History
Back in the 1880s, when the
US government was forcing
Native American tribes to relocate to
Oklahoma Territory, one parcel of land in the center of the Territory was never assigned to any tribe.
It was known as the Unassigned Lands, and it covered the area where the Oklahoma City
metropolitan area now exists. This land was seen as free for the taking by some pioneers, who set
up camp in the middle of the Unassigned Lands illegally; they were known as
Boomers.
The Boomers didn’t have to wait long for the chance to settle legally. On March 2, 1889,
President
Harrison signed a bill authorizing the settlement of the Unassigned Lands. The government held a
Land Run for the Lands on April 22, 1889. Anyone who was quick enough and lucky enough to
stake a claim could have 160 acres of their own, and some 50,000 people participated. Of these,
around 10,000 staked claims near Oklahoma Station, which is now Oklahoma City.
The
livestock market and new
railroads drew more and more settlers to OKC, and by 1900, the
population of the city had doubled. On November 17, 1907, Oklahoma was awarded
statehood. The
original capitol was Guthrie, a town north of Oklahoma City. In 1910, the
citizens of Oklahoma
petitioned to move the
state capitol to Oklahoma City. The move was authorized by a popular
vote,
and night following the election, Governor Haskell and some "conspirators" traveled to Guthrie to
retrieve the State Seal. They set up a temporary capitol in a hotel in downtown Oklahoma City. The
state capitol building was not finished until 1917. It is one of the very few capitol buildings without
a dome.
Oklahoma City is home to the following:
●
Firefighters
Hall of Fame
●
Cowboy Hall of Fame, which includes a delightful selection of Western artists
●
Softball Hall of Fame and Hall of Fame Field
● Oklahoma City
Zoo, one of the top zoos in the nation
● The Kirkpatrick Center, an art gallery with an extensive Native American art collection
● Remington Park, a large
horse racing facility
●
Sonic Headquarters (you know, the drive-in fast food joints)
●
Taco Mayo Headquarters (hey, we really like
fast food)
● Tinker
Air Force Base, home of
AWACS and
B-2s
●
Oklahoma City University
●
Feed the Children
● The Oklahoma City
Philharmonic
● Bricktown, a revitalized warehouse district now home to a minor league baseball team, restaurants,
dance clubs, and a scenic canal
● The Oklahoma City Blazers, a
hockey team
What to Do If You Go There
If you’re ever in OKC and you’re bored, wander on down to Bricktown and check out the clubs. On
summer nights, you can catch some great local bands playing on the restaurant patios. I recommend
the
margaritas and the
fajitas at Chelino’s, but not the
chile rellenos (too seedy.) Then you can
take a boat ride down the canal, or wander on over to Bricktown 54, a dance club that plays mostly
70s and 80s stuff. It’s a
meat market, but it’s fun. For a more
cerebral adventure, I recommend
the zoo. It has excellent exhibits of lowland
gorillas, big
cats,
aquatic life,
reptiles...you name
it (except for the
dolphins. Don’t ask about the dolphins.) If all else fails, you can grab some grub
at the
Popeye’s Chicken on NW 23rd and hit one of the 15,000,000 movie theaters in the area (I’m
almost not exaggerating.)