Oklahoma was the last major frontier--an island surrounded by waves of land-hungry pioneers who, with the help of boomers, nesters, and sooners, finally flooded the area to such an extent that Congress was incapable of maintaining the prohibition against the white people who wanted to enter the region known as Indian Territory. The history of the state is fascinating and paradoxical. The colorful life of the Indians, the gangs of outlaws, the days of cattle barons, and the spectacular "runs" for free land, all contribute to its fascination. Paradoxes are both numerous and amusing. The land considered to be worthless one hundred years ago and therefore generously given to the Indians was wanted by thousands of homesteaders and cattle men fifty years later because it was so valuable; the roughest and rockiest land in the Indian Territory, established as an Osage reservation, made the Osage tribe the richest people per capita on earth when their lands became a vast oil field.
