The Americana Series Monthly Challenge – December 2019: Oklahoma

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The Americana Series Monthly Challenge – December 2019: Oklahoma

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1bhabeck
Modificato: Nov 29, 2019, 9:16 pm

Each month, we will visit a different state in the United States of America for the Monthly Reading Challenge in the Mystery & Suspense Extra! Group. This month, we stay in the same general area of the US and travel south from Kansas to Oklahoma.

The Americana Series Monthly Challenge – December 2019: Oklahoma


History

Oklahoma is a state in the south central United States of America; its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City. Oklahoma is ranked 20th in area at 69,899 square miles (181,040km square) and is the 28th most populous state with approximately 3.9 million residents as of 2018.

The state’s name is derived from the Choctaw words "okla" and "humma" meaning "red people". It is also known informally by its nickname, The Sooner State, in reference to the non-native settlers who staked their claims on land before the official opening date of lands in the western Oklahoma Territory or before the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889, which increased European-American settlement in the area.

Oklahoma is on a confluence of three major American cultural regions and historically serves as a route for cattle drives, a destination for Southern settlers, and a government-sanctioned territory for Native Americans. In the period between 1866 and 1899, cattle ranches in Texas strove to meet the demands for food in the eastern cities and railroads in Kansas promised to deliver in a timely manner. Cattle trails and cattle ranches developed as cowboys either drove their product north.

Oklahoma became the 46th state to enter the union on November 16, 1907. The new state became a focal point for the emerging oil industry, causing 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.


Oklahoma also has a rich African-American history. Many black towns thrived in the early 20th century because of black settlers moving from neighboring states, especially Kansas. There was even talk of making Oklahoma a majority-black state. By early 20th century, the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa was one of the most prosperous African-American communities in the US. In 1921, the Tulsa Race Riot broke out and was one of the costliest episodes of racial violence in American history. Sixteen hours of rioting resulted in 35 city blocks destroyed, $1.8 million in property damage and an estimated 300 deaths.

From 1930 to 1950, parts of the state began to suffer from poor farming practices and became known as the Dust Bowl – a period of 20 years characterized by little rainfall, strong winds and abnormally high temperatures. Farmers were driven into poverty and forced to relocate resulting in the state’s only historical decline in population (6.9%).


In 1995, Oklahoma City was the site of one of the most destructive acts of domestic terrorism in American history. The Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995, in which Timothy McVeigh detonated a large explosive device outside the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building, killed 168 people, including 19 children. McVeigh was executed by the federal government on June 11, 2001.

Geography


Oklahoma is bordered by six states – Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northeast, Arkansas to the east, New Mexico to the west, Colorado to the northwest and Texas to the south and west. Among the most geographically diverse states, Oklahoma is one of four to have more than 10 distinct ecological regions. The state has something for everyone with its four primary mountain ranges, the semi-arid high plains with their natural forests, and rolling to flat landscape with intermittent canyons and mesas. The state also has more than 500 named creeks and rivers and 200 lakes created by dames.


Most of Oklahoma lies in the Great Plains, Cross Timbers and US Interior Highlands, a region prone to severe weather. Most of the state lies in an area known as "Tornado Alley" where contrasting air currents produce severe weather (thunderstorms, large hail, tornadoes) with a frequency virtually unseen anywhere else on Earth.

Fun Facts

An average 62 tornadoes strike the state per year. The first official tornado forecast and the first successful tornado forecast in recorded history happened at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma in 1948.


The shopping cart was invented in Oklahoma. Sylvan Goldman, owner of the Hympty Dumpty (later Piggly Wiggly) supermarket chain in Oklahoma City introduced the folding basket carriers in June 1937.

Anadarko is home to the only authentic Indian city in the US.

The National Cowboy Hall of Fame is located in Oklahoma City.

Located on the south shores of Grand Lake O' the Cherokees, the Pensacola Dam was built in 1940 and is still the World's Longest Multiple Arch Dam. Length of dam/spillway – 6,565 feet. Pensacola Dam was the first hydroelectric facility in Oklahoma.


Oklahoma has the largest Native American population of any state in the US. Many of the 250,000 American Indians living in Oklahoma are descended from the 67 tribes who originally inhabited Oklahoma. Oklahoma is the tribal headquarters for 39 tribes.

According to the Aerospace Corporation, an Oklahoman woman is the only person to have ever been hit by falling "space junk". The woman, hit by falling debris from the US Delta II rocket, was not injured.

Oklahoma was the setting for the movie Twister.

The town of Beaver, Oklahoma is known as the Cow Chip Throwing Capital of the World and holds an annual contest every April. The tradition began in the 1970s as a way to pay homage to Oklahoma’s early settlers, who would trade wagonloads of cow chips which were used as cooking fuel for food and supplies. (cow chip = dried manure)


Notable Residents



Will Rogers was born on a large ranch in the Cherokee Nation that is today Oologah, Oklahoma. Rogers became a nationally known cowboy as the star of radio programs, Broadway plays, 71 movies in the 1920s and '30s. He was also a featured columnist, writing more than 4,000 syndicated articles.

Oklahoma is the home state to a number of well-known musicians: Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton, Reba McEntire, Toby Keith and Christian Kane. With a little research, I even found some that were not country singers (LOL) – The Hanson Brothers, Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), Leona Mitchell (Soprano) and Chet Baker (Jazz)

Oklahoma appears to have players in almost every American sport with Troy Aikman (football), Blake Griffin (basketball), Mickey Mantle and Johnny Bench (baseball), Jack Brisco (wrestling), Gil Morgan (golf), Louise Brough (tennis), Tanner Berryhill (racing), and Shannon Miller and Bart Conner (gymnastics), to name just a few of the Oklahoman professional and Olympic athletes.

The state can also count some of the big names in entertainment as past residents. Ron Howard, Brad Pitt, Walter Cronkite, Phil McGraw, Chuck Norris, Lon Chaney, Jr., Gary Busey, Megan Mullaly and 2 of my favorites – Tony Randall and James Garner.

Oklahoma hasn’t sent anyone to the White House yet but it has sent six residents to NASA to become astronauts – Gordon Cooper, Owen Garriott, John Herrington, Shannon Lucid, William Pogue and Thomas Stafford.


In honor of OKLAHOMA, read a Mystery/Suspense book (any sub-genre will do!) that satisfies one or more of the following:

• A Mystery/Suspense book with "Bomb," "Red," "Home," "Space," or "Soon" in the title or an outdoor scene on the cover;

• A Mystery/Suspense book in which a bombing takes place or a main character is African-American, Black or Native American;

• A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's initials (BOTH the first AND last) can be found in OKLAHOMA

Happy Reading

2bhabeck
Modificato: Dic 29, 2019, 11:09 pm

DONE!
Brenda's December 2019 Americana Challenge - Oklahoma
3/3 Complete


In honor of OKLAHOMA, read a Mystery/Suspense book (any sub-genre will do!) that satisfies one or more of the following:

• A Mystery/Suspense book with "Bomb," "Red," "Home," "Space," or "Soon" in the title or an outdoor scene on the cover;
All Systems Red by Martha Wells; RED; 12/8/19; 4 stars

• A Mystery/Suspense book in which a bombing takes place or a main character is African-American, Black or Native American;
A Fatal Thaw by Dana Stabenow; Native American; 12/25/19; 3.5 stars

• A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's initials (BOTH the first AND last) can be found in OKLAHOMA
Killer Christmas by Lin Harper; 12/8/19; 2 stars

3Sergeirocks
Nov 30, 2019, 7:24 am

🎼 Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain... 🎧 😉

4Carol420
Modificato: Dic 14, 2019, 6:20 pm

>3 Sergeirocks: Great minds think alike. That's exactly what I thought when I saw which state it was:)



Carol and The Cow Can Outrun Any Old Tornado...Maybe.
3/3 📌 - ★

📌1. A Mystery/Suspense book with "Bomb," "Red," "Home," "Space," or "Soon" in the title or an outdoor scene on the cover;
Assume The Worst - Carl Hiaasen - 3★


📌2. A Mystery/Suspense book in which a bombing takes place or a main character is African-American, Black or Native American
Storm Rising - Douglas Shofield - 3.5 Jack was half native American

📌3. A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's initials (BOTH the first AND last) can be found in OKLAHOMA
Liar, Liar - M.J. Arlidge - 3.5★

5bhabeck
Nov 30, 2019, 3:24 pm

>3 Sergeirocks: >4 Carol420: based on 62 tornadoes a year, I think that’s a pretty accurate description 🌪💨

6Sergeirocks
Dic 1, 2019, 8:14 am

>5 bhabeck: I just thought it meant it was windy, 😂

7gaylebutz
Modificato: Dic 9, 2019, 10:38 am

I'm reading Live Bait by P.J. Tracy, which has an outdoor scene on the cover.

8Sergeirocks
Modificato: Dic 31, 2019, 1:07 pm

1. 5 December - Night Without End - Alistair MacLean 4.5★s (Author's initials found in 'OKLAHOMA')
2. 22 December - Home - Harlan Coben 5★s (Book with 'Home' in the title, 😂)
3. 31 December - Rock with Wings - Anne Hillerman 3.75★s (Main characters are Native American - Navaho Police)

9rhinemaiden
Modificato: Dic 8, 2019, 9:29 am

One of my favorite books is Baja Oklahoma by Dan Jenkins (published 1981) which doesn't qualify it for any part of the Oklahoma quiz, but it does have Oklahoma in the title. From the back cover: "Baja Oklahoma is all about lovin' and losin' and cheatin' and boozin'... about livin' hard, laughin' hard and comin' up winners..." My revew: It's a hoot! 5 stars

10Carol420
Dic 15, 2019, 1:17 pm



I just realized that I was finished. Thank you Brenda. Another fun one.

11bhabeck
Dic 15, 2019, 2:44 pm

>10 Carol420:. Good job!

12Sergeirocks
Dic 15, 2019, 4:58 pm

>10 Carol420: 👏👏😀

13gaylebutz
Dic 16, 2019, 11:27 am

Has an outdoor scene on the cover

Live Bait by P.J. Tracey
4 ★

Who would kill Morey Gilbert, a man without an enemy, a man who might as well have been a saint? His tiny, cranky little wife, Lily, is no help, and may even be a suspect; his estranged son, Jack, an infamous ambulance-chasing lawyer, has his own enemies; and his son-in-law, former cop Marty Pullman, is so depressed over his wife's death a year ago that he's ready to kill himself, but not Morey. The number of victims - all elderly - grows, and the city is fearful once again. Detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth’s investigation threatens to uncover a series of horrendous secrets, some buried within the heart of the police department itself.

There was a lot I liked about this police procedural: the wisecracking banter between the cops, an interesting plot, a variety of feisty characters and a number of twists or surprises. Sure, there were a couple of things that weren’t quite plausible but I enjoyed the telling of the story so much that I didn’t mind. I plan to read more by this author.

14Olivermagnus
Modificato: Dic 22, 2019, 10:18 am



Lynda and Oliver See The Winds Sweeping Down the Plains

3
of 3 Complete

In honor of OKLAHOMA, read a Mystery/Suspense book (any sub-genre will do!) that satisfies one or more of the following:

📌 A Mystery/Suspense book with "Bomb," "Red," "Home," "Space," or "Soon" in the title or an outdoor scene on the cover
The Life We Bury - Allen Eskens - 4/5 Stars - 12/4/19


📌 A Mystery/Suspense book in which a bombing takes place or a main character is African-American, Black or Native American
Caged - Ellison Cooper - 12/22/19 - 5 Stars - MC is African American

📌 A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's initials (BOTH the first AND last) can be found in OKLAHOMA
The Xibalba Murders - Lynn Hamilton - 3.5 Stars - 12/1/19 - LH

15Carol420
Dic 23, 2019, 6:32 am

>14 Olivermagnus:



Great job you two. Congrats!!

16Andrew-theQM
Modificato: Dic 24, 2019, 3:44 am

3 of 3 Complete

• A Mystery/Suspense book with "Bomb," "Red," "Home," "Space," or "Soon" in the title or an outdoor scene on the cover;

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Outdoor Scene on the cover)

• A Mystery/Suspense book in which a bombing takes place or a main character is African-American, Black or Native American;

Guns of Navarone by Alistair Maclean ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 (bomb the Guns of Navarone)

• A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's initials (BOTH the first AND last) can be found in OKLAHOMA

Gently Through the Mill by Alan Hunter ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

17Carol420
Dic 24, 2019, 3:50 pm

>16 Andrew-theQM:



Congrats. Good job!

18bhabeck
Dic 29, 2019, 11:11 pm

Done!

19Andrew-theQM
Dic 30, 2019, 5:44 am

>17 Carol420: Thanks 😊

20Carol420
Modificato: Dic 30, 2019, 6:51 am

>18 bhabeck:



Congratulations.

21Andrew-theQM
Dic 30, 2019, 10:51 am

Thanks Brenda for all the work you have put into these over 2019. Hoping to get more regularly involved in 2020 with them. 👏👏👏🙌😊

22bhabeck
Dic 31, 2019, 3:28 pm

Will be posting the January Americana challenge tonight 1/31. Too many issues with getting it done while I was out of town

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