Sharing postal history with a nonphilatelic audience

Philatelic Foreword by Jay Bigalke

To have an article pivot from a specialized philatelic journal to a local news publication can be a tough change, but recently an article by James Weigant of Oklahoma successfully made that transition.

Shown nearby is the earliest-known cover that Weigant has for Gray Horse, Okla., an Osage ceremonial town in Osage County. Its post office was opened in 1890 and closed in 1931.

Weigant is a member of the Osage Nation, working for his tribe there and telling his people’s story through Osage postal history.

Osage County is one of his major collecting areas and he has built a five-frame exhibit on the topic, that includes every known postmark of the Osage Reservation.

The postal history journal La Posta, in its special 300th commemorative issue, gave top billing to a recent Weigant article about Osage County. Weigant then shared the article with his tribe’s newspaper, the Osage News.

The article clearly grabbed the attention of the newspaper’s editor as the publication picked up the entire 8-page article with little changes, reprinting it in full.

To see the online newspaper version of Weigant’s article, visit the website of the Osage News. The article will also likely appear in a print edition of the paper arriving in Osage County households in the coming months.

It is very cool that this article is so relatable to a noncollecting audience. According to Weigant, more than 900 people have already viewed the article online as of mid-February.

If you notice something in the online article’s URL link, well that’s another interesting part of this story. A major Hollywood film has a connection to Weigant’s collecting of Osage County. Referenced in the link, the 2023 movie Killers of the Flower Moon tells the story of wealthy Osage Indians in 1920s Oklahoma who were systematically murdered for their oil rights, prompting an investigation by the then newly formed FBI, which uncovered a sinister conspiracy.

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