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A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....11-14,15-07....Oklahoma ~ "The Sooner State" Turns 100!
Aquamarine; Billie

Posted on 11/13/2007 9:04:53 PM PST by Aquamarine




A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day
Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 200,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.
A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.
On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY







Oklahoma's 100th Birthday!

Oklahoma celebrates its 100th anniversary of statehood on November 16, 2007.
We invite you to learn more about the Oklahoma Centennial by exploring their website (click on Seal above), and we encourage you to join Oklahomans as they Celebrate Oklahoma!

Over the past four years we have taken A Few of FR's Finest on a cyber tour of many of the states in this great land of ours; today we are featuring the state of Oklahoma, as it approaches its 100th birthday.
If you'd like to see the other states we've visited since Mama_Bear took us to "Sweet Home Alabama" on May 23, 2003, just click on each STATE on the map below, and the thread will open in a separate window. (States with a white * have not been profiled yet.)
Alabama Maryland Vermont Utah Texas Nevada Wash DC Tennessee Florida Minnesota New Mexico Georgia Louisiana Michigan South Dakota California South Carolina West Virginia Oregon Pennsylvania Wyoming Mississippi Missouri Indiana Virginia Colorado Idaho New Hampshire Hawaii Maine North Carolina Arizona Iowa Alaska Massachusetts Kansas Delaware Washington North Dakota Montana Kentucky Illinois Arkansas Rhode Island New York Ohio Oklahoma Connecticut Nebraska New Jersey Wisconsin











The present Oklahoma State Flag adopted by the State Legislature in 1925, is Oklahoma's 14th flag. This shows a sky blue field with a central device: an Indian war shield of tan buckskin showing small crosses on the face -- the Indian design for stars -- and seven eagle feathers pendent for the edge of the shield. An Indian peace pipe (calumet) with a pipestone bowl and a tassel at the end of the pipestem lies on the shield; above the Indian peace pipe is an olive branch, the white man's emblem of peace. Underneath the shield or design in white letters is the word "Oklahoma."






Brief Oklahoma History
Evidence exists that native peoples traveled through Oklahoma as early as the last ice age, but the state's first permanent inhabitants settled in communities accentuated with mound-like structures near the Arkansas border between 850 and 1450 AD. Spaniard Francisco Vásquez de Coronado traveled through the state in 1541, but French explorers claimed the area in the 1700s and it remained under French rule until 1803, when all the French territory west of the Mississippi River was purchased by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase.
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
"End of the trail" By James Earle Fraser - Oklahoma City, OK
Cowboys drove cattle across the state in the late 19th century. Thousands of Native Americans, including those making up the "Five Civilized Tribes", were removed from their lands in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee and transported to Oklahoma in the 1830s. The area, already occupied by Osage and Quapaw tribes, was designated Indian Territory by the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834. Fifteen tribes were given land within the territory in 1830, but by 1890, more than 30 tribes had been allocated federal land.

SOONERS
Major land runs, including the Land Run of 1889, were held for settlers on the hour that certain territories were opened to settlement. Usually, land was allocated to settlers on a first come, first served basis. Those who broke the rules by crossing the border into the territory before it was allowed, were said to have been crossing the border sooner, leading to the term sooners, which eventually became the state's official nickname. Delegations to make the territory into a state began near the turn of the 19th century, when the Curius Act abolished all tribal jurisdiction in Indian Territory. Failed attempts to create an all-Indian state named Oklahoma, and a later attempt to create an all-Indian state named Sequoyah failed, but the Sequoyah Statehood Convention of 1905 eventually laid the groundwork for the Oklahoma Statehood Convention, which took place two years later. On November 16, 1907, Oklahoma was established as the 46th state in the Union.


  • Its name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning "red people," and is known informally by its nickname, The Sooner State.

  • With 3,579,212 residents in 2006, it is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state by land area.

  • 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.

  • Formed from Indian Territory on November 16, 1907. Its people are known as Oklahomans, and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City.



  • In 2005, the Oklahoma state senate decided that their state fruit would be the Strawberry. The strawberry bill was proposed by a group of fifth graders when they discovered that Oklahoma did not have a state fruit.

  • Most of the state lies in an area known as Tornado Alley characterized by frequent interaction between cold and warm air masses producing severe weather.

  • Tulsa has been credited as the birthplace of Route 66 and the home of Western Swing music.

  • Oklahoma is the fifth-largest producer of crude oil in the nation.

  • Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma's primary economic anchors, with nearly 60 percent of Oklahomans living in their metropolitan statistical areas.

  • Bob Dunn a musician from Beggs invented the first electric guitar 1935.

  • It is located on a confluence of three major American cultural regions and historically served as a route for cattle drives, a destination for southern settlers, and a government-sanctioned territory for Native Americans.










In an attempt to scalp an enemy, Chief Pawhuska once pulled at a man's white hair. The man's wig came off in his hand. The chief kept this powerful "magic" the rest of his life and took the name meaning "white hair."






Tulsa

A small town near the banks of the Arkansas River in 1901, Tulsa's first oil well, named Sue Bland No. 1, was established that year. By 1905, the discovery of the large Glenn Pool nearby prompted a rush of entrepreneurs to the area's growing number of oil fields. Tulsa's population swelled to over 140,000 between 1901 and 1930.
For most of the 20th century, the city held the nickname "Oil Capital of the World" and played a major role as one of the most important hubs for the American oil industry.
Part of the Bible Belt, widespread beliefs in evangelical Christianity make Oklahoma one of the most politically conservative states.
Oklahoma is part of a geographical region characterized by widespread beliefs in Biblical Christianity and Evangelical Protestantism known as the "Bible Belt." Spanning the Southeast and Midwest states, the area is known for politically and socially conservative views. Tulsa, the state's second largest city, home to Oral Roberts University, is considered an apex of the region and is known as one of the "buckles of the Bible Belt."



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The collections of Thomas Gilcrease are housed in the world-renowned Gilcrease Museum of Tulsa, which also holds the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art and artifacts of the American West. The museum's charm, beauty and art collections draw thousands of visitors from around the world to the hills just northwest of downtown Tulsa for a glimpse into the past. The Museum also offers an unparalleled collection of Native American art and artifacts, as well as historical manuscripts, documents and maps.



Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City was settled on April 22, 1889, when the area known as the "unassigned lands" was opened for settlement in an event called "The Oklahoma Land Run".
Some 10,000 homesteaders settled what is now downtown Oklahoma City, creating a tent city in a single day. Within 10 years the population had doubled in what became a permanent settlement and the future capital of Oklahoma.
The spacious lobby of Oklahoma City’s Skirvin Hotel became a place where oil tycoons met politicians after it was built in 1911. It also sat empty for nearly 20 years until February, 2007, when it reopened after a $55 million renovation as the Skirvin Hilton, complete with 29 hand-carved Bacchus busts, accented by gold-leafing, that peer from the hotel’s pillars.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Oklahoma City was the site of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995, the largest act of terrorism on American soil prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks and the most destructive act of domestic terrorism in American history.
The Suvivor Tree on the grounds of
the Oklahoma City National Memorial
The blast, which killed 168, became international news and brought to the forefront of the world's mind a city that was little known outside of the region previously. The citizens of Oklahoma City rallied around each other, and the attack served to unite the city as it began a new era of revival.











Oklahoma!
(click on title for music)






Will Rogers was first an Indian, a cowboy then a national figure. He now is a legend.
Born in 1879 on a large ranch in the Cherokee Nation near what later would become Oologah, Oklahoma, Will Rogers was taught by a freed slave how to use a lasso as a tool to work Texas Longhorn cattle on the family ranch.
His hard-earned skills won him jobs trick roping in wild west shows and on the vaudeville stages where, soon, he started telling small jokes.
Quickly, his wise cracks and folksy observations became more prized by audiences than his expert roping. He became recognized as being a very informed and smart philosopher--telling the truth in very simple words so that everyone could understand.
Will Rogers was the star of Broadway and 71 movies of the 1920s and 1930s; a popular broadcaster; besides writing more than 4,000 syndicated newspaper columns and befriending Presidents, Senators and Kings.
During his lifetime, he traveled around the globe three times-- meeting people, covering wars, talking about peace and learning everything possible.
Inside himself, Will Rogers remained a simple Oklahoma cowboy. "I never met a man I didn't like," was his credo of genuine love and respect for humanity and all people everywhere.

Below are just a few of of the tributes and places named after or for Will Rogers.








Micky Mantle, Paul Harvey & Jeane Kirkpatrick ....and of course, our favorite Oklahoman, Jim Robinson, founder and owner of FreeRepublic.com, the best conservative forum on the net.



Websites that provided graphics and information for this tribute...

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
Gilcrease Museum - The Museum of the Americas
Oklahoma State History and Information
Oklahoma www.ok.gov













03-27-07 ~ Hall of Fame #19 ~ Final

THIS WEEK'S THREADS

11-12,13-07 MilitaryTribute

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping'
Every Thursday at the Finest
The guy's good, folks!


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons
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To: Aquamarine

My maternal Grandparents and my wife’s were Sooners.

My Grandparents lived in Oklahoma for the rest of their lives as most of their descendants. Their son and one daughter, who left, ended up in border towns in Texas and Kansas. I was the first real escapee until a nephew and neice left the state. About 95% of my high school graduation class stayed in Oklahoma or returned after school and/or the military.

My wife’s grandparents had two terrible winters in the Lawton area and summers. They returned to the midwest and their families/friends after those two years. My wife’s grandfather developed health problems and died in a few years after their return to the midwest. Her grandmother raised her mother and two uncles by herself during some tough economic times.


61 posted on 11/14/2007 9:14:09 AM PST by Grampa Dave (("Ron Paul and his flaming antiwar spam monkeys can Kiss my Ass!!"- Jim Robinson, Sept, 30, 2007))
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To: La Enchiladita
Hi Dita! That's a gorgeous photo of the Indian Blanket flower.

Didn't know there were so many fans of Oklahoma.

62 posted on 11/14/2007 9:14:16 AM PST by Aquamarine
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To: Grampa Dave
Thanks for the background on your OK ancestors, that's very interesting.

Oklahoma does have extreme weather temperatures in the summer and the winter. Should consider ourselves fortunate that our ancestor's survived the tornadoes that were swirling around them all those years.

63 posted on 11/14/2007 9:20:45 AM PST by Aquamarine
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To: Aquamarine
Checked in on your work several times to find a new direction after becoming stumped. lol

Well, what's a big sistah for, if not to provide direction? ;-)

64 posted on 11/14/2007 9:24:26 AM PST by Mama_Bear (My heroes wear camouflage!)
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To: Aquamarine; All
I didn't know I was a fan until I visited Oklahoma; that sold me, especially meeting the people. It's very "down home."

Also, the folks out there might be interested in knowing the Will Rogers State Park is here in Pacific Palisades, CA and the Will Rogers Elementary School in Santa Monica!! He was very beloved here.

I just happen to have a photo of his ranch house living room in what is now the Park. It is adjacent to the polo grounds, some horse stables, and hiking trails that go up into the Santa Monica Mountains:

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

65 posted on 11/14/2007 9:25:21 AM PST by La Enchiladita
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To: Mama_Bear; All
You're exactly right. :)

Be back in a while...

66 posted on 11/14/2007 9:25:42 AM PST by Aquamarine
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To: Aquamarine
Be back in a while...

Me too. TTYL

67 posted on 11/14/2007 9:26:41 AM PST by Mama_Bear (My heroes wear camouflage!)
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To: La Enchiladita
Also, the folks out there might be interested in knowing the Will Rogers State Park is here in Pacific Palisades, CA and the Will Rogers Elementary School in Santa Monica!! He was very beloved here.

Lots of Okie's went on to settle in CA so I'm not surprised that Will was remembered so fondly there. He died prematurely in a plane crash in Alaska.

68 posted on 11/14/2007 9:28:37 AM PST by Aquamarine
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To: Aquamarine; dutchess; DollyCali; GodBlessUSA; Mama_Bear; JustAmy; All
Good morning, Sistahs, and thank you again, Aqua, for tackling (so successfully!) the difficult job of presenting a Finest State Profile - most especially after taking a few months off from 'building' a post!

Kudos for a job well done because yours was the difficult part - AND you also made many of the graphics, too!


69 posted on 11/14/2007 9:29:24 AM PST by Billie
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To: Aquamarine

Beautiful thread, Aqua. Thank you for bringing us Oklahoma.

My maternal grandmother was born in Altus, OK in 1896.

My mother and I visited relatives in Oklahoma in 1995. I heard a lot of family stories and saw some beautiful country. Also met some wonderful relatives.

Thank you again for this beautiful presentation.

Hugs.


70 posted on 11/14/2007 9:47:20 AM PST by JustAmy (I wear red every Friday, but I support our Military everyday!!)
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To: ST.LOUIE1; Billie; dutchess; DollyCali; GodBlessUSA; Aquamarine; The Mayor; Mama_Bear; MEG33; ...
A SONG OF OKLAHOMA

Oh the plains of Oklahoma
Are beautiful to me
When the gray mirages glimmer
Like the breakers on the sea.

Or when crags and buttes and headlands,
In vermilion shades, and blue
Make perpetual Indian summer
With the sunlight sifting through.

And the hills, when autumn glory
Tints with colors gay and bold,
Every knoll and ridge and canyon
With a wealth of tawny gold.

And the plains of Oklahoma,
Overspread with ice and snow,
Quiet lie in brooding silence,
Save when raging blizzards blow.

Over prairies, vast and lonely,
Where the drifting sand-dunes surge,
Or whirl and roar in desolation,
And sing to earth a mournful dirge.

In the spring the wild gaillardia
Spreads its blanket on the hills,
And the redbud's vivid-color
Shouts a challenge from the rills.

To this land of Oklahoma,
Lured by dreams of home and gold,
Came the Boomers and the Sooners --
Pioneers both young and old,

They subdued her primal wildness,
Where was heard the coyote's call,
Now are cities, homes, and churches,
Fences, farms and derricks tall.

Oh this land of Oklahoma,
In wintry blast, or summer sun,
Names her people by the thousands,
Loyal hearts that she has won.

To her cause they pledge allegiance,
From her bounds they will not roam,
For they love her hills and prairies.
Oklahoma is their home.

By Laressa Cox McBurney
Published in Prairie Panorama in 1938


My Great Half Aunt spent most of her life in Clinton, OK.
I will try to share another of her Oklahoma poems later.


Hope everyone is having a warm fuzzy Wednesday in Oklahoma today. :)

71 posted on 11/14/2007 9:57:03 AM PST by JustAmy (I wear red every Friday, but I support our Military everyday!!)
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To: JustAmy

Your great-aunt wrote that? Very beautiful. She was
quite talented!


72 posted on 11/14/2007 10:03:36 AM PST by luvie (Friendship is neither a contest nor a race. What matters is the feeling involved. <3)
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To: Coldwater Creek

God rest his soul

73 posted on 11/14/2007 10:06:34 AM PST by luvie (Friendship is neither a contest nor a race. What matters is the feeling involved. <3)
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To: LUV W

Thank you.

She wrote several poems; I have two books of poems. I have several typed and will post another later. Most of my genealogy info for that line came from her work and dedication in getting it all assembled.

I need to make a run to the post office and the bank.


74 posted on 11/14/2007 10:15:08 AM PST by JustAmy (I wear red every Friday, but I support our Military everyday!!)
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To: Aquamarine
Lots of Okie's went on to settle in CA so I'm not surprised that Will was remembered so fondly there.

That brings to mind Steinbeck's epic novel, The Grapes of Wrath. It's such a hard story to read about this Oklahoma family struggling against all odds to preserve their dignity, but it was the story of so many Oklahoma farming families during the "dust bowl" and depression. It's been a while since I read the book, but the story ends with what's left of the Joad family living in a freight train car in Tipton (if I recall correctly) which is a little town about 10 miles south of here.

Many of our friends and neighbors have roots in Oklahoma and no doubt their grandparents share similar stories about their migration to the San Joaquin Valley.

75 posted on 11/14/2007 10:44:50 AM PST by Mama_Bear (My heroes wear camouflage!)
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To: Aquamarine; Billie; All; Finest FRiends
Beautiful Thread, Aqua! Just Awesome in Every way! Thank you for this Neat Journey, and Thank you too, Billie!

Thank you to Everyone for the Wonderful Pics I've Seen, and Everyone have a Blessed Day.


~Pic from the Internet~

Oklahoma's Cute State Bird, the Scissortail Flycatcher

76 posted on 11/14/2007 10:46:23 AM PST by Kitty Mittens (To God Be All Excellent Praise!!)
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To: LUV W

Those are great pictures of the Oklahoma Bombing Memorial, Luvbo. Such a tragedy that was.


77 posted on 11/14/2007 11:02:04 AM PST by Billie
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To: MEG33

There’s our Megsie with the beautiful wildflowers!


78 posted on 11/14/2007 11:03:18 AM PST by Billie
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To: Aquamarine
Nice tribute, with some notable omissions:


79 posted on 11/14/2007 11:16:30 AM PST by william clark (DH4WH08 - Ecclesiastes 10:2)
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To: Aquamarine
A small expression of my appreciation for your input on this post and all the hard work you put into making graphics. It was a joy to work with you again.

That's so sweet of you, Aqua, I appreciate you very much, too!

80 posted on 11/14/2007 11:22:17 AM PST by Billie
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