© Copyright by Thomas Knight 1975 BLACK TOWNS IN OKLAHOMA: THEIR DEVELOPMENT AND SURVIVAL By THOMAS KNIGHT \I Bachelor of Science Alabama State University Montgomery, Alabama 1963 Master of Science Kansas State College-Pittsburg Pittsburg, Kansas 1969 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May, 1975 M/\Y .1 2 1976 BLACK TOWNS IN OKLAHOMA: THEIR DEVELOPMENT AND ·SURVIVAL Thesis Approved: Dean of the Graduate College 938953 ii PREFACE This is a study of the quest of a .people to buil<:i all-Black towns in Oklahoma; the.se towns, provided Blacks with light to lead them upward from the brink of death~ desolation, and despair. There initially were twenty~eight such towns; however, some became anchro­ nisms and slowly faded under the strains of .. integration artd economic instability. For many Blacks·who dreamed of independence on the .crim­ son hills and.barren plains of ~~lahoma, there came a rude awakening of, depression; hardships, and violence; moreover'· their desire to survive disappeared. However, others endured, today challenging Mother Nature and Father Time while completing a century-long cycle of; hard­ ship and despair. This.study will relate a part of the history of Black towns.in Oklahoma while also. detailing the growing awareness of the Black's role in settling the American West.· Much of the study also deals with a general history of Blacks in Oklahoma as an·ingredient in the ultimate development of the all-Black tc;,wns. While this study vividly details the initial development.· of these unique· towns, it will give testimony. to those visions of long ago. Those co~unities that stil~ survive reinforce the nobility of this experiment •. This study also. will point out th~t the establishment of 0 Black towns was one. of the bravest attempts,made by people,of any color to attempt to harvest the American d.ream~ Furthermore, this study clearly points 01.1,t that there were iii peculiar socio'.""psychological factors that affected the rise and fall of some of these t.owns. Therefore, the sociological influence in this study was necessary. It is commonly known that sociologists have been incapable of adequately and accurately.assessing Black communities and their development largely because of the Black-white conflict, mani­ festations of dissent, and other exterior constraints, This study proves t.hat Black communities are less complex than all-white towns. The author is deeply grateful to his Committee, Dr. Harry Heath of the .Journalism Department, Dr •. Lawrence Hynson of· the Sociology Department, Dr, Bernard Eissenstat of the History Depa·rtment and Dr. Charles Dollar of the United States Archives. A s~ecial and unend­ ing flow of. gratitude is expressed to my Ad,visor, Dr, Joseph A. Sttmt, Jr., and to Dr. Odie B. Faulk, Chairman of the History Department, for their. timely advice and suggestions. I also express deep gratitude for the time and concern shown by Janice Mitchell, who typed sections of the manuscript, and Vickie D. Withers of the Oklahom9- State University Library, who helped in the acquisition of documents for this study, Appreciation is also given to Dr. Norman Durham, Carol Martin, aµd Vickie .Maxwell of the .Graduate College for their helpful advice, and to Helen Murray who,with much care typed the final manuscript, I likewise owe a debt of unending gratitude to Dr, Arthur L. Tolson, Professor of History at Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana,. for hts original manuscripts and to Antone Fuhr, Black Oklahoma Folklorist, for their aid and concern in helping me to complete this work, Finally, I wish to thank Dr. John Hope Franklin of the University of Chicago, America's most noted and quoted Black Historian. Especially I am grateful for the support of iv my wife, Classaral Delores, for her.patience, timely inspiration and encouragement during the tedious and qiscouraging period this study encompasse.d. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. THE RELOCATION OF THE· FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBE.S, THE CIVIL WAR, AND THE DAWES COMMISSION AS STATUS DETERMINANTS OF BLACKS IN INDIAN TERRITORY. , • · , , , ·., , , , ·, , 8 III. CIVIL WAR IN INDIAN TERRITORY REACTION AND RECOVERY 20 IV, THE BLACK EXODUS OF OKLAHOMA TERRITORY: A PILGRIMAGE TO DESPAIR • , , , . , , , . • • , • • . ·, • . · 51 V, ESCAPE TO DISILLUSIONMENT: THE RISE. OF ALL-BLACK .. TOWN$ IN OKLAHOMA DURING THE DECADES OF DECISION 77 VI. DEVELOPMENT AND DECAY OF UTOPIAN DREAMS: 'INFLUENCING FACTORS • • • . • . • . • . • , • . 122 VII. CONCLUSION: THE FUTURE OF ALL~BLACK roWNS IN OKLAHOMA: A REFUSAL TO DIE 141 BIBLIOGRAPHY 160 APPENDIX 173 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page I. Numqers o{ Black Slaves Owned by Principal Slave Owning Indian. Tribes at:1.d Dates of Enumeration . 12. II. Totai Tribal Applicants •.•• 36 IIL Statistics of Tribal Land, June 30, 1905 · . 37 IV. Tribal Rolls as Completed on June 30, 1905, by Classification A. Statistics of Enrollment by blood . 38 B. Statistics of Enrollment by Intermarriage 39 C. · Statistics of Enrollment by Freedmen. 40 D. · Statistics of Enrollment by New Born. 41 E. Miscellaneous Enrollments (Under Act of March 3, · 1905) • . • ~ • 42 V. ~umber of Freedmen on Roll 43 VI. Growth of Negro Population in Oklahoma, 1890-1940 72 VII. Census Figures by Decades .• 106 VIII. Racial Oomposition of Oklahoma Poputation by Number and Percent by Census Years: 1890-1910 •.. , 107 IX. Census for 1930-1950 109 X, Census for 1950-1960 111 XI. Census for 1960-1970 113 XII. Racial Composition of Oklahoma Population by Number and Per Cent for Census Years: 1890-1910 • • • . 125 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page L The Creek Nation . 13 2. The Choctaw Nation 14 3, 0 15 The Chickasaw Nation . ' . ' 4. The Cherokee Nation 16 0 17 5, The Seminole .Nation ' . 6. Indhm Territory on the Eve of the Civil War , • . 22 7, Location of Early Forts and the Cherokee Strip . 30 i 8. A Lexington, Kentucky, Handbill of ,1877 64 9. A Topeka, Kansas, H1mdbtll of 1809 • , • 65 10, Map Showing All-Black Towns in Oklahoma, 89 11, Ok\ahoma Counties 94 12, Distribution by Count,ies of Bla,qk Farm Operators, 1890 to 1910, as Related to Indian Terri t;o;ry · 127 13, Distribution by Counties of Black Fa.rm Operators after 1930, as Related to Types-of"'."Farming Areas 129 viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Black communities in the United States have received remarkably little historical attention from scholars, with the exception of such studies as The Negro Family in the United States, done by Sociologist E, Franklin Frazier and Historian Carter G. Woodson's The Rural Negro. However, Frazier's work concentrated primarily on communities of mixed- 1 bloods rather than all-Black towns, and Woodson's work emphasized Black rural towns throughout the United States rather than in one specific geographical area. This curious absence of research on totally Black communities is difficult to understand in view of the fact that there are at least fifty towns in the United States which are still inhabited and governed exclusively by Blacks, 2 Furthermore, all-Black communities and towns can provide a wealth of information regarding Black behavior that can­ not be obtained in a study of biracial communitieso For example, there is speculation that such social phenomena as class structure, attitudes toward mobility, c9lor distinctions, criminality, and political activ­ ity in the all-Black towns are quite unpredictable and unlike similar behavior in biracial towns and communities. 3 This apparently is true, for most of the information on Black behavior in the United States has been based on ;esearch of Black Americans living in a day-to-day environment of biracial communities, It is reasonable to assume that 1 2 in all-Black communities patterns of behavior more likely would reflect the tru~ aspirations of Blacks. rather than some conformity to w,hite expectations, As W. E. DuBois stated in The -----·----Souls of Black Folks, Black Americans had to·lead two lives: one for the white .~ majority and one for himself. 4 American Western historians writing on migrations, expansion, and urbanization have studied and written about the plight of.white pio­ neers, In~ians, and ev~n Mexicans, but fe~ scholars have examined the development of Black towns of the West.as an integral part in the settlement of the .frontier, Some of the writers responsible for this neglect are Walter Pi Webb in The Great Plains, Herbert Eugene Bolton in The Spanish Borderlands, and more recently Gerald Nash in The American West in the Twentieth Century. Although these writers refer to Blacks in the West, they do not include.Black towns in Oklahoma as part of the move toward frontier u.rbanization. · However, some works have recognized Black contributions to the .West. For example, The Black West, by Loren Katz, Buffalo Soldiers in Indian Territory by Fairf~x Downey, and an unpublished Master's Thesis, "Black Deputy Marshals in Oklahoma Territory," by Nudie Williams have attempted an historical investigation of the Black man in Westward. expansion and development. Although. these works place the Black man in a proper per­ spective in the West~ they have not. investigated .his role· in urbani­ zation--especially in the Oklahoma Territory. Thus, earlier historians have written of the Indian's suffering on the Trail of Tears and the white travelers along th.e Oregon a~d Sante F~ Trail, but no scholars have studied Black. towns or Black accomplishments in the urbanizing and taming of this frontier. 3 This study will trace the founding, development, and survival of Black towns.in Oklahoma as well as the growing awareness of Black Americans' role in the settling of the West, Black Oklahoma towns have been chosen because they are representative of.