In 1871, the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad crossed the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railway and the Indian Territory was never the same. First called The Junction, then Downingville, and finally Vinita, the city of culture and commerce soon became the Queen of the Prairie. Compiled from the first year of articles published in The Grand Laker, "Pushin' Up Daisies - When Vinita Was Young," tells the stories of the people, places, and events in and around early day Vinita, Oklahoma. A melting pot of immigrants, Indians and entrepreneurs, Vinita witnessed outlaws, socialites, soiled doves and gruesome...

From the arrival of the railroads in 1871, through statehood in 1907 and onward through two World Wars, Vinita continued to be a hub of transportation and modernization. Few towns can boast of the number of "firsts" that Vinita has, or its importance in the creation of Route 66, air travel and the Pensacola Dam. Cowboys and Indians still walk the streets alongside doctors, lawyers and artists. Their common ground is a love for small town life and the belief that anything is possible when you work together. It's just one reason why she will always be, Vinita: Queen of the Prairie. The book...