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Heartfelt Hijinks of a Mom Who Lives by Her Own Rules PAGE 1 Paws and Paths! Mental Health Awareness and Advice for Challenging Times PAGE 2 Expert Advice on Preserving Personal Injury Evidence Citrus BBQ Chicken PAGE 3 The Oklahoma Panhandle: A Historical Gem PAGE 4
HOW OKLAHOMA CLAIMED ITS PANHANDLE
The shape of Oklahoma is quite unusual. It is an uneven square with a rectangular parcel of
outlaws who took advantage of the shaky legal status. Bootleggers in the region operated with impunity. They founded Beer City, a sanctuary of brothels and saloons. Finally, in 1890, Oklahoma Territory incorporated the Panhandle, and this rectangle became part of Oklahoma in 1907. Settlers could now claim their land under the Homestead Act, allowing them to mortgage their property to invest in farming equipment. Land developers built railroads, and the area’s population grew.
land jutting from the map’s left side, giving the state a saucepan-like shape. This parcel of land is thus called the Panhandle. Despite its unassuming landscape, it has one of the most fascinating histories of any region in America.
It was owned or occupied by Native tribes, Spain, and Mexico until the Republic of Texas claimed it in 1845 when Texas became a state. Even though Texas was a slave state, the Panhandle was above the line created by the Missouri Compromise, meaning states below 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude were “slave states,” whereas those above weren’t. So, Texas relinquished its claim on the Panhandle. It was no longer part of any state. The federal government designated the nascent Panhandle as the Public Land Strip, subject to squatter’s rights. Settlers built towns and defended their own communities. These towns were rife with
Unfortunately, the Panhandle was the epicenter of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. Agriculture crumbled, and people left. The Panhandle’s population still hasn’t recovered: Less than 1% of the state’s population lives there. Today, ghost towns populate the Panhandle’s expansive horizon. Beer City has since become a wheat field, but some brave tourists still visit this narrow patch of land, keen on seeing its many abandoned places.
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