The Muskogee Phoenix is a daily newspaper published in Muskogee, Oklahoma , United States, covering several counties of northeastern Oklahoma . It is owned by CNHI . The paper is printed five days a week (Tuesday-Saturday), while digital access is available 7 days a week.
117-480: The Phoenix was founded in February 1888, when Oklahoma was still a territory. From 1980 through 1986, Marjorie Paxson was publisher. This article about an Oklahoma newspaper is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Oklahoma Oklahoma ( / ˌ oʊ k l ə ˈ h oʊ m ə / OHK -lə- HOH -mə ; Choctaw : Oklahumma , pronounced [oklahómma] )
234-435: 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
351-543: 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
468-720: A constitution. 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 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
585-730: A constitutional convention. The Sequoyah Constitutional Convention met in 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 C. Rogers , Principal Chief of the Cherokees; William H. Murray , appointed by Chickasaw Governor Douglas H. Johnston to represent
702-850: A description of the removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831, although the term is usually used for the Cherokee removal. Seventeen thousand Cherokees and 2,000 of their black slaves were deported. The area, already occupied by Osage and Quapaw tribes, was called for the Choctaw Nation until revised Native American and then later American policy redefined the boundaries to include other Native Americans. By 1890, more than 30 Native American nations and tribes had been concentrated on land within Indian Territory or "Indian Country". All Five Civilized Tribes signed treaties with
819-530: A federal offense. 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
936-695: 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 . The representatives met again in 1903 to organize
1053-474: A focal point for the emerging oil industry , as discoveries of oil pools prompted towns to grow rapidly in population and wealth. Tulsa eventually became known as the " Oil Capital of the World " for most of the 20th century and oil investments fueled much of the state's early economy. In 1927, Oklahoman businessman Cyrus Avery , known as the "Father of Route 66", began the campaign to create U.S. Route 66 . Using
1170-696: 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 3,000,000 acres (12,000 km ) 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
1287-539: A legislative branch elected by the people, but the executive and judicial branches of the territories were selected and appointed by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate . The appointees included a governor, a secretary, three federal judges and a marshal. President Benjamin Harrison appointed George Washington Steele , a Republican from Indiana, as
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#17327657483171404-520: A marked decrease in rainfall during June and early July. Mid-summer (July and August) represents a secondary dry season over much of Oklahoma, with long stretches of hot weather with only sporadic thunderstorm activity not uncommon many years. Severe drought is common in the hottest summers, such as those of 1934, 1954, 1980 and 2011, all of which featured weeks on end of virtual rainlessness and highs well over 100 °F (38 °C). Average precipitation rises again from September to mid-October, representing
1521-509: A more active role in looking for a resolution of the dispute. However, the attempt failed to resolve anything. Meanwhile, area residents officially organized Greer County as a Texas entity in 1886, designating Mangum as the county seat. In 1890, Congress passed the Oklahoma Organic Act, which required the United States attorney general to resolve the boundary issue by filing suit against Texas. The dispute went directly before
1638-595: 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. 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
1755-481: A precise times as each prospective settler literally raced with other prospective settlers to claim ownership of 160 acres (65 ha) of land under the Homestead Act of 1862 . Usually land was claimed by settlers on a first come, first served basis. Those who broke the rules by crossing the border into the territory before the official opening time were said to have been crossing the border sooner , leading to
1872-693: 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, 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
1989-405: A secondary wetter season, then declines from late October through December. The entire state frequently experiences temperatures above 100 °F (38 °C) or below 0 °F (−18 °C), though below-zero temperatures are rare in south-central and southeastern Oklahoma. Snowfall ranges from an average of less than 4 in (102 mm) in the south to just over 20 in (508 mm) on
2106-591: A slight edge in representatives. However, the Democrats allied with delegates from the People's Party (Populists) and thereby controlled both houses. Populist delegates were elected as presiding officers in both. The legislators spent most of the session arguing about the locations of the capital, the state university, state teachers' college, and the agricultural school. Only near the end of the session did they begin to address other issues necessary to create and maintain
2223-451: A statute authorizing the people of the Oklahoma and Indian Territories (as well what would become the states of Arizona and New Mexico ) to form a constitution and state government in order to be admitted as a state. On November 16, 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt issued Presidential Proclamation no. 780 , establishing Oklahoma as the 46th state in the Union. The new state became
2340-465: A stretch of highway from Amarillo, Texas to Tulsa, Oklahoma to form the original portion of Highway 66, Avery spearheaded the creation of the U.S. Highway 66 Association to oversee the planning of Route 66, based in his hometown of Tulsa. In late September 1918, the first cases of the Spanish flu appeared in Oklahoma. Though public health authorities statewide had some indication that the pandemic
2457-644: A thriving area. Social tensions were exacerbated by the revival of the Ku Klux Klan after 1915. The Tulsa race massacre broke out in 1921, with White mobs attacking Black people and carrying out a pogrom in Greenwood. In one of the costliest episodes of racist violence in American history , sixteen hours of rioting resulted in the destruction of 35 city blocks, $ 1.8 million in property damage, and an estimated death toll of between 75 and 300 people. By
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#17327657483172574-426: A two-thirds vote of the territorial assembly. The governor also had the right to convene the assembly into special session. The territorial secretary served as the chief assistant to the governor, and in the event of a vacancy of the governorship the secretary would serve as the acting governor until the president appointed a new one. The secretary was responsible for recording and preserving the laws and proceedings of
2691-657: Is Oklahoma City . The state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla , 'people' and humma , which translates as 'red'. Oklahoma is also known informally by its nickname , "The Sooner State", in reference to the Sooners , American settlers who staked their claims in formerly American Indian-owned lands until the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889 authorized the Land Rush of 1889 opening
2808-641: Is a state in the South Central region of the United States . It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northeast, Arkansas to the east, New Mexico to the west, and Colorado to the northwest. Partially in the western extreme of the Upland South , it is the 20th-most extensive and the 28th-most populous of the 50 United States. Its residents are known as Oklahomans and its capital and largest city
2925-462: Is also responsible for many of the tornadoes in the area, such as the 1912 Oklahoma tornado outbreak when a warm front traveled along a stalled cold front, resulting in an average of about one tornado per hour. The humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa ) of central, southern, and eastern Oklahoma is influenced heavily by southerly winds bringing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico . Traveling westward,
3042-569: Is assumed that around 7,500 proved fatal, placing total mortality rates for the state in the area of 7.5%. Oklahoma also has a rich African-American history . Many Black towns, founded by the Freedmen of the Five Tribes during Reconstruction, thrived in the early 20th century with the arrival of Black Exodusters who migrated from neighboring states, especially Kansas. The politician Edward P. McCabe encouraged Black settlers to come to what
3159-776: Is divided between Missouri and Arkansas. The Missouri-Oklahoma border is defined as the Meridian passing through the Kawsmouth, where the Kansas River meets the Missouri River. This is the same Meridian as the Kansas-Missouri border. The Oklahoma-Arkansas border was originally defined by two lines: the borders between Arkansas and the Cherokee and Choctaw Reservations. This formed two diagonal lines meeting at
3276-538: Is serving life in prison without parole for helping plan the attack and prepare the explosive. On May 31, 2016, several cities experienced record setting flooding . On July 9, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States determined in McGirt v. Oklahoma that the reservations of the Five Tribes, comprising much of Eastern Oklahoma, were never disestablished by Congress and thus are still "Indian Country" for
3393-665: Is the oldest and largest of nine National Wildlife Refuges in the state and was founded in 1901, encompassing 59,020 acres (238.8 km ). Of Oklahoma's federally protected parks or recreational sites, the Chickasaw National Recreation Area is the largest, with 9,898.63 acres (40.0583 km ). Other sites include the Santa Fe and Trail of Tears national historic trails, the Fort Smith and Washita Battlefield national historic sites, and
3510-555: The American alligator . Oklahoma has fifty-one state parks , six national parks or protected regions, two national protected forests or grasslands , and a network of wildlife preserves and conservation areas. Six percent of the state's 10 million acres (40,000 km ) of forest is public land, including the western portions of the Ouachita National Forest , the largest and oldest national forest in
3627-546: 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,
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3744-436: The Choctaw language phrase okla , 'people', and humma , translated as 'red'. Choctaw Nation Chief Allen Wright suggested the name in 1866 during treaty negotiations with the federal US government on the use of Indian Territory . He envisioned an all exclusive American Indian state controlled by the United States bureau of Indian Affairs . Oklahoma later became the de facto name for Oklahoma Territory , and it
3861-564: The Great Plains near the geographical center of the 48 contiguous states . It is bordered on the east by Arkansas and Missouri , on the north by Kansas , on the northwest by Colorado , on the far west by New Mexico , and on the south and near-west by Texas . Oklahoma's border with Kansas was defined as the 37th Parallel in the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act . This was disputed with the Cherokee and Osage Nations, which claimed their border extended North of this line and could not be part of
3978-549: 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
4095-844: 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
4212-808: The Kansas Territory . This was resolved in 1870 with the Drum Creek Treaty , which reestablished Kansas's southern border as the 37th parallel. This also applied to the then No-Man's Land that became the Oklahoma Panhandle . The Oklahoma-Texas border consists of the Red River of the South in the south and the 100th meridian west as the western border between Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. These were first established in
4329-637: The Kickapoo reservation of 206,662 acres (836.33 km ) was settled, and the year following 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 reservations just opened, gave Oklahoma Territory a settled area of 24,000,000 acres (97,000 km ), 1,725,646 acres (6,983.44 km ) of which
4446-489: The Oklahoma City National Memorial . Oklahoma is in a humid subtropical region that lies in a transition zone between semiarid further to the west, humid continental to the north, and humid subtropical to the east and southeast. Most of the state lies in an area known as Tornado Alley characterized by frequent interaction between cold, dry air from Canada, warm to hot, dry air from Mexico and
4563-581: 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 3,681,000 acres (14,900 km ), which became Beaver County. In September 1890, the 1,282,434 acres (5,189.83 km ) of
4680-969: The Ouachita Mountains , the Arbuckle Mountains , the Wichita Mountains , and the Ozark Mountains . Contained within the U.S. Interior Highlands region, the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains are the only major mountainous region between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians . A portion of the Flint Hills stretches into north-central Oklahoma, and near the state's eastern border, The Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department regards Cavanal Hill as
4797-512: The Sac and Fox , Iowa , and Pottawatomie reservations in the eastern part of Oklahoma Territory were opened to settlement. The following spring, the 4,397,771 acres (17,797.15 km ) 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 6,014,239 acres (24,338.76 km ) of land. In 1895,
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4914-714: The Southern United States . With 39,000 acres (160 km ), the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in north-central Oklahoma is the largest protected area of tallgrass prairie in the world and is part of an ecosystem that encompasses only ten percent of its former land area, once covering fourteen states. In addition, the Black Kettle National Grassland covers 31,300 acres (127 km ) of prairie in southwestern Oklahoma. The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge
5031-462: The Supreme Court , since no lower court had jurisdiction . The court's opinion, in United States v. State of Texas 162 U.S. 1 (1896), issued on March 16, 1892, held that the land of approximately 1.5 million acres (6070 km /2345 mi ) belonged to the United States. Following that ruling, on May 4, 1896, the land was officially assigned by Congress to Oklahoma Territory. The Greer County Homestead Law, passed just afterwards, gave
5148-557: 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. On May 2, 1890, Congress passed
5265-399: The Wichita Mountains dot southwestern Oklahoma ; transitional prairie and oak savannas cover the central portion of the state. The Ozark and Ouachita Mountains rise from west to east over the state's eastern third, gradually increasing in elevation in an eastward direction. More than 500 named creeks and rivers make up Oklahoma's waterways, and with 200 lakes created by dams, it holds
5382-431: The fifty largest cities in the United States are in Oklahoma, Oklahoma City and Tulsa , and sixty-five percent of Oklahomans live within their metropolitan areas, or spheres of economic and social influence defined by the United States Census Bureau as a metropolitan statistical area . Oklahoma City, the state's capital and largest city, had the largest metropolitan area in the state in 2020, with 1,425,695 people, and
5499-606: The metropolitan area of Tulsa had 1,015,331 residents. Between 2000 and 2010, the leading cities in population growth were Blanchard (172.4%), Elgin (78.2%), Jenks (77.0%), Piedmont (56.7%), Bixby (56.6%), and Owasso (56.3%). In descending order of population, Oklahoma's largest cities in 2010 were: Oklahoma City (579,999, +14.6%), Tulsa (391,906, −0.3%), Norman (110,925, +15.9%), Broken Arrow (98,850, +32.0%), Lawton (96,867, +4.4%), Edmond (81,405, +19.2%), Moore (55,081, +33.9%), Midwest City (54,371, +0.5%), Enid (49,379, +5.0%), and Stillwater (45,688, +17.0%). Of
5616-421: The (higher-elevation) panhandle average 58 °F (14 °C), with annual rainfall under 17 in (430 mm). Over almost all of Oklahoma, winter is the driest season. Average monthly precipitation increases dramatically in the spring to a peak in May, the wettest month over most of the state, with its frequent and not uncommonly severe thunderstorm activity. Early June can still be wet, but most years see
5733-449: The 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty between the United States and Spain. The Oklahoma panhandle was originally part of the Panhandle of the Republic of Texas, but when Texas joined the Union as a slave state, it could not retain any lands north of 36 degrees 30 minutes, as specified in the Missouri Compromise . The Panhandle existed as a no-man's land until 1907 when Oklahoma acquired the territory upon gaining statehood. Oklahoma's Eastern border
5850-409: The Arkansas River and the Poteau River. This became the site of a smuggling camp called "Coke Hill", noted mostly for its importance in cocaine smuggling. After Petitioning congress to hand over jurisdiction, the 57 acres was given to Arkansas in 1905. The 1985 US Supreme Court Case Oklahoma v. Arkansas decided the land would remain Arkansas, even though the Choctaw had not been notified or asked about
5967-409: 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. In response, Payne and his group traveled to Camp Alice in the Unassigned Lands, east of Oklahoma City . There, they made plans for
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#17327657483176084-435: The Boomers, he collapsed and died. 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,
6201-443: The Chickasaw; Chief Green McCurtain of the Choctaw; 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
6318-528: The Confederate military during the American Civil War . The Cherokee Nation had an internal civil war. Slavery in Indian Territory was not abolished until 1866. In the period between 1866 and 1899, cattle ranches in Texas strove to meet the demands for food in eastern cities and railroads in Kansas promised to deliver in a timely manner. Cattle trails and cattle ranches developed as cowboys either drove their product north or settled illegally in Indian Territory. In 1881, four of five major cattle trails on
6435-408: The Interior defined the boundaries and assigned the names of the three counties to be defined and their names assigned by executive proclamation when the Kiowa-Comanche and Wichita-Caddo Reservations were opened to settlement in 1901. Greer County, created by the Texas legislature on February 8, 1860, and named for John Alexander Greer , a Texas lieutenant governor, was land claimed by both Texas and
6552-706: The Mississippi River, a route for cattle drives from Texas and related regions, and a destination for Southern settlers. There are currently 26 Indigenous languages spoken in Oklahoma . According to the 2020 U.S. census, 14.2 percent of Oklahomans identify as American Indians , the highest indigenous population by percentage in any state. A major producer of natural gas, oil, and agricultural products, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology. Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma's primary economic anchors, with nearly two-thirds of Oklahomans living within their metropolitan statistical areas . The name Oklahoma comes from
6669-446: 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. Oklahoma Territory began with the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834 when the United States Congress set aside land for Native Americans. At
6786-424: The Oklahoma lands would be opened on April 22 via land run. 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
6903-510: The Red River should be the correct boundary described by the Adams–Onís Treaty. Texas rejected that assertion and claimed the land south of the North Fork. The United States claimed the land north of the South Fork (previously named the Prairie Dog Town River ). Texas continued to claim sovereignty over Greer County during and after the Civil War. It opened the land to veterans of the Texas Revolution and Confederate Army veterans and leased land to ranchers. In 1884, President Chester A. Arthur took
7020-400: The Red River were not surveyed, as required by the fourth article of the treaty, until 1852. The problem was that the 100th meridian on the Melish map was approximately 90 miles (140 km) east of the true 100th meridian and the Red River forked about 50 miles (80 km) east of the 100th meridian. Another survey team discovered the mapping error in 1857 and showed that the southern fork was
7137-509: The Southwestern U.S., and warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. The interactions between these three contrasting air currents produces severe weather (severe thunderstorms, damaging thunderstorm winds, large hail and tornadoes) with a frequency virtually unseen anywhere else on planet Earth. An average 62 tornadoes strike the state per year—one of the highest rates in the world. Because of Oklahoma's position between zones of differing prevailing temperature and winds, weather patterns within
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#17327657483177254-407: The Texas settlers the 160 acres (647,000 m ) they were living on and the option to purchase an additional 160 acres (647,000 m ) for $ 1.00 per acre ($ 247/km ). When Oklahoma became the 46th U.S. state on November 16, 1907, old "Greer County" was divided into Greer , Jackson , and part of Beckham counties. Mangum remained the county seat of the redefined Greer County. Harmon County
7371-438: The U.S. In 1995, Oklahoma City was the site of the most destructive act of domestic terrorism in American history. The Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995, in which Timothy McVeigh detonated a large, crude explosive device outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building , killed 168 people, including 19 children. For his crime, McVeigh was executed by the federal government on June 11, 2001. His accomplice, Terry Nichols ,
7488-400: The United States House of Representatives to serve a two-year term. While unable to vote in the full House, the delegate was allowed to vote in a House committee of which the delegate was a member. The first territorial representative was David A. Harvey . Four men represented Oklahoma Territory as non-voting delegates in the United States House of Representatives: When Oklahoma Territory
7605-418: The United States in court cases. The territorial marshal was responsible for protecting the court system and for executing processes issued from the territorial courts. The territory's judiciary consisted of a territorial supreme court made up of three justices, a chief justice and two associate justices. Additional associate justices were added later as more counties were created in the territory. The judiciary
7722-399: The United States. The dispute arose from a map submitted with the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. The treaty stated that the boundary between the French claims on the north and the Spanish claims on the south of the United States was the Rio Roxo de Natchitoches ( Red River ) until it reached the 100th meridian west , as noted on John Melish's map published in 1818. However, the upper reaches of
7839-432: The acts was the forced assimilation of Indians into white society. Land not allotted to individual Indians was owned by the U.S. government and sold or distributed to settlers and railroads. The proceeds of the land sales were used to educate Indian children and advance the policy of assimilation. As a result of the two acts about one-half of land previously owned by Indian tribes was owned by whites by 1900. Moreover, much of
7956-450: The assembly and the acts and proceedings of the governor. Copy of the same would semi-annually be submitted to the president, the President of the United States Senate , and the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives for their review. A territorial attorney was responsible for giving legal advice to the governor and assembly, served as the chief law enforcement official of the territory, and represented Oklahoma Territory and
8073-399: The border of Colorado in the panhandle. The state is home to the Storm Prediction Center , the National Severe Storms Laboratory , the Warning Decision Training Division , and the Radar Operations Center , all part of the National Weather Service and in Norman . Oklahoma had 598 incorporated places in 2010, including four cities over 100,000 in population and 43 over 10,000. Two of
8190-492: The climate transitions progressively toward a semiarid zone (Köppen BSk ) in the high plains of the Panhandle and other western areas from about Lawton westward, less frequently touched by southern moisture. Precipitation and temperatures decline from east to west accordingly, with areas in the southeast averaging an annual temperature of 62 °F (17 °C) and an annual rainfall of generally over 40 in (1,020 mm) and up to 56 in (1,420 mm), while areas of
8307-410: The consent of Congress to take effect. They had the same force of law, as did a law passed by a regular state government. Laws enacted by the assembly could be suspended by the President of the United States or revoked, in part or in their entirety, by an act of Congress . When Steele took office, he issued an executive order on July 8, 1890, calling for the first elections to the assembly. The election
8424-417: The duty of the governor to outline the boundaries of the counties, name the county seats, and to appoint territorial and county officers with the consent of the territorial council. Laws passed by the territorial assembly had to be presented to the governor for his approval. If he did not approve, he would veto if and return it to the assembly for reconsideration. The governor's veto could only be overridden by
8541-435: The first chief justice and John G. Clark of Wisconsin and Abraham J. Seay of Missouri as the first associate justices. Oklahoma Territory was divided into seven Judicial Districts in 1902, as follows: Charles Brown of Kansas was named the first Attorney General and Horace Speed of Guthrie (formerly of Indiana) was appointed the first United States attorney in Oklahoma. The territory was entitled to elect one delegate to
8658-472: The first territorial governor. The organic act called for the establishment of a bicameral Territorial Legislative Assembly composed of a Territorial Council , the upper house of the assembly, and Territorial House of Representatives , the lower house of the assembly. The assembly could only create laws consistent with the Constitution of the United States and the organic act but did not require
8775-415: The land allotted to individual Indian heads of families became white-owned. Allottees often sold or were fraudulently deprived of their land. The acquisition of tribal lands by the U.S. government led to land runs , also called "land rushes," from 1887 and 1895. Major land runs, including the Land Rush of 1889 , opened up millions of acres of formerly tribal lands to white settlement. The "rushes" began at
8892-404: The land to settlement. With ancient mountain ranges, prairie, mesas , and eastern forests, most of Oklahoma lies in the Great Plains , Cross Timbers , and the U.S. Interior Highlands , all regions prone to severe weather. Oklahoma is at a confluence of three major American cultural regions . Historically, it served as a government-sanctioned territory for American Indians moved from east of
9009-661: The late 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan had declined to negligible influence within the state. During the 1930s, parts of the state began to suffer from the consequences of poor farming practices. This period was known as the Dust Bowl , throughout which areas of Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, and northwestern Oklahoma were hampered by long periods of little rainfall, strong winds, abnormally high temperatures, and most notably, severe dust storms sending thousands of farmers into poverty and forcing them to relocate to more fertile areas of
9126-480: The low wetlands of its southeastern boundary. Its highest and lowest points follow this trend, with its highest peak, Black Mesa , at 4,973 feet (1,516 m) above sea level, situated near its far northwest corner in the Oklahoma Panhandle . The state's lowest point is on the Little River near its far southeastern boundary near the town of Idabel , which dips to 289 feet (88 m) above sea level. Among
9243-600: 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 . He faced the Democratic Charles N. Haskell in the election on September 17, 1907. In the same election, the Oklahoma Constitution was proposed. The constitution was passed and Haskell
9360-515: The most geographically diverse states, Oklahoma is one of four to harbor more than 10 distinct ecological regions , with 11 in its borders—more per square mile than in any other state. Its western and eastern halves, however, are marked by extreme differences in geographical diversity: Eastern Oklahoma touches eight ecological regions and its western half contains three. Although having fewer ecological regions Western Oklahoma contains many rare, relic species. Oklahoma has four primary mountain ranges:
9477-623: The nation's highest number of artificial reservoirs. Most of the state lies in two primary drainage basins belonging to the Red and Arkansas Rivers, though the Lee and Little Rivers also contain significant drainage basins. Due to Oklahoma's location at the confluence of many geographic regions, the state's climatic regions have a high rate of biodiversity. Forests cover 24 percent of Oklahoma and prairie grasslands composed of shortgrass, mixed-grass, and tallgrass prairie , harbor expansive ecosystems in
9594-492: The nation's largest prairie dog towns inhabit shortgrass prairie in the state's panhandle. The Cross Timbers , a region transitioning from prairie to woodlands in Central Oklahoma, harbors 351 vertebrate species . The Ouachita Mountains are home to black bear , red fox , gray fox , and river otter populations, which coexist with 328 vertebrate species in southeastern Oklahoma. Also in southeastern Oklahoma lives
9711-446: 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,
9828-486: 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
9945-543: 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
10062-519: The official start of the race were called Sooners . 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. 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,
10179-410: The organic act creating it, which served as a semi-governing document. The organic act provided for a complete organization of the territory, defined the functions of the territorial government, placed limitations upon the acts of the legislative assembly, as well as that of the territorial officers. It also designated the town of Guthrie as the territorial capital. Congress provided for the creation of
10296-490: 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
10413-590: 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. 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
10530-762: The purposes of criminal law. Later decisions by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals also found the Quapaw Nation, Ottawa Tribe, Peoria Tribe, and Miami Tribe also had existing reservations. The Osage Nation is awaiting for a possible appellate decision after a district judge had ruled that the Osage reservation was disestablished. Oklahoma is the 20th-largest state in the United States, covering an area of 69,895 square miles (181,030 km ), with 68,591 square miles (177,650 km ) of land and 1,304 square miles (3,380 km ) of water. It lies partly in
10647-400: 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
10764-427: The state can vary widely over relatively short distances, and they can change drastically in a short time. On November 11, 1911, the temperature at Oklahoma City reached 83 °F (28 °C) (the record high for that date), then a cold front of unprecedented intensity slammed across the state, causing the temperature to reach 17 °F (−8 °C) (the record low for that date) by midnight. This type of phenomenon
10881-603: The state in 1541, but French explorers claimed the area in the early 18th century. By the 18th century, Comanche and Kiowa entered the region from the west and Quapaw and Osage peoples moved into what is now eastern Oklahoma. French colonists claimed the region until 1803, when all the French territory west of the Mississippi River was acquired by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase . The territory
10998-518: The state's southeastern quarter , while mixtures of largely post oak , elm , red cedar ( Juniperus virginiana ), and pine forests cover northeastern Oklahoma . The state holds populations of white-tailed deer , mule deer , antelope , coyotes , mountain lions , bobcats , elk , and birds such as quail , doves , cardinals , bald eagles , red-tailed hawks , and pheasants . In prairie ecosystems, American bison , greater prairie chickens , badgers , and armadillo are common, and some of
11115-643: The state's central and western portions, although cropland has largely replaced native grasses. Where rainfall is sparse in the state's western regions, shortgrass prairie and shrublands are the most prominent ecosystems, though pinyon pines , red cedar ( junipers ), and ponderosa pines grow near rivers and creek beds in the panhandle's far western reaches. Southwestern Oklahoma contains many rare, disjunct species , including sugar maple , bigtooth maple , nolina , and Texas live oak . Marshlands , cypress forests, and mixtures of shortleaf pine , loblolly pine , blue palmetto , and deciduous forests dominate
11232-531: The state's ten largest cities, three are outside the metropolitan areas of Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and only Lawton has a metropolitan statistical area of its own as designated by the United States Census Bureau, though the metropolitan statistical area of Fort Smith, Arkansas extends into the state. Oklahoma Territory 35°24′N 97°00′W / 35.4°N 97°W / 35.4; -97 The Territory of Oklahoma
11349-599: The state, with a subgroup, the Panhandle culture people, living in the panhandle region. Caddoan Mississippian culture peoples lived in the eastern part of the state. Spiro Mounds , in what is now Spiro, Oklahoma , was a major Mississippian mound complex that flourished between AD 850 and 1450. Plains Apache people settled in the Southern Plains and in Oklahoma between 1300 and 1500. The expedition of Spaniard Francisco Vázquez de Coronado traveled through
11466-663: The term sooners , which eventually became the state's official nickname. George Washington Steele was appointed the first governor of the territory of Oklahoma in 1890. Attempts to create an all-Indian state named Oklahoma and a later attempt to create an all-Indian state named Sequoyah failed but the Sequoyah Statehood Convention of 1905 eventually laid the groundwork for the Oklahoma Statehood Convention, which took place two years later. On June 16, 1906, Congress enacted
11583-672: The territory being handed over. Therefore, the Poteau River serves as the Oklahoma-Arkansas boundary for approximately 1 mile, reducing the Choctaw Reservation and later Oklahoma by 57 acres as established in the treaties of the early 1800s. Oklahoma is between the Great Plains and the Ozark Plateau in the Gulf of Mexico watershed, generally sloping from the high plains of its western boundary to
11700-425: The territory. Steele became so disgusted by the political stalemate that he resigned his position and returned to Indiana. The Oklahoma Territorial Legislature met for the last time in 1905. The territorial governor was vested with the executive power of the territory, was responsible for ensuring that its laws were faithfully executed, and served as the symbol of the federal government in the territory. The governor
11817-595: 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 . These lands became known as Indian Territory, as they had been granted to certain Indian nations under
11934-646: 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 2,000,000 acres (8,100 km ) 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
12051-569: The western United States. Over a twenty-year period ending in 1950, the state saw its only historical decline in population, dropping 6.9 percent as impoverished families migrated out of the state after the Dust Bowl. Soil and water conservation projects markedly changed practices in the state, leading to the construction of massive flood control systems and dams to supply water for domestic needs and agricultural irrigation. As of 2024, Oklahoma had more than 4,700 dams, about 20% of all dams in
12168-592: The western edge of Fort Smith Arkansas, with one line running northeast from the Red River and the other running southeast from the Oklahoma-Arkansas-Missouri border. The Choctaw-Arkansas border was established in the 1820 Treaty of Doak's Sand , and later refined in the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek . These treaties left a 57-acre exclave of the Choctaw reservation bounded by Arkansas,
12285-590: The western frontier traveled through Indian Territory. Increased presence of white settlers in Indian Territory and their demand for land owned and guaranteed to Indian tribes by treaties with the U.S. government prompted the United States to enact the Dawes Act in 1887 and the Curtis Act of 1898 . The acts abolished tribal governments, eliminated tribal ownership of land, and allotted 160 acres (65 ha) of land to each head of an Indian family. An objective of
12402-544: The world's tallest hill; at 1,999 feet (609 m), it fails their definition of a mountain by one foot. The semi-arid high plains in the state's northwestern corner harbor few natural forests; the region has a rolling to flat landscape with intermittent canyons and mesa ranges like the Glass Mountains . Partial plains interrupted by small, sky island mountain ranges like the Antelope Hills and
12519-686: Was a part of the Arkansas Territory from 1819 until 1828. During the 19th century, the U.S. federal government forcibly removed tens of thousands of American Indians from their ancestral homelands from across North America and transported them to the area including and surrounding present-day Oklahoma. The Choctaw was the first of the Five Civilized Tribes to be removed from the Southeastern United States . The phrase " Trail of Tears " originated from
12636-528: 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
12753-434: Was created in 1890, seven counties were defined and designated numerically. Thereafter, when additional lands were opened to settlement, new counties were designated by the letters of the alphabet. Later, by vote of the people, these were given permanent county names. The first seven numbered counties later were named as follows: Logan , Cleveland , Oklahoma , Canadian , Kingfisher , Payne and Beaver . The Secretary of
12870-491: Was elected governor. Once the people of Oklahoma adopted the 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. With the passage of the Oklahoma organic act in 1890, the territorial government came into existence. The territorial government had no constitution, except for sections of
12987-492: Was given a wide jurisdiction. It functioned as a United States Federal Court , but its jurisdiction extended to a trial of cases, both civil and criminal, arising under the code enacted by the territorial assembly. The court could sit half of the day as a federal court and the other half as territorial court. It would also serve as a supreme court and hear cases that had been appealed from territory's lower courts. President Benjamin Harrison appointed Edward B. Green of Illinois as
13104-474: Was officially approved in 1890, two years after that area was opened to American settlers . Indigenous peoples were present in what is now Oklahoma by the last ice age . Ancestors of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (including Teyas and Escanjaques and Tawakoni ), Tonkawa , and Caddo (including Kichai ) lived in what is now Oklahoma. Southern Plains villagers lived in the central and west of
13221-468: Was set for August 5, 1890. The assembly was to have convened August 12, but owing to the death of two members-elect, a special election was called, and the convening of the legislature was postponed until August 27, 1890. The territorial assembly met for 120-day sessions in Guthrie. The first legislative session was narrowly divided between Republican and Democratic Party members, with Republicans having
13338-470: Was still included in Indian reservations. With the passage of the 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
13455-403: Was the ex officio commander-in-chief of the territorial militia and the federal troops in the territory as well as ex officio Superintendent of Indian Affairs. The governor possessed the power to grant pardons for offenses against the laws of the territory. He could grant reprieves for offenses against the laws of the United States until the president made his decision on the matter. It was also
13572-478: Was then Indian Territory. McCabe discussed with President Theodore Roosevelt the possibility of making Oklahoma a majority-Black state. By the early 20th century, the Greenwood district of Tulsa was one of the most prosperous African-American communities in the United States. Jim Crow laws had established racial segregation since before the start of the 20th century, but Tulsa's Black residents had created
13689-517: Was westward, the turmoil caused by the rapid advancement of the disease quickly overwhelmed both health workers and local governing bodies. In Oklahoma City, shortages of both supplies and personnel were mitigated, in part, by the mobilization of the American Red Cross. Rough estimates based on contemporary reports indicate that approximately 100,000 people fell ill with the disease before the pandemic ebbed in 1919. Of those 100,000 cases, it
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