Announcer: This week's Oklahoma moment is brought to you by the
Oklahoma History Center.
This year, Oklahoma is celebrating its centennial birthday.
On November 16th, 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state.
This was a political event; but we must not forget that the statehood
era was a time of rapid change throughout the state.
In the old Indian reservations, the lands had been allotted from
communal ownership to individual ownership.
Tribal culture would survive, and even flourish in the 20th century, but
the Tribal governments were suppressed for a time.
It also was a time of economic growth.
Towns like Oklahoma City and Guthrie and McAlester and Woodward and Chickasha
and Enid were growing.
Oklahoma City alone would go from 10,000 people in 1900 to
64,000 people in 1910.
The rapid economic growth was based on the expansion of the railroad system.
From 1900 to 1910, more rail was laid in Oklahoma than in all of the other
decades combined.
We also had the golden age of farming, especially king cotton; and oil had
been discovered at Glenpool in 1905.
Oil men from around the world would come to
Oklahoma looking for black gold.
So this year as we celebrate our centennial as a state, let's not
forget that it also was a time of rapid change in providing a platform for
all that has happened since.
Thank you for joining us in these historical moments.