Editing Oklahoma (section)

===20th century ===
{{Main|Organic act#List of organic acts|Oklahoma Territory|Admission to the Union|List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union}}
[[File:Sequoyah map.jpg|thumb|A proposed map of the 'State of Sequoyah' compiled from the USGS Map of Indian Territory (1902)]]

Attempts to create an all-Indian state named ''Oklahoma'' and a later attempt to create an all-Indian state named ''[[State of Sequoyah|Sequoyah]]'' failed but the Sequoyah Statehood Convention of 1905 eventually laid the groundwork for the Oklahoma Statehood Convention, which took place two years later.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.willrogers.com/new/articles/exhibits/Sequoyah_Centennial/Sequoyah_exhibit.html |title=Clem Rogers |publisher=Will Rogers Museum Association |access-date=August 1, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070520025331/http://www.willrogers.com/new/articles/exhibits/Sequoyah_Centennial/Sequoyah_exhibit.html |archive-date=May 20, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On June 16, 1906, Congress enacted [[Oklahoma Enabling Act|a statute authorizing the people of the Oklahoma and Indian Territories]] (as well what would become the states of [[Arizona]] and [[New Mexico]]) to form a constitution and state government in order to be admitted as a state.<ref>{{USStatute|59|233|35|267|1906|6|16|H.R.|16946}}</ref> On November 16, 1907, President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] issued [[Presidential proclamation (United States)|Presidential Proclamation]] no. [[wikisource:Proclamation 780|780]], establishing Oklahoma as the 46th state in the Union.<ref>{{USStat|35|2160}}</ref>

The new state became a focal point for the emerging [[Petroleum industry|oil industry]], as discoveries of oil pools prompted towns to grow rapidly in population and wealth. Tulsa eventually became known as the "[[Oil Capital of the World]]" for most of the 20th century and oil investments fueled much of the state's early economy.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.tulsalibrary.org/tulsahistory/communities.htm#tul| title = Tulsa Area History| publisher = Tulsa County Library| access-date = April 25, 2007| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070108010448/http://www.tulsalibrary.org/tulsahistory/communities.htm| archive-date = January 8, 2007| url-status = dead}}</ref> In 1927, Oklahoman businessman [[Cyrus Avery]], known as the "Father of Route 66", began the campaign to create [[U.S. Route 66]]. Using a stretch of highway from [[Amarillo, Texas]] to Tulsa, Oklahoma to form the original portion of Highway 66, Avery spearheaded the creation of the [[U.S. Highway 66 Association]] to oversee the planning of Route 66, based in his hometown of Tulsa.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG02/carney/avery.html | title=The Father of Route 66 | publisher=[[University of Virginia]] | access-date=April 20, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130623050651/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG02/carney/avery.html | archive-date=June 23, 2013 }}</ref>

In late September 1918, the first cases of the [[Spanish flu]]  appeared in Oklahoma. Though public health authorities statewide had some indication that the pandemic was westward, the turmoil caused by the rapid advancement of the disease quickly overwhelmed both health workers and local governing bodies. In Oklahoma City, shortages of both supplies and personnel were mitigated, in part, by the mobilization of the American Red Cross. Rough estimates based on contemporary reports indicate that approximately 100,000 people fell ill with the disease before the pandemic ebbed in 1919. Of those 100,000 cases, it is assumed that around 7,500 proved fatal, placing total mortality rates for the state in the area of 7.5%.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Spanish Influenza Pandemic in Oklahoma City |url=https://www.metrolibrary.org/archives/essay/2019/07/spanish-influenza-pandemic-oklahoma-city |access-date=2023-05-04 |website=Metropolitan Library System |language=en}}</ref>

Oklahoma also has a rich [[African Americans in Oklahoma|African-American history]]. Many Black towns, founded by the Freedmen of the Five Tribes during Reconstruction, thrived in the early 20th century with the arrival of Black [[Exodusters]] who migrated from neighboring states, especially Kansas. The politician [[Edward P. McCabe]] encouraged Black settlers to come to what was then Indian Territory. McCabe discussed with President Theodore Roosevelt the possibility of making Oklahoma a majority-Black state.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 7, 2012 |title=Oklahoma |url=https://purehistory.org/oklahoma/ |access-date=October 14, 2023 |website=Pure History}}</ref>

By the early 20th century, the [[Greenwood, Tulsa|Greenwood]] district of [[Tulsa, Oklahoma|Tulsa]] was one of the most prosperous African-American communities in the United States.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://variety.com/review/VE1117786589.html?categoryid=32&cs=1 | title=The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story | work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety Magazine]] | access-date=June 26, 2008 | first=Steven | last=Oxman | date=May 30, 2000 | archive-date=April 17, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417080734/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117786589.html?categoryid=32&cs=1 }}</ref> [[Jim Crow laws]] had established [[racial segregation]] since before the start of the 20th century, but Tulsa's Black residents had created a thriving area.<ref>{{citation |author=Oklahoma Commission |contribution=Final Report |title=Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 |place=Tulsa, Oklahoma |date=February 28, 2001 |contribution-url=http://www.okhistory.org/research/forms/freport.pdf |contribution-format=PDF |access-date=June 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180602235628/http://www.okhistory.org/research/forms/freport.pdf |archive-date=June 2, 2018 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://greenwoodculturalcenter.com/about-us|title=About Us|date=2019|website=Greenwood Cultural Center|access-date=26 March 2020|archive-date=August 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200822175256/https://greenwoodculturalcenter.com/about-us|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/20/us/tulsa-greenwood-massacre.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|author=Astor, Maggie|title=What to Know About the Tulsa Greenwood Massacre|date=June 20, 2020|access-date=June 21, 2020|archive-date=June 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620092642/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/20/us/tulsa-greenwood-massacre.html}}</ref>

Social tensions were exacerbated by the revival of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] after 1915. The [[Tulsa race massacre]] broke out in 1921, with White mobs attacking Black people and carrying out a [[pogrom]] in Greenwood. In one of the costliest episodes of [[Mass racial violence in the United States|racist violence in American history]], sixteen hours of rioting resulted in the destruction of 35 city blocks, $1.8 million in property damage, and an estimated death toll of between 75 and 300 people.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ok-history.mus.ok.us/trrc/file1.pdf| title= Tulsa Race Riot, A Report by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, February 28, 2001 |publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society | access-date=June 10, 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080624204404/http://www.ok-history.mus.ok.us/trrc/file1.pdf |archive-date = June 24, 2008}}</ref> By the late 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan had declined to negligible influence within the state.<ref>{{cite web|first=Larry |last=O'Dell |url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/K/KU001.html |title=Ku klux klan |publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society |access-date=June 26, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009193345/https://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/K/KU001.html |archive-date=October 9, 2008 }}</ref>

[[File:Farmer walking in dust storm Cimarron County Oklahoma2.jpg|thumb|The [[Dust Bowl]] sent thousands of farmers into poverty during the 1930s.]]

During the 1930s, parts of the state began to suffer from the consequences of poor farming practices. This period was known as the [[Dust Bowl]], throughout which areas of Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, and [[northwestern Oklahoma]] were hampered by long periods of little rainfall, strong winds, abnormally high temperatures, and most notably, severe [[dust storm]]s sending thousands of farmers into poverty and forcing them to relocate to more fertile areas of the western United States.<ref>{{cite web| date=August 5, 2005| url=http://www.ccccok.org/museum/dustbowl.html| title=1930s Dust Bowl| publisher=Cimarron County Chamber of Commerce| access-date=August 1, 2007| archive-date=July 7, 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707060033/http://www.ccccok.org/museum/dustbowl.html}}</ref> Over a twenty-year period ending in 1950, the state saw its only historical decline in population, dropping 6.9 percent as impoverished families migrated out of the state after the Dust Bowl.

[[Soil conservation|Soil]] and [[water conservation]] projects markedly changed practices in the state, leading to the construction of massive flood control systems and dams to supply water for domestic needs and agricultural irrigation.<ref name="Oklahoma Terrain" /><ref>{{cite web|year=2007 |url=http://www.history.com/states.do?action=detail&state=OK&contentType=State_Generic&contentId=54146 |title=History of the States: Oklahoma, The Sooner State |publisher=[[History (U.S. TV channel)|The History Channel]] |access-date=August 9, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010051625/http://www.history.com/states.do?action=detail&state=OK&contentType=State_Generic&contentId=54146 |archive-date=October 10, 2007 }}</ref>  As of 2024, Oklahoma had more than 4,700 dams, about 20% of all dams in the U.S.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/growing-number-of-dams-have-risks-for-houses-downstream-oklahoma-expert-says/article_d22e5560-9888-11ef-8b34-8f64c2145247.html |title=Growing number of dams have risks for houses downstream, Oklahoma expert says|publisher=Tulsa World, August 4, 2024|accessdate=August 4, 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Murrah Building - Aerial.jpg|thumb|left|The bombing of the [[Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building]] in Oklahoma City was one of the deadliest acts of terrorism in American history.]]

In 1995, Oklahoma City was the site of the most destructive act of domestic terrorism in American history. The [[Oklahoma City bombing]] of April 19, 1995, in which [[Timothy McVeigh]] detonated a large, crude explosive device outside the [[Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building]], killed 168 people, including 19 children. For his crime, McVeigh was executed by the federal government on June 11, 2001. His accomplice, [[Terry Nichols]], is serving life in prison without parole for helping plan the attack and prepare the explosive.<ref>{{cite news | year=1996|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/OKC/bombing.html|title= Oklahoma City Tragedy | publisher=CNN| access-date=August 1, 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070820160413/http://www.cnn.com/US/OKC/bombing.html|archive-date=August 20, 2007 }}</ref>