Oklahoma is in the western area of the south central United States. We are south of Kansas and North of Texas. The name Oklahoma comes from combining the Choctow words for "red" & "man". Oklahoma is called the Sooner State. It is called the Sooner State because at the time when the land was fixing to be opened for homesteading some people jumped the gun the night before the land was officially opened. Our state capital is Oklahoma City. It is the home of The National Weather Service in Norman Oklahoma ( at the University of Oklahoma). This is where the Doppler Radar was first invented and put into use. We are located in what is called tornado alley. Oklahoma is frequently subject to droughts and tornados.Our primary rivers are the Arkansas and the Red rivers. The southern and eastern parts of the state have a humid climate with hot long summers and moderate short winters. The western area of the state is dryer with harsher winters. The eastern area is a area of mainly forests and the central area is woodlands and savannas. The western part of the state is grasslands. Our State tree is the redbud, state flower is the mistletoe and state bird is the Scissortail Flycatcher. Our wild animal population consists of mainly Pronghorn Antelope, Whitetail & Muke Deer, Elk, Red & Grey Fox, Bobcats, Beavers, and Coyotes. There is a lot of agriculture, livestock raising and mining in Oklahoma. The number 1 crop of farmers here is wheat followed by cotton. The farmers raise cattle for both milk and meat. The major mining areas here are coal, petroleum and natural gas. We have a lot of oil mining here too. The ground is rich in oil resources. Others include stone, sand, gravel,gypsum, clay and cement. We produce the raw materials and do very little of the manufacturing of these materials into finished products. Oklahoma has 52 state parks and recreation areas.
Some famous Oklahomans have included people such as Mickey Mantle, Arlo Guthrie, Garth Brooks, Barry Sanders (of the Detroit Lions Football team who just made 2000 yards rushing), Reba McIntyre, Vince Gill, Admiral William Crowe, Troy Aikman, Will Rogers, Wylie Post, Jim Thorpe, John Denver and a lot of others.
In 1838 the US Army rounded up about 16,000 Indians in Georgia and forced them to travel through Tennessee and Kentucky, across the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and into the "Indian Territory" west of the Mississippi. This area has now become known as Oklahoma. This is known as the "Trail of Tears" because many of the Indians died while on the trip of disease, hunger and exposure. The tribes rounded up have now become known as "The Five Civilized Tribes". They are the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole and the Cherokee. Already present in this Indian Territory were the Wichita, Caddo, Quapaw, Kiowa, Apahce and Osage tribes.
In 1889 the United States government opened the Indian Territory to White Settlement. In 1890 the Oklahoma panhandle region was known as "No Man's Land". It was a haven for fugitives and gunmen because there was no law in this area. It was in 1890 that the Oklahoma Territory was created and in 1892 the land known as "No Man's Land" was opened for homesteading.
In 1894 Geronimo was moved by the United States government from San Carlos, Arizona to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He started up a farm there where he remained until his death in 1909.
In 1907 Oklahoma became the 46th State.
In the 1930's Oklahoma was in the middle of what became known as "The Dust Bowl". Many farmers lost their farms during this time. They took to the road with their families looking for work. The plight and politics of this era are told in "TheGrapes Of Wrath" by John Steinbeck. The term "Okie" came from this era. It was used as a derogatory term to refer to the farmers who lost everything in the dust bowl.
Oklahoma's first Black Settlement is Boley Oklahoma. The first black to settle there was a man by the name of Johnson. This man's grandson has told me a story of how the town foiled a robbery attempt by Pretty Boy Floyd and his gang. The people of the town managed to fight the gang off and chased them away. The story of this robbery can be found in a book called "High Noon at the Boley Corral". Hollywood has depicted this as being at the "OK Corral" but it was actually at the "Boley Corral".
The most recent thing that has happened in Oklahoma history everyone probably remembers. That would be the bombing of the Alfred P Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City. Timothy McVeigh has been found guilty and sentenced to death for this. His assistamt in the bombing was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy to build a weapon of mass destruction. Hopefully he will have to pay with his life too. The state is building a memorial on the site of the bombing. Come see it someday soon. It is going to be a really nice place to visit.
Another place that would be a nice visit in Oklahoma would be the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. They have a lot of nice exhibits there and a lot of history of Oklahoma.
KWTV 9 Oklahoma City's CBS Affiliate
KOCO - TV 5 Oklahoma City's ABC Affiliate
KFOR TV 4 Oklahoma City's NBC Affiliate.
The News Press - Stillwater Oklahoma's Newsapapr
The Daily Oklahoman Oklahoma City
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