Elias Boudinot:

• Cherokee lawyer who wanted to open up the Indian lands to white settlers to progress the Indians and make the lands a state.
   
• Mr. Boudinot knowing that there was lands that were not being used, took out a ad in the Chicago newspaper and wrote about the vast amount of lands that were available in Indian Territory.
   
• When people read about this, many people put pressure on the government to do something with the land.

The newspapers generally referred to these pro-settlement forces as Boomers and followed Boudinot's lead in referring to the area as the Unassigned Lands or Oklahoma.

The Boomers planned excursions, which they called raids, into the area and surveyed townsites, built homes, and planted crops. The United States sent troops to round them up and expel them

Boomers - group of people who proceeded to move onto lands that they were not supposed to be.

The Indian response to the Boomers.

David L. Payne:

• Boomer leader who took over after Charles Carpenter and moved people into Indian Territory.

• Santa Fe Trail passed through the area soon after the trade route was established in 1826 between the Spanish in Santa Fe and the Americans in St. Louis. Travel along the route increased considerably after 1849 with the discovery of gold in California. The Cutoff passed through what is now Boise City, Oklahoma and on to Clayton, New Mexico before continuing toward Santa Fe.
   
• When Texas sought to enter the Union in 1845 as a slave state, federal law in the United States based on the Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery North of 36^o 30' parallel north. Under the Compromise of 1850, Texas surrendered its lands north of 36^o 30' latitude. The 170-mile strip of land was thus left with no formal territorial ownership. It was officially called the "Public Land Strip" and was more commonly referred to as "No Man's Land."
   
• After the 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 Cherokees, despite the fact that the Outlet ended at the 100th meridian. However, in 1886, Interior Secretary L. Q. C. Lamar, declared the area to be Public domain.
   
• The strip was not yet surveyed, and as that was one of the requirements of the 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 had organized a self-governing and self-policing jurisdiction which they named the Cimarron Territory. A bill was introduced to Congress that same year to officially recognize the territory, but it failed to pass.
   
• The organization of Cimarron Territory began soon after L.Q.C. Lamar, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, in 1886, declared the area open to settlement by squatters. The area's only order was maintained by the vigilance committees provided by the cattlemen, and the thousands of new settlers recognized the need for a broader government.
   
• In 1889, the Unassigned Lands were opened for settlement and many of the residents went there. The population, generously estimated at 10,000, fell to about 3,000. The passage of the Organic Act in 1890 assigned No Man's Land to the new Oklahoma Territory, and ended the short-lived Cimarron Territory.
   
• No Man's Land became Seventh County, later renamed Beaver County. When Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory joined the Union in 1907 as the single state of Oklahoma, Beaver County was divided into the present Beaver, Texas, and Cimarron counties.

Unassigned Lands - Lands in the center of present day Oklahoma that were not assigned to any tribe.

The Homestead Act of 1862 - passed by the U.S. Congress. It provided for the transfer of 160 acres (65 hectares) of unoccupied public land to each homesteader on payment of a nominal fee after five years of residence; land could also be acquired after six months of residence at $1.25 an acre. The government had previously sold land to settlers in the West for revenue purposes. As the West became politically stronger, however, pressure was increased upon Congress to guarantee free land to settlers. Under these pressures to open lands up, the government decided to open up lands in Indian Territory that were not assigned to anyone. A land run was set up and it took place on April 22, 1889.

April 22, 1889:

• The Land Run of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands and included all or part of the modern day Canadian, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne counties of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The land run started at high noon on April 22, 1889, with an estimated 50,000 people lined up for their piece of the available two million acres.
   
• Sooners - people who snuck into the land and claimed areas before the land run began.
   
• On the day of the land run on April 22, 1889, 5 cities began:
   
  • Guthrie
  • OK Station (OKC)
  • Kingfisher
  • Edmond
  • Norman
   
• The night of the land run, chaos was a good word to describe the area. Unlawful acts were taking place. Saloons were open and people were taking advantage of that. The military camps, like Camp Guthrie, did maintain order.
   
• General stores were also opening throughout the area. People needed these supplies in order to live. (Wal-Mart)

Edward McCabe:

McCabe was born in New York and was one of the African Americans who came to the territory in search not only of his dream but the dream of countless others. What made his story special was that he dreamed bigger than the average person. He had a dream of starting an all black state. This dream did not take place because of McCabe's political allies started to die off and his dream dwindled. He turned to developing a Black Agricultural and Mechanical School (Langston University) and then slowly faded out of the scene.

• This act created Oklahoma Territory and under the territorial requirements the new territory had to:
   
  • have a territorial governor
  • have a supreme court
  • have a legislative assembly
  • elect representatives to send to Washington (these reps could not vote, but they could lobby for the state)
   
• The act also created 7 counties and set up Guthrie as the capital. It used the laws of Nebraska until newly established laws could be finalized. (Nebraska's territory was the most recent territory to become a state).
   

• Several colleges were also set up under this act:
   
  • Territorial University - set up in Norman became OU
  • Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical School - set up in Stillwater became OSU
  • Normal School - set up in Edmond became UCO
    (Normal School) - Teacher trainer school
     
  • A Territorial Governor was also established - George W. Steel
  • Insane Asylum also placed in Norman.
  • Other requirements were placed, but you will not be tested on them.

Established in 1889 to aquire surplus indian lands of the plains indians. Several people went to the tribes in western Oklahoma to visit with the tribes to try to get them to sell the unused lands. This commission was also known as the Jerome Commission. The tribes did not want to sell the lands, because they were leasing their lands to cattlemen who were grazing their cattle and the indians were making a lot of money off of the cattlemen. After numerous talks with the tribes, the government finally forced the indians to quit leasing their lands to the cattlemen, thus the indians were not making money and were forced to sell the surplus land to the commission and the government.

Plessy v Ferguson - Supreme Court case that legalized the seperation of races in 1896.

Jim Crow Laws - were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure segregation in all public facilities, with a "separate but equal" status for black Americans and members of other non-white racial groups.

Some examples of Jim Crow laws are the segregation of public schools, public places and public transportation, and the segregation of restrooms and restaurants for whites and blacks.

In 1901, Congress made all Indians U.S. Citizens, but they were not permitted all of the normal rights of U.S. citizens - including:

1. Could not vote
2. Could not be on a jury
3. Could not hold public office
4. could not carry a gun

After aquiring these lands they were distributed in the last of the land runs and finally a lottery as explained below.

Waiting To Sign Up For The Cherokee Strip Run, Sept. 16, 1893

The last land given away in Indian Territory was by a Lottery:

On August 6, 1901, the surplus of the Kiowa and Comanche country, amounting to three and one-half million acres, was opened to settlers.

This was the last great land opening in Oklahoma, known as The Great Lottery. Instead of making the race for claims, persons wishing to stake a homestead at the last opening had to register at the Government land offices in El Reno or Fort Sill.

The homesteads were given out by a drawing, called the "land lottery". Each person was assigned a card upon which was his name and address. The card was placed in an envelope and sealed. The land offices received these envelopes for fifteen days. At the end of that time the envelopes were placed in a large box and shuffled. They were then drawn out by the land officials and numbered in order. Each settler staked his claim in turn according to the number on his envelope and card. In this way, there was no trouble with "sooners". Over 160,000 persons registered for homesteads in the opening of the Kiowa and Comanche country.

After all lands were aquired by the government, the last Territorial Governor (Frank Frantz) started preparing the Territory to become a State.

• The Geography of Oklahoma
   
  • Oklahoma Road Map (1.5M pdf)
     
  • Map of Oklahoma's 77 Counties
   
  
• State Fair of Oklahoma Tulsa State Fair
   
• The Dust Bowl
   
  • Dust Bowl Lore
  
  
• Oklahoma Oil
   
  • Chickasaw Oil Company
  • Choctaw Oil Company
  • Osage Oil
  • Marland Oil Company
  • Sinclair Oil
   
  • The arrival of the Five Civilized Tribes brings written accounts of oil seeps in Oklahoma. The Plains Indians, already had been using the oil springs for centuries to treat rheumatism and other chronic illness.
     
  • 1859 - Oklahoma's first oil well
     
  • April 15,1897 - Oklahoma's first commercial oil well, Nellie Johnston No. 1 blows in Bartlesville.
     
  • June 25, 1901 - Drillers strike oil at Red Fork. Headlines proclaim "Geyser of Oil Spouts at Red Fork" and "Oil Well Gusher Fifteen Feet High," setting off a stampede to Oklahoma.
     
  • Nov. 22, 1905 - Oil discovered on Ida E. Glenn's farm, 10 miles south of Tulsa, ushering in the state's first major oil field and launching Oklahoma's petroleum industry.
     
  • 1912-1928 - Discoveries of major oil fields in Cushing, Healdton, Seminole and Oklahoma City.
     
  • 1917 - Phillips Petroleum Company is incorporated with 27 employees.
     
  • August 1931 - Gov. William "Alfalfa Bill" Murray attempts to raise the price of crude by declaring martial law and calling out the National Guard to state oil fields to enforce a cutback in production.
     
  • 1940s - The demands of World War 11 bring recovery as Oklahoma oil producers contribute to the war effort. Drilling declines in the 1950s when federal price controls are placed on natural gas.
     
  • 1973 - Arab oil embargo and associated energy crisis bring a new oil boom. Drilling rigs reach an all-time peak in early 1982.
     
  • 1982 - Oil prices decline, bringing a bust that forces many producers out of business. Rural towns are hit particularly hard by the downturn, and throughout the decade many small town Main Streets struggle for survival.
     
  • 1999 - The state Legislature convenes a special session to grant oil producers tax relief after prices dropped to as low as $8 per barrel.
   
• Redistricting and statewide elections
   
  
• Significant Oklahomans:
   
  • Jim Thorpe

    College Football Hall of Fame - 1951 Charter Enshrinee in the Pro Football Hall of Fame - 1963 All-America - 1911, 1912 Olympic Decathlon and Pentathlon Champion - 1912 AP Most Outstanding Athlete of the First Half of the 20th Century - 1950 "America's Greatest Football Player of the half-century" - 1950 ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Century - 2001 Track and Field Hall of Fame In 1950, the nation's press selected Jim Thorpe as the most outstanding athlete of the first half of the 20th Century From 1996-2001, he was continuously awarded ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Century award

    
     
    
  • Will Rogers

    
     
    

  • The Five Indian Ballerinas - Oklahoma's five internationally acclaimed Native American ballerinas:

    Yvonne Chouteau   Rosella Hightower   Moscelyne Larkin   Maria Tallchief   Marjorie Tallchief		Tulsa Historical Society unveils the Five Moons

     
    

  • The Kiowa Five - Twentieth century Kiowa artists include the Kiowa Five, a group of artists whom studied at the University of Oklahoma. The "Five" referred to are the male members of the group.

    
    

    	The pictographic art form known as "ledger art" was an Indian art form which had historically been dominated by the male members of the plains culture.

     
    • Lois (Bougetah) Smoky (1907-1981)

      Lois Smoky was an original member of the Kiowa Five artists. She was also the only female and the youngest member of the group. During the time of her arrival at the University of Oklahoma it was customary among the tribes of the Plains that women not draw or paint in a representational style. Because of this feeling, Smoky fought some resentment on the part of the Kiowa group at the University. Upon her return to the reservation after only a few short years of painting, she did not pursue a career in the art world.

      She was later replaced in the Kiowa Five by James Auchiah. Once home, Smoky married and completely devoted herself to her husband and family. Lois Smoky is too often overlooked when the Kiowa Five artists are mentioned; she had an abundance of talent that was never allowed to blossom. On an ironic note, Lois Smoky's art, due to its rarity, is now the most sought after of all the Kiowa Five artists.

    • James Auchiah (1906-1974)

      James Auchiah was born with an innate artistic ability. In recognition of his talent and artistic achievements, his birthplace, Medicine Park, has become a communal center for Native American art. Born into a prominent Kiowa family, Auchiah excelled in art from an early age. In elementary school the young artist was once caught drawing and painting, which was not allowed in the Indian schools at that time. As punishment, he was required to finish his painting after school and thus forfeit his dinner. Auchiah exclaimed that he was glad to do so: "I would rather paint than eat," he said. As Auchiah grew older, his interest in art continued to increase.

      So when the opportunity to become the sixth of the Kiowa Five arose, he happily joined the group in the fall of 1927. Throughout his life, Auchiah served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, became a teacher, an illustrator, a museum curator and continued to paint, though not as a career artist. His later artwork was devoted primarily to the Native American Church.

    • Spencer Asah (1905-1954)

      Spencer Asah was born near Carnegie, Oklahoma and was the son of a Buffalo Medicine Man. Consequently the atmosphere that he grew up in was full of tribal legends and rituals, the influence of which is evident in his paintings. Asah came to the University of Oklahoma to refine his painting skills under the tutelage of Oscar Jacobson. Like Hokeah and Mopope, Asah was a celebrated dancer who was able to balance his love for painting with his love for dancing. Asah was commissioned murals at OU and Riverside Indian School, but did his best work aiding Stephen Mopope in his murals in Anadarko.

    • Jack Hokeah (1902-1969)

      Born in 1902, Jack Hokeah was orphaned while he was still young and, thus, raised by his grandmother. Hokeah developed his art at an early age though it was often overshadowed by his dancing talent. This did not keep him from joining his fellow Kiowas at the University of Oklahoma. He worked hard at his art while under Oscar Jacobson, but dancing was still in his blood.

      In 1930, Jack Hokeah, along with Asah and Mopope made the trip to Gallup for the Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonials. Following the festivities Hokeah met the renowned potter, Maria Martinez of San Ildefonso Pueblo staying with her family for some ten years as her adopted son before passing away in 1969.

    • Stephen Mopope (1898-1974)

      Stephen Mopope was the oldest member of the group of the young Indian artists that would become known as the Kiowa Five. He was born in 1898 or 1899 near Red Stone Baptist Mission on the Kiowa Reservation. While growing up on the reservation, Stephen was observed drawing designs in the sand. Thus, tribal elders decided to teach him how to paint on tanned skins in the old Kiowa way. As his artistic talent began to take root, so did his skills as a dancer. Mopope blossomed into one of the Kiowa's tribe's finest dancers considered by some to be the best.

      As he got older, his skills as an artist increased and eventually caught the eye of Oscar Brousse Jacobson. Mopope was invited to join four of his fellow tribal artists in attending the University of Oklahoma's Indian Art Program. While under Jacobson's tutelage Mopope's art career flourished and he became the most prolific artist of the Kiowa Five. Some of his more notable commissions included murals in The University of Oklahoma, The Federal Building in Muskogee, Oklahoma, First National Bank of Anadarko, as well as, the U.S. Post Office in Anadarko and the U.S. Navy Hospital in Carville, Louisiana. Though he concentrated on painting, Mopope continued to be an accomplished dancer and flute player.

    • Monroe Tsatoke (1904-1937)

      Monroe Tsatoke was a gifted painter, as well as a bead worker and singer. As the Kiowa Five's fame grew, it was increasingly obvious that Tsatoke and Mopope were the most prolific artists of the group. Unfortunately, as his painting skills grew stronger, Tsatoke was developing tuberculosis and was increasingly sick. During this time, Tsatoke joined the Peyote faith. He became a member of the Native American Church and began a series of paintings that depicted his religious experiences. Tsatoke continued to work through his sickness, refusing to let the tuberculosis get the better of him.

      In 1934, he was commissioned by the Oklahoma Historical Society to paint a series of murals, in which he featured numerous personal images, including religious symbols, and two of his family shields. He worked on these murals until his death from tuberculosis in 1937 when he became the first member of the Kiowa Five to pass away. In 1950, Oscar Jacobson produced a portfolio featuring the best of the Native American art, including art be Tsatoke, to whom the portfolio was dedicated.

     
  • Wilma Mankiller
     
    
  • Miss America
     
    • 1926 - Norma Smallwood, Bristow
    • 1966 - Jane Anne Jayroe, Laverne
    • 1981 - Susan Powell, Elk City
    • 1995 - Shawntel Smith, Muldrow
     
  • Prosecutions and Convictions of Governor David Hall and County Commissioners
     
  • Governor Raymond Gary
   
• Cultural and Ethnic Groups
   
  • Native American Tribes represented at Crescent Public Schools
     
  • Oklahoma Family History Research
     
  • U.S. Census Bureau: Oklahoma Quick Facts
   
• Race Relations in Oklahoma
   

  Tulsa Race Riot, 1921 - Believed to be the single worst incident of racial violence in American history.   Oklahoma Crossroads: primary documents   The Cleveland Advocate, June 14, 1919   The Ku Klux Klan in Oklahoma

  
   
• Route 66
   
• Oklahoma Symbols
   

  State Animal - buffalo Furbearer - raccoon Game Animal - white-tailed deer Flying Mammal - Mexican Free-tailed Bat Bird - Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Game Bird - Wild Turkey Reptile - Mountain Boomer Amphibian - Bullfrog Fish - Sandbass Butterfly - Black Swallowtail Insect - Honeybee Fruit - Strawberry Vegetable - Watermelon Flower - Oklahoma Rose Wild Flower - Indian Blanket Floral Emblem - Mistletoe Tree - Redbud Grass - Indiangrass Soil - Port Silt Loam Rock - Rose Rock

  Fossil - Saurophaganax Maximus Crystal - Hourglass Selenite Crystal Beverage - Milk Meal - Fried Okra, Squash, Cornbread, Barbeque Pork, Biscuits, Sausage & Gravy, Grits, Corn, Strawberries, Chicken Fried Steak, Black-eyed Peas, and Pecan Pie Cartoon Character - Gusty, created by Don Woods Monument - The Golden Driller Percussive Instrument - Drum Musical Instrument - Fiddle Nickname - The Sooner State Motto - Labor Omnia Vincit, latin for "Labor Conquers All Things" Colors - Green & White Song - "Oklahoma!" lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rogers Poem - "Howdy Folks" by David Randolph Milsten Folk Dance - Square Dance