"When the cannons boomed at noon, thousands of pioneers surged forward.  Those on fast horses raced ahead of the wagons, surreys and plow stock.  Some stopped and staked claims; others sped on.  By nightfall, every tract had a claimant, and some tracks had several claimants.  Multiple claimants typically tossed a coin to settle a dispute. 
-Mustang Township Oklahoma, Stories of Hardy People by Carole Ann Hanna (2010)

Although European explorers were in the area as early as 1541, our modern roots can be traced back to the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889.  Our first U.S. Post Office appeared in 1895, which was named Mustang, presumably in recognition of a creek by the same name which flowed just north of town limits.
Agriculture was a community mainstay for many years.  In fact, some Oklahomans referred to Mustang as "Down in Egypt" because of the bountiful crops of fruits and vegetables.  At one time the area was home to the Mustang Fruit and Truck Growers Association, a group that actively marketed in cities like Chicago, Omaha and St.. Louis.  The 1911 and 1912 growing season reportedly yielded "tens of thousands of bushels of fruit".
Mustang saw slow growth from its founding until 1960, but things changed very quickly thereafter.
During the 1960s, a population surge began that would last over 20 years. Between 1960 and 1970 our population exploded by over 1200% as the transportation systems began facilitating longer commutes and families began fleeing the blight of larger communities and heading for the suburbs. Others arrived here because of Mustang's close proximity to high paying jobs at the new Dayton Tire plant, the FAA Aeronautical Center and the Western Electric plant.  Mustang was becoming the OKC Metro's area secret, a secret that was simply too good to keep quite!

The statewide economic slowdown of the 1980s effected Mustang to a lesser extent than many other cities.  Between 1980 and 1990 we still saw a population increase of 184%.  During the 1990s,  our growth rate had lessened to "only" 39%, but we were witnessing a steady increase, which would continue for more than 15 years.  During this time, Canadian County because Oklahoma's fastest growing counties and Mustang became one of the fastest growing cities.  Our population has since soared from 10,434 in 1990 to almost 20,000 today.
A lot has changed in the past 125 years.  Most of our fruit orchards have been replaced with housing additions.  There are probably more air traffic controllers living in town than there are farmers. The little dirt road is now a five-lane state highway that carries almost 30,000 cars per day and we have new, beautiful public facilitates that accentuate our excellent quality of life.
But some things never change.  Family life is just as important here as it ever was.  We still honor cowgirls and cowpokes at our annual Western Days Celebration and we're still one of Canadian County commercial centers.  The same country charm that drew settlers to town during the Land Run permeates through Mustang to this very day.
We extend an invitation to bring your family and visit the Mustang Historical Society, 470 W State Highway 152.  You can make an appointment to see our collections by calling (405) 745-3365 or 376-2695.  Normal business hours are 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM every Saturday.