Legends of Our Time Lee Gregory’s Spiro Mound and Hugh Morris Site Frame	by Jeremiah R. H. Johnson
Central States Archaeological Societies 2023 April Journal	Talihina, Oklahoma

Figure 1. Lee Gregory’s Spiro Mounds and Hugh Morris site frame

Artifact shows are a great place to go and observe wonderful artifacts. Especially if you attend shows near where you live and like to see artifacts from your area. They are also a great place to meet local hunters and collectors. I wanted to share one of these experiences where I had the pleasure to meet Mr. Lee Gregory.

On October 1st 2022 I had attended and set up at the Central Plains Stone Age Fair in Fairview, Oklahoma. This is a great show put on by Dwayne and Lyle Nickel and previously by the late Lonnie Hartline. While walking around and visiting with people and looking at their great collections, I met Mr. Lee Gregory of Arapaho, Oklahoma. Lee is 80 years old and has built a wonderful collection throughout his life. Within his many great artifacts, some immediately caught my eye. I saw many familiar types and materals from my area of southeastern Oklahoma. One frame was filled with many great arrow types (birdpoints) and some of them stood out. I asked Lee where one particular point had come from, and he said “Spiro Mounds.” Then I started to notice other similar styles in his frame that he also informed me had come from Spiro. I asked Lee where he had got them (as many Spiro artifacts have been through multiple collections throughout the years) and he told me he and his dad had found them when he was a kid. He went on to tell me that they would walk the plowed fields at the site and pick them up. This was amazing to me, and I wanted to hear the full story.

Lee told me his interest in collecting artifacts started when he was six. His family lived in Muskogee, Oklahoma at the time. His older brother and his friend had killed a rabbit and they had given a foot from the rabbit to the young Lee. Lee got very sick from the rabbit’s foot and ended up having to go to the doctor. In the doctor’s office were frames of arrowheads and Lee was fascinated with them so much so that the doctor gifted Lee three arrowheads. Lee told me that during his sickness and doctor visits his parents had said he could have two wishes. Lee’s first wish was for an apple tree. The second was that he wanted to go arrowhead hunting. Lee, his father, mother and older brother soon started walking the local plowed fields.

One of their favorite places to look was what would later be known as...

Read the complete "Legends of Our Time Lee Gregory’s Spiro Mound and Hugh Morris Site Frame" column in the Central States Archaeological Societies 2023 April Journal which can be purchased on-line after March 2024