The Springdale Show 2011 - or, Indiana Smith and the Highway of Doom!

[Indianasmith]

I had really been looking forward to the Springdale show for a couple months. My wife and I had taken off work early Friday and our luggage was all packed up. I had taken the frames off my walls that would be making the trip and wrapped them in packing blankets . . . I just had to take my kids to school, teach half a day, come home, load up, go pick up my Love Muffin at work, and off to the Ozarks we would go!
So I was bitterly disappointed when I woke up Friday morning to find six inches of snow on the ground and more falling. I was sure that there was no way that she would want to go, or allow me to set foot out the door! But when I asked her "What do you think?" the answer I got was "Let's wait till mid-morning and see what the weather does." (Both our school districts, more intelligent than their faculty, apparently, had suspended all operations for the day.)
A couple hours later, the snow was letting up a little, and I asked what she wanted to do. Keep in mind, this is the woman who has always been my anchor, my emergency brake, and the beacon of sanity in my admittedly crazy life. "Let's give it a try," she said. I needed no further encouragement. In an hour, all my frames and boxes were in the car, our luggage in the back seat, our children kissed goodbye, and off we headed on our great adventure.
It is about 65 miles from my house to Hugo, OK. It took us nearly 3 hours, driving over fresh-fallen snow the whole way at a top speed of 30 mph. Then we hit the Indian Nations Turnpike, running straight north across Oklahoma. Well-maintained and freshly snowplowed, we averaged over 50 mph up this excellent stretch of road (the only fault being that the restrooms are 35 miles apart and there are NO exits - or houses, for that matter! I am always amazed by how much of Oklahoma is seemingly empty).
It was 5 pm when we exited the turnpike onto I-40. Then the nightmare began. For 90 miles, we saw virtually no pavement - only day old snow packed over 3 day old ice. There seemed to be a car in the ditch every four or five miles or so - and one big rig lying upside down, jacknifed, and covered with snow by the roadside as a grim reminder of just how stupid a stunt this was. Then it got dark. I drove 30 mph and prayed and wore dents in the steering wheel with my fingers. After three hours, we finally reached Arkansas. Here the roads wore only a small, fresh covering of snow that had fallen that afternoon and evening. It was still slow going but not as bad. Finally, at 9:30, we arrived at our hotel. A drive that Mapquest said would take 5 hours, 15 minutes (320 miles) had taken us 10 hours to complete. But we had arrived safe and sound!
The next morning there was three inches of snow on our car that had fallen overnight. But the sun was shining and the Convention Center was 100 yards from my parking place!





I set up my tables and prowled around a bit. I have no idea what belongs to who in these photos, they were just some frames that caught my eye . . .


These are NOT casts, by the way! This is one of the original Duck River Sword caches, along with some incredible flint effigies found in Kentucky around 100 years ago.


This fern fossil was found on a campsite and has been grooved to be worn as a pendant.

[Indianasmith]

There was an INCREDIBLE amount of Caddo and Mississipian pottery there. If I were rich like Raymond, I would have bought three or four bowls! As it is, I just got to stare at them.



After I took this picture of a frame full of Sallisaw points, my camera died - or at least, the autofocus did. There was a great reception at the Museum of American Indian History in Bentonville that night, with free dinner for all exhibitors, courtesy of Jim Bennett. I tried to snap a few pictures, but they were all kinda fuzzy, like these:






Still, you get an idea of how rare and cool some of these artifacts are. And I didn't even snap pictures of any of the flint!


I did make some purchases at the show - I photographed them after I got home. These are six Sahara Neolithics; I know they are not worth much, but they are pretty and I like them. And I got six for $10!!




I bought this paper thin black novaculite Scotty from the finder; it has a slight impact fracture at the tip but is still an absolute smoker!! (Sorry, guys, my friend LithicHunter has already spoken for this gem!)

[Indianasmith]

I got this yellow SP from the same guy; it's very neat and heavily ground. Philip jumped on it, too.

These three points came from the Lake Eufala area of Oklahoma. Nothing super, but kinda nice.













This one was waiting for me in my mailbox when I got home; I had bought it for the show, but it did not arrive in time.

[Indianasmith]

All in all, the show was a blast, I sold more than I spent, saw some neat people and made some new friends, and got to spend an entire weekend with my best friend of all. She really had a good time even though she is not nearly as into the hobby as I am. And best of all, the drive home was just great - no snow on the road anywhere except the hotel parking lot! We made it back in seven hours, with one long stop for lunch and many short pit stops and sightseeing breaks. I highly recommend this show, but not during the blizzard of the century!

[comanche]

Thank you Lewis For sharing some of this GREAT show with us.
Man I am so glad that you and your wife made it home SAFE and SOUND.


The Fern Fossil,,,Just Blew my Mind,,,How very Interesting///c

[John G. Scoggins]

I wish I could have made it up there.Was the guys initials B.D. that you bought the Novaculite pieces from?I think I recognize them.

[paleo_joe]

Wow, great pics, thanks for sharing your experiences!!

I heard it was a great show if you were buying. My buddy bought 4 or 5 smaller clovis points and I think has already gotten most of his money back after selling 2 of them.

I am kind of glad I didn't go because I don't have the money to be buying anything and I would have been sorely tempted.

[Indianasmith]

Originally Posted by John G. Scoggins

I wish I could have made it up there.Was the guys initials B.D. that you bought the Novaculite pieces from?I think I recognize them.

I believe that was him - he was from your neck of the woods, anyway. Scrawny, bearded fellow?

He had a LOT of nice pieces. If I'd had more disposable cash I could have cleaned up!