#2: [03-Apr-11]

#1: [19-May-01]

05-Nov-2021 -- According to Google Maps, visiting this confluence adds 12 minutes to one's route from Wichita, Kansas to the southwesternmost county of Missouri (McDonald County). So, on our way to my cousin's wedding weekend, our family of four took an early right turn south off of US Route 400 along a few well-maintained sections of alternating dirt and pavement, parking at the corner of SW 90th and Treece Roads by 10:15am. The Oklahoma land to the south, just a few feet away, is marked very clearly with new No Trespassing signs (Miami Tribal Land) but the land to the north (in Kansas) is not. The most recent Google satellite views show that this parcel was being used for cattle grazing, but thankfully it was being used for growing hay in 2021. The freshly rolled bales dotted the field under a nearly cloudless sky, temperature in the low 50s when we parked.

While my wife fed our infant daughter in the car, little Finn and I set off through the unmarked gate and diagonally southwestward across the mown field. We reached the point, took the pictures, and were back to the car in 20 minutes, seeing no wildlife. This was the first visit to this confluence in over a decade.

Afterwards we continued on our way eastward through the deserted towns of Cardin and Picher, both in Oklahoma, all of their residents moved out and their buildings torn down in the aftermath of the land's over-mining (lead poisoning, toxic water, sinkholes). What was once a bustling community supporting the production of nearly all American ammunition used in WWI and WWII is now essentially gone, torn down and fenced off. We watched a few documentaries in preparation for passing through Picher - a fascinating and incredibly sad story.