Oklahoma Trivia & Tidbits - Page 15

Looking for Oklahoma trivia? Try our list Oklahoma little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

President Harry S. Truman’s famous desk sign, “The Buck Stops Here,” was made at the Federal Reformatory in El Reno (pop. 16,212) in 1945. Fred Canfil, a U.S. marshal and friend of Truman’s, saw a similar sign at the reformatory and asked that one be made for the president.

first appeared: 3/23/2003

It took seven years, but Bob Klemme of Enid (pop. 47,045) marked the Chisholm Trail across Oklahoma with 400 concrete signposts. The 800-mile trail from the Rio Grande near Brownsville, Texas, to Abilene, Kan., was used for the great cattle drives from the 1860s to 1880s.

first appeared: 3/23/2003

One of baseball’s leading home run hitters, Mickey Mantle, was born Oct. 20, 1931, in Spavinaw (pop. 563). He moved to Commerce (pop. 2,645) as a child where he played ball and earned the nickname the “Commerce Comet.” Mantle hit 536 home runs during his New York Yankees career from 1951-1968.

first appeared: 3/16/2003

Kenton (pop. 108) in the Panhandle is the state’s only town on Mountain Standard Time and the site of its highest point, Black Mesa.

first appeared: 3/16/2003

The National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center in Oklahoma City is not just about cowboys. Many movie and television actors, including John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, and Dale Evans, are honored in the Hall of Great Western Performers, designed to celebrate those who embodied the character of the American West.

first appeared: 3/9/2003

Matthew Mungle, who grew up on a farm in Atoka (pop. 2,988), won an Oscar for his make-up artistry in the movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The 1992 movie, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starred Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder.

first appeared: 3/2/2003

The classic spiritual Swing Low, Sweet Chariot was born in Oklahoma. Wallace Willis, a slave in Choctaw County, composed the song in the 1840s.

first appeared: 2/23/2003

A run of luck that began near Bartlesville (pop. 34,748) put two Iowa brothers on top of the oil industry. Frank and L.E. Phillips, lured to Oklahoma by the oil boom, drilled several unproductive wells before hitting their first gusher in 1905. They drilled 81 more wells without hitting another dry hole, laying the foundation for what is today Phillips Petroleum.

first appeared: 2/16/2003

Highlights of the history of Duncan (pop. 22,505) are engraved in a trail of “trivia markers” found in the sidewalk of the town’s main street.

first appeared: 2/9/2003

Many American Indians from Oklahoma served during World War I, most with the 142nd infantry of the Army’s 36th Division. Members of at least 17 tribes were in the division.

first appeared: 2/9/2003

The National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater (pop. 39,065) features wrestling memorabilia honoring the history of the sport and America’s top wrestlers.

first appeared: 2/2/2003

Cavanal Hill in Poteau (pop. 7,939) may be the world’s tallest hill, with its peak 1,999 feet above the surrounding terrain. One more foot of height would make it a mountain.

first appeared: 2/2/2003

One of America’s first airports used for cross-country travel was established in Waynoka (pop. 993) in 1928 at the direction of Col. Charles Lindbergh. Lindbergh’s “Transcontinental Air Transport” system took passengers from coast to coast in 48 hours using both airplanes and trains. Passengers would fly from the East Coast to Waynoka, where they would board a train to Clovis, N.M. (pop. 32,667). In Clovis, they would board another airplane for the final leg of the flight.

first appeared: 1/26/2003

Mattie Beal, a telephone operator from Kansas, entered the lottery for land claims near what is now Lawton in 1901. Her name was the second drawn, so she picked a choice lot—and as a result received more than 500 marriage proposals by mail.

first appeared: 1/19/2003

Singer and movie star Gene Autry began his career after receiving advice from another Oklahoma cowboy. Autry was working in the telegraph office in Chelsea (pop. 2,136) when Will Rogers, the cowboy philosopher and writer, came in to wire his daily syndicated newspaper column. Autry sang for the humorist who encouraged the young telegrapher to go into show business.

first appeared: 1/12/2003

Farmers near Frederick (pop. 4,637) drained a marshy area to grow crops such as wheat and cotton in the early 1900s, removing a habitat for many birds. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation has worked since 1993 to restore the wetlands, resulting in the 7,120-acre Hackberry Flat Wildlife Restoration Project that is now visited by more than 120 species of birds.

first appeared: 1/5/2003

The distinctive tones of radio broadcaster Paul Harvey got their first workout in his hometown of Tulsa. Harvey first broadcast from Tulsa station KVOO in 1933, while he was in high school.

first appeared: 1/5/2003

When the U.S. Congress formed the Oklahoma Territory in 1890, what we now know as the state had two parts—called the Twin Territories. Indian Territory, in what is now eastern Oklahoma, had 180,000 people. Oklahoma Territory had 78,000 people. The Twin Territories became the state of Oklahoma in 1907.

first appeared: 12/29/2002

Indian City U.S.A in Anadarko (pop. 6,645) has villages of seven American Indian groups. The rebuilt villages show how Pueblo, Caddo, Kiowa, Wichita, Apache, Navajo, and Pawnee people lived.

first appeared: 12/29/2002

Washington Irving is most famous for short stories such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. But he was impressed with the area that is now known as Oklahoma and wrote A Tour of the Prairies after his travels there in the 1830s. “Nowhere have I ever seen so many deer, moose, bear, and turkey tracks,’’ Irving said.

first appeared: 12/22/2002

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