70 Fun Facts About Oklahoma

Oklahoma joined the Union in 1907 as which numbered state?

President Theodore Roosevelt signed the proclamation on November 16, 1907, merging Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory into a single state.

The name Oklahoma comes from two words in which Native American language?

Okla means 'people' and humma translates as 'red', so the state's name is usually rendered as 'red people'.

Oklahoma's official nickname comes from settlers who did what during the land openings?

The rule-breakers hid on the unoccupied land and popped up at the legal moment to grab the choicest homesteads, and the insult eventually became the state's badge.

The Land Rush of 1889 opened the Unassigned Lands at high noon on which date?

An estimated 50,000 people lined up for two million acres, and by nightfall Oklahoma City and Guthrie each had around 10,000 residents.

Roughly how many people were lined up at the start of the Land Rush of 1889?

Under the Homestead Act each settler could claim up to 160 acres, provided they lived on the land and improved it.

Which 1835 agreement gave the Cherokee two years to move to Indian Territory before removal?

Most Cherokee refused to recognise it, and roughly a quarter of those who made the trek west did not survive it.

Approximately how many Cherokees died on the forced march to what is now Oklahoma?

The Treaty of New Echota, signed December 29, 1835, had given the Cherokee two years to move west; most refused and were driven out by the army in 1838.

Which president signed the 1830 Indian Removal Act that sent the southeastern tribes to Indian Territory?

The law provided the legal framework for the removals; the actual Cherokee march took place under his successor in 1838.

In 1905 Indian Territory leaders drafted a constitution for a state to be named after which man?

The convention met in Muskogee, but Roosevelt wanted a single state and Congress folded both territories into Oklahoma two years later.

Oklahoma's capital moved from Guthrie to Oklahoma City after a popular vote in which year?

Democrats wanted out of what they saw as a Republican stronghold; the state seal was famously spirited away to Oklahoma City overnight.

Which state gave up the future Oklahoma Panhandle so slavery could stay legal within its borders?

Federal law barred slavery north of 36°30', so the strip was surrendered in the Compromise of 1850 and sat as 'No Man's Land' with no owner until 1890.

Which Oklahoma county is the only one in the United States that borders four different states?

It touches four neighbouring states at once, and it also holds Black Mesa, the highest point in Oklahoma.

Black Mesa, Oklahoma's highest point, rises to roughly what elevation?

It sits in the far northwest corner of the panhandle; the state's low point, on the Little River in the southeast, is under 300 feet.

Which panhandle town was accidentally bombed by a U.S. B-17 crew on a training flight in July 1943?

The crew missed their real target across the state line, mistook the four lights around the town square for it, and dropped six practice bombs; nobody was hurt.

Oklahoma has four primary mountain ranges. Which of these is one of them?

The others are the Ouachita, Ozark and Wichita ranges; the state packs 11 distinct ecological regions inside its borders.

In 1907 the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge received 15 bison shipped from which institution?

Six bulls and nine cows made the trip; the herd now numbers around 650 and the refuge is the oldest managed wildlife facility in the federal system.

On average, about how many tornadoes strike Oklahoma each year?

That is one of the highest rates anywhere in the world, which is why the country's severe-storm forecasters are based in the state.

The Storm Prediction Center, which issues US tornado watches, is based in which Oklahoma city?

It moved there in January 1997 and since 2006 has shared the National Weather Center building with the National Severe Storms Laboratory.

What was the record Doppler-measured wind speed of the May 3, 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado?

A Doppler on Wheels truck took the reading; the F5 storm killed 36 people directly as it tore through the southern Oklahoma City suburbs.

Tulsa, the 'Oil Capital of the World' for most of the 20th century, sits on which river?

The city grew up in the western foothills of the Ozarks and still has one of the largest concentrations of Art Deco architecture in the country, much of it built with oil money.

What makes the grounds of the Oklahoma State Capitol unique among U.S. state capitols?

Oil was discovered inside the city limits in 1928, including under the capitol itself, and derricks have dotted the lawn ever since.

The Oklahoma State Capitol was completed in 1917 but did not get its dome until which year?

The dome, capped by a 22-foot bronze sculpture called The Guardian, was added roughly 85 years after the building opened.

Which Oklahoma town, the 'Pipeline Crossroads of the World', is the pricing point for US benchmark crude?

Tank farms around the town can hold more than 90 million barrels, and it is the delivery point for the NYMEX crude futures contract.

The Nellie Johnstone, Oklahoma's first commercial oil well, struck oil near Bartlesville in which year?

Frank Phillips later founded Phillips Petroleum in the same town while it was still part of Indian Territory.

Which architect designed Bartlesville's Price Tower, 'the tree that escaped the crowded forest'?

The 19-story tower, opened in 1956 for a pipeline-construction company, is described as his only completed skyscraper.

The Tulsa race massacre of 1921 destroyed which neighborhood, known as 'Black Wall Street'?

White mobs burned more than 35 square blocks; a state commission later put the death toll anywhere from 39 to around 300.

The Osage murders, later the subject of Killers of the Flower Moon, were driven by Osage wealth from what?

At least 60 wealthy Osage were reported killed between 1918 and 1931, and the case became an early showcase for the Bureau of Investigation, forerunner of the FBI.

The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing destroyed a federal building named after which judge?

The blast on April 19 killed 168 people, including 19 children, and remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.

How many of the Oklahoma City Memorial's 168 chairs are the smaller size representing children?

Twin bronze Gates of Time flank the reflecting pool, marked 9:01 for the last moment of peace and 9:03 for the first moment of recovery.

The Survivor Tree at the Oklahoma City National Memorial is what kind of tree?

It stood on the north side of the site, was badly damaged by the bomb, and lived; the outdoor memorial was dedicated on the fifth anniversary in 2000.

The world's first installed parking meter went into service in Oklahoma City in which year?

Lawyer and newspaper publisher Carl C. Magee commissioned the device; two engineers designed the first working model, dubbed the Black Maria.

Sylvan Goldman, owner of Oklahoma's Humpty Dumpty supermarkets, introduced which invention in 1937?

He got the idea from a folding chair with a basket on the seat; early shoppers snubbed it until he hired models to push carts around the store.

The Oklahoma City-based Sonic chain opened its first location in 1953 under what name?

The name was already trademarked, so in 1959 the founders switched to Sonic to match their slogan 'Service with the Speed of Sound'.

Which Tulsa businessman, called the 'Father of Route 66', launched the campaign to create the highway?

He founded the U.S. Highway 66 Association in Tulsa in 1925, and the Chicago-to-Los Angeles road was designated in November 1926.

Hugh Davis built the Blue Whale of Catoosa on Route 66 in the early 1970s as a gift for whom?

Zelta Davis collected whale figurines; the concrete-and-iron whale was unveiled to her on September 7, 1972, for their 34th anniversary.

Tulsa's 76-foot Golden Driller was adopted by the legislature in 1979 as the official state what?

It weighs 43,500 pounds and has stood outside the Tulsa Expo Center since the 1966 International Petroleum Exposition.

The Grapes of Wrath follows the Joads, Oklahoma tenant farmers driven west during which crisis?

The 1939 novel, which starts with Tom Joad's parole from McAlester prison, was filmed the next year by John Ford with Henry Fonda.

Which Okemah-born folk singer wrote 'This Land Is Your Land'?

He wrote it in February 1940 as a retort to hearing 'God Bless America' too often on the radio; his 'Oklahoma Hills' is now the official state folk song.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's first musical, Oklahoma!, was based on which 1931 play?

The show opened on Broadway on March 31, 1943, ran for 2,212 performances and earned the pair a special Pulitzer Prize in 1944.

Will Rogers and Wiley Post died in a plane crash near Point Barrow, in which territory?

Rogers, born near Oologah as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, was 'Oklahoma's Favorite Son'; Post had been the first pilot to fly solo around the world in 1933.

Wiley Post wore an eyepatch after metal pierced his left eye in 1926 while working where?

A piece of metal pierced the eye and infection blinded it; he later helped B.F. Goodrich build the world's first practical pressure suit.

Jim Thorpe won gold at the 1912 Olympics in which two events?

The medals were stripped in 1913 for semi-pro baseball, restored with replicas in 1983, and only in 2022 was he listed again as sole champion in both.

Mickey Mantle, born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma, earned what nickname from the town where he grew up?

The switch-hitting Yankee wore No. 7, hit 536 home runs and won the 1956 Triple Crown with a .353 average, 52 homers and 130 RBIs.

Garth Brooks attended Oklahoma State University on a track scholarship, competing in which event?

The Tulsa-born singer went on to become the best-selling solo albums artist in U.S. history, ahead of Elvis Presley.

Before moving to Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder franchise played in which city?

Oklahoma City had already auditioned as an NBA town by hosting the New Orleans Hornets for two seasons after Hurricane Katrina.

The Thunder won their first NBA title in Oklahoma City in 2025 by beating which team in seven games?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named league MVP that May, only the third player in franchise history to win the award.

What are the two white ponies that pull Oklahoma's touchdown Conestoga wagon named?

Driven by the RUF/NEKS spirit squad, the wagon first appeared in 1964 and became the university's official mascot in 1980.

The Bedlam game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State ended after 2023 when the Sooners joined which conference?

The name Bedlam actually comes from the schools' rowdy wrestling crowds at Gallagher-Iba Arena, not from football; the first football meeting in 1904 ended 75-0.

How many NCAA team titles has Oklahoma State wrestling won, the most of any school in any sport?

Home meets are held in Gallagher-Iba Arena, named partly for the wrestling coach Edward C. Gallagher and partly for basketball coach Henry Iba.

Which bird, famous for its extravagantly long forked tail, is Oklahoma's state bird?

It appears on the 2008 Oklahoma state quarter, backed by Indian blanket, the state wildflower.

Which parasitic plant has been Oklahoma's official floral emblem since 1893?

The rose was not named state flower until 2004; the wildflower is Indian blanket and the state tree is the redbud.

Oklahoma's official state meal, adopted in 1988, features which of these among its dozen dishes?

The full spread runs to fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecued pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits, corn, strawberries, pecan pie and black-eyed peas.

Which fruit is, unusually, Oklahoma's official state vegetable?

The 2007 designation caused a minor culinary stir; the state beverage is milk and the state percussive instrument is the drum.

Oklahoma's flag shows an Osage war shield with seven eagle feathers on a field of what colour?

The earlier 1911 flag was a white star on a red field, replaced in 1925 partly because red flags had become associated with communism.

Which town is capital of both the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band?

It was founded as the Cherokee capital in 1839 and is the setting for Wilson Rawls' Where the Red Fern Grows.

Which justice wrote the 2020 McGirt v. Oklahoma opinion on the Muscogee (Creek) reservation?

'Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word', he wrote in the 5-4 ruling that made much of eastern Oklahoma Indian country.

S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders is set in 1960s Tulsa. How old was Hinton when she began writing it?

She wrote most of it at 16 as a high-school junior; Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 film version launched several future stars.

Which Oklahoma City-born author won the 1953 National Book Award for Invisible Man?

Named for Ralph Waldo Emerson, he published his only finished novel in 1952 and it made him a fixture of the literary establishment.

Reba McEntire was discovered singing the national anthem in 1974 at which Oklahoma City event?

Her father and grandfather were both world-champion steer ropers; Red Steagall heard her at the National Finals Rodeo and helped land her first record deal.

Which Hollywood star was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, in 1963 before his family moved to Missouri?

The family soon settled in Springfield, Missouri; Shawnee is also where the Sonic Drive-In chain started.

The Oklahoma City institution built around Fraser's End of the Trail sculpture opened in 1955 under what name?

Now the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, its Hall of Great Western Performers includes John Wayne, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry.

Oklahoma holds the highest number in the nation of what kind of water body?

Some 200 lakes were created by dams, fed by more than 500 named creeks and rivers in the Red and Arkansas basins.

Roughly how large is the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, the world's largest protected area of its kind?

The ecosystem once covered fourteen states and now survives on about ten percent of its former range.

Oklahoma has 25 Native American languages spoken within it, second only to which state?

Only Cherokee shows real vitality, and Ethnologue considers even it moribund, with active speakers mostly of grandparent age.

Which airline's global maintenance headquarters in Tulsa is the world's largest such base?

Aerospace makes up more than 10 percent of the state's industrial output.

In 2019, roughly what share of Oklahoma's electricity came from wind power?

Natural gas supplied 53.5%; the state is the nation's third-largest gas producer.

Which Tulsa venue, Bob Wills's 1930s base, is the 'Carnegie Hall of Western Swing'?

Stillwater, meanwhile, is the epicentre of Red Dirt music, associated with the late Bob Childers.

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art holds the world's largest collection of whose glass sculptures?

Shawnee's Mabee-Gerrer Museum claims the finest Egyptian collection between Chicago and Los Angeles.

ESPN called Oklahoma City the centre of which sport's universe in 2020?

USA Softball is headquartered there at a complex with Devon Park, which hosts the Women's College World Series every year.

Which Tulsa-area harbour, at the head of the McClellan-Kerr system, is one of the most inland US ports?

It ships over two million tons of goods a year and is a designated foreign trade zone linked by barge to the Mississippi.