In May of 1911, a posse was formed to investigate a stolen cow near Okemah, OK. The posse went to the Nelson family farm, and in the ensuing confusion a deputy was shot in the stomach and bled to death.

The father pleaded guilty to larceny and was sent to the state prison in McAlester. However, the mother, Laura Nelson, and her son, L.D. Nelson, were sent to the Okemah County Jail.

The two were kept there until late in the evening on May 24, 1911, when a lynch mob kidnapped them and hung them over the North Canadian River (from a different bridge, but probably at this same location). Several photographs were taken to be made into postcards- a common tactic of the day. These were the only photographs made of a female lynching victim in that era.

Woody Guthrie wrote many songs that reflect on this incident near his home town: "Don't Kill My Baby and My Son," "Slipknot," and "High Balladree."

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In 1972, this water tower was erected and the words "Home of Woody Guthrie" were painted on the side.

The move was vehemently opposed by the Okemah City Council and the local Chamber of Commerce for fear that America's most famous folk singer was purportedly a communist.

The other water towers read "Hot" and "Cold".

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Just down the street, on the Woody Guthrie family lot, is a tall cedar tree that has been carved into a Guthrie memorial.

On the east side, the carving reads W.G. and Okemah, and the other side says "This Land is Your Land." There is a path and a handrail up to the carving.

The carving was done by the neighbor across the street who has other carvings in his yard.

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On the SW corner of this intersection is the Crystal Theater, a vaudeville theater that was built in 1921 (when Guthrie was nine years old).

Woody would later recall how he used to sneak in to watch cowboy movies and other silent films. Today, the Crystal Theater is one of the venues that hosts the annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival.

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North of Okemah a few blocks on Woody Guthrie Blvd (which turns into N3770 Rd) is Highland Cemetery. The cemetery contains the graves for Woody Guthrie's family: his sister, Clara Edna (who was burned to death in 1918), and Woody's parents, Nora Belle and Charley Edward Guthrie.

Woody Guthrie also has a grave marker at Highland (even though he was cremated and his ashes spread at Coney Island). Guthrie's marker is engraved with the words "Bound For Glory," and a self-portrait cartoon drawn by him.

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