Oklahoma

Long before the appearance of "pale-faced" colonists, American Indian tribes lived on the lands of modern Oklahoma.

Around 800 AD, the first settlements of the Caddo (Caddo) people, then part of the Indian "Mississippi culture" (also known as "mound builders"), appeared in eastern Oklahoma. The Spirow Mounds are considered the westernmost monuments of this fairly advanced civilization based on agriculture and stable trade relations that have survived to this day.

In the west of the state lived the Wichita Indians, who were engaged in both agriculture and hunting. In the middle of the last millennium, the Apache, Kiowa, and Comanche tribes moved from the north to the plains of Oklahoma.

The first European on the lands of Oklahoma was the Spanish conquistador Francisco de Coronado, whose expedition also passed in 1540-1542 through the territory of the modern states of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Kansas.

In 1830, the US Congress passed a law according to which the Indian peoples living east of the Mississippi River were to be evicted to the western, at that time still undeveloped lands. Many Indians were forced to move to the newly created "Indian Territory", of which Oklahoma became a part. The sad story of the migration of the "five civilized tribes" who lived in the southeastern United States: Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw and Seminole is best known. The "Road of Tears" was the name given by the Indians to their long journey to the west, during which thousands of people died. In subsequent decades, Indians were evicted to Oklahoma from the states of the Northeast and Midwest of the United States (Shoni, Lenape, Miami, Sok, Fox, Ottawa, Kickapoo, Ponca, Osage, Oto, Missouri and others). By 1860, over 50,000 Indians, over 8,000 black slaves, and only about 3,000 Europeans lived on Oklahoma lands. Today, Oklahoma ranks second (after California) in the United States in terms of the number of indigenous people living in the state.

On May 2, 1890, the Oklahoma Territory was created, which included the western counties of the modern state. The rapid growth of the population of Oklahoma, as well as the desire of the Indians to create their own state (which was supposed to be called "Sequoia" in honor of the famous creator of the Cherokee script) led to the fact that on November 16, 1907, US President Theodore Roosevelt signed the law on the formation of the state of Oklahoma, which became the forty-sixth US state.

The first capital of the new state was the city of Guthrie, but already in 1910 it was decided to transfer the capital to Oklahoma City.

National Historic Landmarks in Oklahoma

 Fort Gibson in the city of the same name, built in 1824 to protect the western border of the United States.

 The cabin of Sequoyah, a prominent educator of the Cherokee Nation, near the village of Akins. Built in 1829.

 Wheelock Academy in the town of Millerton is a missionary school for the Choctaw Indians, which served as a model for the creation of such institutions. Built in 1832.

 The Cherokee Capitol is a building in Talkwa that was the seat of government of the Cherokee Nation from 1869 to 1907. Built in 1867.

 Capitol Creek is a building in Okmulgee that was the seat of government of the Creek Nation from 1878 to 1907. Built in 1878.

 Guthrie Historic District, which was the capital of the Oklahoma Territory and the first capital of the state of Oklahoma.

 Ranch 101 Historic District in the Ponca City area, founded in 1893 and famous for being the setting for the Wild West at Ranch 101 show (in imitation of the Buffalo Bill show).

 The historic district of Bowley, founded in 1903 as a "black town" under the segregationist policy of the time.

 The Bizzell Memorial Library is one of the buildings at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, famous for its role in one of the racial segregation cases heard by the US Supreme Court. Built in 1928.

 Ernest Marland's mansion in Ponca City. Built in 1928.

 Boston Avenue Methodist Church in Tulsa, considered one of the finest examples of Art Deco church architecture in the United States. Built in 1929.

 The Price Tower is a building in Bartlesville, built in 1956 by the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Oklahoma state symbols

 Tree - crimson (cercis) Canadian (Cercis canadensis)

 Flower (cultivated) - Oklahoma rose

 Flower (wild) - gaillardia (Gaillardia pulchella)

 Grass - sorghum drooping ("Indian grass", Sorghastrum nutans)

 Animal - American bison (Bison bison), white-tailed (Virginian) deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and Mexican folded lip (Tadarida brasiliensis)

 Fur-bearing animal - raccoon (Procyon lotor)

 Bird - Long-tailed king tyrant (Tyrannus forficatus), wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) and red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

 Fish - white American perch (Morone chrysops)

 Reptile - collared desert iguana (Crotaphytus collaris)

 Amphibious bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)

 Insect - honey bee (Apis mellifera)

 Butterfly - polyxena sailboat (Papilio polyxenes)

 Food products - garden strawberries (strawberries); okra (okra); pumpkin squash; cornbread; barbecue pork; pecan pie etc

 Drink - milk

 Stone - "desert rose" (gypsum)

 Dinosaur - Acrocanthosaurus

 Fossil - Saurophaganax

 Dance - square dance

 Musical instrument - fiddle ("folk violin")

 Song - "Oklahoma" (Oklahoma, music by Richard Rogers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein)

Oklahoma's main economic sectors are mining, industry, and agriculture.

The most important mineral wealth of the state is oil (Oklahoma ranks fifth in the United States in terms of reserves and production of "black gold") and natural gas (according to various estimates - the second or third place in the United States). Numerous companies are involved in oil and gas production in Oklahoma, the largest of which are Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy, Chesapeake Energy, and Sandridge Energy, as well as ONEOK and Williams Companies, which are headquartered in Tulsa.