Oklahoma panhandle: Difference between revisions

The '''Oklahoma Panhandle''' (formerly called '''No Man's Land''', the '''Public Land Strip''', the '''Neutral Strip''', or ''' Cimarron Territory''') is a [[Salient (geography)|salient]] in the extreme northwestern region of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Oklahoma]],. consistingIt consists of, from west to east, [[Cimarron County, Oklahoma|Cimarron County]], [[Texas County, Oklahoma|Texas County]] and [[Beaver County, Oklahoma|Beaver County]], from west to east. As with other [[salient (geography)|salient]]ssalients in the United States, its name comes from the similarity of its shape to the handle of a pan. Its largest city is [[Guymon, Oklahoma|Guymon]] in Texas County. [[Black Mesa State Park]], located in Cimarron County, is the highest point in the state. Other points of interest include [[Beaver Dunes Park]], [[Optima Lake]], and the [[Optima National Wildlife Refuge]]. [[Oklahoma Panhandle State University]] is ten miles away from Guymon.

The largest town in the region is [[Guymon, Oklahoma|Guymon]], which is the [[county seat]] of Texas County. [[Black Mesa (Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico)|Black Mesa]], the highest point in Oklahoma at {{convert|4973|ft}}, is located in Cimarron County. The Panhandle occupies nearly all of the true [[High Plains (United States)|High Plains]] within Oklahoma, being the only part of the state lying west of the [[100th meridian west|100th meridian]], which generally marks the westernmost extent of moist air from the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. The [[North Canadian River]] is named Beaver River or Beaver Creek on its course through the Panhandle. Its land area is {{convert|5686|sqmi}} and comprises 8.28 percent of Oklahoma's land area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.netstate.com/states/geography/ok_geography.htm|title=Oklahoma Geography from NETSTATE|website=www.netstate.com}}</ref> The area includes [[Beaver Dunes Park|Beaver Dunes State Park]] with sand dunes along the Beaver River and [[Optima Lake]], the home of the [[Optima National Wildlife Refuge]].

When Texas sought to enter the Union in 1845 as a [[Slave states and free states|slave state]], federal law in the United States, based on the [[Missouri Compromise]], prohibited slavery north of 36°30' parallel north latitude. Under the [[Compromise of 1850]], Texas surrendered its lands north of 36°30', latituderather than have a portion of the state as "free" territory. The 170-mile strip of land, a "neutral strip", was left with no state or territorial ownership from 1850 until 1890. It was officially called the "'''Public Land Strip'''" and was commonly referred to as "No Man's Land."<ref>{{cite news |title=Oklahoma Panhandle: Badmen in No Man's Land |url=http://www.historynet.com/oklahoma-panhandle-badmen-in-no-mans-land.htm |access-date=2012-11-30 |newspaper=Wild West magazine |date=2006-06-12}}</ref><ref name="EOHC-NML">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Turner |first=Kenneth R. |title=No Man's Land |url=http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=NO001 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture |publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society |access-date=2012-11-30}}</ref>

The Panhandle was severely affected by the drought of the 1930s. The drought began in 1932 and created massive dust storms. By 1935, the area was widely known as being part of the [[Dust Bowl]]. The dust storms were largely a result of poor farming techniques and the plowing up of the native grasses that had held the fine soil in place. Despite government efforts to implement conservation measures and change the basic farming methods of the region, the Dust Bowl persisted for nearly a decade. It contributed significantly to the length of the [[Great Depression]] in the United States.<ref>[http://www.americaslibrary.gov/es/ok/es_ok_dustbowl_1.html Library of Congress. "America's Story from America's Library: The Dust Bowl of Oklahoma]." Retrieved July 30, 2013.</ref> Each of the three counties experienced a major loss of population during the 1930s.{{citation needed|date = September 2024}}

The social impact of the dust bowl and the resulting emigration of tenant farmers from Oklahoma is the setting for the 1939 novel ''[[The Grapes of Wrath]]'' by [[Nobel prize]]-winning author [[John Steinbeck]].{{citation needed|date = September 2024}}

* [[FlorisWheeless, Oklahoma|FlorisWheeless]]

* [[Beaver Dunes State Park]] features massive sand dunes along the Beaver River – located just north of the town of Beaver.

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