The Sooner State is named after the “sooner” pioneers who settled in the area.
The Sooner State is named after the “sooner” pioneers who settled in the area. The name Oklahoma comes from a Choctaw Indian word meaning “red people”. It was officially adopted as the state’s name in 1907, though it had been used informally for many years before that. The term Oklahoma was used by settlers of the territory, which was opened up to non-Indian settlement on April 22nd 1889. The first person to arrive at this date was a settler named David L. Payne, whose family arrived later that day.
Oklahoma is known as the Sooner State because of its early settlement by white Americans from other states, including David Payne and his family. These so-called sooners (the term for those who moved into Indian Territory before it was officially opened) were eager to claim land and begin farming, as well as to escape their previous homes.
