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#    Entered Union      Year Settled

46^th            Nov. 16, 1907       1889

 

Nickname

Sooner State

 

Rank   Population

28^th            3,642,361

 

Rank   Square Miles

20^th            69,898

 

State Bird

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

 

State Flower

Oklahoma Rose

Indian Blanket (state wildflower)

Mistletoe (state floral emblem)

 

State Tree

Eastern Redbud

 

State Motto

Labor omnia vincit     Labor conquers all things

 

The name Oklahoma comes from two Choctaw Indian words, okla, which means "people," and humma, which means "red." In 1889, Congress opened up 2 million acres for white settlement (it was previously open only to Native Americans who were forced to leave their homelands), and the first of a number of land runs began.

 

Some of the state's settlers were called "Sooners" because they had already staked their land claims before the land was officially opened for settlement. Oklahoma was admitted as the 46th state in 1907. Oklahoma's capital is an easy one to remember--Oklahoma City.

 

Washita Battlefield National Historic Site

Have you ever heard of the Battle of Washita?

 

You can learn about this famous battle at the Washita Battlefield National Historic Site in Oklahoma. This site is important because it helps us remember the violent conflict between Indians of the Great Plains and the United States Army.

 

The Great Plains include the land from the Canadian border south to the New Mexico and Texas borders, and from the Missouri River west to the Rocky Mountains. The Indian tribes from this area -- the Plains Indians -- include the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Kiowa. The Army fought these tribes because they wanted to gain control over the Great Plains.

 

For many years before and after the Civil War, the U.S. government tried to move Indians to an Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). Some Plains Indians agreed to move to reservations but others, like the Cheyennes, Kiowas, and Comanches, did not. Instead, they continued to live and hunt on traditional lands outside the Indian Territory. After the Civil War, settlers wanted to move into this land, so they attacked.

 

At dawn on November 27, 1868, Lieutenant Colonel George Custer attacked a sleeping Cheyenne village in the Washita Valley, surprising the Cheyenne's leader, Chief Black Kettle. Many Plains Indians were captured or killed during this battle. Chief Magpie, a teenager at the time who lived in Black Kettle's village, shot a soldier and took his horse, then rode off to safety. He lived to fight Custer again at the famous Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876.

 

The American Indian Exposition in Anadarko, Oklahoma

 Every year in August hundreds of Native American people from all different tribes come to the city of Anadarko, Oklahoma. Named after a Plains Indian tribe, Anadarko is now the home of one of the largest gatherings of Plains Indians in Oklahoma. Because so many Plains Indian populations have lived in Anadarko, it is known as the "Indian Capital of the Nation."

 

This gathering of Native Americans is called the American Indian Exposition. An exposition is a public exhibition or show. The purpose of this exposition is to show off Native American arts and crafts and help preserve their cultural heritage.

 

The Native Americans who attend sometimes camp out in traditional teepees and they may wear traditional leather clothing, called buckskin. Lots of people who are not Native Americans come to observe Indian culture; they watch the parades or greyhound and horse racing, or they attend one of the many dances or contests that are held.

 

Several months before the exposition, each tribe selects a tribal princess who will represent them for a year. A tribal princess is smart and strong. She must also possess a fine personality, be self-confident, and have other qualities that make her a leader. During the exposition, the princesses have the honor of leading their tribes in the parades that begin and end the festivities.

 

The Dust Bowl of Oklahoma

Did you know there was once a desert in Oklahoma called the Dust Bowl?

 

During the great dust storms of the 1930s in Oklahoma, the weather threw up so much dirt that, at times, there was zero visibility and everything was covered in dirt. No matter how tightly Oklahomans sealed their homes, they could not keep the dirt from entering. Dust storms were the result of drought and land that had been overused. Drought first hit the country in 1930. By 1934, it had turned the Great Plains into a desert that came to be known as the Dust Bowl.

 

In Oklahoma, the Panhandle area was hit hardest by the drought.

 

The land of the southern plains, including Oklahoma, was originally covered with grasses that held the fine soil in place. Settlers brought their traditional farming techniques with them when they homesteaded the area and they plowed the land deeply. The topsoil was already damaged by the overgrazing of cattle and sheep.

 

The situation was so serious that, by 1935, the government developed conservation programs to improve the Dust Bowl by changing the basic farming methods of the region. Even with these measures, the Dust Bowl lasted about a decade and contributed to the length of the Great Depression of the 1930s.

 

The Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Oklahoma

Why would a museum be dedicated to a highway? Because Route 66 is no ordinary highway.

 

Route 66 was built in 1932 and it runs from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California, then known as the "Promised Land." That's 2,400 miles of road! It is different from most other highways because it takes a diagonal course instead of going in a straight line. It was designed this way so that small towns would have access to main roads, giving farmers the ability to transport grain and produce. This two-lane road passes through eight states and three time zones.

 

During the Great Depression, Route 66 was the road from Oklahoma and the Dust Bowl to California and a better life, so it became known as the "road to opportunity." Author John Steinbeck wrote about Route 66 in his classic The Grapes of Wrath, calling it the "Mother Road."

 

The Route 66 Museum was built in Clinton, Oklahoma, because Route 66 passes through 400 miles of Oklahoma. Dozens of artists have recorded the song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66." Have you ever heard it?