Chisholm Trail Mural - FAME Academy, Sunray, Oklahoma
N 34° 24.648 W 097° 57.920
14S E 595089 N 3808191
This large mural is an excellent example of what awaits those who get even a little bit away from the beaten track. It is located between Duncan and Comanche, Oklahoma.
Waymark Code: WMEQTV
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 06/28/2012
Views: 9
US 81, running north-south through western Oklahoma essentially follow the old Chisholm Trail, or, as it is more properly known: Jesse Chisholm's Trail. In many places, such as between Duncan and Comanche, a traveller can get an even better feel for the Trail by following Old Highway 81. In many places, the vistas, we suspect, are little changed from those seen by the cowboys using the trail.
Sunray and Meridian are neighboring unincorporated towns on that stretch of old highway. They are now part of the Comanche Independent School District. FAME Academy is in what used to be the home of the Meridian Elementary Rockets. The building is now home to the Comanche District's alternative education program for grades 6-12. The programs relies very heavily on its arts program to help reintegrate students. During the 2011-12 school year, that program focused on pottery and mosaics.
In a previous year, it obviously focused on mural painting. The Chisholm Trail mural is one of two large murals on the school grounds. It looks great, but a close examination shows that much of it is painted in a very two-dimensional manner which is common among young artists. There is also a juvenile quality to certain aspects, such as the horses. Nonetheless, it is well worth a drive and stop along the old highway. The mural faces the highway, so one does not have to go on school property to enjoy it.
The mural takes up the entire length of one of the school buildings. Team Blakelylaw estimates it is about 28-feet long and 12-15-feet tall. One of its most astounding aspects is the door within the mural. Look closely at the enlarged photos towards the right of the building. In the area of the Native American village, you can see the paintings completely covers and almost perfectly camouflaged a door!
Another interesting aspect of the mural is the strange-looking grey obelisk at the very top of the mural, just to the right of the left window. Most who have seen our photos, ask about that strange object, even some from Oklahoma. That is the official Chisholm Trail Monument located on Monument Hill in the middle of nowhere, near Addington, Oklahoma.
The rest of the mural depicts a typical scene along the trail in its heyday. There are cowboys watching over the cows they're herding. In the middle there is a large area depicting cowboys near the chuckwagon after a long day's work. The mural also depicts a typical Plains tribe village which the drovers might have encountered, typically Comanche. There is also an area depicting cowboys engaged in one of their other main activities - breaking the horses they rode.
It is also interesting to note that, looking at the mural, you are facing almost due West. The sunset depicted in the mural is much like the one you would see if the building were not in the way.
For any who are still reading, here are the obligatory, but hopefully, interesting, historical notes:
1. Jesse Chisholm never actually drove cattle along the trail named after him. He was a shopkeeper near present-day Duncan. The trail was called Jesse Chisholm's Trail during his lifetime because it essentially followed the trails which had been blazed by the wagons supplying his store.
2. Even though Texas wants to claim part of the Trail as its own, it is not entitled to do so. Every drover knew that, regardless of what trail you followed through Texas (and there were dozens of them), you did not actually start up Chisholm's Trail until you crossed the Red River south of Duncan. Kansas has a much greater claim on part of the Trail because it did extend to the railways near Wichita.
City: Sunray, Oklahoma
Location Name: FAME Academy, Old Highway 81
Artist: Students
Date: Unknown
Media: Paint on cinder blocks
Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and description of your visit. One original photo of the mural must also be submitted. GPSr photo NOT required.