Where Am I?

[Snattlerake]

Indian Territory. It is home to the five civilized tribes, the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles. Before that the Comanche, Arapaho, Shawnee, Kiowa, Osage, Cheyenne, and Pawnee. Before that, Fransisco Coronado explored Oklahoma.
It was a piece of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 that Jefferson bought from France. It was considered no man's land for decades.
Since nobody wanted Oklahoma until the late 1800's and finally became a state in 1907, we have been ignored and kicked around since.

They found coal and oil and that is what really fueled Oklahoma's growth. We have caves, four mountain ranges, sand dunes at Little Sahara, Salt plains in Alfalfa County near Cherokee, wheat, oats, rye, barley, soybeans, cotton, and cattle. We even have wineries. Kingfisher, my hometown, claims the distinction to be the buckle of the wheat belt.

 

[adamsredlines]

Flyover country

 

[Ready_fire_aim]

I grew up in KS. Wife grew up in Oklahoma. I moved to Oklahoma in my early 20s. KS definitely felt much more “mid west” and Oklahoma certainly feels much more “southern” than KS ever did.

Oklahoma is fairly diverse though overall I’d say. Tough to put a finger on it.

 

[dennishoddy]

Hello Friends,

Didn’t want to hijack the “what states are represented” thread but it did bring up a question I have from time to time. Being a transplant I’m finding a lot of things to be really unique from anywhere else and it’s a little difficult trying to label what region of the US Oklahoma belongs. It’s like it’s a one of a kind place and I think that’s pretty darn cool. I’ve read anything west of Arkansas was considered the Wild West and being in SW Oklahoma I definitely get that feel, definitely more cows than people down this way. But then sometimes I feel like I’m living in The South and other times it has almost a Mid-West feel. So folks how would you guys describe Oklahoma? Just where am I??

I think it depends on what part of the state your in.
Folks in the SE think of themselves a deep south with gators, cypress trees, etc. SW is like the old west movies with stark landscapes.
The NW and NC are what most people outside of Oklahoma think of when it was the dust bowl featured in movies and song.
The NE is foreign to the thought processes of anyone outside of Oklahoma. Gentle rolling wooded hills with small farms/ranches and lots of lakes/rivers/streams.
It's a state with a great biological diversity with the cross timbers areas, semi desert, and swamps.

 

[O4L]

As far as I'm concerned, Oklahoma is the greatest state, in the greatest nation, but I'm a little biased being as I was born here and I have lived here over 61 years.

Oh yeah...I consider us part of the South.

 

[SoonerP226]

It all depends on the context of the question. In some contexts, Oklahoma is Western, Southwestern, Great Plains, South Central, Southern, or even Midwestern. During the Late Unpleasantness Between the States, the Nations were split between the South and the Yankees, and Stand Watie was the last Confederate general to surrender, so, in some ways, this was the last bastion of the South, but you won't find many people from the Deep South who will admit it.

For me, it's just home.

 

[TerryMiller]

I think it depends on what part of the state your in.
Folks in the SE think of themselves a deep south with gators, cypress trees, etc. SW is like the old west movies with stark landscapes.
The NW and NC are what most people outside of Oklahoma think of when it was the dust bowl featured in movies and song.
The NE is foreign to the thought processes of anyone outside of Oklahoma. Gentle rolling wooded hills with small farms/ranches and lots of lakes/rivers/streams.
It's a state with a great biological diversity with the cross timbers areas, semi desert, and swamps.

I think Dennis hit on it pretty good. Since I was raised in the Panhandle, the original "No Man's Land," it felt more western than midwestern. And in fact, the epicenter of the Dust Bowl was in Cimarron County, which is where I was raised.

We even sounded different. In our Senior year in school, our class took a Senior Trip to Washington, D.C. While there, we went to an amusement park with rides, and while on one of the rides, a classmate and I were talking back and forth. Two young ladies with a definite southern drawl asked us where we were from, so I guess an Okie drawl was strange to a southerner.

That growing up in the Panhandle is probably why I consider us as part of the Southwest. After all, New Mexico was only about 50 miles away.

 

[Firpo]

Okies do like their fried okra and grits so that to me sounds pretty Southern. I will say there are two things that really surprised me about what is the most conservative State in the Union. First is there are a LOT of people that are COVERED in tattoos (including my daughter that lives here). If that’s your deal then knock yourself out, it’s just an observation and not what I would have expected. Second surprise was all the pot shops. Darn there are a bu ch of them. I lived in Orange County, CA which has a population of 3.17 million and where pot is legalized for all. I think there were maybe 4-5 dispensaries for the entire county. Heck, there are two in little Elgin and one in every strip mall in Lawton. Dang!!

 

[GeneW]

If asked, I just say I’m from the Cross Timbers region of the USA.

If they ask what that is, I tell them to look it up.

It’s a good read.

They might as well learn something new.

 

[Hawgman]

I was born and raised in central Oklahoma. Served in the military for 20 years and traveled all over. Spent 5 years in South Carolina and 2 years in Alabama. We. Are not. The South. When one takes into consideration things like culture habits and norms, cuisine, dialect, etc we are far more West/Mid-West. And trust me when I tell you, people from those two states DO NOT consider Oklahoma “The South”. Quite frankly I embrace that with great enthusiasm and pride.