The Oklahoma Panhandle--A Cross Section of the Southern High Plains

Abstract

T nHE Oklahoma Panhandle, consisting of the three westernmost Oklahoma counties-Cimarron, Texas, and Beaver (Fig. 1)-is a land of contrasts. Within this area means are insignificant, averages misleading, and generalizations are often invalid. Flat plains alternate with dissected semibadlands; bitter cold and snow vie with blistering heat and dust; fertile calcareous soils contrast with sterile blow sand; bounteous grain yields alternate with crop failures; huge ranches compete with small subsistence farms; emigration meets immigration. Such an area resists adequate description, but some generalizations have merit. Rural property size is steadily increasing; irrigation is expanding apace; mechanization on farms is an accomplished fact; conservation techniques and scientific agriculture are making substantial gains; and the residents of the region have among the highest per capita incomes in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Panhandle, projecting westward as it does from the 100th meridian to the 103rd meridian, provides a sampling avenue that gives valuable insight into the southern High Plains. Indeed, the limits of this transverse segment are almost coincident with the eastern and western boundaries of the High Plains. Although many investigators have suggested boundary lines between the High and Low Plains portions of the Great Plains, agreement among them is rarely attained. The authors suggest that the High Plains boundary is very near the eastern boundary of Beaver County.' Heavy stream dissection and proximity to the margin of the Tertiary in this region present presumptive evidence in the absence of any other significant line of demarcation. And, while it is true that projections of the Great Plains extend west of the western boundary of Cimarron County, volcanic disturbances dssociated with Mt. Capulin in New Mexico give a somewhat different character to northeastern New Mexico. Fortunately, then, the Panhandle counties, political entities, provide a valid transverse sample of the southern High Plains. Such a circumstance assists in the gathering of data, and provides a measure of statistical validity which is often difficult to attain in regions other than political units. The nature of the area allows a dual objective to be met. One purpose of this study is to provide a geographic inventory of the Oklahoma Panhandle which presumably might have multiple uses. Inventories are necessary for intelligent planning, and planning is essential to prevent economic disaster in the southern High Plains during periods of