New Jersey and Oklahoma Real Estate Founded on Oil and Freedom

The 46th state to join the United States (on November 16, 1907), Oklahoma is one of the youngest states in the nation. Its history, however, reaches well back before the American Indian, from whose Choctaw words "okla" (which means "people") and "humma" (which means "red") the state name is derived. The discovery of oil reserves led to the rapid populating of Oklahoma, when people rushed there from all over to seek their fortunes. Cities including Tulsa and Oklahoma City (the state capital) came into being, finally replacing the buffalo herds on the plains. It's rather fitting, then, that the first recorded history of the "Black Gold" state was made by an early adventurer seeking his own riches, the Spanish explorer, Coronado, on his search for the "Lost City of Gold" in the mid-1500s.





African-Americans figure strongly in the history of Oklahoma, first as Indian slaves and later (after the Civil War in which African-American troops in Oklahoma played a decisive role) as freedmen, settlers and farmers. Seen as a paradise of equality and freedom by tens of thousands of former slaves across the southern United States, the state's Indian Territory enjoyed a population boom. By the early 20th century, there were in fact more African-Americans in Oklahoma than the combined total of Indians and Caucasians. The creation of African-American towns led to the outpouring of some of America's greatest jazz music as well as some of its most well-known civil rights battles.





The legacy of its Wild West origins remains strong to this date in Oklahoma, and you'll find hundreds of rodeos taking place every year throughout the state. They range from junior amateur events at schools to the professional competitions we see on television. Cowgirls are featured as competitors in many of the events in OK rodeos, and Indian rodeos, such as those promoted by a Native American organization called the All Indian Rodeo Cowboys Association, are a popular attraction as well.





The geography of the state is varied, with a combination of forests, mountain ranges and large urban centers of half a million strong. Oklahoma real estate can therefore fit any lifestyle: from a vacation retreat on one of the man-made lakes that proliferate through the state to a peanut farm or enormous cattle ranch on the plains. There are mid-sized cities with populations under 100,000, such as Norman and Lawton, that might be the piece of Oklahoma real estate for you, or perhaps you'd prefer its pinnacle, the highest point in the state, Black Mesa, at nearly 5,000 feet above sea level.

Remax Oklahoma is a real estate brokerage specializing in Oklahoma real estate. Art Gib is a freelance writer.

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new jersey vacation: New Jersey vacation

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