AUTHOR’S NOTE

Most of the locations in Bride Gone Bad are real places. I enjoyed visiting and researching these wonderful historic sites.

Once known as one of the three toughest towns in the West, Delaware Bend, Texas, is now at the bottom of Lake Texoma. The Bend was named for a Delaware Nation village on a bend of the Red River. Today, you can visit Dexter, a nearby town.

Skullyville (Oak Lodge), Oklahoma, was the former capital of the Choctaw Nation, the capital of the Mushulatubbee District of the Choctaw Nation, and a stop on the California Road. The Butterfield Overland Mail route also maintained a stage station there. Today, you can see the community that still exists.

In 1834, Fort Coffee, Oklahoma, was built near the Arkansas River by the United States government, but it was abandoned after four years. In 1843, the Fort Coffee Choctaw Boys Academy was established in the old buildings. After 1865, most of the buildings burned and the area was primarily used as Choctaw farms. Today, you can visit one of the oldest towns in Oklahoma.

For a fascinating step back in time, visit the Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center and Ceremonial Grounds near Spiro, Oklahoma. In the 1930s, the Temple Mound of the Arkansas River bottoms was known worldwide as the King Tut of the West due to the discovery of millions of artifacts. Guided tours are held on the Solstices and Equinoxes. Memberships are also available to support the center.

I hope you’ll fall in love with the Red River Borderland of Texas, the majestic splendor of Southeast Oklahoma, and the Indian Nations like I have while writing Bride Gone Bad.