how I got started.

I discovered it actually, when, Sheldon was writing, and I went up to have coffee with him, and he was in the middle of a creative surge, and I was really kind of busy.

So I suggested that she find something else to do, and I gave her my pocket knife and he said, Whittle on your walking stick.

And when I have the coffee on, I'll invite you in.

So I did what he said.

I waited outside, whittle down my walking stick, and when she returned she had carved this astounding figure.

And when he opened the door about ten minutes later, he looked at it and he had this funniest expression on his face.

It was just unbelievable.

And he said, I didn't know you could do that.

And I said, well, I didn't know I could either, but I didn't have any choice, did I?

And I was I was shocked that she could, that she could actually do that.

And he wanted to know then if I could do it again.

So we went out that evening to the Shelter Belt and took a walk and found some interesting wood, and I did it again.

And then he said, you need some better tools other than my pocket knife.

And that's how it all got started over 20 years ago.

It's always good to come back here.

This is where my first pieces of wood came from, that I carved walking sticks.

From this shelter belt.

There were cedar boughs and the heartwood is red.

It's good wood for carving.

It's very pretty.

Smells good too.

Very aromatic.

Nancy is really the genius in the family, and her talent is unquestionable.

And it's so obvious.

I've had to work mine very hard.

And.

And not that she doesn't work hard, but she's a very talented lady, and, I I've known that for a long time.

I knew it before.

She knew it.

And, so I've tried to encourage her with her.

With her sculpting.

And her growth has just been astounding.

Sheldon is strong in my weak points.

I cannot write a lick.

It labors me to write a letter, and he writes just just falls, right?

Yeah.

It's just easy for him.

It's thick enough for me to do something with.

To keep walking stick.

Yeah, and get it.

I can use it right now anyway.

Oh, yeah.

It has some interesting shape.

Hasn't been down too long and big enough to have some.

He can't not draw or sculpt one.

The simplest thing.

I don't think he could sculpt an egg.

That he.

But he know he's.

He and I support each other in what we do and that's what's important.

Well if Nancy and I switched roles.

What you would find when you went down to look at my sculpture would just be a pile of woodchips.

And what you would find on the computer is probably three words, or maybe two, the end.

Because, I sculpt like she writes.

Know.

I grew up, on a ranch.

Cattle ranch between Waynoka and Freedom.

So, I spent a lot of time alone.

Well, growing up out here in this isolation like this has influenced my writing a lot.

Every night I had come out here and drive in cattle, find them wherever they were.

It's a kid.

Hold on.

The old cows tales.

So that pull me back to the barn so I wouldn't have to walk so much.

Lots of time to think and to dream.

As you can see, it's gorgeous out here.

Time, I think, is what makes a difference.

Time and reflection.

Introspection.

You don't have that when you live in town.

Too much going on.

Well, it's difficult to know how I get started in writing or if I've got an interest in writing.

I suspect that it comes from, story telling culture.

I grew up in a rural area, an isolated area, and, storytelling was was the entertainment, storytelling and reading.

And the neighbors used to come down in the evenings.

And of course, there was no television at that time.

And, they would tell stories.

Turning, McReynolds took in the lay of the place, the standard simply turn to look for the world like a Comanche log, a camp chair made of sticks and rawhide, a mess chest field cot two changes of clothes, and one pair of boots per man.

Go get the hospital story, he said.

Tell him to bring a canteen of water and a length of rope.

Sir, you heard me.

And be quick about it, corporal.

Then I want you and the others to move out here until further notice.

Do I make myself clear?

Yes, sir and corporal.

Yes, sir.

Let me see your hands, sir.

Let me see them.

Have you any open wounds?

Did you have any when you grabbed?

Hold that phone.

Scrub.

Holding out his hands, the corporal looked puzzled.

Not that I recall, sir.

Just blisters from all that chopping.

After careful examination, McReynolds slapped him on the back.

Go on now and do what I told you.

My experience with the re-enactors was a lot of fun.

Hello.

Howdy, Shelton.

How you doing?

Sheldon Russell.

Glad to meet you, Jack Ritter.

Thanks for coming out.

Foreign.

Marion.

Stone wine.

Mitch.

Marion.

Bob Warren, eyeball adoration.

This is great.

Is this sibling?

Yeah, that's what struck me first.

What?

There was a Sibley tent I had written about a Sibley tent in the book.

Well, I'd never seen a Sibley other than drawings of them.

Oh, wow.

This is cool.

Big.

Yeah, they're 18ft in diameter and 12ft tall, but they're that they had put together a Sibley tent, and, not only that, but the game the camp chair was in there and the kerosene lantern and all all of the stove, the Sibley stone steps.

It was like stepping back into time.

It was a very neat experience.

And just to get a picture of the, grandpa sitting in one just like this.

Yeah, yeah.

So it's typical of what they had back in the Old West.

It was very exciting to watch the re-enactors do that scene from the book, because it was it was actually what I had in my head when I was writing that book.

So it was very gratifying.

Maybe someday we can do it in a two hour movie.

In writing and in visual arts especially.

Yeah, especially especially in the hardwoods.

And when I get something that, I'm requested to do that detailed and complex.

I have to work it out, first on paper, and then I'm working it out, maybe in clay, and then I'm working it out in wood.

And I see Sheldon he does his first draft, the creative draft, then the rewrites start, and then the rewrites and the rewrites and the rewrites, and then you end up with something pretty polished and pretty good.

And it just takes a lot of digging, a lot of pulling on yourself, to, to get it the best you can.

Nancy and I balanced each other out.

Well, I think because, our areas are so different.

Yeah.

I love the Alabaster Caverns.

It's great.

So we've been doing it for over 40 years now.

I'm verbal and intuitive.

And with the armadillo, Nancy's, visual and very practical.

It's darker amd cooler.

Isn't that wonderful?

And she, like I say, she can very.

You can see how anything goes together.

What should be done now I so I Sheldon.

Hi, Nancy.

I'm so glad that you came to the caves again.

You know, just finished your book about Requiem at dawn and love the part in there about the Alabaster Caverns.

You know, the historical research that went into that book just really made it live.

I just love it.

And, glad to see you back.

And we can start on down and you can familiarize yourself with the cave again.

This cave played a big part in my life when I was younger.

I did everybody well.

There's nothing as exciting as having to meet someone who has read your book and who talks to you about the characters in your book as if they were alive.

And you know that you've done that.

So it can be very satisfying.

But it's not easy.

Have you seen any bats yet?

Yep.

So one fly at the art part of my life is probably the second most important aspect of my life at this time.

You know, the first alabaster I carved came from this cave when it was still privately owned.

Was it like this?

Yes.

The only thing that looks like you could even hold a candle to it would be.

Am I to have a personal relationship with.

With Sheldon.

Sheldon's writing has been good for me because it's, He'll say that he, you know, he likes the research and he does that, but it does the same for me that it does for him.

I think.

Well, Nancy and I, always go together on these, these journeys when we're researching.

And she always finds something to do.

She has her camera, and she's always taking photographs for her sculpture.

And when we go to places like the Western Heritage Center, she enjoys, the artistic, the visual, artistic part of that while I'm doing my research.

A hello.

See you.

Sheldon Russell.

Yeah, I'd talk to you about some, research.

Right by the wash, I pulled some stuff from the archives, and we take a look at it over here.

So great.

We always.

We travel together well that way.

Because we have interest, you know, that.

Keep us going in the Washita.

And also some images of early Guthrie here.

Well, I like to go to galleries and look at what other people have done, because it makes me feel like I'm part of a brotherhood.

And I like that.

And I like to see that other people are doing really well.

That's why I think it's so important that, people recognize as soon as possible their, their talents and get going on them because it's wonderful to have a talent and work it.

A lot of people have talents, but they don't work.

But the rewards come when you work it.

And there are rewards.

Maybe not always money, but there's other things to.

The likelihood of of getting a book published is is pretty remote.

And, I've heard it likened to the the probability of becoming a pro football player.

I feel good, man.

Thank you very much.

Most of us who are published have spent 20 years at it.

Others are more lucky or better writers earlier, I suppose.

But it's been my experience that most of us have spent many, many years.

Getting our craft to where it's acceptable.

When I go to the bookstore and see my books up there on the shelf with, other writers, it's, it's a thrill.

It's, It's what it's all about.

It's what you work for from the beginning.

In the end, there's only one thing that gets you published, and it's not contacts the staff who, you know, it's the quality of your writing.

It's the quality of the product.

I am pretty much a happy person, I guess, because, I'm doing what I want to do.

I'm doing it where I want to do it.

I'm now able to do the stone, the wood, the clay.

And my work and sculpting.

It's a fantastic way to spend the hours of the day, because it challenges your mind.

And it it's hard work physically, which is good.

It's just very nice.

It's just a very nice, comfortable lifestyle.

At the end of the day, when work is over with, turn the lights off, lock up, go upstairs before I get to the top of the stairs.

I'm already thinking about what I'm going to do in the studio the next morning.

And, I guess that's what keeps me going.

At the end of the day, when we close this place up and come upstairs to our little Victorian apartment up here, I look forward to the next day, because all of my characters are in there waiting for me.

I know exactly where they've stopped.

I know I have some idea of what's going to happen to them the next day.

I wouldn't rather be doing a big art show.

I wouldn't rather be out on a lake playing around on a boat.

I would rather be right here in my studio, working.

There's really, like, no place else.

I'd rather be.