Oklahoma's Identity: Three Characteristics of the American West

Abstract

This study examines three characteristics of the American West that Oklahoma also possesses. Primary materials include newspapers, court decisions, a pending lawsuit, and federal treaties with the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations. Secondary sources incorporated a variety of historical monographs on the American West, several legal journal articles on state/tribal water issues, as well as some miscellaneous works written about the energy boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s. This study examines three characteristics of the American West that Oklahoma possesses; this contributes to Oklahoma's identity as a Western state. First, the boom and bust nature of the economy in Oklahoma City from the early 1970s through the mid 1990s exhibit similarities as can be found in other Western cities in the twentieth century. One such example within this timeframe is the meteoric rise and precipitous decline of the Penn Square Bank, one of the main lenders of loans for oil and natural gas exploration in Oklahoma in the late 1970s. The second characteristic is found in the lawsuit between the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations against the State of Oklahoma over the water rights to Sardis Lake, among other water sources, in southeastern Oklahoma. This lawsuit shows the increasing value and importance of water in Oklahoma, where water scarcity is an issue, just as it is in other Western states like Colorado and California. The last characteristic is the recent, rapid development of large Native American casinos. As a result of the rise in these casinos, the tribes launched several public relations-like media campaigns to promote themselves. With the filing of the lawsuit by the Chickasaw and Choctaw in 2011, the campaigns have begun to focus on promoting their position of strength as the plaintiffs in the case. This rise of casinos in Oklahoma is not just attached to the American West, but throughout the entire country. Where it becomes a western characteristic is through how the Chickasaw and Choctaw have used the boom in casinos to promote and defend their sovereignty. The implication with these three characteristics is that they help define Oklahoma's identity.