592 



OKLAHOMA. 



with one half mill additional for the erection 

 and support of a normal school and one half 

 mill for the erection and support of a Territorial 

 university. The homestead mortgage exemp- 

 tion and the tax on mortgage's were eliminated 

 from the law, and all barriers to the free influx 

 of foreign capital were removed. An independ- 

 ent school-district law was passed, making pro- 

 vision for the issue of school-district bonds. 

 The election law was amended so as to cut off 

 unnecessary expenses attending its operation. 

 A new township-organization law and a new 

 road and bridge law were enacted. The sum of 

 $15,000 was appropriated to secure an exhibit 

 for the Territory at the World's Columbian Ex- 

 position, and $10,000 was set apart for buying 

 seeds for distribution among needy settlers in 

 the western counties. Arrangements were made 

 to publish the Supreme Court reports, and the 

 fund derived from the sale of these books was 

 devoted to the establishment of a Territorial 

 library. A committee was appointed to com- 

 pile anew the Territorial statutes. 



Other acts of the session were as follow : 



To authorize cities, towns, and villages to construct 

 water works. 



Adopting the mistletoe as the floral emblem of the 

 Territory. 



To provide for the establishment and maintenance 

 of a Territorial library. 



Declaring gaming illegal. 



Establishing a permanent grand seal for the Terri- 

 tory. 



Education. The Legislature this year au- 

 thorized the issue of Territorial bonds to the 

 amount of $48,000 for the purpose of raising 

 money to complete and furnish buildings for the 

 higher educational institutions. For the uni- 

 versity, at Norman, the issue of $18,000 in bonds 

 was authorized ; for the normal school, at Ed- 

 mond, $15,000; and for the Agricultural and 

 Mechanical College, at Stillwater, $15,000. The 

 university building was completed and opened 

 on Sept. 6, and the normal-school building also 

 was completed before the end of the year. The 

 Agricultural and Mechanical College derives sub- 

 stantial aid from the Federal Government, in ad- 

 dition to the Territorial support. Each of these 

 institutions had about 100 pupils at the close of 

 the year. 



Charities. As there is no institution for the 

 insane in the Territory, all patients are main- 

 tained at a private institution at Jacksonville, 

 111. At the close of the year there were 53 Ok- 

 lahoma patients in this institution. The cost to 

 the Territory for their support in 1893 was $9,- 

 351, and for transportation $6,750. 



Prisons. At the close of the year 35 Okla- 

 homa convicts were confined at the Kansas Peni- 

 tentiary at Lansing. The Territory had paid 

 up to Sept. 30 for transportation of these con- 

 victs $1,185, and for their maintenance $2,275. 



Agriculture. The acreage of the various 

 firm products for 1893 is estimated to be as fol- 

 lows : Corn, 284,254 acres ; wheat, 222,310 acres ; 

 oats, 109,374 acres ; cotton, 21,311 acres ; sorghum, 

 18,755 acres; millet, 14,121 acres; broom corn, 

 4,422 acres ; potatoes, 6,890 acres. The total 

 farm acreage was 2.372.482 acres, and the cash 

 value of farms $13.022,345. The number of 

 horses in the Territory was 35,878 ; mules, 9,496 ; 



milch cows, 27,145 ; other cattle, 96,072 ; sheep, 

 36,073 ; swine, 55,310. 

 Settlement of the Cherokee Outlet. The 



tract known as the Cherokee Outlet or Strip 

 embraces an area of 9,409 square miles, or nearly 

 half of the whole area opened to settlement in 

 Oklahoma prior to this year. It extends from 

 the part of Oklahoma first settled north to Kan- 

 sas, east to Arkansas river, and west to Beaver 

 County. In December, 1891, a treaty was made, 

 subject to the approval of Congress, between 

 commissioners of the United States and the 

 Cherokee chieftains, by which this tract was to 

 be purchased and opened for settlement. On 

 Jan. 16, 1893, a bill ratifying this agreement 

 passed the House of Representatives, but in the 

 Senate, where 2 other bills having the same ob- 

 ject were pending, amendments were proposed 

 and action was delayed until the last day of the 

 session. Long before this time the people of the 

 Territory and of the neighboring counties in 

 Kansas and Missouri had- become impatient at 

 the delay, and, at a convention at Guthrie on 

 Jan. 18, their representatives joined in resolu- 

 tions urging immediate action by Congress. At 

 that time it was estimated that nearly 20,000 

 people were temporarily living on the borders of 

 the Outlet awaiting its opening to settlers. The 

 bill authorizing the opening, which finally 

 passed both Houses of Congress on March 3 in 

 the form of a rider to the Indian appropriation 

 bill, modified in many particulars the commis- 

 sioners' agreement. By its terms, $295,736 was 

 appropriated to be paid to the Indians at once, 

 and the Secretary of the Interior was authorized 

 to contract with the Indians to pay $8,300,000 in 

 5 annual installments, beginning on March 4, 

 1895, interest to be paid at the rate of 4 per 

 cent, on these deferred payments. It was pro- 

 vided that the acceptance of any of the money ap- 

 propriated should operate as a ratification by the 

 Cherokee nation of its agreement of December, 

 1891, as modified by the act and as a complete 

 relinquishment of its title; and that upon the 

 payment of said sum of $295,736 the tract should 

 become a part of the public domain. The 

 President was authorized, at any time within 

 six months after the acceptance of the act by 

 the Indians, to open the lands for settlement by 

 proclamation. By the same act an appropri- 

 ation of $30,600 was made to the Tonkawa In- 

 dians for their reservation land, and $80,000 to 

 the Pawnees for a similar purpose. On May 19 

 a formal agreement was signed at Washington 

 by the Cherokee chieftains and by the Secretary 

 of the Interior, in which the modifications made 

 by Congress were accepted and the territory 

 ceded to the United States. On Aug. 23 Presi- 

 dent Cleveland issued his proclamation opening 

 this tract and the Tonkawa and Pawnee reser- 

 vations to settlement on Sept. 16, at 12 o'clock 

 noon. This announcement was the signal for a 

 rush of intending settlers to the borders of the 

 Outlet. Before the day for opening arrived 

 more than 100.000 people had gathered at points 

 on the north and south boundaries, prepared to 

 enter at the signal and eager to secure possession 

 of the choicest lots. It is estimated that 30,000 

 people made the race from Arkansas City into 

 the territory. 15,000 from Caldwell, 25,000 from 

 Orlando, 10,000 from Hennessey, 7,000 from 



