3. The land was claimed by the French in the 1700s and it remained under their control until it was sold to the U.S. in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

4. When Texas joined the U.S. it had a lot of problems with Native Americans, as did most states, which caused the U.S. to basically go to war with the Indians which resulted in the Natives being forced into reserves in Oklahoma.

5. During the American Civil War, many Native Americans fought for both the Confederacy and the Union. Oklahoma wasn’t directly involved in either side or any of the battles. Although slavery wasn’t abolished there until 1866.

7. One of the fastest growing economies, producing: Natural gas, oil, and agriculture, being 5 th in wheat production. Oklahoma is a leading producer of beef, in which the leading agricultural income of the state. Other important livestock are hogs, broilers, sheep, lambs, turkeys, and fish.

8. Domestic products grew from 131.9 billion in 2006 to 147.5 billion in 2010, a 10.6 percent increase. Value of goods and services produced provided a measure of economic growth.

9. Oil dominated Oklahoma until the 1980’s which led a loss to almost 90,000 energy related jobs. Oklahoma is 5 th in crude oil production.

11. Because native Americans were forced to live in Oklahoma, they had a large influence in Oklahoma. For a long period of time, Oklahoma was considered Indian territory.

12. The Choctaw, Cherokee, and Chickasaws are the top tribes out of the 39 government-recognized tribes that are in Oklahoma. 25 Native American languages are spoken; some of which are endangered.

13. Oklahoma received it’s name from the Choctaw Indians. The name “Oklahoma” is derived from the words “okla” and “humma” which mean red people.

15. Oklahoma is the 28 th most populated state in the US with more than 3,814,820 people. Most of that population live in Tulsa or Oklahoma City. Oklahoma has English, Irish, Scottish, German and Native American ancestry, so Oklahoma has very much diversity. The weather in Oklahoma is mild and has frequent bad weather such as tornadoes and thunderstorms.

16. In 2011 the unemployment rate was 5.6% which is lesser than Texas at the time. Oklahoma is the 5 th most obese state. In 2008 OK had 638,812 students enrolled in primary schools. Tulsa has one of the nation’s top ballet schools.

17. In Oklahoma, ethnic groups have influence. Ethnic groups play music. Native American tribes hold powwows while Scottish, Irish, German, Italian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Czech, Jewish, Arabian, Mexican and African-American groups hold festivals annually. Tulsa has a zoo with approximately 2,800 animals.

18.  Strudwick, Leslie. Oklahoma: The Sooner State. New York: Av2, 2012. Print.  Julie, Murray. Oklahoma. Edina: ABDO Publishing Company, 2006. Print.  Saylor-Marchant, Linda. Oklahoma. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2003. Print.

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