Okemah's small town cemetery on the east edge of town holds two graves worth seeking out. The first is Nora Belle Guthrie, Woody's mother, who died of Huntington's disease in 1930 — the same disease that would eventually kill Woody. Her stone is simple and easy to miss; ask at the funeral home next door for directions.
The cemetery also has a memorial to Chitto Harjo (Crazy Snake), the Muscogee Creek leader who led the 1909 Smoked Meat Rebellion against the breakup of tribal lands. He died in the hills west of here. The cemetery itself is unfenced, open, and shaded by old oaks — a quiet place to think about the layers of history that small Oklahoma towns carry.