Back in Time

Far from the coast and deep within the country Oklahomans have believed they had more to fear from a storm than an invading army, but for the 45 years of the cold war, from 1947 to 1991, Oklahoma was high on the Soviet hit list.

Long before oil, coal was Oklahoma’s first energy boom. Immigrants came to Indian Territory who went into the mines and dug in the dark, it was a dirty and dangerous way to eke out a meager living. OETA’s award winning documentary series Back in Time looks to a time when coal barons became rich while miners would go to work before sunrise and come home after dark.