"Where is Oklahoma?"

You know Texas?  Well, the top of Texas is the butt of Oklahoma.  

Oklahoma was the 46th state to join the Union, though its history and formation as a state is a right hot mess.  It sports a rich diversity of Native Americans, which is awesome.  However, the reason it has such a diversity is because before it was a state, it was largely part of Indian Territory.  Why?  Well, as the whites began to expand their range and discover resources, they wanted to get rid of the Natives.  So the Indian Removal Act was put in place in 1830 and tens of thousands of Natives were forced to walk to the designated Indian Territory that covered much of the central United States.  Many died along the way, giving the journey the name Trail of Tears.  Once there, they faced the difficulties of trying to learn how to live in an utterly different environment and climate, and to also live alongside tribes who already inhabited the area. These areas were originally thought of as unsuitable for white colonization (so of course they pushed the natives there).  They were promised this land would always be theirs.  Of course that was a lie, and more and more of the territory was taken away over time.  In 1886 parts of it were opened for settlement, with other “land runs” opening other sections for settlement in the following years, with the state officially joining the Union in 1907.  These land runs were pure chaos - everyone lined up on the border.  "Boomers" were the folks who waited for the boom of the cannon to rush out for land-grabbing activities.  "Sooners" were the cheaters who tried to sneak ahead before the official cannon start.  Hoards of people on horseback, in covered wagons, and even on foot rushed forward, hoping to be able to claim a good chunk of land.  Seven of these land runs would occur before the state joined the Union.  The Cherokee Outlet was the fourth and largest of these land runs, and the town of Enid, OK was founded during this time.  (Enid is where much of my family lives, and where I graduated High School). 

If you want a little more information and to see a few crazy photos from the Cherokee Outlet, you can head to the Oklahoma History page here.  And if you visit Enid, OK, you should check out the Cherokee Strip Museum!  They have the only surviving land office building on the museum grounds.  Even if you can't visit, you can check out their website here.  They have some great photos and history tidbits.  And you bet my fourth grade class took a field trip for a day at the old schoolhouse!     

The area I grew up in was part of the Chisolm Trail, one of the big trails used by cowboys the Texas ranchers hired to move cattle from Texas to Kansas, where the cattle would then be shipped eastward.  The breed of cattle, the Texas Longhorn, was great for these long runs through rough terrain, but being part wild, they were difficult to work with and prone to stampede.  The breed is still kept by some ranchers in the state, and they always make a show at local parades.  Now these cowboys were moving their herds through before any of the land runs.  They leased the land from the Natives, and some ended up settling in the area after their days of herding were over.  One told of settling down in the Chisolm Trail area, building a farm, and living happily there for 10 years.  When the area was going to be opened up for a land run, the government told him he needed to leave.  He refused, so the army burned his farm to the ground.  

Oklahoma still has a massive industry in beef production, and grows a whole lot of wheat (thus the need for so many glorious grain elevators).  Oil and natural gas is the other big industry. 

But to me, the biggest pool of wealth the state holds is its natural history.  It's at a very interesting meeting point of multiple very different habitats, which naturally leads to high diversity.  Before we left Oklahoma, we had raised the species list for Odonata recorded in the state to 176!  If you're in Norway but want a book on the topic, you can get ahold of my samboer's big Oklahoma dragonfly book here.  Or maybe see if your library can get it.   I'm also working on a book about our Oklahoma oding adventures, but it is still very much in the works.  This link here has entries about each of the Wildlife Management Areas in the state.  You can browse the tabs to get a sense of the habitat diversity if you'd like.   If you want a snapshot of diversity, David has a lovely pile of photos documenting all kinds of species found at Red Slough WMA here. 

Anywho, that’s a very long-winded way of saying Oklahoma is the state just north of Texas and it has some crazy beginnings.