Oklahoma: Geography

The high, short-grass plains of W Oklahoma are part of the Great Plains, which are chilled by north winds in the winter and baked by intense heat in the summer. There are extensive grazing lands and wheat fields. The plains are broken here and there, notably by Black Mesa in the Panhandle and by the Wichita Mts. in the southwest, but the general slope is downward to the east, and central and E Oklahoma is mostly prairie, rising in the northeast to the Ozark Mts. and in the southeast to the Ouachita Mts.

The rivers that flow from west to east across the state—the Arkansas and its tributaries, the Cimarron, and the Canadian (with the North Canadian) in the north, the Red River with the Washita and other tributaries in the south—are much more prominent in the east. Chickasaw National Recreation Area is in S Oklahoma. Oklahoma City is the capital, and the other large city is Tulsa.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Irrigation and an Oil Boom
• The Dust Bowl
• Oklahoma Territory and Statehood
• Cattle, Railroads, and Boomers
• Indian Territory
• The Native American Heritage
• Government and Higher Education
• Economy
• Geography
• Facts and Figures
• Bibliography

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