Oklahoma Trivia & Tidbits - Page 21

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

Poteau (pop. 7,210) is home to what is billed as the “World’s Highest Hill.” Cavanal Hill, with its peak 1,999 feet above the average surrounding terrain, is 1 foot short of the accepted height of a mountain, 2,000 feet.

first appeared: 6/10/2001

The town of Berwyn in 1941 became Gene Autry in honor of one of its newest residents—Western film star Gene Autry. Autry, known as “The Singing Cowboy,” bought a 1,200-acre ranch near Berwyn in 1938. Gene Autry (pop. 97) is now home to the Gene Autry Oklahoma Museum, which features memorabilia from Autry and other early movie cowboys, including Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, and Hopalong Cassidy.

first appeared: 6/3/2001

A collection of artifacts marking the life and times of silent movie star Tom Mix is in Dewey (pop. 3,326), where he served for a brief time as the town marshal. Mix moved to Oklahoma in the 1900s and was discovered by a movie producer in 1911 while working as a cowboy. He made 336 feature films between 1909 and 1935. Items on display at the Tom Mix Museum include his saddle, pistols, clothing, and a life-size replica of his horse, Tony the Wonder Horse.

first appeared: 5/27/2001

The highest point in Oklahoma is Black Mesa, near Boise City (pop. 1,509), at 4,973 feet above sea level—or 1,653 feet higher than Colorado’s lowest point (3,320 feet).

first appeared: 5/20/2001

Oklahoma has one of the few capitol buildings in the country without a dome, but work is under way to have a dome finished by November of 2002.

first appeared: 5/20/2001

A 107-year-old sod house built by a homesteader in Aline (pop. 295) stands today as an exhibit of what life was like for settlers on the Plains. The home, built by Marshal McCully, is preserved by the Oklahoma Historical Society and features artifacts such as antique farm machinery and outbuildings.

first appeared: 5/13/2001

Tinker Air Force Base near Oklahoma City can be considered the home of modern tornado forecasting, which has saved countless lives. On March 25, 1948, U.S. Air Force Capt. Robert Miller and Maj. Ernest Fawbush announced conditions were ripe for tornadoes. That was the first time a tornado forecast was issued. A few hours later, a tornado roared through the base.

first appeared: 5/6/2001

The 99s Museum of Women Pilots contains artifacts and exhibits about female pilots, including Amelia Earhart and Bessie Coleman, the first woman to hold a pilot’s license. The “99s,” a group formed in 1929 to promote the cause of women in aviation, operate the museum in Oklahoma City.

first appeared: 5/6/2001

Foress B. Lillie was among the participants in Oklahoma’s land rush of 1889. Lillie’s Drug was the first drug store in Guthrie (pop. 10,518), and Lillie was the first pharmacist to be licensed in Oklahoma.

first appeared: 4/29/2001

Guthrie (pop. 10,518) served as both the territorial capital and state capital until 1910, when a statewide referendum moved the capital to Oklahoma City.

first appeared: 4/22/2001

People interested in the history of shoeing horses can stop at the National Museum of Horse Shoeing Tools near Sulphur (pop. 4,824). The museum provides a look at the tools, life, and products used by farriers.

first appeared: 4/22/2001

A three-quarter mile long cavern of alabaster, a form of gypsum, is found at Alabaster Caverns State Park near Freedom (pop. 264). It is the largest natural alabaster cave in the world that’s open to the public.

first appeared: 4/15/2001

Turner Falls Park in Davis (pop. 2,543) is Oklahoma’s oldest park and features a 77-foot waterfall, the largest in the state.

first appeared: 4/15/2001

Brig. Gen. Stand Watie, who raised a Cherokee regiment in Oklahoma, was one of the best-known American Indians who served the Confederacy during the Civil War. He was among the last of all Confederate officers to surrender his troops, not doing so until June 23, 1865, about two months after the war had ended in April.

first appeared: 4/8/2001

Meeker (pop. 1,003) is home to a museum honoring “King” Carl Hubbell, a left-handed pitcher and Baseball Hall of Fame member who played for the New York Giants from 1928 to 1943. Hubbell, who struck out future hall of famers Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig during the 1934 All-Star Game, grew up in Meeker and donated his collection of baseball memorabilia to the town before his death in 1988.

first appeared: 4/1/2001

Beaver (pop. 1,584) calls itself the “Cow Chip Throwing Capital of the World” because it is home to the annual “World Championship Cow Chip Throw,” to be held this year April 14-23. Even the town’s mascot, “The Big Beaver,” a 15-foot statue, is depicted holding a sun-dried cow chip.

first appeared: 3/25/2001

Author Angie Debo, born in 1890 in Kansas, is called “The First Lady of Oklahoma History.’’ She traveled by covered wagon with her family to a farm near Marshall, Okla., at age 9. Among her books is The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Nation.

first appeared: 3/25/2001

Weatherford (pop. 12,000) is home to a 13-foot, 6-ton bronze and granite statue commemorating the four space missions of Gen. Thomas P. Stafford. Stafford was an Oklahoma native who was among the second group of astronauts selected by NASA in 1962 for space missions. He flew aboard two Gemini and two Apollo spacecraft. The statue stands in front of a museum named for Stafford, which contains NASA photos and other items he collected during his U.S. Air Force and NASA careers.

first appeared: 3/18/2001

Oklahoma poet and playwright Lynn Riggs (1899-1954) is perhaps best known because of a musical based on his play Green Grow the Lilacs. The composing team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein based their musical Oklahoma! on the play.

first appeared: 3/11/2001

The name “Oklahoma” comes from the Choctaw words okla, which means people and humma, meaning red.

first appeared: 3/4/2001

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