Reviews & Comments
Marshall, AR
Picher Oklahoma as "one of the best" -
4/25/2009as a child and teen, i was raised in Picher. it was, at that time(70s & 80s), on the "oklahoma ghost town registry" due to the closing of the last producing mine, in the early 70s. once the world's largest lead and zinc producing area, the Picher mine derricks have all been destroyed and most of the old timers (miners) have left only a family name for the descendants to carry through life. once the mines closed, the town and economy drastically declined. the job market is minimal, at best and the majority of the towns folk that are still there are on some degree of government aid. the government--indian reclamation authority-- are buying out home owners and have been in the process of reclaiming the land the houses set on for several years now. they very vocally discourage new citizens, in order to expidite the return of the land Picher sets on to the rightful owners---the native americans that the mine companies leased the land from nearly 100yrs ago. Now, as for the residual effects of living in an abandonded mining town. as kids we would play on the towering piles of gravel, known in mining as "slag" which is everything taked out of the ground Except the lead and zinc. when we were kids, parents, teachers, and government officials never disclosed the extreme health hazards that those living there would face throughout their life. myself, mother, two sisters and sister in law all had to have total hysterectomies. miscarriage is common. We couldn't drink the water. suffered from frequent kidney infection as children and we now, as adults, suffer from weak immune systems and a gammit of other ailments. the water in the ditches is a stagnant rusty red color because of residual minerals left in the soil--- the same soil and gravel we use to play in. not knowing we were breathing lead dust daily. i hate to sound sinister, but i feel the need to speak on an accurate and personal knowledge level. in, i believe, 1984 Picher was put on the EPA SuperFund cleanup list and has been there since. Billions of dollars have been spent in an attemp to reduce the extremely high lead level in the water and soil encompassing the entire town. It has yet to be "cleaned up", but now, as opposed to our childhood school days, what students remain there now have blood samples and lead levels tested on a very regular basis. millions have been awarded to some families of young children, allowing them the ability to pay mounting medical costs and in some cases of children having extremely high lead levels are given hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for the family agreeing to relocate outside of the Picher area. If you were to live in Picher, you will HAVE to commute anywhere from 15 to 40 miles to find gainful employment in bigger nearby towns. The most important thing to remember and consider if you are thinking about relocating to Picher is that every square inch of the town is owned(legally) by Native Americans and is currently being reclaimed by the government to return to those legal owners. You could build a home, but would never own the land it sits on. Since the devistating tornado in the recent past destroying approx. 80% of the existing town, there has been an emegency shelter in place for those who lost their homes. At present, it is comprised of mostly small, square tarpaper dwellings that have stood the test of time since it's hayday early in the century. Picher has disappeared, seemingly overnight, which was exactly the same way the small town was establish when zinc was discovered in that first drilled "wildcat hole" I am privilaged to claim that "I was raised in a ghost town", saddened that it has since been so dramatically destroyed and thankful that the EPA have basically decided that "clean up" is futile and are willing to help the extremely economically depress residents find suitable, safe and healthy housing and awarding funds to enable them to start anew somewhere else. We all pray that the health problems will be few for them and that they will be blessed with a more functional, productive and stable life. I've not been back through Picher since the tornado as I'm sure it will hurt my heart. But the only thing that my heart hurts worse for are the native americans who will surely get their land back, but how much poison is still in the soil and water. What good will it be to raise crop, livestock-----or even children. I'm very sorry this sounds so negative, butit's the truth that finally matters now. the people of Picher have been deceived, concerning health and safety risks for many, many years and I would feel horrible if i thought i had help someone make a decision to relocate to Picher to raise a family thinking it was a good, healthy and productive town. It hasn't been since the mining bust, but it was sure fun, as kids to hide out the deserted mine derricks and swim in the old shafts that had filled with water......if we'd have only known then what we would endure later in our life. we use to joke that "it's something in the water" and have to look back, realizing how true our joke was.... my heart and prayers go out to my long time Picher friends. focus on the good times we shared in Picher, try to understand the toll the mines took on our town, how it boomed in it's hayday then suffered dispair throughout the next several decades until it ultimately spiralled into the depths of sorrow it faces today. The few die hard locals that are holding out on the sale of their homes are true "Chat Rats". Keep your heads high, be proud of where you came from, dream of where else life may take you and always know that whether Picher stands or falls flat, we'll all be proud to say----"I grew up in a Ghost Town that now is gone." Let me tell you how great it was...our town slogan is "the town that jack built". Jack is what they called lead and "galena" was zinc. Jack may have built the town but jack also played a major part of it's demise...... Go Gorillas!!! God bless Picher