okiesurveyor

One of the most unique features of the shape of our State is known as the Panhandle. The Panhandle of Oklahoma has its own history somewhat separate from the rest of the State. In Part 1 of this series “The South and West Borders” we learned how the western boundary of the main body of Oklahoma was created. Well quite simply, that (western border) line is the eastern border of the Panhandle. It was part of what was then Texas. To learn about the southern boundary of the Panhandle we must talk about the Northern boundary of Texas. When Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845, its Northern border was established as 36 degrees and 30 minutes north latitude from 100 degrees west longitude to 103 degrees west longitude. However, when the South Line of Kansas was created in by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 it was established at 37 degrees north latitude thus leaving a one-half degree (30 minutes of latitude) strip of land from the western boundary of the main body of Oklahoma all the