The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as the state of Oklahoma.
The 1890 Oklahoma Organic Act organized the western half of Indian Territory and a strip of country north of Texas known as No Man's Land (now the Oklahoma panhandle) into Oklahoma Territory. Native American reservations in the new territory were then opened to settlement in a series of land runs in 1890, 1891, and 1893.
Seven counties were defined upon the creation of the territory. They were originally designated by number and eventually became Logan, Cleveland, Oklahoma, Canadian, Kingfisher, Payne, and Beaver counties. The Land Run of 1893 led to the addition of Kay, Grant, Woods, Garfield, Noble, and Pawnee counties. In 1896, the Oklahoma Territory acquired Greer County, Texas, when the Supreme Court resolved the boundary case United States v. State of Texas in favor of the federal government. Today, this land in the southwest corner of the state is split into Greer, Jackson, Harmon, and part of Beckham counties.
History
Organization Oklahoma Territory began with the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834 when the United States Congress set aside land for Native Americans. At the time, the 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..." 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.Everett, Dianna. "1890 Organic Act," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, 2009. Accessed March 1, 2015. 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 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 of land in the center of the Indian Nation Territory. 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. 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.Hoig, Stan. "Boomer Movement," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, 2009. Accessed March 1, 2015.
David Payne and the Boomers 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."Captain David L. Payne," Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol. 14 No. 3: December 1935. Accessed March 1, 2015.
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. 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.Lovegrove, Michael W. "Payne, David Lewis (1836–1884)," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, 2009. Accessed March 1, 2015. 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.
William Couch and the opening
After Payne's death, his associate, William L. Couch, assumed the leadership role. Couch moved the Boomers into Indian Territory and founded Camp Stillwater on December 12, 1884. President 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 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 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 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.
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 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."Internet Archive, Way Back Machine."Retrieved May 10, 2013 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.Blachowiak, Mary Ann. "Sooner," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
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, El Reno, Norman, Guthrie, and 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.Hoig, Stan. "Land Run of 1889," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, 2009. Accessed March 1, 2015.
Early territorial period
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.Brown, Kenny L. "Oklahoma Territory," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, 2009. Accessed March 1, 2015.
On May 2, 1890, Congress passed the Oklahoma Organic Act, which organized the western half of Indian Territory into Oklahoma Territory. 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 , which became Beaver County.
In September 1890, the of the Sac and Fox, Iowa, and Pottawatomie reservations in the eastern part of Oklahoma Territory were opened to settlement. The following spring, the 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 of land.