OKLAHOMA 



4360 



OKLAHOMA 



the level plain in the southwest corner of the 

 state. 



With the exception of such isolated clusters 

 of mountains, most of the southern part of the 

 state is a treeless plain, where the rank grasses 

 toss in the white glare of the cloudless sky. It 

 is carved by the canyons of streams and dotted 

 with buttes and mesas. In the northwest there 

 are four large salt plains coated with dazzling 

 white salt crystals and containing many salt 

 springs. No Man's Land is a high, rough table- 

 land, lying at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. 

 The lowest part of the state is in the Red River 

 Valley ; which is a gently-rolling timberland 



few salty ponds, which evaporate during the 

 dry season. 



Climate. Oklahoma has the dry climate of 

 the Western states and the warm temperature 

 of the South. Owing to higher elevation and 

 greater distance from the Gulf coast, the west- 

 ern and central portions of the state are cooler 

 and dryer than the eastern and southern sec- 

 tions. The annual temperature averages 62 

 F. in the northwestern plateau. At Oklahoma 

 City, in the center of the state, the temperature 

 averages 38 F. in the winter and 78 F. in the 

 summer. The .rainfall varies from twenty 

 inches in the west to forty-five inches in the 



OUTLINE MAP OF OKLAHOMA 



Showing the boundaries, chief cities, principal rivers, location of coal measures, and the main 

 and oil fields. 



and fertile agricultural region, 600 feet above 

 the sea. 



Rivers and Lakes. There are numerous rivers 

 and streams in Oklahoma, but none is used for 

 navigation. The Red River, forming the entire 

 southern boundary, and its tributaries, the Ki- 

 amichi, Washita and Fork of the Red River, 

 drain all of the southern portion of the state. 

 Between the Ozarks and Arbuckle Mountains 

 are the broad, fertile valleys of the Arkansas, 

 Canadian, Neosho or Grand rivers. The Ar- 

 kansas, crossing the northeastern part of the 

 state, is the main waterway and is fed by the 

 Canadian, Cimarron, Neosho, or Grand, Verdi- 

 gris, Illinois and many smaller streams. The 

 Canadian, the largest tributary, rising in New 

 Mexico, flows east across Oklahoma, joining 

 the main stream near the state's eastern bor- 

 der. There are no permanent lakes and only a 



east, and, except in No Man's Land in the ex- 

 treme northwest, it is nowhere too scant for 

 agriculture. Snow rarely falls in the southern 

 part of the state. The lack of humidity makes 

 the climate healthful and less enervating than 

 that of the other states in this region. 



Agriculture. Before the opening of Okla- 

 homa to white men in 1889, much of the terri- 

 tory was occupied by great herds of cattle 

 driven in from Texas. The prairies, with more 

 than one hundred varieties of native grass, 

 furnishing excellent pasture and abundant feed, 

 have made Oklahoma one of the leading cattle 

 states of the Union. The value of the live 

 stock of the "state in 1916 was estimated at 

 $175,495,000. 



Agricultural development has been remark- 

 ably rapid, and many of the ranges have been 

 divided into smaller farms. Over one-half of 



