696 



OKLAHOMA. 



Public Works Frank J. McColloch, Rep., 362,- 

 594 ; Leopold Keifer, Dem., 353,840 ; Joseph M. 

 Scott, Pro., 23,680; Eli Raub, U. L., 1,759. 



Of the 21 Congressmen elected, 14 were Demo- 

 crats, and 7 Republicans. 



OKLAHOMA,a Territory of the United States, 

 organized by act of Congress, approved May 2, 

 1890 ; area (including the Cherokee country and 

 No Man's Land), 39,030 square miles; popula- 

 tion (including Greer County, claimed by Texas), 

 according to the census of 1890, 61,834. Capital, 

 Guthrie. 



Government. The following Territorial 

 officials were appointed by the President in May : 

 Governor, George W. Steele, Republican ; Secre- 

 tary, Robert Martin ; United States District At- 

 torney, Horace Speed; United States Marshal, 

 Warren S. Lurty, who was succeeded by William 

 Grimes; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 

 Edward B. Green ; Associate Justices, Abraham 

 J. Seay and John G. Clark. The following of- 

 ficials were appointed by Gov. Steele in Novem- 

 ber, the Territorial Legislature having by law es- 

 tablished the respective offices : Territorial Treas- 

 urer, W. T. Higgie ; Attorney-General, Charles 

 Brown; Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

 J. H. Lawhead. 



Population. The following table shows the 

 population of the Territory by counties, as de- 

 termined by the national census of 1890 : 



COUNTIES. 



COUNTIES. 



Logan 



Oklahoma 



Payne 



Population. 

 ....12,770 

 ....11,742 

 .... 7,215 



Total 61,834 



Population. 



.... 2,674 



Canadian 7,158 



Cleveland 6,605 



Greer (claimed by 



Texas) 5.338 



Kingfisher 8,832 



Attempted Provisional Government. 



For the thousands of people who rushed over 

 the borders of Indian Territory on April 22, 1889, 

 to secure homesteads in Oklahoma, no form of 

 local government had been provided. When each 

 immigrant had taken possession of his claim, he 

 found himself bound by no law, except the gen- 

 eral authority of the Federal Government. Ef- 

 forts to secure by agreement a provisional code 

 of laws were speedily inaugurated. Before the 

 end of April a call was issued for a convention 

 at Guthrie on May 22, 1889, which should adopt 

 a form of provisional government, following the 

 outline therefor suggested in the call. But all 

 efforts at united action failed on account of the 

 rivalry between the larger towns, especially 

 Guthrie and Oklahoma City, each wishing to be 

 the capital city. The convention at Guthrie was 

 followed by another at Frisco, 25 miles west, at 

 which the efforts of Guthrie were effectually 

 checked. Each town sought only to block the 

 schemes of the others, and it became necessary to 

 await Ihe will of Congress in providing a Terri- 

 torial Government. In these initial efforts party 

 lines were not drawn, but at the beginning of 

 this year, when early action by Congress organ- 

 izing Oklahoma as a Territory seemed certain, 

 party conventions were called, and party organi- 

 zations and committees established. A conven- 

 tion of Republicans met at Oklahoma City in 

 January, and a convention of Democrats at the 

 same place in March, at which the usual partisan 

 resolutions were passed, and the complete party 

 machinery for the coming political contests was 

 provided. 



The Organic Act On May 2, President 

 Harrison signed the bill creating Oklahoma Ter- 

 ritory. The first section of this act declares 

 that- 

 All that portion of the United States now known as 

 Indian Territory (except so much as is actually occu- 

 pied by the five civilized tribes, and the Indian tribes 

 within the Quapaw Indian Agency, and except the 

 unoccupied part of the Cherokee Outlet), together 

 with^that portion of the United States known as the 

 Public Land Strip, is hereby erected into a temporary 

 Government by the name of the Territory of Okla- 

 homa. The portion of the Indian Territory included 

 in said Territory of Oklahoma is bounded by a line 

 drawn as follows : Commencing at a point where the 

 98th meridian crosses the Red river, thence by said 

 meridian to the point where it crosses the Canadian 

 river, thence along said river to the west line of the 

 Seminole country ? thence along said line to the north 

 fork of the Canadian river, thence down said river to 

 the west line of the Creek country, thence along said 

 line to the northwest corner of the Creek country, 

 thence along the north line of the Creek country to 

 the 96th meridian, thence nortfiward by said meridian 

 to the southern boundary line of Kansas, thence west 

 along said line to the Arkansas river, thence down 

 said river to the north line of the land occupied by 

 the Ponka tribe of Indians, from which point the line 

 runs so as to include all the lands occupied by the 

 Ppnka, Tonkawa, Otoe and Missouria, and Pawnee 

 tribes of the Indians, until it strikes the south line of 

 the Cherokee Outlet, which it follows westward to the 

 line of the State of Texas, thence by the boundary 

 line of the State of Texas to the point of beginning. 

 The Public Land Strip, which is included in said Terri- 

 tory of Oklahoma, is bounded east by the 100th me- 

 ridian, south by Texas, west by New Mexico, north 

 by Colorado and Kansas. Whenever the interest of 

 the Cherokee Indiana in the land known as the 

 Cherokee Outlet shall have been extinguished, and 

 the President shall make proclamation thereof, said 

 outlet shall thereupon, and without further legislation, 

 become a part of the Territory of Oklahoma. Any 

 other lands within the Indian Territory not embraced 

 within these boundaries shall hereafter become a part 

 of the Territory of Oklahoma whenever the Indian 

 nation or tribe owning such lands shall signify to 

 the President of the United States, in legal manner, 

 its assent that such lands shall so become a part of 

 said Territory of Oklahoma, and the President shall 

 thereupon make proclamation to that effect. Congress 

 may at any time hereafter change the boundaries of 

 said Territory or attach any portion of the same to 

 any other State or Territory of the United States with- 

 out the consent of the inhabitants of the Territory 

 hereby created. 



It is further provided that the district known as 

 Greer County shall not be included in the new Terri- 

 tory until the title thereto has been adjudicated to be 

 in the United States, and the Attorney-General is di- 

 rected to bring suit in the United States Supreme 

 Court against the State of Texas to determine the 

 rightful'title to said county. A Governor, Secretary, 

 Chief Justice, two Associate Justices, a United States 

 Attorney, and a United States Marshal for the Terri- 

 tory shall be nominated by the President, and ap- 

 pointed by and with the consent of the Senate. A 

 Territorial Legislature, consisting of a Council and 

 House of Representatives, shall be elected biennially 

 by the people, and shall hold biennial sessions lasting 

 not over sixXty days, except that the first session may 

 continue one hundred and twenty days. The Terri- 

 tory is divided into seven counties, the county seats 

 of which are provisionally named. The Governor is 

 directed to define the boundaries of these counties 

 prior to the first election. He is also directed to ob- 

 tain a census of the people, upon the basis of which he 

 shall fix the boundaries of election districts and ap- 

 portion the members of the Legislature to be chosen 

 in each. He shall appoint a day for the first Terri- 



