Editing Oklahoma Territory (section)

==History==

===Organization===
Oklahoma Territory began with the [[Nonintercourse Act|Indian Intercourse Act]] of 1834 when the [[United States Congress]] set aside land for Native Americans. At the time, the land was [[Territories of the United States#Formerly unorganized territories|unorganized territory]] that consisted of the federal land "west of the Mississippi and not within the states of [[Missouri]] and [[Louisiana]], or the [[Arkansas Territory|territory of Arkansas]]..." By 1856, the territory had been reduced to approximately the modern-day borders of the state of Oklahoma, except for the Oklahoma Panhandle and [[Greer County, Texas|Old Greer County]].<ref name="EOHC-OrganicAct">Everett, Dianna. [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OR004 "1890 Organic Act,"] ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009.  Accessed March 1, 2015.</ref> These lands became known as Indian Territory, as they had been granted to certain Indian nations under the [[Indian Removal Act]], in exchange for their historic territories east of the [[Mississippi River]].

Until this point, Native Americans had exclusively used the land. In 1866, after the [[American Civil War]], the federal government required new treaties with the tribes that had supported the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] and forced them into land and other concessions. As a result of the [[Reconstruction Treaties]], The [[Five Civilized Tribes]] were required to emancipate their slaves and offer them full citizenship in the tribes if they wanted to stay in the Nations. This forced many of the tribes in Indian Territory into making concessions.

U.S. officials forced the cession of some {{convert|2000000|acres|km2}} of land in the center of the Indian Nation Territory. [[Elias Cornelius Boudinot|Elias C. Boudinot]], a railroad lobbyist, wrote an article that was published in the ''Chicago Times'' on February 17, 1879, that popularized the term [[Unassigned Lands]] to refer to this tract. Soon the popular press began referring to the people agitating for its settlement as [[Boomers (Oklahoma settlers)|Boomers]]. To prevent settlement of the land by European-Americans, President [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] issued a proclamation forbidding unlawful entry into Indian Territory in April 1879.<ref name="EOHC-Boomer">Hoig, Stan. [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=BO011 "Boomer Movement,"] ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009. Accessed March 1, 2015.</ref>

===David Payne and the Boomers===
[[Image:Payne-memorial-north-side.jpg|thumb|right|Gravestone of David L. Payne]]Despite federal obstruction, popular demands for the land did not end. Captain [[David L. Payne]] was one of the main supporters of the opening of Oklahoma to White settlement. Payne traveled to [[Kansas]], where he founded the Boomer "Colonial Association". Payne's organization of 10,000 members hoped to establish a white colony in the Unassigned Lands. The formation of the group prompted President Hayes to issue a proclamation ordering Payne not to enter Indian Territory on February 12, 1880.<ref name="chron">[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v013/v013p438.html "Captain David L. Payne,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519054331/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v013/v013p438.html |date=May 19, 2017 }} ''Chronicles of Oklahoma'', Vol. 14 No. 3: December 1935. Accessed March 1, 2015.</ref> In response, Payne and his group traveled to Camp Alice in the Unassigned Lands, east of [[Oklahoma City]]. There, they made plans for a city, which they named "Ewing".  The Fourth Cavalry arrested them and escorted them back to Kansas.<ref name="chron"/>  Payne was furious, as the [[Posse Comitatus Act]] prohibited the military from interfering in civil matters.  The federal government freed Payne and his party, effectively denying them access to the courts.

Anxious to prove his case in court, Payne and a larger group returned to Ewing in July. The Army again arrested the party and escorted them back to Kansas. Again they were freed, but this time the federal government charged Payne with trespassing under the Indian Intercourse Act; he went to trial in [[Fort Smith, Arkansas]]. Judge [[Isaac C. Parker]] ruled against Payne and fined him the maximum amount of $1,000. Since Payne had no money and no property, the government could not collect the fine. The ruling settled nothing on the question of the public domain lands, and Payne continued his activities.

Payne tried a third time to enter the Unassigned Lands. In December, Payne and his group moved along the northern border of Indian Territory. They were followed by a unit of cavalry under the command of Colonel J. J. Copinger. Copinger warned Payne that if he crossed the border that they would be "forcibly resisted". As the number of Boomers grew as people joined Payne, they sent a messenger to President Hayes asking permission to enter Indian Territory. After weeks of no response, Payne led his followers to the Unassigned Lands. Once again, they were arrested and Payne was sent back to Fort Smith. He was found guilty and sentenced to pay a $1,000 fine. Upon his release, he returned to Kansas, where he spent the next four years trying to open Oklahoma.

During Payne's last venture, this time into the [[Cherokee Outlet]] in 1884, the Army again arrested him. They took him several hundred miles under severe physical circumstances over a tortuous route to Ft. Smith. The public was outraged about his treatment by the military, and the U.S. government decided to try his case. Payne was turned over to the [[United States district court]] at [[Topeka, Kansas]]. He was indicted for the crime of bringing whiskey into Indian Territory, a federal offense.<ref name="EOHC-Payne">Lovegrove, Michael W. [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=PA028 "Payne, David Lewis (1836–1884),"] ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009. Accessed March 1, 2015.</ref> In the fall term, Judge Cassius G. Foster quashed the indictments and ruled that settling on the Unassigned Lands was not a criminal offense. The Boomers celebrated, but the federal government refused to accept the decision.

Payne immediately planned another expedition, but he did not lead it. On November 28, 1884, in [[Wellington, Kansas]], the morning after a late-night address to the Boomers, he collapsed and died.<ref name="EOHC-Boomer"/>

===William Couch and the opening===
[[Image:WLCouch1888.png|thumb|180px|left|Captain W.L. Couch in 1888]]
After Payne's death, his associate, [[William Couch|William L. Couch]], assumed the leadership role. Couch moved the Boomers into Indian Territory and founded [[Stillwater, Oklahoma|Camp Stillwater]] on December 12, 1884. President [[Chester A. Arthur|Chester Arthur]] sent a small detachment of troops to escort Couch out of the territory. When the soldiers arrived, 200 armed men met them and refused to move. After 600 troops arrived as reinforcements, the officers gave the Boomers the choice of leaving within 48 hours or being apprehended. After the Boomers refused to leave, the commanders moved their troops across the Kansas border and cut off Couch's supply lines. Soon their food was gone, and Couch and the other Boomers were escorted back to Kansas.

In response to Couch's claims that the federal government was discriminating against them, on March 3, 1885, Congress approved the [[Indian Appropriations Act]] of 1885. This act authorized negotiations for the cession of unoccupied lands belonging to the [[Muscogee|Creek]], the [[Seminole]], and the [[Cherokee]]. Couch stopped being a colonist and became a lobbyist.

Couch spent four years in Washington, D.C., trying to convince Congress to open the Oklahoma lands. Many Indians from the Five Civilized Tribes lobbied against Couch's actions. In January 1889, [[Pleasant Porter]] led a group of Muscogee (Creek) who offered to sell their unoccupied lands. Within weeks, they sold their "Unassigned Lands" to the United States. These lands embraced less than {{convert|3000000|acres|km2}} in the heart of Indian Territory.

On March 2, 1889, Congress passed an amendment to the Indian Appropriations Act of 1871, which provided for the creation of [[Homestead Acts|homestead]] settlements in the unassigned lands, to be known as ''Oklahoma Territory''. President [[Benjamin Harrison]] announced that the Oklahoma lands would be opened on April 22 via land run.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hoig |first1=Stan |title=Land Run of 1889 |url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=LA014. |website=The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture |access-date=21 March 2022}}</ref>

===Land Run and the Sooners===
The Land Run of 1889, the first land run in the territory's history, opened Oklahoma Territory to settlement on April 22, 1889. Over 50,000 people entered the lands on the first day, among them thousands of [[Freedman|freedmen]] and descendants of slaves. Couch and his Boomers, now numbering approximately 14,000, also entered the race. Those who entered Oklahoma before the official start of the race were called [[Sooners]].<ref name="Internet Archive">[https://web.archive.org/web/20060218001824/http://www.ok-history.mus.ok.us/enc/sooner.htm "Internet Archive, Way Back Machine."Retrieved May 10, 2013]</ref> The term referred to the "sooner clause" in the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889, which states that anyone who violated the official start would be denied a claim to the land.<ref name="EOHC-Sooner">Blachowiak, Mary Ann. [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=SO010 "Sooner,"] ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009.  Retrieved March 1, 2015.</ref>

When the run began at noon, men on thousands of horses, wagons, buggies, carts, and vehicles rushed across to Oklahoma. The law-abiders fought with the Sooners on several instances. A legal pioneer shot and wounded William Couch, a Sooner. He died on April 21, 1890, as a result of his wounds. 

When the race was over, many disappointed pioneers were forced to leave the area without any claim. Of the 14,000 Boomers, only 1,000 had made claims. Tent cities grew overnight at [[Oklahoma City]], [[Kingfisher, Oklahoma|Kingfisher]], [[El Reno, Oklahoma|El Reno]], [[Norman, Oklahoma|Norman]], [[Guthrie, Oklahoma|Guthrie]], and [[Stillwater, Oklahoma|Stillwater]], which were the first of the large settlements. Many lawsuits resulted because more than one person claimed a particular piece of land. Often this involved trying to determine which party was a legal claimant. A portion of the cases even went as far as the U.S. Supreme Court.<ref name="EOHC-1889_Run">Hoig, Stan. [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=LA014 "Land Run of 1889,"]  ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009. Accessed March 1, 2015.</ref>

===Early territorial period===
[[Image:OK IT map 1905.png|thumb|right|300px|The Oklahoma Territory contained 26 counties plus the Osage Nation. Indian Territory consisted of 26 districts plus the Seminole Nation.]]
By the end of the day on April 22, 1889, there were more than enough settlers in the Unassigned Lands to require creation of a territorial government. However, the brief legislation that provided for the opening of the land called for no form of government in Oklahoma. No local police or courts were established; federal military troops provided law enforcement, and the [[United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas]] under federal judge Isaac C. Parker was the only form of criminal and civil jurisdictions. Despite that, the district was generally peaceful. Most land disputes were settled without bloodshed, although a few took years to resolve. For over a year the people of Oklahoma Territory were semi-autonomous.<ref name="EOHC-OKTerr">Brown, Kenny L. [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OK085 "Oklahoma Territory,"] ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009.  Accessed March 1, 2015.</ref>

On May 2, 1890, Congress passed the [[Oklahoma Organic Act]], which organized the western half of Indian Territory into Oklahoma Territory.<ref name="EOHC-OKTerr"/> The eastern half remained under Indian rule, predominantly that of the Five Civilized Tribes, as Indian Territory. Congress included in Oklahoma Territory the strip of country known as No Man's Land, embracing {{convert|3681000|acre|km2}}, which became Beaver County. In September 1890, the {{convert|1282434|acre|km2}} of the [[Sac and Fox Nation|Sac and Fox]], [[Iowa people|Iowa]], and [[Potawatomi|Pottawatomie]] reservations in the eastern part of Oklahoma Territory were opened to settlement. The following spring, the {{convert|4397771|acre|km2}} of [[Cheyenne]] and [[Arapaho]] lands in the center of the territory were opened. On September 16, 1893, the Cherokee Outlet was opened to settlement, adding {{convert|6014239|acre|km2}} of land. In 1895, the [[Kickapoo people|Kickapoo reservation]] of {{convert|206662|acre|km2}} was settled, and the year following [[Greer County, Oklahoma|Greer County]], which had been considered a portion of Texas, was given to the territory by a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States. These developments, with the [[Kiowa]], [[Comanche]] and [[Apache]] and [[Wichita people|Wichita]] reservations just opened, gave Oklahoma Territory a settled area of {{convert|24000000|acre|km2}}, {{convert|1725646|acre|km2}} of which was still included in Indian reservations.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://users.icnet.net/~frizzell/advocteokterhist.html |title='''Indian Advocate'''. Vol. 14, No, 1. January 1924. Retrieved June 2, 2013. |access-date=June 2, 2013 |archive-date=December 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221023611/http://users.icnet.net/~frizzell/advocteokterhist.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Path to statehood===
With the passage of the [[Oklahoma Organic Act|Organic Act of 1890]], Oklahoma Territory existed from 1890 to 1907. During that time, seven governors and two acting governors administered the territory. During its 17-year existence, little of note occurred because of the growing idea of statehood, which had originated in Indian Territory. Most of the governors stayed in office for only a few months; institutions founded during this time were the [[University of Oklahoma]], the Territorial Normal School ([[University of Central Oklahoma]]), and the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical School ([[Oklahoma State University]]).

Representatives of the Five Civilized Tribes met in 1902 to work on securing statehood for Indian Territory and held a convention in [[Eufaula, Oklahoma|Eufaula]]. The representatives met again in 1903 to organize a constitutional convention. The [[Sequoyah Constitutional Convention]] met in [[Muskogee, Oklahoma|Muskogee]] on August 21, 1905. General [[Pleasant Porter]], Principal Chief of the Creek Nation, was elected as president of the convention. The elected delegates decided that the executive officers of the Five Civilized Tribes would be appointed as vice-presidents: [[William Charles Rogers|William C. Rogers]], Principal Chief of the Cherokees; [[William H. Murray]], appointed by Chickasaw Governor [[Douglas H. Johnston]] to represent the Chickasaw; Chief [[Green McCurtain]] of the Choctaw; Chief [[John Brown (Seminole chief)|John Brown]] of the Seminole; and [[Charles N. Haskell]], appointed by Porter to represent the Creek.

The convention drafted a constitution, drew up a plan of organization for the government, put together a map showing the counties to be established, and elected delegates to go to the [[United States Congress]] to petition for statehood. The convention's proposals were presented in a referendum in Indian Territory, in which they were overwhelmingly endorsed. The delegation received a cool reception in Washington. Eastern politicians, fearing the admission of two more Western states,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baird |first=W. David |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/886540085 |title=Oklahoma, A History |date=2008 |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |others=Danney Goble |isbn=978-0-8061-8293-3 |location=Norman |pages=171 |oclc=886540085}}</ref> put pressure on President [[Theodore Roosevelt]]. Roosevelt recommended that the Indian and Oklahoma Territories be granted joint statehood, which led to Congress passing the Oklahoma Enabling Act to allow this upon writing and ratifying a constitution.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Dianna Everett|title=Enabling Act, 1906|url=http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=EN001|website=The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture|publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>

The hard work of the Sequoyah State Constitutional Convention was not entirely lost. When representatives from Indian Territory joined the Oklahoma State Constitutional Convention in [[Guthrie, Oklahoma|Guthrie]] the next year, they brought their constitutional experience with them. The Sequoyah Constitution served in large part as the basis for the constitution of the State of Oklahoma, which came into being with the merger of the two territories in 1907.

Territorial Governor [[Frank Frantz]] oversaw the transition from territory to state. He was selected as the Republican nominee to serve as the state's first [[Governor of Oklahoma|governor]]. He faced the Democratic [[Charles N. Haskell]] in the election on September 17, 1907. In the same election, the [[Constitution of Oklahoma|Oklahoma Constitution]] was proposed. The constitution was passed and Haskell was elected governor. Once the people of Oklahoma adopted the [[Constitution of the United States|United States Constitution]] on November 16, 1907, Oklahoma and Indian Territories officially dissolved, and the State of Oklahoma was admitted to the Union as the 46th state.
{{see also|State of Sequoyah}}