Oklahoma Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Caramelized White Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream

Oklahoma Carrot Cake

I must admit, I can’t remember why I chose carrot cake to represent Oklahoma.  If I were going by popular Okie desserts, I should have created a Fried Pie Cupcake or a Pecan Pie Cupcake.  Oklahoma isn’t even a leading U.S. producer of carrots, for heaven’s sake.

Maybe it was an unconscious thing.  I always think of my Gram, who grew up on a farm, reminiscing about pulling fresh carrots out of the soil with barely a dusting off before chomping them right down.  I strongly associate carrots with home farms and fertile earth and simple living, which were my imaginings about Oklahoma life.  Superficial imaginings, for sure, but it turns out that a fair amount of Oklahoma’s history revolves around it’s relationship with the earth…competing for it (The Land Run of 1889), stealing it (Native American land allotment legislation), struggling to glean a living from it (the Dust Bowl years and the Great Depression).  It’s a complicated history and one worth exploring.  Let’s take a look:

A Baker’s Dozen Facts About Oklahoma

1. Oklahoma became the 46th state admitted to the Union on November 16, 1907. 
2. Oklahoma derived it’s name from the Choctaw words “okla” and “humma,” which apparently means “red people.”  It was coined by Allen Wright, ordained Presbyterian minister and Principal Chief of the Choctaw Republic 1866-70.
3. Oklahoma earned it’s nickname as the Sooner State after the Land Run of 1889, in which prospective homesteaders had the opportunity to claim a tract of land on a first come, first served basis, beginning on April 22, 1889.  Some folks decided to sneak out sooner, ahead of the official start time, and pretended to claim their land once the competition had officially begun.   
4. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 allowed the United States government to forcibly remove Native Americans from their ancestral lands and relocate them west of the Mississippi to Indian Territory, which is present day Oklahoma.  The harsh journey resulted in several thousand Native American deaths and became know as The Trail of Tears. There’s a documentary on Amazon Prime if you want to learn more.  I haven’t watched it yet.
5. The Dawes Act of 1887 and Curtis Act of 1898 required that Native American communal lands be broken up and allotted to individual tribal members at a maximum of 160 acres per person or family. After the allotments were made, all remaining lands were considered surplus and sold to white people.  These allotments blatantly violated previous treaties and removed 90 million acres of land from Native American ownership. It was these Acts that paved the way for hundreds of thousands of white people to settle in Oklahoma via the Land Rush of 1889, propelling Oklahoma to eventual statehood in 1907.  Read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown or watch the television movie to learn more.  Disclaimer: I haven’t read or watched either of these either.
6. Oklahoma has over 200 manmade lakes, more than any other state.  The creation of these reservoirs has allowed Oklahoma to control and conserve it’s water in seasons of flood and drought, use hydroelectric power, recreate, and fish.  
7. The Tulsa Race Massacre of May 31- June 1, 1921.  Considered one of the most horrific examples of racial violence in US history, the massacre resulted in an estimated 75-300 deaths and the wholesale destruction of the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, known as Black Wall Street, the richest African American community in America at the time.  Nearly 10,000 people were left homeless and no restitution has ever been made to the survivors or descendants of the survivors in the 99 years since.  I highly recommend watching the HBO series, The Watchmen, for a dramatization of this event and then following it up with one of several books on the subject.  I plan to start with Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District by Hannibal B. Johnson.
8. Oklahoma is first in tornado warnings, parking meters, and grocery carts. 
9. In 2016, the incarceration rate in Oklahoma was the highest in the nation with 1,079 per every 100,000 people imprisoned.  At that time, African Americans comprised 7% of the Oklahoma population but 26% of it’s incarcerated persons.  Thankfully, the state has started to bring down it’s numbers in the years since.  You can read about that here. 
10. In it’s heyday, Route 66 ran 2,448 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles County. 432 miles of the iconic highway ran right through Oklahoma.  Sections of Route 66 traced the Trail of Tears and it was the road that most followed out west in search of new opportunities when the Dust Bowl years of drought and Depression set in.  Route 66 is no longer an official US highway but much of it is still intact.  If you ever get the chance to check it out, take this book with you.
11. Read Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann, to learn about the 1910-1930 wave of murders of the wealthy Osage people of Osage County, Oklahoma. When oil was discovered on Osage land, white opportunists swept into the County, intent on separating the Osage people from their wealth.  Many of the murders have yet to be solved.
12. Oklahoma is the unofficial home of the Fried Pie. If you’re ever in Oklahoma, you should go here to get them.
13. Approximately 4 million people live in Oklahoma today. As of 2019, racial demographic estimates are 74% white, 11.1% Hispanic, 9.4% Native American, 7.8% Black .