EDMOND — British author Elspeth Huxley chose to title her memoir of growing up in what was then the British Colony of Kenya “The Flame Trees of Thika” in recognition of the bright red leaves that covered the trees that filled the Rift Valley where her family’s farm was located. And a fall journey to the rural Oklahoma community of Talihina that is situated between the Kiamichi and Winding Stair Mountains reveals a vista of leaves of a similar color that reach to the horizon where they intersect with a sky the color of robin’s eggs. And people coming to see this natural beauty are making their way to this community that describes itself as the gateway to the Talimena Scenic Highway.

Talihina takes its name from a combination of the Choctaw words for “iron” and “road” that were used by Native Americans to describe the railroad that came from Fort Smith, Ark., through what was then Oklahoma Territory in the late 19th century. It also was the name of Sam Houston’s Indian wife, who is buried in Fort Gibson National Cemetery in Muskogee County.

The community’s two biggest employers are the Choctaw Indian Hospital and the veterans center that is operated by the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs.

Talihina is a community of about 1,274 souls, and its main thoroughfare, Dallas Street, is now undergoing renovation under the auspices of the Main Street Program that is operated by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. Rhonda Sears, the proprietor of a combination lunch counter and gift shop on Dallas Street known as “Treats and Treasures,” explains how several structures are currently being revitalized so new businesses can be opened. Sears, who is chairwoman of the Talihina Main Street Association, has purchased a building that adjoins her business that eventually will be occupied by a women’s clothing store. When the aluminum façade that had graced that building for decades was stripped away, a row of transom windows were uncovered that no one had known existed. And the removal of a layer of stucco revealed the original brick storefront.

But Sears reports that those bricks had what appeared to be bullet holes in them, and they had to be covered as a result. How those holes got there was originally a mystery, but it is now believed that they drilled there to support the stucco. The ceiling of that building has an elaborate pressed iron design. A picture of that iron work was examined by Ron Frantz, architect for the Main Street Program in Oklahoma City, and he was able to trace its origins to a foundry that existed in Missouri in the early decades of the past century.

Frantz, who will be able to assist Sears in the event that she needs to find replacement parts for damaged areas of that ceiling, reports that those who renovate buildings in downtown areas in Oklahoma often make discoveries that include long-forgotten windows and holes of unknown origin.

Sears speaks with enthusiasm about the events that are currently planned for Talihina through the Main Street program and other civic organizations. They include a Fall Foliage Festival and a car show sponsored by the local Chamber of Commerce, and what is described as a “Pony Express Ride” in which people on horses will compete to see who can reach destinations in the community in the shortest time.

She envisions Talihina as becoming a tourist destination for people from neighboring Arkansas and Texas who wish to partake of the area’s natural beauty and the recreational activities that it offers. The hang gliders that can be seen descending from the surrounding mountains are indicative of the increasing popularity of the area for tourists. There are now several cabins and a bed and breakfast in operation to provide lodgings for those visitors.



WILLIAM F. O’BRIEN is an Oklahoma City.