On March 15, 2023, the archaeological world dimmed with the passing of Don Henry. Tributes have poured forth since then, many focusing on Don’s incredible contributions to Jordanian archaeology. While these are all true, Don was also highly active on the Southern Plains of North America. It is hard to find any area in Oklahoma where Don’s boots and FJ were not felt. Most projects in Oklahoma include either a site Don recorded or a survey he conducted. During Don’s large-scale Cultural Resource Management (CRM) surveys in the late 1970s and early 1980s along Birch Creek, he was adamant about including a new form of archaeological analysis: geoarchaeology. Because of this insistence, we all have a better understanding of what the environment used to look like in Oklahoma. While Don recognized the importance of keeping up with modern technology, he knew better than to always rely on it in the field. He would instill in his students the skills necessary to have low-tech backup methods for when modern technology ultimately fails, which of course, is when you need it the most. And sometimes, the low-tech answer is the best solution, like using a standardized woven basket to calculate house volume size. 

However, recording sites is not what made Don a good archaeologist. It was his incredible desire to teach the next generations of archaeologists. As a professor at the University of Tulsa, Don recognized the extreme importance of students getting hands-on training. Learning from a written document will only get you so far. In all of Don’s graduate classes, he found ways to include hands-on activities, whether working with actual artifacts, making maps around campus, or taking field trips around Green Country. But even that is not Don’s most significant contribution. As an advisor, he always made time for his students. They never felt like they were an afterthought or that they had to compete in order to get his time. Anyone who has ever been in a graduate program before knows that school is hard enough without others trying to make it harder for each other. When a problem would arise, instead of saying, “Here’s a problem, now you have to deal with it,” it would always be, “Here’s a problem, and this is how we are going to deal with it.” Don’s unique ability to take the most panicked graduate student and calm them down within a matter of minutes was one of the rarest gifts we have ever encountered and experienced. Don will be truly missed. We are also saddened to know that his dream of training marmots to aid in archaeological surveys will not be realized by him. The next time you are in a pub, please raise a black and tan and take a moment to think of Don.