O is for Oklahoma

Back to an easy letter for me. Well easy if you live in the state of Oklahoma and today's letter is O!

I've lived here for 30 years (wow that seems so long now that I type it out). I came here to go to college and never left. So here's some interesting facts about Oklahoma.

Oklahoma is the 46th state joining the United States in 1907. You would have thought that someplace in the middle of the country would have been a state a lot earlier than that but it was Indian Territory. The Oklahoma land run was April 22, 1889. This was when they opened up the territory for homestead claims. But some people jumped the gun and became "Sooners". Hence the state nickname.

The capital is in Oklahoma City and has a working oil rig on it. Yes oil and gas are king in the state.

The name Oklahoma is from the Choctaw language combining two words meaning "red people". If you saw our soil, you might think it means red dirt.

Oklahoma has the highest number of man-made lakes for any state. They say we have more miles of water lined property than anywhere else. Of course that was before the drought.


Oklahoma is the only state that has a state song from a Broadway musical. And I bet a lot of you can sing it even if you've never been here.

We have a state bird (Scissor-tail Flycatcher), reptile (Collared Lizard), amphibian (Bullfrog), mammal (American Bison), fish (Sand Bass), insect (Honeybee) like most states. But does your state have a state fossil (Saurophaganax maximus) or butterfly (Black Swallowtail)? How about having mistletoe be your state floral emblem but flower is the Oklahoma Rose and wildflower is Indian Blanket. Do you have a state gospel song (Swing Low, Sweet Chariot) or waltz (Oklahoma Wind)? How many states have milk as the official state beverage (yes we are in the Bible belt)?

So I end today with a quote from the state song:

Your doin' fine Oklahoma! Oklahoma, O.K.