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JIM MARION ETTERThe Sooner State is emerging from its grim and troubled past.
The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of our young nation. Here is the fourth in a series of articles reporting, state by state, what the Louisiana Purchase represents now.
"Back during the Great Depression and the days of the Dust Bowl, a lot of people moved from Oklahoma to California - and it raised the IQ of both states."
Whether Will Rogers actually said that is debatable, but many folks claim that even if the late cowboy-philosopher didn't, it describes the spirit of the Sooner State.
Oklahomans, with backgrounds as varied as the state's landscape, seem to share a vitality that epitomizes America itself - but especially a certain get-up-and-go that shows not only in football.
It is evident in their troubled history of droughts and crop failures, deadly tornadoes and even the 1995 Murrah Building bombing in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people.
Rogers, the grinning, rope-twirling entertainer who was part Cherokee, is also often quoted for something he definitely did say: "I never met a man I didn't like."
That shows, too, in Oklahomans' friendliness and eagerness to help others.
After rescue workers from elsewhere helped during the '95 bombing - and praised Oklahomans who, despite their suffering, made the visitors feel at home - several Oklahomans rushed to New York to help after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The Oklahoma City National Memorial recently ended a 20-month exhibit called "A Shared Experience," linking the Oklahoma City and 9/11 tragedies - a unique situation that memorial director Kari Watkins described in the simplest terms: "What really matters is trying to help one another."
Beyond the remembrance of the tragedy, Oklahoma is moving past its stereotypes of cattle, wheat and oil wells and is experiencing growing pains, mainly felt in the pocketbook.
"Adolescence" and a land rush
Gov. Brad Henry says state budget problems and tough economic times for rural schools and small towns are being met by a special team of economic development experts, and that "We are more than up to the challenge."
Although Oklahoma "maintains its rural and agricultural heritage," he said, "we are not mired in the past. . . . This state is expansive enough to accommodate both old and new."
The "old" - and how residents see it - has been part of the problem, says Bob Blackburn, director of the Oklahoma Historical Society.
"Because of our settlement pattern, we're like a patchwork quilt," he said. "People in the north talk about the Cherokee Outlet; people in the southeast - the Choctaws - talk about the Trail of Tears. Everyone has his own local history."
He believes attitudes are improving, however.
"After being in our adolescence for 150 years, I think we're about to come into our own as a state."
Chad Smith, principal chief of the Cherokees, the state's largest tribe, only partly agrees:
"Oklahoma has to recognize all the accomplishments of the various tribes. Until that happens, we will not have the progress the people would love to see."
The state is home to numerous tribes, including many that moved into most of what is now Oklahoma, which in 1830 officially became Indian Territory.
The Choctaws, Creeks and Cherokees - many of whom were forcibly moved from Florida and elsewhere in the Southeast - plus several other tribes were colonized in the territory. They joined the Wichitas, Caddoes, Kiowas, Comanches, Quapaws and Osages already there.
Generations later, part of the territory was opened to settlement with an organized land run in 1889. When some participants illegally started too early, they were dubbed "sooners," which was adopted as the nickname of the University of Oklahoma teams.
Roughly the western half of the large region then became the Territory of Oklahoma (a Choctaw word meaning "Red People").
This new territory also took in the Oklahoma Panhandle, sometimes called No Man's Land. Six years later the territory, still not a state, gained a portion of the territory's southwest previously claimed by Texas.
The two territories joined - during a ceremony of a symbolic "marriage" between a cowboy and an Indian maiden - to become the 46th state, on Nov. 16, 1907.
Outlaws and oil
Oklahoma's history has been called a jumble of feats and calamities, many with colorful names.
Consider the Santa Fe Trail, a 19th century traders route from Missouri into the province of Mexico that crossed the present-day Oklahoma Panhandle; Cutthroat Gap, where in 1833 a Kiowa camp of about 150 women, children and old men were slaughtered by an Osage raiding party; and Honey Springs, site of one of several Civil War battles in Indian Territory.
Also, the Battle of the Washita refers to a river valley where then-Lt. Col. George A. Custer and his cavalry laid waste to a snow-covered village of Southern Cheyennes on a November morning in 1868.
The Chisholm Trail, named for trader and part-Indian Jesse Chisholm in 1867, for 20 years was the route over which Texas cattle were driven across Indian Territory to Kansas. The Great Western, another Texas cattle trail, started crossing the territory in 1874.
The year 1875 began a period of two decades during which hard-riding deputies cleaned the wild territory of outlaws for U.S. Judge Isaac Parker of the Western District of Arkansas - the "Hanging Judge," who sentenced 160 men to the gallows in Fort Smith. Outlaws nabbed included:
In 1889, Belle Starr, known as "the Bandit Queen," was killed when shot off her horse from ambush.
In 1892, Ned Christie, called the "Cherokee Bandit," was killed by a posse of lawmen.
The 1893 "Shootout at Ingalls," between the Bill Doolin outlaw gang and federal lawmen, left three deputies and two bystanders dead.
The same year, the "Cherokee Strip," the informal name for the Cherokee Outlet, was opened to settlement to become Oklahoma's largest land run.
Oklahoma's first commercial oil well was reportedly discovered in 1897 near Bartlesville, as "Nellie Johnstone No. 1," by the Cudahy Oil Co.
In 1909, four murder suspects were lynched in a livery barn in Ada. Overnight, folks said, the crime-ridden town turned peaceful.
In 1921, the "Tulsa race war," a riot involving whites and blacks, left about 300 dead.
Also in the early 1920s, at least 23 oil-rich Indians were murdered - known as the "Osage Reign of Terror."
Pistol Pete and John Steinbeck
It should be noted that not all the famous people in Oklahoma's history were evildoers:
Washington Irving wrote A Tour of the Prairies after crossing the territory in 1832. Sequoyah invented the Cherokee alphabet. Sam Houston, former Tennessee governor, lived with the Cherokees before becoming the first president of the Republic of Texas. And Jim Thorpe, the Native American, was nicknamed the "World's Greatest Athlete" because of his unprecedented successes during the 1912 Olympic Games in Sweden - followed by pro baseball and football.
The state also is the home of six astronauts, four Miss Americas, and writers, artists, entertainers and a bunch of rodeo performers.
Probably none of them resembles the readily recognized Frank Eaton, the mustachioed cowboy storyteller known as "Pistol Pete." In 1923, Eaton's caricature was adopted as the mascot of Oklahoma A&M College (later Oklahoma State University). Later, his frontier image would also become the logo for New Mexico State University and the University of Wyoming.
In 1931, a play by Claremore writer Lynn Riggs, Green Grow the Lilacs, was produced and inspired the musical Oklahoma! That show was composed in the early 1940s by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and the title song became the official state song.
In the early 1930s the Great Depression was felt in Oklahoma, followed by days of blowing earth in the region to become known as the Dust Bowl.
In 1934, outlaw Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd was buried in the tiny Akins cemetery, which was stampeded by thousands of spectators.
In 1939, John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath was published and became the classic novel about Oklahomans fleeing the Dust Bowl.
Also in the '30s, Bob Wills, a native of Texas, gained fame in Oklahoma with his fiddle music and songs, including Faded Love - now Oklahoma's official state Western song - and Take Me Back to Tulsa.
In 1969, country singer Merle Haggard composed and first sang Okie from Muskogee, which gained a certain popularity beyond anyone who ever pulled on cowboy boots.
In 1975 Gov. David Hall was convicted of extortion and bribery and sent to federal prison.
The early 1980s brought the "oil bust," when petroleum prices dropped, bringing a good deal of financial woe to the state.
Oklahoma is known also for its tornadoes, and in 1999 some of the most powerful ever recorded here stuck the Oklahoma City area, killing 40 people and causing damage estimated at more than $1-billion.
The state has recovered from those problems, and Oklahoma's image is changing. The state is receiving more emigrants from Mexico, and Oklahomans are accepting - however slowly - Spanish as their second language.
While many anticipate the state's 2007 centennial - there is a handsome new dome on the Capitol - others still voice money worries.
Gov. Henry, remaining upbeat, offers a favorite Will Rogers saying of his own: "The best way out of difficulty is through it."
- Jim Marion Etter is a freelance writer whose books about his home state include Ghost-Town Tales of Oklahoma: Unforgettable Stories of Nearly Forgotten Places. His Web site is www.jimetter.com
On the Web
Readers can find all the articles in our series on the Louisiana Purchase, which runs to next May, by going to the Web site www.sptimes.com/lapurchase There are links to the installments and interactive features.
The state's top two festivals
The '89er Celebration, Guthrie. Next April will be the 75th commemoration of the Land Run of 1889, into what was the Unassigned Lands in the center of Indian Territory - this was the first land run (also called land rush) into present-day Oklahoma, which brought about the establishment of Oklahoma Territory. The dates are April 20-25.
For more information, contact the Guthrie Convention and Visitors Bureau, 405 282-1947; www.guthrieok.com Red Earth, Oklahoma City. The 18th annual celebration of American Indian heritage, traditions and artistry will be June 4-6, 2004. Contact the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau, (405) 297-8912 or toll-free 1-800-225-5652; www.redearth.org
The best state legend, true or not
During the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s, many people moved from Oklahoma to California - and it raised the IQ of both states. This is attributed to Will Rogers, but it is not confirmed that he was the first to say it - nor that it is true.
Three must-see places
The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum displays a large collection of Western art that helps define the truth around the legend. 1700 NE 63rd St., Oklahoma City, OK 73111; call 405 478-2250; go to www.cowboyhalloffame.org
Will Rogers Memorial, in Claremore, is dedicated to keeping alive the wit and wisdom of an early 20th century treasure. Contact the museum toll-free at 1-800-324-9455, or send e-mail to wrinfo@willrogers.com or go to www.willrogers.com/homepage.html The museum is at 1720 W Will Rogers Blvd., Claremore, OK 74017. That's a few miles south of his birthplace in Oologah, at the Dog Iron Ranch; it can also be visited. Directions to both the museum and birthplace are on the Web site.
Cherokee Heritage Center was established 40 years ago to preserve that tribe's culture. It is also the site of Tsa-La-Gi Ancient Village and Trail of Tears Drama, and is in Tahlequah. To contact the center, call 918 456-6007 or send e-mail to info@CherokeeHeritage.org There is an extensive Web site at www.cherokeeheritage.org
Three places to avoid
Western tip of the Panhandle on the coldest day of winter.
Southwest Oklahoma on the hottest day of summer.
Southeast Oklahoma on the summer's most humid day.
Best place to taste regional cooking
Krebs is the site of such noted "Oklahoma-Italian" restaurants as:
Pete's Place, 918 423-2042; www.Eat@petes.org Isle of Capri, 918 423-3062.
Roseanna's Italian Food, (918) 423-2055; www.roseannas.com
Lovera's Family Grocery, toll-free order line 1-800-854-1417; www.loveras-italian.com
Famous native son/daughter
You know by now: Will Rogers. He was born in 1879 on a large ranch in the Cherokee Nation. A biographer writes that Rogers was taught by a freed slave how to use a lasso - a necessity for working the Longhorn cattle on his family ranch. But Rogers honed the skill so that he could throw three lassos at once: One caught a running horse's neck, another would catch the rider aboard that horse and the third went under the the horse around its four legs.
That sort of trick took him first to Wild West shows then, as he learned a line of jokes and wry comments about current events, into vaudeville. He also appeared in 71 films, had a syndicated newspaper column and was often heard on radio. Rogers died in a plane crash in 1935.
Major problem residents now face
The decline of small towns and the loss of community that represents.
Best joke that locals tell on themselves or on the rival state
Here's one that demonstrates cowboy humor, and a bonus joke on Texas:
The Cimarron River was named when some cowboys in the Panhandle were trying to cook beans with water from the river, and the water wouldn't boil, it would only simmer - so one cowboy said, "Simmer on, beans, simmer on!"
And this one on the neighbors:
"Texas would be a nice place if it weren't so dang full of Texans."
- JIM MARION ETTER