Hurricane-level winds and dry land created ripe conditions for wildfires to spread last Friday, unleashing destruction in communities like Stillwater, Mannford and others across Oklahoma. Gov. Kevin Stitt declared a state of emergency in 12 counties, and Oklahoma residents are now picking up the pieces.
Among one of the losses in the disaster was a historic landmark in the Kiowa community, located in the southwest part of the state: the historic Rainy Mountain Baptist Church.
The church’s name references “Rainy Mountain,” a rounded hill with a significant sense of place for many Kiowas. It is probably best known outside of the community for its mention in the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning author N. Scott Momaday.
Though the church began when Christianity was controversial in the community, it has survived and evolved for 131 years. Now, what remains mostly are ashes and memories.
The church’s congregation held a memorial service last Sunday to remember what they lost. One member, Adrian Ahtone, drove from Dallas, Texas to Mountain View to attend.
“When I first saw the pictures of the church [after the fire], I was driving, actually,” Ahtone recalled. “And [I] saw the pictures, and I had to pull over. I cried for about 20 to 30 minutes in the parking lot.”
Ahtone said there was no question whether he would make the trip to pay his respects. His great-grandparents attended services there, and his grandpa is buried in the church cemetery.
“When my grandpa had his funeral here, I had an idea who Jesus was,” Ahtone said. “But once he passed away, it was this church that I really got to know who Jesus is, and that's carried me through till now. It all started here at Rainy Mountain Kiowa Baptist Church.”
During the memorial service for the church building, members of the congregation gave testimonies, and the themes that resounded were of acceptance and restoration.
When it was time for the church’s pastor, Gerald Haunpo, to speak, he said all of what he wanted to express had already been shared by the congregation and pointed to a quote in scripture, reminding those in attendance of the cyclical nature of life.
“The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away,” he said. “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
What started the fire: harsh winds and high line wires
Haunpo said he got “the call” from his wife around 2:45 p.m. He immediately headed to the church, but it was too late.
“When I got here… flames were still going,” Haunpo said. “But everything was just pretty much rubble.”
Haunpo said all he could do was watch.
“We were standing here with Terry and Lewis, our other deacon, and my first thoughts were about the families that had grown up here,” Haunpo said. “You know, how are they going to take it? How is it going to affect them?”
Terry Hunter is one of the deacons at Rainy Mountain Kiowa Baptist Church. He explained that multiple fires broke out on March 14, ruining the structure.
The Mountain View Fire Department arrived in time to put out the first fire toward the back of the building. But after they left, Hunter said another one lit up.
“Maybe 35 to 40 minutes later is when they sparked, those high line wires back there, and they caused that fire to start on the church on the roof,” Hunter said in an interview. “And then those other ones broke off and fell on the ground. So we had two fires going.”
Hunter said that, due to the high wind gusts, flames had engulfed the entire church when volunteer fire departments arrived the second time.
“Never seen anything like that,” Hunter recalled. “It didn't take long. It was gone.”
A rich history
The oldest member of the congregation is Delores Harragarra, a 95-year-old citizen of the Kiowa Tribe. Harragarra points out this is not the first time something like this has happened.
The first fire at Rainy Mountain Baptist Church occurred in 1948. About 40 years later, she said, the dining hall next to the church was struck by lightning and set ablaze.
“I always knew that the other church burned, and it was built,” she recalled. “And this one burned, so it will be built. And then I just thought [of] the scripture from Job: ‘And in the end, he had more than he started out with.’”
According to Harragarra, the Rainy Mountain Kiowa Baptist Church’s first converts were baptized on January 22, 1893, in the Washita River near Anadarko. She said her father was the grandson of one of the first converts, Gotebo.
At that time, Christianity arrived in the community after the federal government took their territory and ways of life.
“The buffalo were gone, and their horses were gone,” Harragarra said. “And so they had no means to livelihood— the way they knew, they enjoyed, [and] the way they lived.”
Haunpo said there was a split in the community about whether to accept Christianity.
“There were those that did not want to accept the message of the gospel simply because it came from the white race,” Haunpo said. “And all their life, they had been enemies, so it was hard for a lot of them to accept that.”
But in the early stages and even now, the Rainy Mountain Baptist Church combines aspects of Kiowa culture with Christianity.
Harragarra said it wasn’t until the mid-20th century when the service was spoken in English.
“I would say that in the 1950s all the elders who needed to have an interpreter, they were all gone by that time because most people understood Kiowa,” Harragarra said.
It was a time of great change, and more changes are coming again.
The future of the Rainy Mountain Baptist Church
On a memorial outside the church’s ruins stands a monument showing the year the church was established, the first interpreter, charter members and missionaries. It remains, along with a dining hall, where the memorial was held last Sunday.
Haunpo said Kiowa Tribe officials will start cleaning up the debris, and repairs will begin in the coming days. He noted services will not stop and will be held in the dining hall until a new church is rebuilt.
“I don't think the legacy is over yet,” Hunter said. “That love for this church is still there, so I think that's one of the lasting impacts that has passed on and will continue.”
As Harragarra reflected on the fires, she said the structures are not what really matters. Her fondest memory of the church is when she was greeted by two Kiowa deacons in the former church.
“They were glad to see you, and when you left, they were glad you came,“ Harragarra said. “I thought about, ‘Well, that's that's not the building I'm speaking about, that's the people…the church is not a building, it's the people that make it.”
So far, the church has raised more than $9,000 in their GoFundMe to rebuild the church; their goal is $28,000.
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