OKLAHOMA

“oklahoma,where the wind comes sweepin down the plain!”who doesn t know the stirring lyrics to the most famous of all state songs?rodgers &hammerstein s musical captures the rambunctious frontier spirit of this state-an even more captivating place in reality.
in oklahoma,the american west and the american dream come together-sometimes in one person,like will rogers,the part-cheokeejournalist and vaudevillian who became the nation s best-loved humorist.woody guthrie,our lureate of folk song,also springs from oklahoma soil,as do journalist bill moyers and apache sculptor allan houser,whose work graces the white house lawn.oklahoma helped to create the cowboy icon:on the legendary chisholm trail,in touring wild west shows ,and in the movies ,with actors roy rogers and gene auty.amerca s oil boom began her,and “black gold”built the art deco skylines of tulsa and okla-homa city.hardy survivors of the dust bowl era,oklahomans planned and built the “mother road,”route 66,and afine collection of museums that foster the arts of native america and the world.
oklahoma s unique essence is distilled from many sources:the frontier cadences keptalive in its literature,the rhythms of powwow drums,the soulful twang of country and westerm ,the soarng improvisations of jazz pioneers like chet baker.creative energy runs high in this young state,and its artists are justhitting their stride.

intoduction
america in its native state
staetely symbols
oklahoma milestones
ricturing the land
the twin territories
an empire of grasses
“the hardest weather in the world”
making history
siing up the land
a territory of exiles
uncivil wars
the race for land
commerce and culture
when cattle was king
wild west shows
black gold
the reign of cotton
articles of faith
public works
iron horse,iron road
drowning the dust bowl
murals and monuments
a capital city
the art of politics
private lives
homes on the range
an oilman s eden
the people s mansion
art of the everyday
oklahoma chow
the shepherd sisters
pastimes
ride em,cowboy
sooner magic
powwow season
lively and literary arts
strange than fiction
will rogers:an american original
oklahoma!on stage and screen
cowboy crooners
all that jazz
native amercan art redefined
recent visions
only in oklahoma
creat people and grat places
oklahoma by the seasons
aperennial calendar of events and festivals
where to go
museums,attactions,cardens,and other arts resourescredits