Osage Hills
Encyclopedia
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, commonly known as The Osage, refers to the broad rolling hills and rolling tallgrass prairie
Tallgrass prairie
The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America, with fire as its primary periodic disturbance. In the past, tallgrass prairies covered a large portion of the American Midwest, just east of the Great Plains, and portions of the Canadian Prairies. They flourished in areas with...
and Cross Timbers
Cross Timbers
The term Cross Timbers is used to describe a strip of land in the United States that runs from southeastern Kansas across Central Oklahoma to Central Texas...
encompassing Osage County
Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Coterminous with the Osage Indian Reservation, it is the home of the federally recognized Osage Nation. As of the 2010 census, the population was 47,472 a 6.8 percent increase from 2000, when the population was 44,437...
and surrounding areas, including portions of Mayes, Tulsa and Washington Counties.
The Osage
The Osage contains some of the largest remaining remnants of the tallgrass prairie that covered much of the Great PlainsGreat Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
(see Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, located in Osage County, Oklahoma near Foraker, Oklahoma, is owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy. It is protected as the largest tract of remaining tallgrass prairie in the world...
). Kansans generally refer to the northern portion of this same prairie system as the Flint Hills
Flint Hills
The Flint Hills, historically known as Bluestem Pastures or Blue Stem Hills, are a band of hills in eastern Kansas stretching into north-central Oklahoma, extending from Marshall County, Kansas and Washington County, Kansas in the north to Cowley County, Kansas and Osage County, Oklahoma in the south...
.
Osage Nation
The Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
and its rugged environs hid outlaws and illicit activity well past the middle of the twentieth century. The Nellie Johnstone No. 1, drilled near present-day Bartlesville
Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Bartlesville is a city in Osage and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 43,070 at the 2010 census. Bartlesville is located forty-seven miles north of Tulsa and very close to Oklahoma's northern border with Kansas. It is the county seat of Washington County, in...
, struck oil on April 15, 1897, and became the first of thousands of commercial oil wells in Oklahoma. The Osage Indians had wisely held on to their mineral rights following the dissolution of the reservation system and the royalties from the oil underneath the hills made them one of the richest tribes in the nation.
Prominent attractions in the Osage Hills include: the Osage Hills State Park; Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum
Gilcrease Museum
Gilcrease Museum is a museum located northwest of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum now houses the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West as well as a growing collection of art and artifacts from Central and South America...
(which has extensive gardens covering 23 acres (93,077.8 m²), and which provide stunning vistas overlooking the Osage Hills; Woolaroc
Woolaroc
Woolaroc is located in the Osage Hills of Northeastern Oklahoma on Oklahoma State Highway 123 about southwest of Bartlesville, Oklahoma and north of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Woolaroc was established in 1925 as the ranch retreat of oilman Frank Phillips...
and The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....
Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, located in Osage County, Oklahoma near Foraker, Oklahoma, is owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy. It is protected as the largest tract of remaining tallgrass prairie in the world...
in the northern part of Oklahoma.
Several enterprises or organizations in the area use Osage Hills to identify themselves with the area; including Osage Hills Public Schools in Bartlesville and Osage Hills State Park
Osage Hills State Park
Located in northern Oklahoma, Osage Hills State Park offers of outdoor recreation opportunities including camping, hiking, fishing and wildlife watching. Park facilities include picnic tables and shelters, 20 semi-modern RV campsites, 16 tent sites and 8 cabins...
west of Bartlesville. Other areas within Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri also may use the name "Osage Hills" although may not actually be within the specific Osage Hills area.