Portal:Oklahoma

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Introduction

Oklahoma (/ˌoʊkləˈhoʊmə/ (listen)) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, Texas on the south, New Mexico on the west, and Colorado on the northwest. It is the 20th-most extensive and the 28th-most populous of the fifty United States. The state’s name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning “red people”. It is also known informally by its nickname, “The Sooner State“, in reference to the non-Native settlers who staked their claims on land before the official opening date of lands in the western Oklahoma Territory or before the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889, which dramatically increased European-American settlement in the eastern Indian Territory. Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory were merged into the State of Oklahoma when it became the 46th state to enter the union on November 16, 1907. Its residents are known as Oklahomans (or colloquially, “Okies”), and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City.

A major producer of natural gas, oil, and agricultural products, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology. Both Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma’s primary economic anchors, with nearly two thirds of Oklahomans living within their metropolitan statistical areas.

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Northeastern State University (NSU) is a public university with its main campus located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, at the foot of the Ozark Mountains. Northeastern’s home, Tahlequah, is also the capital of The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow.

The school was founded on May 7, 1851, as the Cherokee National Female Seminary. On March 6, 1909, the State Legislature of Oklahoma passed an act providing for the creation and location of Northeastern State Normal School at Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and for the purchase from the Cherokee Tribal Government of the building, land, and equipment of the Cherokee Female Seminary. In the 1950s Northeastern emerged as a comprehensive state college, broadening its curriculum at the baccalaureate level to encompass liberal arts subjects and adding a fifth year program designed to prepare master teachers for elementary and secondary schools. In 1974, the Oklahoma Legislature authorized that the name of the institution be changed from Northeastern State Normal School to Northeastern Oklahoma State University and then again in 1985 to Northeastern State University. (Read more . . . )

Spotlight city

Edmond is a rapidly growing suburban city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma in the central part of the state. It is the sixth largest city in the state of Oklahoma and is part of the Greater Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of July 2006, the city had 76,644 residents.

Being the highest point along the Santa Fe rail line in Oklahoma Territory, Edmond was originally named “Summit” and was a watering and sanding point for the railroad in the 1880s. The town was given its current name (after an engineer on the railroad) by the Santa Fe railroad headquarters in Topeka after the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889. Though most of the remnants of the old railroad infrastructure are gone, the Santa Fe, now BNSF, line still runs through the same course.(Read more…)

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Credit: User:Okiefromokla
The Glass Mountains in Oklahoma. Taken from the top of a mesa at Glass Mountains State Park.

Did you know…

…that Tulsa is often considered the birthplace of U.S. Route 66?
…that Oklahoma has the longest drivable stretch of Route 66 in the nation?
…that in 1927, Oklahoma businessman Cyrus Avery, known the “Father of Route 66,” proposed using an existing stretch of highway from Amarillo, Texas to Tulsa for the original portion of Highway 66?
…that Oklahoman Cyrus Avery spearheaded the creation of the U.S. Highway 66 Association, the organization that oversaw the planning and creation of Route 66, and he placed the organization’s headquarters in Tulsa?

Featured content

Featured articles: Black Seminoles • Chickasaw Turnpike • Jim Thorpe • Oklahoma • Tulsa, Oklahoma • Woody Guthrie • Oklahoma City bombing • Brad Pitt

Featured lists: Oklahoma birds • Tallest buildings in Tulsa • List of tallest buildings in Oklahoma City • List of birds of Oklahoma • List of Oklahoma Sooners football seasons • List of Oklahoma Sooners head football coaches • List of Oklahoma Sooners in the NFL Draft

State facts

Oklahoma State Capitol building

Nickname:The Sooner State
Capital and largest city: Oklahoma City
Governor: Mary Fallin (R)
Total area: 181,196 square kilometers (69,960 square miles)
Population (2010 census): 3,751,351
Date admitted to the Union: November 16, 1907
Senators: James M. Inhofe (R), James Lankford (R)
Representatives: Vacant seat 1, Markwayne Mullin (R), Frank D. Lucas (R), Tom Cole (R), Steve Russell (R)

State symbols

The Scissortail Flycatcher, Oklahoma’s state bird

Mammal: Bison
Bird: Scissor-tailed flycatcher
Fish: White bass
Floral emblem: Mistletoe
Flower: Oklahoma Rose
Grass: Indian grass
Insect: Honeybee
Tree: Redbud
Fossil: Allosaurid dinosaur
Rock: Rose Rock
Soil: Port Silt Loam
Song: Oklahoma!
Beverage: Milk

Selected biography

Frank “Pop” Ivy (January 25, 1916 – May 17, 2003) was a football player and coach, who holds the unique distinction of being the only person ever to serve as a head coach in the National Football League, the American Football League and the Western Interprovincial Football Union.

A native of Skiatook, Oklahoma, Ivy played for the University of Oklahoma beginning in 1937. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1940 NFL draft, but was traded to the Chicago Cardinals on October 17. Ivy would continue to see action on both sides of the ball throughout the rest of his NFL career, and in 1942, he had his best season with 27 receptions, second behind the legendary Don Hutson. His time on the gridiron was interrupted for more than two years by his service in World War II, but he closed out his career in 1947 by helping the franchise to its only NFL title. Ivy was on the sidelines for the NFL Championship, having separated his shoulder just weeks earlier. (Read more…)

Oklahoma news

2016

May
- Lawmakers approve a bill that would make performing abortions a felony, and revoke the medical license of most assisting physicians, the first such proposed law in the US [1]