Oklahoma

For the musical, see Oklahoma!. For the musical 1955 film, see Oklahoma (1955 film)

Oklahoma is nothing but vast wasteland. ~ Charles Barkley

I don't believe I ever saw an Oklahoman who wouldn't fight. ~ Robert E. Howard

Oklahoma, here I come! ~ Paul Westmoreland

Oklahoma is the 20th most extensive and the 28th most populous of the 50 United States. The state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning "red people". It is also known informally by its nickname, The Sooner State, in reference to the non-Native settlers who staked their claims on the choicest pieces of land prior to the official opening date, and the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889, which opened the door for white settlement in North America's Indian Territory. Its residents are often called Okies or Oklahomans.

Quotes

• Oklahoma is nothing but vast wasteland; no place for black people... The Oklahoma Sooners and the Hornets are the only brothers in town.
  • Charles Barkley, as quoted in "Barkley: Oklahoma a vast wasteland" (10 February 2006), by Andrew Gilman, The Oklahoman

• I'm a real Sooner, an Oklahoman born and bred, and I love every inch of my state, from the rocky, bleak oil country to the lush greenness and urban excitement of the other areas I know. And few people realize that it's among the top five states in natural water resources. Oklahoma is many kinds of places, and I loved every one of them.
  • Anita Bryant, Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory (1970). Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company, p. 35

• You can call me what you want to
  But Okie is okay with me.
  • Zeke Clements, Oklahoma Blues

• Going home to Oklahoma.
  Yes I am.
  Here's my train coming now
  I homeward bound.
  Yes, I'm going home today
  And I expect to stay.
  • Spade Cooley, All Aboard for Oklahoma

• Met this lady in Oklahoma; put that pussy in a coma.
  • Joseph Foreman, "Crazy Rap" (2000)

• Oh, howl away you wild coyote,
  I hear your sad, your lonesome song.
  It's calling me to Oklahoma
  Back to those hills where I belong.
  • Jack Guthrie and Woody Guthrie, Oklahoma's Calling.

• Let me hear a coyote howl,
  Or a lonesome hound dog bay.
  Back to the heart of those lonesome hills
  I'm gonna be some day.
  For Oklahoma I'm yearning.
  • Jack Guthrie and Wava White, For Oklahoma, I'm Yearning.

• I'm gona settle down
  When I reach that city fair.
  I'm homeward bound
  And I Know I'll soom be there
  Where tall corn grows,
  And the black oil flows,
  In old O-K-L-A.
  • Jimmie Hall and Leon McAuliffe, Tulsa Straight Ahead.

• I don't believe I ever saw an Oklahoman who wouldn't fight at the drop of a hat — and frequently drop the hat himself.
  • Robert E. Howard in a letter to H. P. Lovecraft, July 13, 1932.

• I want to go back to Oklahoma.
  I'm happy there
  Living next to the soil.
  • Billy Hughes, Next to the Soil.

• And now I'd like to settle down,
  In Oklahoma in my home town.
  • Leodie Jackson, Ramblin' Okie.

• But the sun in California
  Doen't shine one half as bright
  As the one Oklahoma,
  So I'm startin' back tonight.
  • Merl Lindsay, Lonesome Okie Goin' Home.

• Oklahoma has just declared war against “furries” in the classroom. Oklahoma State Rep. Justin Humphrey recently introduced House Bill 3084, which prohibits furries from K-12 school campuses: “Students who purport to be an imaginary animal or animal species, or who engage in anthropomorphic behavior commonly referred to as furries at school shall not be allowed to participate in school curriculum or activities.” If students violate this rule, their parents will be asked to pick them up, and if they’re unavailable, “animal control services shall be contacted to remove the student.”
  • Auguste Meyrat, "How A Silly Oklahoma Bill On Kids Identifying As ‘Furries’ Could Help Fight Mental Illness", The Federalist (February 2, 2024)

• Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain
  And the wavin' wheat, can sure smell sweet
  When the wind comes right behind the rain.

  Oklahoma, ev'ry night my honey lamb and I
  Sit alone and talk, and watch a hawk
  Makin' lazy circles in the sky.

  We know we belong to the land,
  And the land we belong to is grand!
  And when we say
  Yeeow! A-yip-i-o-e-ay!
  We're only sayin'
  You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!

  • Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Oklahoma

• Got my ticket in my hand
  Gonna cross a lot of sand.
  Oklahoma here I come!
  • Paul Westmoreland, Oklahoma Bound.

• Bought a round-trip ride today,
  Throwed the come-back part away.
  Oklahoma's dear to me.
  • Paul Westmoreland, Oklahoma Bound.

• As governor, I represent all 4 million Oklahomans and they overwhelmingly support protecting life in the state of Oklahoma. We want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state in the country. We want to outlaw abortion in the state of Oklahoma
  • Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt Oklahoma governor signs near-total ban on abortion into law (April 12, 2022)

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Oklahoma on Wikipedia
• The dictionary definition of Oklahoma on Wiktionary
• Media related to Oklahoma on Wikimedia Commons
• Oklahoma travel guide from Wikivoyage