GUTHRIE — With a gunshot marking the event, Guthrie once again became the state capital of Oklahoma.
But just for the weekend.
As the rest of the state — along with a good portion of the world — watched, the city of Guthrie re-created Oklahoma’s birth with parades, music and re-enactments of the series of events that saw Oklahoma join the union.
Like it was 100 years ago, Guthrie’s bash was big and noisy with lots of people, animals and plenty to eat.
State officials — including Attorney General Drew Edmondson and Lt. Gov. Jari Askins — attended the event.
“We all have a responsibility to take this excitement and stir all of our imaginations as today we take our next step toward our next 100 years,” Askins said.
At 9:16 Friday morning, Hugh Scott Jr., grandson of the man who made Oklahoma’s birth announcement 100 years ago, fired a pistol in the air and yelled that “Oklahoma is now a state.”
Scott, dressed in period attire, stood on the steps of the State Capital Publishing Company building and waved as a crowd of more than 1,000 cheered.
“I felt like I was retracing my grandfather’s footsteps,” he said later. “I was honored to participate. This isn’t something you get to do every day.”
But Scott wasn’t the only Oklahoman who spent the day reconnecting with the past.
“I came here because I wanted to celebrate history,” said former Norman resident Teresa Black.
“Both my great-grandfathers were in the run of ’89 and this was a way for me to get back to my roots.”
Black, an assistant U.S. attorney in Oklahoma City, said she’d been looking forward to the once-in-a-lifetime celebration.
“That’s why I’m wearing this,” she said, waving toward her Edwardian-style dress. “That’s what was in.”
After Scott’s announcement, the crowd walked several blocks east to Guthrie’s Carnegie Library for the “wedding” of Miss Indian Territory and Mr. Oklahoma Territory and the inaguation of the state’s first elected governor, Charles Haskell.
Following the wedding, Haskell’s great-grandson portrayed his grandfather’s oath of office, using the same Bible Haskell used a century ago.
Both ceremonies lasted more than an hour and finished with a parade which stretched from the Masonic Hall to Mineral Springs Park.
The state’s second Centennial Parade featured a collection of the weird, the fun and the historic.
Along with bands and groups from across the state, the parade included a mobile square dancing unit, several groups of motorcycles, hundreds of of horses, members of the military and at least two cement trucks.
“This is great, they’ve got a little of everything — just like our state,” said Hannah Blighton, a resident of Nowata. “This was much better than the parade in Oklahoma City. It was more fun, more real.”
And with a crowd estimated at close to 70,000, Guthrie, once again, briefly returned to its original glory.
