;Midweek 6 rerritory folks tMarching, stumbling toward statehood By VIRGIL GAITHER territorial Legislature. That body was directed to hold its first meeting at Guthrie, but was authorized to HE BOOTED cavalryman, flag in one band and name the seat of government after that time. T bugle in the other, rode his mount to a higb point wliere he could be seen for miles by the thousands of U it could have foreseen the quarreling, bickering, h~ful settlers gathered for the occasion. politic.al infighting and raiDed political careen that At exactly 12 noon on that bright, clear day, the followed, perhaps Congress would have directed that trooper raised the bugle and sounded a long blast, at the capital remain in Guthrie untU statehood. the same time waving and dipping the flag. The Republican Party had an edge among . It was ApriL 22, 1889, the birth of Oklahoma settlers at that time because of its liberal land legisla­ Territory and the beginning of the end of the tion and because many were veterans. Indian nations. The Democratic Party had an image of opposing territorial expansion and generally resisting Union It signaled a victory for the railroads, bankers and veteran beneflts. buSinessmen who wanted these lands developed, and a bitter defeat for the cattlemen who had leased them HUS, WHEN Republican , and,, . the Indians who had owned them. T the territory's first governor, arrived in Guthrie in As the trooper sounded his bugle, a roar arose from May 1890, he was given a hero's welcome complete from his own party and, in one case, expulsion from of~ with bands and riding groups, in spite of the fact that Commission - to negotiate with the tribes for pur­ the settlers who had gathered around the borden of the chase of their surplus lands for settlement. ~~ I 2-mUlion-acre "Unassigned Lands" bi central Okla­ those who wanted an Oklahoman selected for the post On Sept. 22, 1891, the surplus lands of the Sac and ltoma. The land rush was on! considered him an "outsider" or "carpetbagger." Seay's term was brief. Democrat Steele, a former congressman, had reluc­ Fox, Potawatomi, Shawnee and Iowa tribes - about was elected president in 1892 and Democratic appoin­ · They raced into the area on horses, in buggies tantly taken the post when pressed to do so by 900,000 acres - were opened, again by land run. Two tees replaced Republican officeholders in the spring of and wagons, by train and even on foot. Their ranks President , a fellow Hoosier. new counties, Lincoln and Pottawatom1e, were created 1893. Appointed governor was William Carey Renfrow, · ·th.iDned mile by mile as men jumped from their horses and Payne, Logan and Cleveland counties were en­ a Confederate veteran, Norman banker and strong Disgusted by the bickering over the state capital larged. OJ' ~agons to plant their flags or stakes. issue and by the "carpetbagger" label, Steele would not Cleveland supporter. He would be the only Democrat to .. By nightfall, nearly every homestead claim and town remain long, but would leave his imprint. The following spring the Cheyenne-Arapaho surplus serve as territorial governor. lot (townsites included Guthrie, Kingfisher, Oklahoma lands, amounting to about 3.5 million acres, were City and Norman) had been taken. Tents, dugouts Among his first duties were the appointment of opened to settlement, and in September 1893 about 6 URING his four years in office, Renfrow signed ·and crude cabins dotted the plains. county officers and 1be commission of a census needed million acres in the Cherokee Outlet were opened, both bills establishing the Agricultural Normal Univer-4 ' D ,, to determine legislative districts. It showed a territor­ by land runs, followed in 1895 by the opening of the sity at Langston and the Northwest~rn Normal Sch~l Overnight, the area's economy switched from ial population of nearly 60,000, and Steele ordered the Kickapoo surplus land, the latter a small amount. at Alva. He also signed the first uniform textbook b1H ca.t'tle to farming. first legislative election be held Aug. 5, 1890. and obtained legislative approval of a contract with a It had been a novel experiment. Previously, there Also among his first actions was a successful appeal HE NEXT addition to was by sanitarium at Norman for the care of the mentally ill] P..a9 been an abundance of homestea d land in the to Congress for $47,000 to purchase food rations for T an 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision which held who were then being housed in an J?.linois asyl~z:rt· . · American West. But by the time of the Oklahoma needy settlers. He convinced two railroads to each that the 1.4 million acres between the North Fork of the Meanwhile, the settlers were turrung the pra1r1e m~ l'~fritory openin~, there were many more prospective . provide $10,000 in wheat seed to destitute farmers, to Red River and the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red farms with special sod plows designed to cut and turn settlers than ava1lable homesteads, so a lanp run was be repaid after the first harvest. belonged to Oklahoma, not Texas, as was earlier be­ the deep-rooted, thick buffalo grass. Churches were ,decided upon to give everyone an equal chance. In the legislative election, 14 Republicans, eight lieved. Surveyors had mistaken the North Fork as the going up and new towns being established. . , • However, many claims were staked by people whose Democrats and four from the People's Party Alliance main stream of the river dividing the two. One of the wildest of the new towns was Woodward, np.~s looked amazingly well r ested. 'I'hey had eluded (Populists) were selected for the House and six Repub­ Then, in 1901, the Kiowa, Comanche, Apache, Wichi­ which sprang up after the Run of 1893. It was a cattle licans, five Democrats and two People's Party Alliance ta and Caddo surplus lands, consisting of more than shipping point, and its hitching posts were lined with cowboys' horses. It had restaurants, a Chinese laundry. •· ••.... Territorial governors, page 2B members were elected to the Council. 2 million acres, were opened to settlement. To thwart ... Although the Republicans were in the majority, the the Sooners (some officials charged that by the time of two banks and 23 saloons. " Populists won the top post in each chamber. In No­ the Kickapoo opening, up to half the available claims the military guards stationed along the borders, Woodward's first town ordinance reportedly warned vember, David A. Harvey, a Republican, was elected bad been taken Ulegally) a lottery instead of a land run residents, "If you must shoot, shoot straight up." Sneaked in early, picked out choice claims and hidden Oklahoma's first territortal delegate to Congress. was used. until the opening. In 1904, Congress dissolved and added to Oklahoma Outlaw bands also roamed the territory, including · These cheats were called "Sooners," and they URING its fiM!t session, the Legislature passed laws Territory the relatively small Ponca, Otoe, Missouri the Bill Doolin gang, Red Buck Waightman's riders and setting up a public school system and authorizing we~:en ' t much thought of at the time, especially by D and Kaw reservations, with the Indians receiving title the Dalton gang. Also on "dead or alive" posters were people who bad played the game fair and square. Dynamite Dick Clifton, Zip Wyatt, Tul~ Jack Blake, Bitter Creek Newcomb, L1ttle Dick West, Black-face ~: 'The 89ers, as they would later be called, included Charley Bryant and Arkansas Tom Jones. . •, opportunists seeking claims to sell at a profit, farmers, businessmen, physicians,'lawyers, teachers and politi­ "A t times, no train, stagecoach or bank was safe. c)~hs looking for opportunities in the confusion of OKLAHOMA::·· from the darin g raids of these plunderers," notes ~blishing a new government. ·historian Gibson. "Sheriffs, their deputies, and cit­ izen posses did their best to hold the outlaw gangs HEY CAME from all over the United States, black in check, but the most effectiv e work was done btl and white. Mostly they were of English and Irish ·The Early Years U. S. deputy marshals. , although there were many immigrant and first "Evett D. Nix, a respected citizen and fearless offi­ or Second-generation eastern Europeans. cer, was assigned as U.S. marshal with headquarters at Some came to what David L . Payne and his Guthrie. His best-known deputy marshals were Frank "Boomers" called "The Promised Land," "Beulah Part 3: Territorial days Canton, Heck Thomas, Chris Madsen and Bill Til~ Wnd" or "the beautiful land" with enough money to man. These federal officers matched their outlaw ad. carry them through, but many were destitute. For versaries ln bravery, and by the turn of the century bad them, survival meant setting enough to eat, and kaffir fairly well purged the territory of brigandage." . CO'rn (a grain sorghum) and wild game were staples. ' A'nother problem was lawlessness. In its haste to EPUBLICAN William McKinley won the presiden­ open the Unassigned Lands (following the Civil War, three institutions of higher learning - a university (the to the land. In 1906 the Big Pasture Reserve, consisting ), an agricultural and mechani­ of 480,000 acres in Comanche and Tillman counties, R cy in 1896, and the GOP thus regained control of the United States had obtained the western land hold­ the territory's appointive offices. ings of the Five Civilized Tribes for resettlement of cal college (Oklahoma State University) and a normal was sold by sealed bids, and that same year Congress other tribes. The area opened in 1889 had not been school (Central Oklahoma State University). dissolved the Osage Nation and attached it to Oklaho­ It also passed legislation allowing the governor to ma Territory. In territorial elections, however, the Republicans did assigned to another tribe, hence its name), Congress not fare so well. Populist James T. Callahan, the, lfud not provided for a territorial government. contract with Kansas to house Oklahoma convicts, an arrangement which lasted until statehood. Thus, all r eservations w est of Indian T erritory fusionist candidate (those who advocated uniting or Also, legislation was passed which created a relief - the home of the Five Civilized Tribes - had "fusing" the Democratic and PopuJist parties), was ~ -For more than a year the settlers made do with become part of Oklahoma Territory by the eve of chosen territorial delegate to Congress, the only noD-t makeshift government. There were vigilantes in tbe board and a uthorized a commissioner of relief to dis­ Republican wbo ever beld that position. outolying areas, and eacb young town formed a local tribute supplies to the needy. statehood. gol!ernment. In most cases this consisted of an elected Most of the session was taken up, however, by quar­ One of Steele's last official acts was to preside Appointed governor was Cassius M. Barnes, a native mayor and a town ma.rsbal. reling over the future location of the territorial capi­ over the 1891 land opening. He had been a strong New Yorker and a Union veteran. Barnes had come to tal. supporter of expansion all along, but the land was not Oklahoma Territory in 1889 and had served as receive£ · ..~ ~ttizen boards handled disputed land claims, and for the U.S. Land Office in Guthrie. subScription schools were organized. becoming available fast enough to suit the settlers and Many towns wanted it, but , Guthrie he was blamed for the delay. Tired of squabbles sur­ During his administration, Barnes approved bills eS; q Conventions were held that first summer at Guthrie and Kingfisher were the leading contenders. rounding his term, Steele resigned in October 1891. tablishing the Southwest Normal School at Weather­ aliO. Oklahoma City in an attempt to organize a terri­ After a chaotic contest, a bill was passed naming ,t9r1a l government, but failed to do so because many He returned to Indiana, where he again was elected ford and the University Preparatory School at Ton.: Oklahoma City the capital, but Steele vetoed it. Since to Congress. Robert Martin, the territory's secretary, kawa, but vetoed a massive public works bill that, fellonly Con~ress had this authority. the Kingfisher delegation had supported the Oklahoma .1'be followmg May Congress passed the Oklahoma served as acting governor until January 1892, when among other things, would have authorized construc­ City bill, the Oklahoma Citians backed a bill naming Harrison appointed , another tion of a supreme court building at Guthrie. The build­ drganic Act which served as a territorial constitution Kingfisher the capital. It too was vetoed. rot the next 17 years. Republican, to the post. ing would practically have assured that Guthrie would The issue would boil in Oklahoma politics for the Seay, an attorney, banker and district court judge in be the permanent state capital. . It provided for a governor, territorial secretary, a next 20 years, but would not officially be taken up by .U:S! attorney and three district judges (later increased Missouri, was named to Oklahoma Territory's first A major event during Barnes' administration was the Legislature again until after statehood. supreme court in 18~0. It was thought in Washington congressional passage of the Free Homes Bill. ~ to ~ven as the territory grew) who also constituted the Stillwater, Norman and Edmond shrewdly bartered SUpt"eme court, all to be appointed by the president, and that he would satisfy those wanting a "local man" for The Homestead Act, as it applied to most public their support on various capital locations to obtain the the job. But his detractors, including some Republi­ lands in the West, meant free land provided certain a .t'¥o-house Legislature consisting of a 26-member institutions of higher' learnmg. House and a 13-member Council. cans, claimed he was in Oklahoma only because of his improvements were made by the settler. judicial commission. . The act established OirJahoma's first seven counties, Meanwhile, the territory was preparing to expand. In Oklahoma, however, the lands bad been purchase4 t>f' -which Guthrie, Oklahoma City, Norman, El Reno, In July 1889, President Harrison had appointed a Tbis Republican infighting, much to the enjoyment from Indian tribes with federal money. Tbis cost -r Kingfisher, Stillwater and Beaver were to be the coun­ commission - called both the Jerome Commission of Democrats and Populists, was to worsen until no about $1.25 per acre-was passed on to homesteaders. -ty-seats (the names of the counties were to be chosen by (after chairman Davis H. Jerome) a nd the Cherokee Republican could be governor without harassment The Free Homes Blll repealed these charges. _ t}ieii· residents in elections called for that purpose). It ~s.~ provided for an elected delegate to Congress. Barnes active ly backed the measure, but the chief boostt:r for the free homes cause was Dennis Flynn, • And it added that any additional lands in western Guthne postmaster and a powerful Republican. Indian Territory, when opened to settlement, would Flynn served four terms as territorial delegate beCome part of Oklahoma Territory. to Congress, beginning in 1893, running mostly on a The act attached No-Man's Land (now the Panhan­ free homes platform. When the bill finally passed in 1900, it saved Oklahoma settlers some $15 million. dh!) to Oklahoma Territory. This strip of land, once the CHEROKEE property of Spain, Mexico and then of Texas, was left Due to philosophical differences, Barnes and' hanging by the Compromise of 1850 which cut off NATION Flynn became political enemies. Their feud threa­ Texas, then a s lave state, at 36 degrees and 30 tened to destroy the GOP in Oklahoma TerritOTJJ.! minutes North latitude. Its eastern border, the 100th meridian, was estab­ Barnes was attacked both by the Democratic-con­ lished by the Adams-Onis treaty of 1819 which defined trolled Legislature elected in 1898 which harassect the southern and western boundaries separating the him with investigations concerning handling of schoe[ United States and the Spanish provinces (most of pres­ mo~ey and other public funds, and by the Flynn ent-day Oklahoma's southern and western borders still faction of his own party. fpijow this line). •l NI?ER pressure from the Flynn group, McKinley, HE PANHANDLE'S western border evolved from a U dad not reappoint Barnes when his term expired in T series of events which began with the Mexican War 1901. conquest and ended with the organization of New Mexi­ .I~tead, he chose a longtime friend and supporter, .co Territory in 1850. W1lliam Miller Jenkins, whom he had named territorial Its northern border was established by the organiza­ CHOCTAW secretary four years ~lier. _tion of Kansas Territory in 1854 with a southern bound­ NATION ary at 37 degrees North, and by congressional action in ~t was thought the appointment of Jenkins would 1861 which also set Colorado Territory's southern brmg some peace to the Oklahoma Republicans bat It boundary at 37 degrees North. CHICKASAW was not to be. ' NATION · This orphaned bit of territory also was known as . Jenkins ~lienated both party factions. He drew criti­ Robber's Roost. Since It did not belong to any territory, Cl~m for bts handling of appointments to offices, for J$ bad no law enforcement. It became famous through­ tatlure to control school boards and for recommending CHit tbe West as a hangout for outlaws, rustlers, gam­ that. the g~vernor of Kansas parole Emmett Dalton, servmg a hfe sentence for his part in a Coffeyville bank b)en and other riffraff. robbery in 1893. Attached to Oklahoma in his book Oklahoma: A History of Five Cen­ /c.>llOWing deciswn of After McKinley's assassination in September 1901 turies, historian Arrell M. Gibson says cattlemen and United States Supreme Jenkins no longer bad influential backing and b~ nesters began moving into the area in the 1880s and by Court March 16, 1896 enemies openly attacked him. The most serioUs charge .1886 had their fill of lawlessness. They banded together made was that be had se~ aside for his own Interests in vigilante groups and drove the renegades out. $10,000 of stock in the Norman compan1 which had tbe The vigilantes then moved to organize the Panhandle contract to care for the territory's insane · • into a formal territory. The 6,000 residents in 1887 1 O~ ed by Run September 22, 1891 A few weeks after Theodore Roosevelt Usumect the d~ted delegates to a convention in Beaver City which 2 Tonkawa Lands by Al/otment.1891 presidency. he removed Jenkins, replacing him wltb organized the Panhandle as Cimarron Territory, estab­ 3 Pawnee Lands by Al/otment,1892 · Thompson B. Ferguson, Watonga newspaper editor aad lished a government, elected a governor and a congres­ NO MAN'S LAND 4 O~ed by Run May 23, 1895 postmaster. sional delegate and were set to go on their own 5 Ponca and OU>-Missoun Lands by AUotment.190-l Jenkins, who was exonerated of aU ~ apllllt until Congress made it a part of Oklahoma Territory. Added to Oklahoma 6 Kaw Lands by Allotment, 1906 ·him following a legislative investlutlon two ,..... (Called Beaver County, the Panhandle eventually was TerTitorv by Orgamc Act May2, J890 later, bad served less than nine moqlba. diVided into Cimarron, Beaver and Texas counties.) Tribune map • The Organic Act stipulatfd the laws of Nebraska FerpsoD, Dlclulamed ..Boaest Tom," W011W ~ w~· ~ c • 0 ; r r ' y h 0 .d ~ •. OJ r.: .l l. 'h j : :. :. a:- ~· r u t J l;o~! Ccnt:r.uoc o'l i"-:-- 7 •