Oklahoma gets its name from the Choctaw words “Okla” and “Humma,” literally meaning “red people.” Native tribes like the Wichita, Apache, Tonkawa, and others lived here for millennia before the arrival of Europeans.

In 1541, Spanish explorer and conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado arrived in Oklahoma on a quest for gold, which remained unfulfilled. A century later, French explorer Robert de La Salle became the second European to reach these lands, claiming it for the French empire. The French established fur trading posts. This land would remain under French rule until 1763 when France was forced to cede the eastern part of their Territory to the British following their defeat in the Seven Year War and the French and Indian War.

In 1803, the US bought a massive chunk of land from the French for around $15 million. Known as the Louisiana Purchase, this land included the Territory of Oklahoma. President Thomas Jefferson deployed American explorers like Captain Richard Sparks to map out this new US territory. During this period, land loans in Oklahoma became a standard method to get ownership. By 1819, Oklahoma was now part of the Arkansas territory.

In 1830, US Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which forced all Indian tribes in the southeast to give up their land and move westward. Oklahoma was set aside as their new territory. During this Oklahoma land rush, tribes like the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole moved to the new Indian Territory while American settlers scrambled for cheap Oklahoma land. Some tribes like the Cherokee resisted and were forced to march to their new territory, killing thousands in what is now known as the Trail of Tears.

After the civil war, there was a vast land rush owing to Oklahoma becoming part of the American frontier. Ranchers led the Oklahoma land run, buying land in Oklahoma to graze their cattle. By the late 1800s, homesteaders began moving onto Oklahoma Indian land, despite the US government giving Native Indians assurances that their Oklahoma tribal land would remain theirs alone. These homesteaders took advantage of cheap Oklahoma land, and when others heard about it, they also rushed from east and west. Everyone wanted to buy cheap land for sale in Oklahoma.

Despite efforts to preserve Oklahoma Native American land, Oklahoma reunited as a single state on November 6, 1907.