Editing Oklahoma panhandle (section)

===Cimarron Territory===
After the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], cattlemen moved into the area. Gradually they organized themselves into ranches and established their own rules for arranging their land and adjudicating their disputes. There was still confusion over the status of the strip, and some attempts were made to arrange rent with the [[Cherokee]]s, despite the fact that the [[Cherokee Outlet]] ended at the 100th meridian. In 1885, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the strip was not part of the Cherokee Outlet.<ref name="cimarron">[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=CI005 Sara Richter and Tom Lewis,  "Cimarron Territory", ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402172154/http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=CI005 |date=April 2, 2015 }} Accessed April 13, 2013.</ref>  In 1886, Interior Secretary [[Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar|L. Q. C. Lamar]] declared the area to be [[Public domain (land)|public domain]] and subject to "[[Adverse possession|squatter's rights]]".<ref name="Wardell, p. 83">Wardell, p. 83.</ref>

The strip was not yet [[Public Land Survey System|surveyed]], and as that was one of the requirements of the [[Homestead Acts|Homestead Act of 1862]], the land could not be officially settled. Settlers by the thousands flooded in to assert their "squatter's rights" anyway. They surveyed their own land and by September 1886 had organized a self-governing and self-policing jurisdiction, which they named the '''Cimarron Territory'''. Senator [[Daniel W. Voorhees]] of Indiana introduced a bill in [[United States Congress|Congress]] to attach the so-called territory to Kansas. It passed both the Senate and the House of Representatives but was not signed by President [[Grover Cleveland]].<ref name="cimarron"/>

The organization of Cimarron Territory began soon after Secretary Lamar declared the area open to settlement by squatters. The settlers formed their own [[vigilance committee]]s, which organized a board charged with forming a territorial government. The board enacted a preliminary code of law and divided the strip into three districts. They also called for a general election to choose three members from each district to form a government.<ref>Wardell, p. 84.</ref>

The elected council met as planned, elected Owen G. Chase as president, and named a full cabinet. They also enacted further laws and divided the strip into five counties (Benton, Beaver, Palo Duro, Optima, and Sunset), three senatorial districts (with three members from each district), and seven delegate districts (with two members from each district). The members from these districts were to be the [[legislature|legislative body]] for the proposed territory. Elections were held November 8, 1887, and the legislature met for the first time on December 5, 1887.<ref name="cimarron"/>

Chase went to Washington, D.C., to lobby for admission to Congress as the delegate from the new territory.  He was not recognized by Congress.<ref name=Interior-1904>{{cite book |title=Annual Reports of the Department of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1904 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qbpTAAAAIAAJ |access-date=November 30, 2012 |year=1904 |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |pages=463–465 |chapter=Beaver County – No Man's Land }}</ref>  A group disputing the Chase organization met and elected and sent its own delegate to Washington.<ref>Wardell, p. 86.</ref> A bill was introduced to accept Chase but was never brought to a vote. Neither delegation was able to persuade Congress to accept the new territory.<ref name="Wardell, p. 83"/> Another delegation went in 1888 but was also unsuccessful.<ref name=Interior-1904/>