| Oklahoma Panhandle | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Incorporated and unorganized territory of the United States | |||||||||
| 1850–1890 | |||||||||
 The three counties of the Oklahoma Panhandle | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| • Coordinates | 36°48′N 100°31′W / 36.800°N 100.517°W | ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| • Type | Provisional, unelected, unrecognized[1] | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1886–1887 | Owen G. Chase | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Republic of Texas founded; includes Panhandle area | March 2, 1836 | ||||||||
• Texas surrenders claim; Panhandle becomes "unattached" territory | 1850 | ||||||||
• First petition for territorial status sent to Congress | February 1887 | ||||||||
• Second petition for territorial status sent to Congress | December 1887 | ||||||||
• Attached to Oklahoma Territory | 1890 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The Oklahoma Panhandle (formerly called No Man's Land, the Public Land Strip, the Neutral Strip, or Cimarron Territory) is a salient in the extreme northwestern region of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It consists of, from west to east, Cimarron County, Texas County and Beaver County. As with other salients in the United States, its name comes from the similarity of its shape to the handle of a pan. Its largest city is 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.
Paleo-Indian people settled in the region around 8450 BCE. Native American horticulturists inhabited the region before the European colonists arrived in the 16th century. The area became part of New Spain with the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, which set the western boundary of the Louisiana Purchase at the 100th meridian. The outcome of the Mexican War of Independence made the panhandle a part of Mexico in 1821. The area was part of the Texas Republic from its formation in 1836 until Texas became part of the United States in 1846, which left the area federal property. The area was incorporated into Oklahoma Territory and later split into three counties when Oklahoma obtained statehood in 1907.
As of the 2020 United States census, the region has a population of 28,729, and Texas County is the only county in Oklahoma to have a plurality of Hispanic residents, which make up 48.1 percent of the county's population.[2] Its economy is primarily agricultural, and its political elections sway in favor of the Republican Party.
- ^ Richter, Sara and Tom Lewis. "Cimarron Territory," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society, Accessed July 1, 2015.
- ^ "Texas County, Oklahoma". Census.gov. U.S. Bureau of the Census. Retrieved April 15, 2023.