SINCE OKLAHOMA was not admitted ' as a state until 1907, many
people assume that its history must be both short and simple.
It is not. Oklahoma's recorded history began in 1541,when a
small group of Spanish soldiers under the leadership of Fran-
cisco Vasquez de Coronado traversed its western prairies. Cer-
tain members of this little army have left us accounts of the
expedition describing their adventures and what they saw and
accomplished. Far from being simple, the history of the state
is very complex; at the same time, it is a most colorful and
romantic story. At one time no less than seven separate and
distinct governments and codes of law were in operation within
its present limits, each applying to a considerable area and a
fairly large number of people. Also, at one time, an eighth
area, the Panhandle, larger than some states of the Union, had
neither government nor law of any kind except what might be
administered by the central government of the United States.

Oklahoma is peculiarly a "border land," or marginal area,
since it is not entirely northern, southern, eastern, or western.
Broadly speaking, its boundary states are Texas on the South
and west, Kansas on the north, and Arkansas on the east. Mis-
souri, however, forms some forty miles of its eastern boundary,
and the long strip in the northwest, called the Panhandle,
touches for a number of miles the states of New Mexico and
Colorado. Its area is slightly over 70,000 miles, which

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