Formation of Oklahoma Territory by Zina Abbott

 

The formation of Oklahoma Territory came about almost opposite of how most of the other territories in the United States were formed. Usually, starting at the end of the Revolutionary War, the nation acquired large tracts of land through some form of purchase agreement or other acquisition. An example is the Northwest Territory formed by the Ordinance of 1781, officially titled "An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States North West of the River Ohio."

 

These large land acquisitions were later broken down into smaller territories until population and other factors led to individual territories being organized into states. By looking at the above map of the Northwest Territory, it is possible to see the states that were formed from it.

Original Five Civilized Tribes Territory

Not so Oklahoma Territory. Originally part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, in 1830, it was set aside as Indian Territory for the purpose of removing what are known as the Five Civilized Tribes off of their territory east of the Mississippi River to the West. It was to be their land for forever.

 

1834 map of Indian Country

With the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834, the U.S. Congress set aside land for Native Americans. At the time, that land was unorganized territory that consisted of the federal land "west of the Mississippi and not within the states of Missouri and Louisiana, or the territory of Arkansas..." That lasted until pressure to remove tribes from the Mississippi and Missouri River basins prompted the U.S. government to send several of these tribes to reservations in Indian Territory that originally were assigned to one of the original five tribes.

There was also a push to open the land in Kansas and Nebraska Territories for white settlement. In 1854, the government pressured many tribes to “sell” their land, including, in some cases, reservation land previously granted. Some tribes in both those territories also ended up being given land in Indian Territory. By 1856, the territory had been reduced to approximately the modern-day borders of the state of Oklahoma, except for the Oklahoma Panhandle and Old Greer County.

Next, the American Civil War happened. Although there were notable bands of the Cherokee who fought for the Union, many slave-holding bands of the five original tribes threw their lot in with the Confederacy. Once the war ended, all bets were off as far as treaties promising large tracts of land. In 1866, the U.S. government required new treaties which forced them into land and other concessions. 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.

 

Arrow shows Unassigned Territory-Note reservations added since Civil War

The government also forced the cession of some 2,000,000 acres of land in the center of the Indian Nation Territory—what became known as Unassigned Territory—the first target of those who wanted the land opened to white settlement.

A land run or land rush was an event in which previously restricted land of the United States was opened to homestead on a first-arrival basis. Lands were opened and sold first-come or by bid, or won by lottery, or by means other than a run. The settlers, no matter how the settlers acquired occupancy, purchased the land from the United States Land Office.

 

There were five land runs in Oklahoma Territory (former Indian reservation land) between 1889 and 1895.

The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 on the Unassigned Territory—land held by the U.S. government that has not been assigned to any tribe as a reservation—was the most prominent of the land runs. For over a decade, Boomer groups had been agitating for settlement of this land called “Oklahoma Land” by illegally entering it until escorted out by federal Army troops, tried in Judge Isaac Parker’s court at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and ordered to pay a fine. “Oklahoma” is a Choctaw word meaning “red people.” It is derived from the words for people (okla) and red (humma). This white settlement of the unassigned territory became the nucleus of what would become Oklahoma Territory.

During the year between the April 22, 1889—the date of the first land run—and May 2, 1890, the people of what became Oklahoma Territory were semi-autonomous. Federal military troops provided law enforcement since there was no local law enforcement. The United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas under federal judge Isaac Parker was the only form of criminal and civil jurisdictions.

1890 Oklahoma and Indian Territories

On May 2, 1890, Congress passed the Oklahoma Organic Act organizing the western half of Indian Territory into Oklahoma Territory.

Congress included in Oklahoma Territory the strip of country known as “No Man's Land”—what many today refer to as the Oklahoma Panhandle—which became Beaver County. Greer County, which had for years been disputed territory between Texas and Indian Territory was brought into Oklahoma Territory.

The eastern half of the former Indian Territory remained Indian Territory under Indian rule, mostly the Five Civilized Tribes.

The other land runs involved territory assigned to various tribes for reservations. For former Indian lands, the Land Office distributed the sales funds to the tribal entities, according to previously negotiated terms.

The 1891 Land Run held September 22nd  opened the unassigned plots in the former Iowa, Sac and Fox, Potawatomi, and Shawnee reservation lands.

The Land Run on April 19, 1892 opened settlement on the former Cheyenne and Arapaho reservation lands.

The 1893 Land Run known as the Cherokee Strip run, but in actuality involved all of the Cherokee Outlet land sold by the Cherokee tribe to the U.S. government, was the largest. It was held September 16th.

The opening of the former Kickapoo area held on May 3, 1895 was the last use of a land run in the present area of Oklahoma. It was also the smallest run.

 

After that, the U.S. government decided land runs were not the most efficient or safest way to distribute land. (Quite a few people in the 1893 land run alone died due to gunshot wounds, being burned to death, heat stroke, and accidents involving animals and wagons or carriages.)

On August 6, 1901 claims for available homesteads on the Wichita-Caddo and Comanche, Kiowa and Apache lands were determined by means of a land lottery. With 2,080,000 acres available, nearly 170,000 people registered at the El Reno and Fort Sill land offices between July 9 and July 28. The 6,500 names first drawn between July 29 and August 5 won the claims.

Between December 3 and 15, 1906, the United States Land Office accepted sealed bids for quarter sections of land in what was called the ‘Big Pasture’ in Oklahoma Territory. It continued until all the quarter sections were sold. Successful bidders were required to live on the land for five years. They could pay in installments during their residency.

When it came time to consider statehood, the tribes in Indian Territory sought to become a separate state from Oklahoma. They believed doing so would give them greater autonomy in managing tribal affairs. However, the U.S. government insisted on combining Oklahoma Territory with Indian Territory. The two together were brought in as the state of Oklahoma on November 16, 1907.

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My most recently published book, Joshua’s Bride, is the first book in the Land Run Mail Order Brides series. It is set during the 1893 Land Run in the Cherokee Outlet. It is available as an ebook for purchase or at no additional cost with your Kindle Unlimited subscription. It is also available as a paperback.

To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE

 

 

 Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_Territory

https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/explore/rushes-statehood-oklahoma-land-runs/

https://www.loc.gov/rr/program//bib/ourdocs/northwest.html

Wikipedia – Land Run