TravelOK.com: About Oklahoma

About Oklahoma
	General Information Geography History	Fun Facts Activity Sheet Student Guide Oklahoma Symbols Official Oklahoma State Song

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Oklahoma's current population is 3,450,654 ( 2000, estimated).

• Oklahoma is comprised of 77 counties.

• Oklahoma covers 69,919 square miles.

• Guthrie was the first state capitol of Oklahoma.

• Oklahoma's state capitol is the only one in the world with an oil well drilled beneath it.

• Oklahoma is the third largest gas producing state in the nation.

• The Nellie Johnstone oil well located at Johnston Park in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, had the first flowing commercial well in the world.

• The world's largest air material center is Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City.

• Fort Sill at Lawton is the Army's principal artillery school.

• Pawhuska, Oklahoma, had the first Boy Scout troop in America (1909).

• Sylvan Goldman of Oklahoma created the first rolling supermarket cart.

• The first parking meter was created in Oklahoma and installed in Oklahoma City in 1935.

• Oklahoma has 43 colleges and universities.

• Oklahoma is the winter quarters for more circuses than any other state.

• Oklahoma's average annual temperature is a pleasant 60.5 degrees.

GEOGRAPHY

• Oklahoma has four mountain ranges: Ouachitas, Arbuckles, Wichitas, and the Ozarks

• Forests cover 24 percent of Oklahoma

• The Poteau River is the only river in Oklahoma that flows north.

• The world's largest single deposit of pure alabaster may be found in the Alabaster caverns near Freedom, Oklahoma.

• Oklahoma is linked to the world's waters by the McClellan-Kerr Navigation system--flowing on the Arkansas River through Arkansas to the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.

• The highest elevation in the state is Black Mesa, 4,978 feet, in far northwestern Oklahoma.

• The lowest elevation in the state is in the southeast corner near Idabel, at 324 feet

• Oklahoma has the distinction of having the highest hill in the world, Mount Cavanal, at 1,999 feet.

• Oklahoma has more man-made lakes (200) than any other state, over one million surface-acres of water, and 2,000 more miles of shoreline than the Atlantic and Gulf coasts combined.

• The largest lake in Oklahoma is Lake Eufaula, covering 102,000 surface acres of water.

HISTORY
500-1300AD	Spiro Indians, linked to the Aztecs, thrived and left burial mounds filled with exquisite artwork and clues to their way of life. A museum displaying their artifacts is near Spiro.
1012	Viking explorers visited eastern Oklahoma and left their mark near the town of Heavener.
1541	Oklahoma's recorded history began when Spanish explorer Coronado carved his name and the date on a rock near the Cimarron River in western Oklahoma.
1803	Oklahoma was part of the Louisiana Purchase.
1824	Ft. Gibson was the first fort to be established in Oklahoma.
1889	Land in Indian Territory was opened to white settlement by land runs, lotteries, and auctions. The territory was split in half, and the western half became Oklahoma Territory.
1889	The first land run was held April 22nd. At exactly noon, a cannon boom signaled the start of the run which opened the Unassigned Lands for settlement.
1891	The Sac and Fox, Pottawatomie-Shawnee Lands, located just east of the original run site, were opened on September 21.
1892	The Cheyenne and Arapaho lands in western Oklahoma were opened for run on April 19.
1893	The largest and most spectacular run in northern Oklahoma, the Cherokee Strip, was held on September 16.
1895	On May 23rd, the Kickapoo Land Run was held in central Oklahoma.
1907	November 16, Oklahoma became the 46th state to join the Union.

INDIAN FACTS

• Oklahoma's name is derived from two Choctaw words, "okla" meaning people, and "humma" meaning red; literally meaning "red people."

• The "Trail of Tears" began in the 1830s. It was the journey of the Five Civilized Tribes from the southeastern United States to Indian Territory. The relocation was forced.

• The Five Civilized Tribes attempted statehood in 1905 under the name Sequoyah

• There are 39 tribes and nations of American Indians with headquarters in Oklahoma. Descendants of the original 67 tribes inhabiting Indian Territory still live here.

OKLAHOMA SYMBOLS
	State Colors	Green and White
	State Grass	Indian Grass
	State Insect	Honeybee
	State Motto	"Labor Omnia Vincit" - Labor conquers all things
	State Nickname	Sooner State
	State Song	"OKLAHOMA!" from the Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical of the same name.
	State Animal	American Buffalo or Bison
	State Bird	Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
	State Fish	White or Sand Bass
	State Floral Emblem	Mistletoe
	State Musical Instrument	Fiddle
	State Reptile	Mountain Boomer or Collared Lizard
	State Rock	Rose Rock
	State Tree	Redbud
	State Wildflower	Indian Blanket/Gallardia
	The state flag is an Osage warrior shield on a field of blue with the shield crossed by a peace pipe and an olive branch.
	The state seal shows a pioneer and an Indian shaking hands beneath the Scales of Justice, centered in the star. The star's five rays each contain symbols of the Five Civilized Tribes

WORDS OF THE OFFICIAL OKLAHOMA STATE SONG

OKLAHOMA!
Brand new state! Brand new state, gonna treat you great!
Gonna give you barley, carrots and pertaters!
Pasture fer the cattle, spinach and termayters!
Flowers on the prairie where the June bugs zoom,
Plen'y of air and plen'y of room,
Plen'y of room to swing a rope!
Plen'y of heart and plen'y of hope!
Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain,
And the waivin' wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain.
Oklahoma, ev'ry night my honey lamb and I
Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk makin' lazy circles in the sky.
We know we belong to the land
And the land we belong to is grand!
And when we say YEEOW! A-Yip-I-oee-ay!
We're only sayin'
You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!
Oklahoma--O.K.