In prehistoric times ( 8000 B.C. - 1 A.D. ) , hunter-gatherer tribes roamed the area . By the time the first Europeans visited the region , it had been populated by the Wichita people . When the United States Government expelled the Choctaw people from their previous homeland in the Southeastern States after 1820 , the land became part of the Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory . The Choctaw government was dissolved in 1906 , just before the present state of Oklahoma was formed on November 16 , 1907 . In 1971 , it gained Self-Determination status . Those Choctaw who removed to the Indian Territory in the early 20th century during the Trail of Tears are federally recognized as the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Winding Stair Mountains