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The word Oklahoma comes from the Choctaw Indians of the area. The word is the combination of two words "Okla" meaning "people" and "homma" meaning "red".
Nicknames: Sooner, (so called because those who entered into the land rush of 1889 found the best lands taken by those who had evaded the guards and entered sooner! State Data: Total area 70,057 sq. miles,; water, 643 sq. miles. Motto: "Labor Omnia Vincit (Labor Conquers All Things). State Flower: Mistletoe Main Rivers: Arkansas, Verdigris, Grand or Neosho, Salt Fork, Cimarron Canadian, Red, Muddy Boggy, North Fork, Washita, and Kiamichi. Mountain Ranges: The Ouachitas, Arbuckles, Wichitas, and the Kiamichis. Topography: Canyons, buttes, and mesas, four salt plains in the northwest. National forest lands about 61,000 acres. Oklahoma has more man-made lakes than any other state, with over one million surface acres of water and nearly 2,000 more miles of shoreline than the Atlantic and Gulf coasts combined. The Highest point is Black mesa 4,973 in Cimarron County; the lowest near Idabel in McCurtain County (287 feet). Agriculture: Cotton, wheat, corn, oats, grain sorghums, barley, rye, hay, potatoes (white, sweet), broom corn, and various fruits and vegetables. Livestock is very important, and also poultry (especially turkeys) and dairy farming. U.S. Agricultural Experiment Station at Stillwater. U.S. Land-Grant Colleges; Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College at Stillwater. Manufacturing includes: Refined petroleum, flour and grain products, electronics, software, cottonseed products (oil, meal, and cake), smelted and refined zinc, printing and publishing, bakery products, foundry and machine shop products, dairy products, and some lumber products (yellow pine, oak, red gum, elm, and cottonwood). Geology: Minerals: Petroleum, zinc, natural gas gasoline, natural gas, lead, coal, gypsum, chats, asphalt, diatomaceous earth, and tripoli. Leading Cities: Oklahoma City (capital), Tulsa, Muskogee, Okmulgee, Bartlesville, Emid, Ardmore, Shawnee, Poca City, Ada, Seminole, Wewoka, Lawton, McAlester, Coalgate, Leigh, Chickasha, and Sapulpa.
Climate- Cooler and drier in the west and in the east. Mean annual temperatures; northwest 57 degrees, 62 degrees in the southeast, with extremes of 108 degrees above and 17 degrees below zero. Annual rainfall about 32 inches. Southeastern Oklahoma is tornado alley usually occurring in mid to late summer.
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Events- Search Oklahoma. Click Here!
Food- Traditional American food in most communities. Chinese food is also prevalent.
Foreign Visitors- Foreigners entering the United States must carry two documents: A valid Passport, expiring not less than 6 months prior to the scheduled end of their visit to the U.S.; and a tourist visa obtainable at any American consulate at no charge. Anyone applying for an immigrant's visa must obtain a screening test for the AIDS-HIV virus. This test does not apply to tourists. Any visitor with a medical condition that requires treatment with narcotics or with paraphernalia must carry a valid, signed prescription from their doctor. Travel insurance is optional in the US but required by most car rental companies. See our link on money conversion for foreign guests.
History- 1551 Spanish explorer Coronado traveled through the area. Osage Indians settled in the northeastern Oklahoma area around 1796. These Indians were pushed to several locations finally settling by government order on a reservation that became Osage County. Oil was struck on this land and the Osage people became the wealthiest people per capita in the United States. Oklahoma was part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. Beginning in the 1820's the Five Civilized Tribes from the southeastern United States were forced to relocate into Indian Territory (Oklahoma) over several routes, one being the Cherokee winter route across the Missouri and Arkansas wilderness called the "Trail of Tears." Following the Civil War (1865) Oklahoma became part of the booming cattle industry. This was the time of the cowboy and cattle drives. Western expansion in the late 1800's sparked a controversy over the fate of the Indian Territory. Treaties enacted after the Civil War forced tribes to relinquish their communal lands and accept individual property. There was talk about using Indian Territory for settlement by African Americans emancipated from slavery. However, the government caved into pressure from a group know as "Boomers," who wanted the lands opened to non-Indian settlement. The government decided to open he western parts of the territory to settlers by holding a total of six land rushes between 1889 and 1895. Settlers came from all points of the globe to claim land in the new America. Statehood became a sure thing in part due to the discovery of "Oil", the 46th state was inaugurated on November, 16, 1907. Oklahoma became the new frontier to strike it rich! Towns like Tulsa, Ponca City, and Bartlesville grew up around the Oil Fields. Several all-black towns were created in Oklahoma. More African Americans came to this region than any other. Oklahoma has produced some of the greatest jazz musicians, and led the country in civil rights battles. You will not find in the history books many of the roles African American soldiers played in the Civil War. Black fought beside whites during the Battle of Honey Springs, in 1863, on a small field near Muskogee. Black turned the tide in that battle and secured for the Union both the Arkansas River and the Texas Road (a major transportation route). In 1866 congress passed a bill providing provisions for black troops that became our 9th and 10th cavalry divisions. They were headquartered at Fort Gibson and Fort Sill. Black soldiers built forts, fought bandits, cattle thieves, and Mexican revolutionists like the infamous Poncho Villa.
Language- English, several Indian dialects, some Spanish.
Lodging & Links- Contact us to add your lodging link here!
Money- US Currency - Currency conversion from: www.oanda.com/convert/cheatsheet
Parks- (Search State Parks) Search the State Website (Click Here!), (WorldTourist Search Page-Nat. Parks)
Recreation- Search Oklahoma. Click Here!
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Seasons- Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter!
Tours- Contact us to add your tour company here!
Travel- This country is big and best seen by private auto!
Tips- Most of these folks are very down to earth and friendly.
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