ssed, and cemented together to form shale, sandstone, limestone and even flint. The outer edges the water filled basins lay swamps and marshlands.
             Oklahoma existed this way for about thirty million years. The life in them was lush with huge plants, flowers, insects and reptiles. As these things died their remains collected beneath the swamp waters. More pressure from within caused these water-filled basins and swamp to sink even farther. As they did, mud, sand and gravel washed in covering the swamps, sealing the material in deposits and preserving it from decay. These deposits now provide us with sources of energy. Coal, petroleum, and natural gas are a few of the vital resources. This treasure is what contributed to the demise of tribal government in Oklahoma. Finding, retrieving, processing, and selling of this treasure is an enterprise that helped to determine this state's history.
             The same pressures that turned swamps into treasures also trapped something else even more precious for life- billions and billions of gallons of fresh water. But for those basins that didn't sink warm winds stirred the surface of the seas for millennia. It began to evaporate, leaving behind thick deposits of gypsum and salt.
             Then seventy million years ago the land takes another upward swing. Making the sea go to the south and leaving the land. The lifting tilting, racking and eroding of the land left mountains, hills and flat lands. There are ten different regions in the state ranging from plains, hills to mountains. The different areas have made the people.
             The humans arrived following the herds of animals, using stone and bone tools. Reaching Oklahoma 11,000 years ago. Archaeologist have carbon dated some of the stone and bone tools to this age. These early hunters stayed in the state and became foragers. Their diets consisted of fruits, berries, roots, nuts and seeds besides the meat they hunted. They developed holding pits ...