Page 458 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

456  THE GREA T PLAINS

Oklahoma
Bordered by six states, Oklahoma is a cultural, geographical,
and historical crossroads, where jagged mountain ranges and
High Plains mesas merge with forests, flatland wheat fields,
and vast grassy ranges. The state has the nation’s largest
Native American population – more than 250,000 people
representing 67 tribes – as a result of forced 19th-century
migrations to the region, then known as the Native American
Territory. Several “land runs” between 1889 and 1895 brought
a huge influx of white and African-American settlers to this
area, which joined the US in 1907 after oil was discovered.
Praying Hands at Oral Roberts
University, Tulsa
m Bartlesville of bison graze among stands
of big bluestem grasses and a comprehensive art museum
* 36,000. ~ @ n 201 SW Keeler,
(800) 364-8708. ∑ bartlesville.com blazing star wildflowers. founded by a wealthy local
oilman. Its collection includes
The state’s first commercial oil O Woolaroc Museum and a wide range of Native and
well was drilled here in 1897, Wildlife Preserve Western American paintings
kicking off a large-scale oil boom. Rte 123, 12 miles (19 km) SW of by such well-known artists as
A replica of the original well, the Bartlesville. Tel (918) 336-0307. George Catlin and Frederic
Nellie Johnstone #1, now stands Open 10am–5pm Wed–Sun (and Tue Remington. The city’s most
as a memorial in a downtown from Memorial Day to Labor Day). popular roadside sight is the
park. Today, the city’s largest Closed Mon, Thanksgiving, Dec 25. Prayer Tower Visitor Center and
& 7 ∑ woolaroc.org
employer is still the Conoco- the 80-ft (24-m) bronze statue
Phillips company, founded in of a pair of hands folded in
1917 as Phillips Petroleum, by prayer at the entrance to Tulsa’s
two speculators from Iowa. , Tulsa Oral Roberts University.
* 394,000. ~ £ @ n Williams
Environs Center Tower 2, 2 W 2nd St, (800) 558- E Thomas Gilcrease Institute
Frank Phillips’s extensive 3311. ∑ visittulsa.com 1400 N Gilcrease Museum Rd,
6-sq-mile (15-sq-km) rural off US 64. Tel (918) 596-2700.
estate, Woolaroc Museum and Originally a railroad town, Tulsa Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sun. Closed
Wildlife Preserve, is located prospered after the discovery of Mon, Dec 25. & 7 ∑ gilcrease.org
12 miles (19 km) southwest of oil in 1901. Fortunes were made
Bartlesville. The picturesque literally overnight, leading to the
ranch includes a superb construction of Art Deco . Tahlequah
Western art collection, the commercial buildings, roads, * 17,000. @ n 123 E Delaware St,
Native American Heritage Center, and bridges across the Arkansas (800) 456-4860. ∑ tourtahlequah.
and a wildlife preserve. About River. Although Tulsa is still a com
45 miles (72 km) north west of major oil center, it also contains
Bartlesville (via Pawhuska) is the numerous man-made lakes, The capital of the Cherokee
Nature Conservancy’s Tallgrass parks, and Arkansas River bike Nation, Tahlequah lies in the
Prairie Preserve. In this vast trails. Its top attraction is the eastern Oklahoma Ozark
expanse of rolling prairie, a herd Thomas Gilcrease Institute, Mountain foothills, the tribe’s
home since 1839. The city
preserves several late 19th-
century buildings, including
the prison and the Cherokee
National Capitol Building.
Of primary interest here is
the Cherokee Heritage Center.
Its attractions include a village
dating from the 1875–90 Native
American Territory era and a re-
creation of a 17th- century settle-
ment from the tribe’s ancestral
lands in the Appalachian Moun-
tains. Exhibits at the Cherokee
National Museum chronicle
Carriage on display at Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve, near Bartlesville the tribe’s forced march along
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp460–62 and pp463–5

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