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States Edition
2014
Oklahoma
The Sooner State
Established 1907
46th State
During the 1889 Land Run, some settlers sneaked into Oklahoma before the starting signal was given. Because
they went too soon, Oklahomans were nicknamed “sooners.”
An operating oil well stands on the grounds of the state capital.
The word Oklahoma is Choctaw for “red people.”
Oklahoma has an official state meal consisting of fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecue pork, biscuits, sausage
and gravy, grits, corn, strawberries, chicken fried steak, pecan pie, and black-eyed peas.
Annual Native American celebrations include the Cherokee Nation’s Homecoming in Tahlequah and the Red
Earth Festival in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma’s flag shows an Osage battle shield with two symbols of peace: an olive branch and a peace pipe.
The World Championship Hog Calling Contest takes place in Weatherford each February.
In 1953, Oklahoma changed its official state song to the theme from the famous Oklahoma! Broadway musical.
Parking meters and shopping carts were first invented in Oklahoma.
The Okmulgee Pecan Festival is held every June. In 1989, organizers baked the world’s largest pecan pie,
measuring over 40 inches in diameter and weighing more than 35,000 pounds!
Climate
Two air masses meet in Oklahoma, occasionally producing some wild weather. Warm,
wet air moves up from the Gulf of Mexico, and cold, dry air descends from the north.
These air collisions cause fast changes in temperature, high winds, heavy
thunderstorms, and dangerous tornadoes. These tornadoes can rip apart buildings with
twisting winds that travel hundreds of miles per hour. However, most of the time
Oklahoma’s climate is pleasant, with an average annual temperature of 60°F (16°C).
Summers are long and hot, while winters are short and mild.
Average Seasonal High and Low Temperatures
Spring: 71/49°F
Summer: 92/70°F
Fall: 73/51°F
Winter: 53/32°F
Geography
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Many beautiful landscapes can be found in Oklahoma. Trees like oak, hickory, and pine
cover the rolling hills of the east. The southern section has mountain ranges, as well as
swampy lowlands along the Red and Arkansas rivers. Much of the state is made up of
high, flat, and treeless plains that are good for farming and ranching. Red canyons and
tall sand dunes also dot the western part of the state. Oklahoma is shaped like a big
frying pan, and the skinny part of western Oklahoma is called the Panhandle.
Oklahoma’s 69,903 square miles (181,048 sq km) make it the 20th largest state.
Resources and Economy
Since the early years of Oklahoma’s statehood, oil has been the most important
resource. Other products like natural gas and coal also come out of Oklahoma’s rich
ground. These resources help fuel people’s cars and heat their homes. Oklahoma has
also developed other industries so that sudden drops in oil prices don’t badly damage
the state’s economy. For example, Oklahomans manufacture cars and military
airplanes. Oklahoma City has become a center for banking and insurance. The state’s
forests produce timber, which is used to build furniture and homes. Agriculture has
always played a big role in the economy. Cattle ranchers first drove their herds through
Oklahoma more than a hundred years ago, and cattle still brings a lot of money to the
state. Crops are grown throughout Oklahoma. Wheat is grown mostly in the west,
peanuts in the southwest, and corn and peaches in the east.
Time Line
AD 800
AD 800
The Spiro people begin to develop their society along the Arkansas
River
1500
1541
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado crosses Oklahoma in his search for
cities of gold
1800
1803
The United States buys the Louisiana Territory, including Oklahoma,
from France
1820s and ’30s
Eastern Native Americans are moved to Indian Territory, many against
their will
1861
Factions within the Five Civilized Tribes make an alliance with the
Confederate states during the Civil War
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1866
The U.S. government takes land away from the Five Civilized Tribes to
make room for other tribes in Indian Territory
1867
Cattle drives begin to run through Oklahoma from Texas into Kansas
1889
Thousands of settlers pour into Oklahoma during the first of several
land runs
1890
The Indian Territory is divided into Oklahoma Territory and Indian
Territory
1897
Oklahoma’s first commercial oil well is drilled in Bartlesville
1900
1907
Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory join to become the state of
Oklahoma
1928
Oklahoma City’s oil field is discovered
1930s
Farmers head west after a devastating drought strikes the southern
plains
1970s
The demand for oil skyrockets
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1980s
As oil prices fall, hundreds of wells are closed down
1995
Oklahoma City’s Murrah Federal Building is bombed; 168 people die
1999
One of the worst recorded tornadoes in U.S. history strikes Oklahoma
with wind speeds reaching 318 mph (509 km/hr)
2000
2004
Oklahomans vote in favor of creating the Oklahoma Education Lottery
2009
A rare tornado rips through Oklahoma, killing nine people and
destroying dozens of homes and buildings
2011
Mary Fallin becomes the first female governor of Oklahoma
PRESENT
The Spiro People
Early Native Americans wandered across the Oklahoma plains, hunting animals such
as bison. Then in about AD 800, the Spiro people developed a sophisticated culture by
the Arkansas River. These people built large mounds that served as religious temples
and burial places for important people. They filled the mounds with precious stones,
baskets, and wooden masks. For five hundred years these mounds formed a political
and religious center for a vast region. The Spiro people’s culture eventually faded away,
probably due to attacks from other tribes.
Coronado and the Europeans
In 1541, the Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and his men were the
first Europeans to arrive in Oklahoma. Coronado had heard stories of seven great cities
filled with gold, and he came to the area hoping to become rich. However, the cities of
gold did not exist, so Coronado left disappointed and empty-handed. Other explorers
from Spain and France came later, followed by fur trappers who traded with the Native
Americans. Both Spain and France claimed to own a vast tract of land that included
Oklahoma, and they fought each other for control of it. In 1803, France sold the territory
to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase.
The Five Civilized Tribes
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In the eastern United States lived the Five Civilized Tribes, so named because many of
the people had adapted to American culture. They included the Choctaw, Muscogee (or
Creek), Chickasaw, Seminole, and Cherokee tribes. Because the U.S. government
wanted these tribes’ land in the East, it decided to move them away into a separate
territory. It was called Indian Territory, and it included most of present-day Oklahoma.
Many Native Americans did not want to leave their homes, but U.S. soldiers forced
them out. Thousands of Native Americans died on their way to Indian Territory, so they
called the journey the Trail of Tears.
The Land Run
The government told the Native Americans that Indian Territory would always belong to
them, but this changed after the Civil War. The Five Civilized Tribes were deeply
divided by the war and many fought for the Confederacy. Afterwards, the United States
forced these tribes to negotiate new treaties which took away much of their land.
Settlers urged the government to open up this land for settlement. On 22 April 1889, the
settlers were finally allowed in. Buglers from the fifth U.S. Cavalry signaled the
beginning of the famous Oklahoma Land Run. Tens of thousands of settlers raced
across the plains on horses and in wagons to get the best land. This area was called
Oklahoma Territory. Over the next few years, more land runs opened up the rest of
Indian Territory to white settlement. In 1907, Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory
were combined to form the new state of Oklahoma.
Fields of Black Gold
During the years of the land runs, people began finding Oklahoma’s most precious
resource—oil. Then in the early 1900s, giant underground oil deposits were discovered
near Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Huge quantities of oil poured out of Oklahoma’s new oil
wells. In 1928, one Oklahoma City well produced 6,500 barrels of oil each day! People
moved to rapidly built oil towns hoping to strike it rich from the “black gold.” Many
became wealthy, including some Native Americans such as the Osage. Since then, oil
has remained the backbone of Oklahoma’s economy.
Population
Oklahoma prides itself on the diversity of its people. The state has one of the largest populations of Native Americans
in the country, with about 295,000 people. Many of them are descendants from one of the nearly 70 tribes that lived in
Indian Territory. African Americans founded towns during the land runs. The first white settlers in Oklahoma included
large numbers of immigrants from Europe. Oklahoma today is a mostly urban (city) state, with two-thirds of its
population living in cities.
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Government
Capital: Oklahoma City
State Abbreviation: OK
Governor: Mary Fallin (Republican)
U.S. Senators: 2
Tom Coburn (Republican)
James Inhofe (Republican)
U.S. Representatives: 5
Republicans: 5
State Senators: 48
State Representatives: 101
Counties: 77
Oklahoma’s 48 state senators serve four-year terms, and its 101 state
representatives serve two-year terms.
Although the state constitution has been amended (changed) many times,
Oklahoma still uses the original constitution drafted in 1907.
Famous People
Kristin Chenoweth
Garth Brooks — Country music singer
Kristin Chenoweth — Singer and actress
Walter Cronkite — News anchor and journalist
Ralph Ellison — Author of The Invisible Man
Woody Guthrie — Folksinger
S. E. Hinton — Author of The Outsiders
Mickey Mantle — Baseball Hall of Famer
Reba McEntire — Country singer
Shannon Miller — Olympic champion gymnast
Leona Mitchell — Opera singer
N. Scott Momaday — Kiowa writer and Pulitzer Prize winner
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Mickey Mantle
Oklahoma
Chuck Norris — Martial artist and actor
Geronimo — Apache warrior
Brad Pitt — Actor
Will Rogers — Humorist and actor
Maria Tallchief — Ballerina
Jim Thorpe — Football and baseball player and Olympic gold medalist
Carrie Underwood — Country singer
Shannon Miller
Brad Pitt
Native America
After the Mound Builder society disappeared from what is now Oklahoma, several tribes
moved into the area, making their homes near the rivers. The Apache, Caddo, Quapaw,
and Wichita were some of the larger groups. The Caddo and Wichita lived in
dome-shaped huts covered with grass. They grew crops such as tobacco, pumpkins,
and squash, and in the winter they hunted buffalo. While on the hunt, they lived in
portable teepees. The Wichita practiced tattooing and were sometimes known as the
Raccoon People because many of them had tattooed circles around their eyes. The
Oklahoma tribes traded with each other and even with tribes as far away as New
Mexico.
The tribes also traded with the Spanish explorers and missionaries when they first
arrived, but European diseases soon began cutting down the native population. After
the United States gained control of Oklahoma, it declared it Indian Territory and began
moving dozens of eastern tribes to Oklahoma so that white settlers could take over the
land in the east. Starting in the 1880s, settlers poured into Indian Territory, overrunning
the native communities. The government divided the land into two territories, one for
the settlers and one for the natives, but in 1907 the “twin territories” were combined into
the state of Oklahoma.
Today, 8 percent of Oklahoma’s population is Native American, making them the
second-largest group in the state after whites. The majority live in the countryside of
eastern Oklahoma, on land they were moved onto during the 1830s. There are more
than 60 Native American cultures in Oklahoma, and 39 tribes that operate recognized
governments in the state. Some reservations rely on gambling, oil, mining, tobacco, and
other industries to make money. Oklahoma Native Americans have become part of
modern society. However, they remember their heritage by holding powwows and
teaching their traditional arts and languages to their youth.
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The Kiowa Five
In the late 1920s, five talented artists from the Kiowa tribe in western Oklahoma
enrolled in the University of Oklahoma School of Art. Spencer Asah, James Auchiah,
Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, and Monroe Tsatoke developed their skills there and
became famous painters known as the Kiowa Five. Their paintings were very popular,
and they showed them throughout America and Europe. The Kiowa Five’s works have
been an important influence on many Native American painters. Known today as
Traditional Indian Painting, their style featured simple and beautiful images of Native
American dances and daily life.
The Outsiders
S.E. Hinton was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. While in her junior year of high school, she became dissatisfied
with the social situation of many teens at her school. Most of them belonged to cliques, separating the popular from the
unpopular kids, and they were very reluctant to cross these social boundaries. Hinton began writing what would
become one of the most beloved books in all of young adult literature—The Outsiders. Her novel focused on two
groups of kids—the Greasers and the Socs. The Socs were the rich kids and the Greasers were the outsiders, living on
the wrong side of town. The main character, a young Greaser named Ponyboy, learns through the course of the novel
both how similar the two groups are in many ways and how difficult it can be to bridge the gap between them. After
publishing The Outsiders at the age of 16, S.E. Hinton went on to write several books for young adults, many of which
have been made into movies.
State Symbols
State Bird
Scissor-tailed flycatcher—This gray bird has a long forked tail that looks like a pair of
scissors.
State Tree
Redbud—This colorful tree inspired early settlers as they traveled to their new homes.
State Flower
Mistletoe—Oklahomans chose this popular Christmas decoration as their official flower
more than a century ago.
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State Animal
Bison—Although Oklahoma’s bison were hunted almost to extinction, there are still
hundreds in the state today.
Other Symbols
Amphibian: Bullfrog
Furbearing Animal: Raccoon
Game Animal: White-tailed deer
Beverage: Milk
Game Bird: Wild turkey
Butterfly: Black swallowtail
Colors: Green and white
Wild Flower: Indian blanket
Folk Dance: Square dance
Fossil: Saurophaganax maximus
Grass: Indian grass
Insect: Honeybee
Meal: Fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecue pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits,
corn, strawberries, chicken fried steak, pecan pie, and black-eyed peas
Musical Instrument: Fiddle
Percussive Musical Instrument: Drum
Reptile: Mountain boomer, or collared lizard
Rock: Rose rock
Song: “Oklahoma!”
State Motto
Labor Omnia Vincit—This phrase means “Labor Conquers All Things.”
Pro Sports Teams
• Oklahoma City Thunder (NBA)
• Tulsa Shock (WNBA)
For More Information
See www.ok.gov or contact Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department, Travel and Tourism Division, 120 North
Robinson Avenue, Sixth Floor, PO Box 52002, Oklahoma City, OK 73152; phone (800) 652-6552; web site
www.travelok.com.
© 2014 ProQuest LLC and Brigham Young University. It is against the law to
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