Red Dirt Country, as well as Red Dirt music, takes its name from the color of the soil found in North Central Oklahoma. The soil has a high clay content and stains clothing, shoes and even the tires on a truck. This land is the original land which was opened for the Oklahoma Land Run in 1889 and was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands and included all or part of the modern day Canadian, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne counties in the state of Oklahoma.

These images were taken in Logan County, Oklahoma on a recent bright December day.This dilapidated structure is a church called the Mount Carmel Church located near Mulhall, Oklahoma. The church belongs to the Carmelite Order, a Roman Catholic institution, and dates from the thirteenth century. The Carmelite Order takes its name from the monks and hermits who had long dwelled on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land.

Three Carmelite priests, originally from Valencia, Spain, but then staffing a mission at Torreon, Mexico, were forced to flee Mexico during the persecution of Catholics during the Carranza government. In the summer of 1914, Fathers Luis Benages, Bernard Brotons, and Cyril Corbato, arrived in Oklahoma. Bishop Theophile Meerschaert gave them permission to establish themselves in the state if they would undertake the care of the Mexican Catholics. This is one of the Carmelite churches built in Oklahoma. It stands alone in Red Dirt Country as a lasting reminder of the people who settled in Oklahoma to escape the persecution of Catholics in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. Thanks for visiting and please come back often!

Red Dirt Church No. 1 ©2009 Eric Hatheway  All Rights Reserved

Red Dirt Church No. 2 ©2009 Eric Hatheway  All Rights Reserved

Red Dirt Church No. 3 ©2009 Eric Hatheway  All Rights Reserved

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