Brand New State. Gonna Treat You Great!

By Brian Bush

1787 Society Treasurer

To achieve lasting success, leaders must commit to two things simultaneously.  First, they must hold fast to their core values and the principles that ground and guide them.  Second, they must never stop dreaming.  This formula requires finding balance, and it requires dedication.  It is a key ingredient for success in leadership, in business, and in any organization.  And I believe Oklahoma is proof that the same formula is critical to the success of a state.  What makes Oklahoma the best place to live, work, and raise a family today is the same thing that made it a destination for so many pioneers in the days before statehood.  What made those brave men and women come here were their core values and a passion to chase their dreams against all odds.

We celebrate November 16 as Statehood Day and many know that we officially became a state on that day in 1907, but none of that would have been possible without the tireless efforts of people working for years prior.  In fact, a significant statement of who we are came from the Resolutions of the Joint Statehood Convention assembled at Oklahoma City, OK, July 12, 1905.  They outlined to the United States Congress the reasons Oklahoma should be admitted as a state “on equal footing with the other states.”  In that document, those Oklahoma leaders gave these reasons:

1.     “First, our area is sufficient.”  (Our geographic size in relation to other states.)

2.     “Second, our population is sufficient.”  (Our population size in relation to other states.)

3.     “Third, our resources are sufficient.”  (Our incredible natural resources including our coal mines, our “extensive oil fields,” our productive natural gas wells, our “mountains of granite,” our lead, our zinc, our forests, and our fertile farm land.)

4.     “The character of our population entitles us to immediate admission.” (In this section, they discussed the literacy of our citizens, and they focused on the fact that our population contained those “who have the pluck and energy to move.”)

One could not write a more fitting description of our state today, and in this description is the key to why Oklahoma is still the best place to live, work, and raise a family.  Our area is still sufficient.  Our population is still sufficient (and growing).  Our resources are still sufficient, and new technology has allowed us to utilize those resources in ways never before imagined.  But most importantly, the character of our population continues to be the standard by which others measure success.

Though we have been tested by natural disasters, economic hardship, and the tragedy of the Oklahoma City bombing, our people have not wavered.  The same frontier spirit that allowed our ancestors to carve a life for themselves out of this territory and the same spirit that allowed them to unabashedly declare to Congress that we were sufficient for equal footing is the same spirit that carries us today.  It allows us to be united and strengthened by our adversity rather than divided by it.  It is that spirit that builds the Devon Tower, puts an NBA team in the Chesapeake Arena, and builds an economy more stable and resilient than that of most of America and the world. 

The prevailing spirit in our state has held on to our core values and never stopped dreaming.  Our core values are grounded in our faith, and so are our dreams.  It is sometimes hard to describe a spirit like that, but there are two notable attempts.  In the preamble to our State Constitution, we said it this way:  Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessing of liberty; to secure just and rightful government; to promote our mutual welfare and happiness, we, the people of the State of Oklahoma, do ordain and establish this Constitution.  In our state song, we say it this way: Plenty of air and plenty of room.   Plenty of room to swing a rope.  Plenty of HEART and plenty of HOPE.