 
Route 66 in Oklahoma:
Route 66 in Oklahoma followed the path now occupied by
Interstates 44 and 40. Route 66 entered Oklahoma in the
extreme northeast corner of the state. In earlier years, it
entered from Kansas and encountered its first Oklahoma
community at Quapaw. In later years, Kansas had been
bypassed entirely and the Route entered Oklahoma along the
eastern border with Missouri. In Oklahoma, much of what was
once Route 66 has been re-designated (and posted) as state
highway 66. This makes traveling the Route quite easy. Bear
in mind, however, that OK 66 represents only one of many
alignments that U.S. 66 used over the years. Exploration
will yield many earlier alignments that today's traveler can
drive.
In 1928, Oklahoma resident Andy Payne won the first run
across America footrace (also known as "The Bunion Derby").
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
being established in 1871. Vinita was the first town in
Oklahoma to enjoy electricity. Originally named Downingville.
The towns 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.
During a tornado in Ponca City, a man and his wife were
carried aloft in their house by a tornado. The walls and
roof were blown away. But the floor remained intact and
eventually glided downward, setting the couple safely back
on the ground.
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.
A statue entitled "Hopes and Dreams," in downtown Perry was
created by local sculptor Bill Bennett and placed there on a
massive granite pedestal as a Cherokee Strip Centennial
memorial. The statue portrays an early-day couple coming to
the newly opened western frontier.
Turner Falls Park in Davis is the oldest park in Oklahoma.
Many springs from the world famous Arbuckle Mountains form
Honey Creek that cascades down a seventy-seven foot fall to
a natural swimming pool making the majestic Turner Falls the
largest waterfall in Oklahoma.
There is an operating oil well on state capitol grounds
called Capitol Site No. 1.
Anadarko is home to the only authentic Indian City in the
United States. It is located in the beautiful Washita river
valley in southwest Oklahoma.
In 1998, a life size statue of a cattle drive, titled "On
the Chisholm Trail," was set in place in Duncan as a
monument to the American Cowboy.
Phillip H. Sheridan, George A. Custer and William T. Sherman
were the founders of the USA's main artillery fort at Fort
Sill.
Born in 1879 on a large ranch in the Cherokee Nation near
what later would become Oologah, Oklahoma, Will Rogers was
first an Indian, a cowboy then a national figure. Will
Rogers was a star of Broadway and 71 movies of the 1920s and
1930s, a popular broadcaster and wrote more than 4,000
syndicated newspaper columns.
A life-size statue stands in honor of Astronaut Thomas P.
Stafford in Weatherford.
Boise City, Oklahoma was the only city in the 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.
Choctaw is the oldest chartered town in Oklahoma. Choctaw
gained status as a town in 1893.
Okmulgee owns the world record for largest pecan pie, pecan
cookie, pecan brownie, and biggest ice cream and cookie
party. Each June, Okmulgee rolls out the welcome mat to
thousands of its closest friends as the annual Pecan
Festival comes to town.
The National Cowboy Hall of Fame is located in Oklahoma
City.
The town of Beaver claims to be the Cow Chip Throwing
Capital of the World. It is here that the World Championship
Cow Chip Throw is held each April.
An Oklahoman, Sylvan Goldman, invented the first shopping
cart.
Known as the Antique Capital of Oklahoma, Jenks is home to
the state's best variety of: Antique Stores, Gift Shops,
Galleries, Museums, Crafters Malls, and Collectible
Retailers.
The first capital of Oklahoma was in Guthrie, but was moved
later to Oklahoma City following a vote of the people.
Originally Indian Territory, the state of Oklahoma was
opened to settlers in a "Land Rush" in 1889. On a given
date, prospective settlers would be allowed into the
territory to claim plots of land by grabbing the stakes
marking each plot. A few of these settlers entered to claim
land before the official start of the land run; these
cheaters were called "Sooners".
Tahlequah, Oklahoma is the Tribal capital of the Cherokee
Nation.
Located on the south shores of Grand Lake O' the Cherokees
between Langley and Disney. the Pensacola Dam was built in
1940 and is still the World's Longest Multiple Arch Dam.
Length of dam/spillway ... 6,565 feet. Length of
multiple-arch section ... 4,284 feet. Pensacola Dam was the
first hydroelectric facility in Oklahoma.
Bob Dunn, a musician from Beggs, invented the first electric
guitar 1935.
Spiro Mounds, Oklahoma's only archaeological park, is a
140-acre site encompassing 12 southern mounds that contain
evidence of an Indian culture that occupied the site from
850 A.D. to 1450 A.D. The Mounds are considered one of the
four most important prehistoric Indian sites east of the
Rocky Mountains.
Garth Brooks was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He grew up in
Yukon, Oklahoma.
WKY Radio was the first radio station transmitting from west
of the Mississippi River.
A Spanish Colonial Revival building serves as the backdrop
for Ponca City's Centennial Plaza, dedicated during the
100th anniversary celebration of the 1893 Land Run. The
Plaza features the Centennial Monument by Jo Saylors,
surrounded by 7,000 named bricks, a statue of E.W. Marland,
a War Memorial Fountain, Fire Station No. 1 and City Hall.
State Motto: Labor Omnia Vincit (Labor Conquers All
Things)
Belle Starr, one of the most famous women outlaws, is buried
in an isolated grave southwest of Porum, Oklahoma near the Eufuala Dam.
Originally the "Normal School," University of Central
Oklahoma was Oklahoma's first public school of higher
education. It began as a teachers college, and is now a
premier institution of education in this region of the
United States.
In Gurhrie nearly 20,000 lighters and "fire starters" are
displayed at the National Lighter Museum - the nation's only
museum devoted to the collection of lighters.
Oklahoma's four mountain ranges include the Ouachitas,
Arbuckles, Wichitas and the Kiamichis.
Foress B. Lillie was a participant in the land run of 1889,
and set up a tent for business as soon as shots were fired.
Lillie's Drug was the first drug store established in
Guthrie. Lillie was issued the No. 1 license certificate
when the new state of Oklahoma registered him as a
practicing pharmacist.
Oklahoma was the setting for the movie "Twister".
Oklahoma is bordered by six states: Texas to the south and
west, Arkansas and Missouri to the east, Kansas to the north
and Colorado and New Mexico at the tip of the northwestern
Oklahoma panhandle.
Antlers, Oklahoma claims to be "The Deer Capital of the World and
gateway to Southeast Oklahoma."
On the evening of March 25, 1948, a tornado roared through
Tinker Air Force Base (AFB), Oklahoma, causing considerable
damage, a few injuries, but no fatalities. However, the
destruction could have been much worse. A few hours earlier
Air Force Captain Robert C. Miller and Major Ernest J. Fawbush correctly predicted that Atmospheric conditions were
ripe for tornadoes in the vicinity of Tinker AFB. This first
tornado forecast was instrumental in advancing the nation's
commitment to protecting the American public and military
resources from the dangers caused by natural hazards.
The slogan "Buckle of the Wheat Belt" designates Kingfisher.
Kingfisher was the largest wheat market in America and is
still perceived as such today.
Oklahoma is one of only two states whose capital cities name
includes the state name. The other is Indianapolis, Indiana.
Clinton Riggs designed the YIELD sign. It was first used on
a trial basis in Tulsa.
Oklahoma's state wildflower the Indian Blanket is red with
yellow tips. It symbolizes the state's scenic beauty as well
as the its Indian heritage. The wildflower blooms in June
and July.
Oklahoma has more man-made lakes than any other state, with
over one million surface acres of water.
On April 22, 1889, the first day homesteading was permitted,
50,000 people swarmed into the area. Those who tried to beat
the noon starting gun were called Sooners. Hence the state's
nickname.
Oklahoma's state bird the Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher is a
somewhat quiet bird with beautiful plumage and a long sleek
tail that is twice as long as its body. The deeply-forked
tail resembles a pair of scissors.
Oklahoma has the largest Native American population of any
state in the U.S. Many of the 250,000 American Indians
living in Oklahoma are descended from the 67 tribes who
inhabited the Indian Territory. Oklahoma is tribal
headquarters for 39 tribes.
Oklahoma City National Memorial honors the victims,
survivors, rescuers, and all who were changed forever on the
site of the bombing in Oklahoma City April 19, 1995.
Springs, streams and lakes are the attractions at Chickasaw
National Recreation Area, the first national park in the
state of Oklahoma. Chickasaw lies in a transition zone where
the Eastern deciduous forest and the Western prairies meet.
Sequoyah's Cabin in Akins is a frontier house of logs,
occupied (1829-44) by Sequoyah (George Gist), the teacher
who in 1821 invented a syllabary (catalog of syllables) that made it possible to
read and write the Cherokee.
 
46th state in the USA; it became a state on November
16, 1907.
State Abbreviation
- OK
State Capital - Oklahoma City
Largest City - Oklahoma City
Area - 69,903 square miles [Oklahoma is the 20th
biggest state in the USA]
Population - 3,450,654 (as of 2000) [Oklahoma is
the 27th most populous state in the USA]
Name for Residents - Oklahomans
Major Industries - farming (wheat, cattle), oil,
natural gas
Major Rivers - Arkansas River, Canadian River, Red
River
Major Lakes - Lake Texoma, Eufaula Lake, Lake Hudson,
Lake O' the Cherokees, Gibson Lake, Oologah Lake, Keystone
Lake.
Highest Point - Black Mesa - 4,973 feet (1,516 m)
above sea level
Bordering States - Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas,
Missouri, New Mexico, Texas.
Origin of the Name Oklahoma - The name Oklahoma is
from the Choctaw Indian words "okla" meaning people and "humma"
meaning red.
State Nickname - Sooner State
State Motto - "Labor omnia vincit" - Labor Conquers
All Things
State Song - "Oklahoma!" by Rodgers and Hammerstein
State Flag:
The official state flag of Oklahoma was adopted on April 2,
1925. The flag was chosen from entries in a Daughters of the
American Revolution flag contest. The winning entry was
designed by Mrs. Louise Funk Fluke, an artist from Oklahoma
City. The flag features a sky blue field (this is the
color of the flag that Choctaw soldiers carried during the
Civil War). Oklahoma's flag pictures a Osage Indian
battle shield made of buffalo skin. It is adorned with eagle
feathers and white crosses (the crosses represent the
stars in the sky, and symbolize higher purposes in Native
American culture). A gray peace pipe (also called a
calumet) and an olive branch (symbols of peace in
European and Native American cultures) are on the
shield. "OKLAHOMA" is written in white under the shield
(this was added to the flag in 1941).
State Bird:
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher (Muscivora forficata)
State Game Bird:
Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
State Animal:
Buffalo (Bison bison)
State Game Mammal:
White-tail deer
State Furbearer:
Raccoon
State Insect:
Honey bee (Apis mallifera)
State Butterfly:
Black swallowtail
State Reptile:
Collared Lizard (Mountain Boomer) [Crotaphytus collaris]
State Fish:
White or Sand Bass (Morone chrysops)
State Floral Emblem Mistletoe (Phoradendron
serotinum)
State Flower:
Oklahoma Rose
State Wildflower:
Indian Blanket (Gaillardia pulchella)
State Tree:
Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
State Grass:
Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans)
State Rock:
Rose rock - Barite rose
State Soil:
Port Silt Loam (cumulic haplustolls)
State Beverage:
Milk
State Percussion Musical Instrument:
Drum
State Waltz:
"Oklahoma Wind"
State Colors:
Green and White
State Dance:
Square Dance
  
Information From 50states.com and EnchantedLearning.com
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