Founding father and first governor Charles Haskell led our big and brawling new Western state with a cocksure confidence that he backed up with action—and he might even have saved it a time or two. In a distant generation, he rises up as one of the great men in Oklahoma history.

Join John and KTOK/iHeartRadio star Gwin Faulconer-Lippert for the story of Oklahoma Founding Father Charles Haskell, who had the rare poise, savvy, and head to navigate a rough-and-tumble Southern Plains territory into a vibrant 20th Century American state. This is the 78th episode of our original OKLAHOMA GOLD! radio program and podcast. Thank you Atwoods Stores for making it possible! Go HERE to listen to them all! Future episodes explore more great heroes, events, and movements of Oklahoma History. Thank you Atwoods Stores for making it possible!

Charles Haskell, first governor of Oklahoma.

First Oklahoma Governor Charles Haskell at the colossal statehood barbecue he organized.

The Columbia Bank and Trust in Oklahoma City, the state’s largest financial institution at the time of its 1909 failure. Haskell’s bold, daring leadership and the Bank Deposit Guaranty Law he spearheaded prevented Columbia’s collapse from dragging Oklahoma into a disastrous economic depression like New York and others had recently experienced.

Merle DeLeon’s drawing from Foster’s Comic History of Oklahoma by C. D. Foster. If not historically precise, it splendidly captures the swashbuckling—and surreptitious—nature of the Charles Haskell Administration’s 1910 “transfer” of the state capital from Guthrie to Oklahoma City.

Many thanks to Atwoods Stores, a farm and ranch supply company based in Enid, Oklahoma, for their support of the Red River Institute of History and OKLAHOMA GOLD! Please support them as you are able! Wherever you are, you can order online from thousands of quality products on their terrific website HERE. Atwoods also has 66 stores in 5 states: Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. In addition to farm and ranch supplies, Atwoods stores sell clothing, lawn and garden items, tools, hardware, automotive supplies, sporting goods, pet supplies, firearms, and seasonal items.

One of the darkest, most enduring mysteries of Oklahoma History, the controversial life…and death…of Karen Silkwood.

Join John and KTOK/iHeartRadio star Gwin Faulconer-Lippert for the story of Oklahoma’s iconic Kerr McGee, nuclear power intrigue and contamination, and a tiny, troubled woman who lived, and died, trying to protect her fellow workers. It is the 83rd episode of our original OKLAHOMA GOLD! radio program and podcast. Thank you Atwoods Stores for making it possible! Go HERE to listen to them all! Future episodes explore more great heroes, events, and movements of Oklahoma History. Thank you Atwoods Stores for making it possible!

Karen Silkwood, whose 1974 death while she fought to protect her fellow workers in a Logan County nuclear production facility remains a controversial mystery.

Perhaps the most famous wrecked car in Oklahoma history—Karen Silkwood’s, November 1974. Photo Associated Press.CourtesyOklahoma Publishing Co. and Oklahoma Historical Society.

Oklahoma City attorney Jim Ikard and Bill Silkwood continue their decade-long quest for justice for Silkwood’s daughter Karen. Photo Paul Southerland. Courtesy Oklahoma Publishing Co. and Oklahoma Historical Society.

Many thanks to Atwoods Stores, a farm and ranch supply company based in Enid, Oklahoma, for their support of the Red River Institute of History and OKLAHOMA GOLD! Please support them as you are able! Wherever you are, you can order online from thousands of quality products on their terrific website HERE. Atwoods also has 66 stores in 5 states: Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. In addition to farm and ranch supplies, Atwoods stores sell clothing, lawn and garden items, tools, hardware, automotive supplies, sporting goods, pet supplies, firearms, and seasonal items.