Lone Peak Mountain

Lone Peak Mountain is in northwest Oklahoma’s “Glass Mountain State Park”. These red bluffs look like something right of a Zane Grey novel. This is indeed the Old West.

“Glass Mountain State Park” is an interesting name. Locals pronounce it “Gloss” but it’s usually spelled “Glass”. There are some colorful stories about the name. One tale is that, when the area was first settled, a traveler from England called the area the “Glass Mountains” because of the sparkling selenite crystals in the mountains. But his British pronunciation of “glass” confused residents who began calling them the “Gloss” mountains and the pronunciation stuck.

The park is right off of US Highway 412 west of Enid, OK. US 412 crosses the northern part of the state. The entire highway is a worthwhile drive with several significant areas along the route. Loan Peak Mountain and Cathedral Mountain are two of the major peaks but a local resident told me about “Dead Indian Mountain”. I don’t know if it’s the official name and I couldn’t find it until I drove into the setting sun. Sure enough, there on the south side of the highway, was the shape of a body laid out on the top of a bluff silhouetted against the sunset.

This photograph was made with a Pentax 6×7 on Fujichrome Velvia color slide film while on assignment for Oklahoma Today Magazine.