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  • Grady the Cow - famous for being the 1,200-pound cow stuck inside a storage silo on a farm in Yukon, Oklahoma in 1949.
  • Tri-point - a place where the borders of three states touch (Oklahoma has six tri-points)



Oklahoma is a state located in the southern Great Plains and Eastern Woodlands regions of the United States. It is sometimes called "Native America" and the "Sooner State", and is part of a region commonly known as the American "Heartland." Oklahoma City is the state's capital and largest city. The Congressional Quarterly and Census report place Oklahoma in the Southern United States. However, since Oklahoma is near the geographic center of the U.S., the regional influences add to Oklahoma's unique character.

Oklahoma became the 46th state in the Union on November 16th, 1907. The state's name comes from the Choctaw words okla meaning people and homma meaning red, literally meaning "red people" (see Oklahoma State History and Information) and was chosen by Allen Wright, Principal Chief of the Choctaw Nation between 1866 and 1870. <ref name="">Jana, I always love lnkoiog at the senior portraits you create. You have the best locations and the fall colors make these images simply amazing!</ref> It is a state with a colorful history, including its days as a frontier state, it being a destination of recently freed slaves looking for opportunity and equality, and being at the heart of the oil boom in the early 20th century.

Most notably, Oklahoma has the nation's second largest American Indian population. In honor of its large American Indian population, and for tourism purposes, Oklahoma is called "Native America." Oklahoma's early history is intertwined with the Trail of Tears, which was the forced removal of the Five Civilized Tribes from the southeastern United States to present-day Oklahoma. As a testament to the state's western and American Indian heritage, Oklahoma (Tulsa) is the home of the world-renowned Gilcrease Museum, which houses the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of American Western art and artifacts, as well as an unparalled collection of American Indian, Central and South American art, artifacts, documents, and maps. 

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Contents

History

History of Oklahoma

Honestly. Don't people rialeze that 4% of the income fro the top 1% of wage earner's income is a lot of money? That money is used to employee many people. Think of it. The rich are just like the middle class. They buy stuff. So, if Joe Millionaire wants to put a 500k addition on his mansion, which would employ a small army of workers, and now he doesn't have that 500k cause Uncle Sam took it, don't you think that army of workers will be affected? Exactly. Joe Millionaire may not put on the addition this year. People don't get this. They say take from the rich and give to the poor. Yeah... now all those workers who were going to build the addition are collecting checks from the government because they didn't get a contract for the job. What a joke. Anyway, let's hope that McCain can do half as good a job as Ron Paul would have done. Maybe I'll write in Chuck Baldwin.

Economy

Oklahoma is a major fuel and food-producing state; thousands of oil and natural gas wells dot the Oklahoma landscape, and the state is among the highest food producing states in the nation. Its main agricultural outputs are soy, wheat, cattle, dairy, poultry, and cotton. Oklahoma ranks fourth in the nation in the production of all wheat, fourth in cattle and calf production; fifth in the production of pecans; sixth in peanuts and eight in peaches. Its industrial outputs are transportation equipment, machinery, electric products, rubber and plastic products, and food processing. Its 1999 total gross state product was $86 billion, placing it 29th in the nation. Its 2000 per capita personal income was $23,517, 43rd in the nation. Oklahoma City suburb Nichols Hills is ranked first on Oklahoma locations by per capita income at $73,661.

Oklahoma City is a primary economic engine of the state, centered on the finance, retail, governance, entertainment, and tourism sectors. The city has numerous manufacturing and processing plants as well as a growing biotech research and health center. Oklahoma City has a large aviation market and its location at the intersection of I-35, I-40, and I-44 makes Oklahoma City an important distribution point.

Oklahoma City is home to many corporate and regional headquarters including Devon Energy, Chesapeake Energy, Sonic Drive-In, AT&T, The Hertz Corporation, BancFirst, OGE Energy, Midfirst Bank, Hobby Lobby, Dobson Communications, Express Personnel Services, Oklahoma Publishing Company, Spectro Wire & Cable, Inc., Rainbo Manufacturing, Globe Life and Accident Insurance, Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc., and Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce.

File:Downtown Tulsa.jpg
Tulsa is a major economic center for the state.

Tulsa is another primary economic engine of the state, centered on energy, aerospace, telecommunications, and transportation. The city has the nation's most inland sea port and Oklahoma's only connection to the ocean, the Tulsa Port of Catoosa [2], which connects the state with international ocean trade routes through the Arkansas River and Mississippi River. Despite an oil bust that plagued the entire state in the 1980's, Tulsa is still among the top cities in the nation for the number of oil and energy related company headquarters. Tulsa is also home to an extensive aviation market, exemplified by its American Airlines maintenance center, the largest airline maintenance base in the world.

Recently, Forbes magazine rated Tulsa as second in the nation in job income growth, and one of the best 50 cities to do business in the country. <ref name="forbestop50">Jana, I always love lnkoiog at the senior portraits you create. You have the best locations and the fall colors make these images simply amazing!</ref>

Companies based in Tulsa include The NORDAM Group, BOK Financial Corporation (BOKF), Bank of Oklahoma, Williams Companies, Oneok, Wiltel, QuikTrip, Public Service of Oklahoma, Mazzio's Corporation, RibCrib, SemGroup, Dollar-Thrifty, Hilti USA, and Vanguard.

Both of Oklahoma's major metropolitan areas, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, are engaged in large-scale economic development and tourism initiatives.

Transportation

Oklahoma City is an integral point on the U.S. Interstate Network. Most highways throughout the city are 6-8 lanes and have a level of congestion lower than most comparably sized cities. Interstate 35, Interstate 40, and Interstate 44 bisect the city, Interstate 240 connects I-40 to I-44 in South OKC, the Lake Hefner Parkway (OK-74) runs through Northwest Oklahoma City, Kilpatrick Turnpike makes a loop around North and West Oklahoma City, Airport Rd. (actually a freeway section of S.W. 44th Street) runs through Southwest Oklahoma City and leads to Will Rogers World Airport, Broadway Extension/U.S. 77 connects Central Oklahoma City to Edmond, and Interstate 235 spurs from I-44 in North Central OKC into downtown Oklahoma City.

The section of I-40 known as the "Crosstown" because of its intersecting path right by downtown. The I-40 Crosstown Construction Project will relocate the stretch of highway right through a mass transit center named Union Station. It is expected to be completed in 2008 but it has legal issues that it must survive. Realigning the highway will destroy Union Station, leaving only the depot behind, for the new NAFTA highway west bound spur. This will destroy existing rail infrastructure forcing Oklahoma City to find a new central hub of mass transit elsewhere.

There were plans in the early 1990s to build a light rail system for the city as part of the MAPS urban redevelopment program, but the project stalled repeatedly on issues of funding. (Ernest Istook, 5th District Congressman and chairman of the congressional transportation committee, played a major role in killing federal funding for the project). However he played vital roles in getting other major cities funded for light rail like Los Angeles. New Development: A downtown trolley system could be implemented under a future new MAPS III initiative. METRO Transit released a new Mass Transit plan in January 2006 that details its vision of rapid transit in the coming years. The study results showed light-rail trolley in downtown OKC, commuter rail from downtown to the suburbs of Edmond and Norman, and a comprehensive, specialized metropolian bus network that has been long overdue because they have to reroute the infrastructure that they�re destroying at Union Station.

Oklahoma City was a major stop on Route 66 and was prominently mentioned in Bobby Troup's 1946 jazz classic, "(Get Your Kicks) on Route 66," later made famous by Nat King Cole.

Oklahoma City is served by two primary airports, Will Rogers World Airport and the much smaller Wiley Post Airport (incidentally, the two honorees died in the same plane crash in Alaska). Will Rogers World Airport is currently undergoing a major reconstruction period. Tinker Air Force Base, in East OKC, is the largest military air depot in the nation, a major maintenance and deployment facility for the Navy and the Air Force, and the second largest military institution in the state (after Fort Sill in Lawton).

Amtrak has an Art Deco train station downtown, with daily service to Fort Worth and the nation's rail network via the Heartland Flyer. There is also a heritage rail line under re-construction that will connect Bricktown and the Adventure District in NE Oklahoma City.

Greyhound and several other intercity bus companies serve Oklahoma City at Union Bus Station, Downtown. METRO Transit is the public transit company. Their bus terminal and headquarters is located downtown at NW 5th Street and Hudson Avenue.

Oklahoma Links:

Oklahoma is served by two major airports:

There are also numerous other regional and general aviation airports:

See: List of airports in Oklahoma

Amtrak also operates a daily train between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth, Texas, the Heartland Flyer.

Education

Culture

File:OklahomaPrairie.jpg
Oklahoma Prairie

The various government sponsored arts, community, and tourism programs emphasize Oklahoma's Native American heritage heavily. There are many central areas of Native American heritage in Oklahoma, including one of the most notable, Tahlequah, which is near Muskogee in Eastern Oklahoma. Native American culture runs deep in the lives of Oklahomans and one may experience it through various cultural programs including pow wows, the Tsa-La-Gi village in Tahlequah, OK and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

Other ethnic celebrations include those of Yukon & Prague (celebrating the Czech heritage of some early immigrants), Tulsa's Greek Holiday, the Tulsa Scottish Games, Shalomfest (in Tulsa), Tulsa's German Oktoberfest, the Mennonite Relief Sale (in Enid, OK), Italian festivals and neighborhoods in the McAlester and Krebs area, traditional Asian, African American, and Hispanic celebrations in Oklahoma City as well as the pride parade and festival in the city's GLBT district, and the Juneteenth Celebrations found all across the state.

While most Oklahomans consider themselves part of the Old Southwest, and therefore Southwesterners, the southern influence in Oklahoma is evident. Indeed, apart from Native American semblances, Oklahoma culture resembles the southern elements of Arkansas, southern Missouri, Texas, and northern Louisiana. While Oklahomans do not necessarily "drawl" like their Deep South neighbors from Mississippi and beyond, the dialect of most Okies is "twangy", which can most readily be heard in the voices of current country music stars such as Reba McIntire, Toby Keith, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Blake Shelton, etc. Oklahoma cuisine, moreover, clearly has southern flare with fried catfish, pork ribs, fried chicken, okra, sweet potatoes, and cornbread with little sugar as main staples. In the eastern and south central parts of Oklahoma sweet tea can be found, but becomes less and less prominent as you move into the west and southwestern parts of the state.

Sports

Because of the devastation of New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005, the NBA's New Orleans Hornets relocated to Oklahoma City and are currently known as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. The Hornets are the first major professional sports league franchise to play in the state. The owner of the Hornets announced in December of 2006, that the team would be returning to New Orleans for the 2007-2008 season.

The recent purchase of the Seattle Supersonics NBA Basketball team, by a group of Oklahoma businessmen, has led to speculation that the team will be relocated to Oklahoma City in the near future.

The minor league baseball teams are:

Other Oklahoma City teams include

Other Enid teams include

Other Tulsa teams include

Oklahoma's major college teams are

Important cities and metropolitan areas

Oklahoma City

Template:Main Oklahoma City, with a population of 523,303 in the immediate city limits<ref name="Oklahoma City (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau">Jana, I always love lnkoiog at the senior portraits you create. You have the best locations and the fall colors make these images simply amazing!</ref> and 1.3 million in the metro area,<ref>Population and Housing Profile: Oklahoma City, OK MSA (2003) Retrieved September 16, 2006</ref> is the principal city of the eight-county Oklahoma City Metroplex and is Oklahoma's largest urbanized area. As of 2000, it was the 47th largest metro in the nation.<ref name="US Census - Metro ranks 2000">Jana, I always love lnkoiog at the senior portraits you create. You have the best locations and the fall colors make these images simply amazing!</ref> Some of the major cities comprising the Oklahoma City Metro include Norman, Edmond, Guthrie, Moore, Mustang, Yukon, Shawnee, Del City, Midewest City.

Oklahoma City is the capital of Oklahoma, as well as its main civic, business, and arts and entertainment hub. Oklahoma City is steadily recovering from the oil bust that destroyed the city's identityTemplate:Fact.

Tulsa

Template:Main Tulsa is the second largest city in Oklahoma, with 387,807 within the city limits<ref name="Oklahoma City (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau">Jana, I always love lnkoiog at the senior portraits you create. You have the best locations and the fall colors make these images simply amazing!</ref> and 890,000 in the statistical metropolitan area.<ref>Population and Housing Profile: Tulsa, OK MSA (2003) Retrieved September 16, 2006</ref>. The city is an important Southern and Midwest regional economic hub, and is the architectural center of the state. It is Oklahoma's second largest urbanized area. As of 2000, it was the 53rd largest metropolitan area in the nation.<ref name="US Census - Metro ranks 2000"/>

Other important cities

Template:Seealso

Demographics

Template:Histpop

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2005, Oklahoma has an estimated population of 3,547,884, which is an increase of 24,338, or 0.7%, from the prior year and an increase of 97,232, or 2.8%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 80,753 people (that is 264,324 births minus 183,571 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 21,128 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 36,546 people, and migration within the country produced a net decrease of 15,418 people.

The center of population of Oklahoma is located in Lincoln County, in the town of Sparks [3]. Template:US Demographics The five largest ancestry groups in Oklahoma are German (14.5%), American (13.1%), Irish (11.8%), English (9.6%), Native American (7.9%, with Cherokees as the largest tribe).

German-Americans are present in the northwestern part of the state. American Indians predominate in eastern Oklahoma. Oklahomans of British ancestry dominate Tulsa and some other areas. Americans of African descent are a plurality in Lawton and Oklahoma City, while Pittsburg county has many Irish-Americans. Oklahoma City has the largest Asian and Asian American populations. A few western counties have significant Mexican American populations.

6.8% of Oklahoma's population was reported as under 5, 25.9% under 18, and 13.2% was 65 or older. Females made up approximately 50.9% of the population.

Descendants of these people still live in Oklahoma today. Counties with the names of these tribes also exist. Oklahoma has the second highest number of Native Americans/Amerindians in the country estimated at 395,219 as of 2003. Only California has a higher Amerindian population at 682,720 [4]. Oklahoma also has the second highest concentration of Native Americans/Amerindians in the nation with 11.4% of the state's population, topped only by Alaska at 19% of that state's population. [5]. 39 of the Amerindian tribes currently living in Oklahoma are headquartered in the state.

Religion

The people of Oklahoma participate in 73 major religious affiliations ranging from the Southern Baptist Convention with 1578 churches and 967,223 members to the Holy Orthodox Church in North America, 1 church, 6 members.

The 10 most popular religious affiliations (including "none") account for more than 90% of all Oklahomans:<ref>Association of Religion Data Archives</ref>

Note: Terms shown are the ones used by ARDA; Catholic Church, for instance, versus Roman Catholic Church. The ARDA also notes that their data undercounts traditionally-black churches.

Trivia

  • Watonga, Oklahoma is the birth place of Clarence Nash, better known as the voice of Donald Duck. Nash captured the ears of a young Walt Disney with his voice imitation of a duck. Nash provided Donald Duck's world famous voice exclusively until his death in 1985
  • Oklahoma is one of only two states whose capital city's name includes the state name. The other is Indianapolis, Indiana.
  • The first YIELD sign was used in a trial basis in Tulsa.
  • Oklahoma was the last state in the Union to legalize tattooing as of November 1, 2006. [6]
  • The world's first installed parking meter was in Oklahoma City, on July 16, 1935. Carl C. Magee, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is generally credited with originating the parking meter. He filed for a patent for a "coin controlled parking meter" on May 13, 1935.
  • Vinita is the oldest incorporated town on Oklahoma Route 66, having been established in 1871. Vinita was the first town in Oklahoma to enjoy electricity. Originally named Downingville. The town's name was later changed to Vinita, in honor of Vinnie Ream, the sculptress who created the life-size statue of Lincoln at the United States Capitol.
  • Rural Oklahoma, similar to problems faced by other Plains states (Nebraska, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa), is seeing populations fall in many communities. Between 1996 and 2004 nearly 500,000 people, half of them with college degrees, left the six states. The effects of rural flight in Oklahoma have mostly been felt in Western Oklahoma.
  • The Amateur Softball Association of America - a volunteer-driven, not-for-profit organization based in Oklahoma City, OK - was founded in 1933 and has evolved into the strongest softball organization in the country.
  • Boise City, Oklahoma was the only city in the continental United States to be bombed during World War II. On Monday night, July 5, 1943, at approximately 12:30 a.m., a B-17 Bomber based at Dalhart Army Air Base (50 miles to the south of Boise City) dropped six practice bombs on the sleeping town.
  • An Oklahoman, Sylvan Goldman, invented the first shopping cart.
  • In Guthrie, nearly 20,000 lighters and "fire starters" are displayed at the National Lighter Museum. It is the nation's only museum devoted to the collection of lighters.
  • Oklahoma has approximately 11,611 miles of shoreline, slightly less than the estimated combined general (nontidal) coastline of the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific, and Arctic Coasts which has 12,383 miles.<ref>Oklahoma Water Resources Board, Oklahoma Water Facts: "Oklahoma has approximately 11,611 miles of shoreline ...". (Retrieved August 3, 2006)</ref>
  • In recent years, Oklahoma has become the second largest natural gas-producing state in the nation. Only Texas surpasses Oklahoma in natural gas production.

Oklahoma state symbols

Flora
Floral emblem Mistletoe
Wildflower Indian Blanket Gaillardia pulchella 1910
Tree Redbud Cercis canadensis 1971
Grass Indian Grass Sorghastrum nutans 1972
Flower Oklahoma Rose 2004
Fauna
Bird Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Muscivora forficata 1951
Reptile Collared Lizard (Mountain Boomer) Crotaphytus collaris) 1969
Mammal Bison Bison bison 1972
Fish White bass (Sand bass) Morone chrysops 1974
Furbearer Animal Common Raccoon Procyon lotor 1989
Insect European honey bee Apis mellifera 1992
Game Animal White-tail deer Odocoileus virginians 1990
Game Bird Wild Turkey Meleagris gallopavo 1990
Butterfly Black Swallowtail Papilio polyxenes 1996
Amphibian Bullfrog Rana catesbeiana 1997
Fossil Allosaurid dinosaur Saurophaganax maximus 2000
Flying Mammal Mexican Free-Tailed Bat Tadarida brasiliensis 2006
Dinosaur High Spined Lizard Acrocanthosaurus atokensis 2006
Music
waltz "Oklahoma Wind"
Anthem "Oklahoma!"
lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
music: Richard Rodgers 		1953
Song "Oklahoma Hills"
lyrics: Woody Guthrie
music: Woody Guthrie
Musical Instrument Fiddle 1984
Country and Western Song "Faded Love"
by John Willis
and Bob Wills 		1988
Folk Dance Square Dance 1988
Percussive Musical Instrument Drum 1993
Children's Song "Oklahoma, My Native Land"
by Martha Kemm Barrett 		1996
Western Band The Sounds of the Southwest 1997
Folk Song "Oklahoma Hills"
by Woody Guthrie
and Jack Guthrie 		2001
Other
Colors Green and White 1915
Rock Rose Rock (Barite rose) 1968
Theatre Lynn Riggs Players of Oklahoma, Inc. 1971
Poem "Howdy Folks" by David Randolph Milsten 1973
Pin "OK" pin 1982
Beverage Milk 1985
Soil Port Silt Loam Cumulic haplustolls 1987
Meal Fried okra,
squash,
cornbread,
barbecue pork,
biscuits,
sausage and gravy,
grits,
corn,
strawberries,
chicken fried steak,
pecan pie,
and black-eyed peas. 		1988
Poet Laureate biennial gubernatorial appointment 1994
Tartan Oklahoma Tartan 1999

See also

See also

Further reading

References

<references/>

External links

Template:Oklahoma Template:United States

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