View source for Oklahoma Territory

{{Short description|Organized incorporated territory of the United States from 1890 to 1907}}
{{for|the film|Oklahoma Territory (film)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2013}}
{{Coord|35.4|N|97|W|display=title}}
{{Infobox Former subdivision
|conventional_long_name = Territory of Oklahoma
|common_name       = Oklahoma Territory
|nation            = the United States
|subdivision       = [[Organized incorporated territories of the United States|Organized incorporated territory]]
|event_pre         = 
|date_pre          = 
|year_pre          = 
|event_start       = [[Oklahoma organic act|Organic act]]
|date_start        = May 2
|year_start        = 1890
|event1            = 
|date_event1       = 
|event_end         = [[Oklahoma|statehood]]
|date_end          = November 16
|year_end          = 1907
|p1                = Indian Territory
|flag_p1           = Flag of the United States (1877-1890).svg
|p2                = Oklahoma Panhandle
|flag_p2           = Flag of the United States of America (1877–1890).svg
|s1                = Oklahoma
|flag_s1           = Flag of Oklahoma (1911–1925).svg
|s2                = 
|flag_s2           = 
|s3                = 
|flag_s3           = 
|image_flag        = 
|image_coat        = 
|symbol_type       = 
|image_map         = Oklahoma terr. 1890.svg
|image_map_caption = The Oklahoma Territory (including the [[Oklahoma Panhandle]]), shown here together with [[Indian Territory]], [[Arizona Territory]] and [[New Mexico Territory]] as the last 4 territories to gain statehood in the contiguous U.S. 
|
|capital         = [[Guthrie, Oklahoma|Guthrie]]
|government_type = Organized incorporated territory
|title_leader    = Governor
|leader1         = ''[[Governors of Oklahoma Territory|List]]''
|year_leader1    = 
|leader2         = 
|year_leader2    = 
|leader3         = 
|year_leader3    = 
|leader4         = 
|year_leader4    = 
|legislature     = 
}}
The '''Territory of Oklahoma''' was an [[Organized incorporated territories of the United States|organized incorporated territory of the United States]] that existed from May 2, 1890,<ref>{{USStat|26|81}}</ref> until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the [[Indian Territory]] under a new constitution and admitted to the [[United States|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 run]]s 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 County, Oklahoma|Logan]], [[Cleveland County, Oklahoma|Cleveland]], [[Oklahoma County, Oklahoma|Oklahoma]], [[Canadian County, Oklahoma|Canadian]], [[Kingfisher County, Oklahoma|Kingfisher]], [[Payne County, Oklahoma|Payne]], and [[Beaver County, Oklahoma|Beaver]] counties. The [[Land Run of 1893]] led to the addition of [[Kay County, Oklahoma|Kay]], [[Grant County, Oklahoma|Grant]], [[Woods County, Oklahoma|Woods]], [[Garfield County, Oklahoma|Garfield]], [[Noble County, Oklahoma|Noble]], and [[Pawnee County, Oklahoma|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 County, Oklahoma|Greer]], [[Jackson County, Oklahoma|Jackson]], [[Harmon County, Oklahoma|Harmon]], and part of [[Beckham County, Oklahoma|Beckham]] counties.

==History==

===Organization===
Oklahoma Territory began with the [[Nonintercourse Act|Indian Intercourse Act]] of 1834 when the [[United States Congress]] set aside land for Native Americans. At the time, the land was [[Territories of the United States#Formerly unorganized territories|unorganized territory]] that consisted of the federal land "west of the Mississippi and not within the states of [[Missouri]] and [[Louisiana]], or the [[Arkansas Territory|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 [[Greer County, Texas|Old Greer County]].<ref name="EOHC-OrganicAct">Everett, Dianna. [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OR004 "1890 Organic Act,"] ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009.  Accessed March 1, 2015.</ref> 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 [[Confederate States of America|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 {{convert|2000000|acres|km2}} of land in the center of the Indian Nation Territory. [[Elias Cornelius Boudinot|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 (Oklahoma settlers)|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.<ref name="EOHC-Boomer">Hoig, Stan. [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=BO011 "Boomer Movement,"] ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009. Accessed March 1, 2015.</ref>

===David Payne and the Boomers===
[[Image:Payne-memorial-north-side.jpg|thumb|right|Gravestone of David L. Payne]]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.<ref name="chron">[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v013/v013p438.html "Captain David L. Payne,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519054331/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v013/v013p438.html |date=May 19, 2017 }} ''Chronicles of Oklahoma'', Vol. 14 No. 3: December 1935. Accessed March 1, 2015.</ref> 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.<ref name="chron"/>  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.<ref name="EOHC-Payne">Lovegrove, Michael W. [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=PA028 "Payne, David Lewis (1836–1884),"] ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009. Accessed March 1, 2015.</ref> 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.<ref name="EOHC-Boomer"/>

===William Couch and the opening===
[[Image:WLCouch1888.png|thumb|180px|left|Captain W.L. Couch in 1888]]
After Payne's death, his associate, [[William Couch|William L. Couch]], assumed the leadership role. Couch moved the Boomers into Indian Territory and founded [[Stillwater, Oklahoma|Camp Stillwater]] on December 12, 1884. President [[Chester A. Arthur|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 [[Muscogee|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 {{convert|3000000|acres|km2}} 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 Acts|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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hoig |first1=Stan |title=Land Run of 1889 |url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=LA014. |website=The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture |access-date=21 March 2022}}</ref>

===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 [[Freedman|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]].<ref name="Internet Archive">[https://web.archive.org/web/20060218001824/http://www.ok-history.mus.ok.us/enc/sooner.htm "Internet Archive, Way Back Machine."Retrieved May 10, 2013]</ref> 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.<ref name="EOHC-Sooner">Blachowiak, Mary Ann. [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=SO010 "Sooner,"] ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009.  Retrieved March 1, 2015.</ref>

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, Oklahoma|Kingfisher]], [[El Reno, Oklahoma|El Reno]], [[Norman, Oklahoma|Norman]], [[Guthrie, Oklahoma|Guthrie]], and [[Stillwater, Oklahoma|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.<ref name="EOHC-1889_Run">Hoig, Stan. [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=LA014 "Land Run of 1889,"]  ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009. Accessed March 1, 2015.</ref>

===Early territorial period===
[[Image:OK IT map 1905.png|thumb|right|300px|The Oklahoma Territory contained 26 counties plus the Osage Nation. Indian Territory consisted of 26 districts plus the Seminole Nation.]]
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.<ref name="EOHC-OKTerr">Brown, Kenny L. [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OK085 "Oklahoma Territory,"] ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009.  Accessed March 1, 2015.</ref>

On May 2, 1890, Congress passed the [[Oklahoma Organic Act]], which organized the western half of Indian Territory into Oklahoma Territory.<ref name="EOHC-OKTerr"/> 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 {{convert|3681000|acre|km2}}, which became Beaver County. In September 1890, the {{convert|1282434|acre|km2}} of the [[Sac and Fox Nation|Sac and Fox]], [[Iowa people|Iowa]], and [[Potawatomi|Pottawatomie]] reservations in the eastern part of Oklahoma Territory were opened to settlement. The following spring, the {{convert|4397771|acre|km2}} 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 {{convert|6014239|acre|km2}} of land. In 1895, the [[Kickapoo people|Kickapoo reservation]] of {{convert|206662|acre|km2}} was settled, and the year following [[Greer County, Oklahoma|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 people|Wichita]] reservations just opened, gave Oklahoma Territory a settled area of {{convert|24000000|acre|km2}}, {{convert|1725646|acre|km2}} of which was still included in Indian reservations.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://users.icnet.net/~frizzell/advocteokterhist.html |title='''Indian Advocate'''. Vol. 14, No, 1. January 1924. Retrieved June 2, 2013. |access-date=June 2, 2013 |archive-date=December 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221023611/http://users.icnet.net/~frizzell/advocteokterhist.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Path to statehood===
With the passage of the [[Oklahoma Organic Act|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 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, Oklahoma|Eufaula]]. The representatives met again in 1903 to organize a constitutional convention. The [[Sequoyah Constitutional Convention]] met in [[Muskogee, Oklahoma|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 Charles Rogers|William C. Rogers]], Principal Chief of the Cherokees; [[William H. Murray]], appointed by Chickasaw Governor [[Douglas H. Johnston]] to represent the Chickasaw; Chief [[Green McCurtain]] of the Choctaw; Chief [[John Brown (Seminole 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 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,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baird |first=W. David |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/886540085 |title=Oklahoma, A History |date=2008 |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |others=Danney Goble |isbn=978-0-8061-8293-3 |location=Norman |pages=171 |oclc=886540085}}</ref> 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 a constitution.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Dianna Everett|title=Enabling Act, 1906|url=http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=EN001|website=The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture|publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>

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, Oklahoma|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 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 of Oklahoma|governor]]. He faced the Democratic [[Charles N. Haskell]] in the election on September 17, 1907. In the same election, the [[Constitution of Oklahoma|Oklahoma Constitution]] was proposed. The constitution was passed and Haskell was elected governor. Once the people of Oklahoma adopted the [[Constitution of the United States|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.
{{see also|State of Sequoyah}}

==Government==
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 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.<ref name="EOHC-OKTerr"/>

Congress provided for the creation of 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 the first territorial governor.<ref name="EOHC-OKTerr"/>

===Legislative branch===
{{main| Oklahoma Territorial Legislature}}

The organic act called for the establishment of a bicameral [[Oklahoma Territorial Legislature|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.<ref name="EOHC-OKTerr"/> The assembly could only create laws consistent with the Constitution of the United States and the organic act but did not require 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 was set for August 5, 1890.<ref name="EOHC-OKTerr"/> 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.<ref name="EOHC-OKTerr"/>

The territorial assembly met for 120-day sessions in Guthrie.<ref name="EOHC-OrganicAct"/> The first legislative session was narrowly divided between Republican and Democratic Party members, with Republicans having a slight edge in representatives. However, the Democrats allied with delegates from the [[People's Party (United States)|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 the territory. Steele became so disgusted by the political stalemate that he resigned his position and returned to Indiana.<ref name="EOHC-OKTerr"/> The Oklahoma Territorial Legislature met for the last time in 1905.<ref name="darcyr">Darcy, R., "[http://polsci.okstate.edu/images/files/darcy/CO_TerritorialLegislatureSep2002.pdf The Oklahoma Territorial Legislature: 1890-1905]." (accessed September 30, 2013)</ref>

===Executive branch===
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 was the [[Ex officio member|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 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 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 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 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.

====List of governors====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! # !! Name !! Took office !! Left office !! Party !! Appointed by !! Photo
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| 1 || [[George Washington Steele]] || 1890 || 1891 || [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] || [[Benjamin Harrison]] || [[File:George Washington Steele (Indiana Congressman, Oklahoma Governor).jpg|100px]]
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| – || [[Robert Martin (Oklahoma governor)|Robert Martin]] || 1891 || 1892 || [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] || none (acting governor) || [[File:Robert Martin.jpg|100px]]
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| 2 || [[Abraham Jefferson Seay]] || 1892 || 1893 || [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] || [[Benjamin Harrison]] || [[Image:Abraham Jefferson Seay.jpg|100px]]
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| 3 || [[William Cary Renfrow]] || 1893 || 1897 || [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] || [[Grover Cleveland]] || [[Image:William Cary Renfrow.jpg|100px]]
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| 4 || [[Cassius McDonald Barnes]] || 1897 || 1901 || [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] || [[William McKinley]] || [[Image:Cassius McDonald Barnes.jpg|100px]]
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| 5 || [[William Miller Jenkins]] || 1901 || 1901 || [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] || [[William McKinley]] || [[Image:William Miller Jenkins.jpg|100px]]
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| – || [[William C. Grimes]] || 1901 || 1901 || [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] || none (acting governor) ||<!-- Deleted image removed:  [[File:William Grimes.jpg|100px]] -->
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| 6 || [[Thompson Benton Ferguson]] || 1901 || 1906 || [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] || [[Theodore Roosevelt]] || [[Image:Thompson Benton Ferguson.jpg|100px]]
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| 7 || [[Frank Frantz]] || 1906 || 1907 || [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] || [[Theodore Roosevelt]] || [[Image:Frank Frantz.jpg|100px]]
|}

===Judicial branch===
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 was given a wide jurisdiction. It functioned as a [[Federal judiciary of the United States|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.<ref name="EOHC-OrganicAct"/>

President Benjamin Harrison appointed Edward B. Green of Illinois as the first chief justice and John G. Clark of Wisconsin and Abraham J. Seay of Missouri as the first associate justices.<ref name="COO-Doyle">Doyle, T. H.  ''Chronicles of Oklahoma''. Vol. 13, No. 2. June 1935."The Supreme Court of the Territory of Oklahoma."  Retrieved June 3, 2013.[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v013/v013p214.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630075900/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v013/v013p214.html |date=June 30, 2007 }}</ref>

Oklahoma Territory was divided into seven Judicial Districts in 1902, as follows:<ref name="COO-Doyle"/>
*First &ndash; Logan, Lincoln and Payne Counties
*Second &ndash; Canadian, Kingfisher, Cleveland, Washita and Custer Counties
*Third &ndash; Oklahoma and Pottawatomie Counties
*Fourth &ndash; Noble, Kay and Pawnee Counties
*Fifth &ndash; Garfield, Grant, Blaine and Roger Mills Counties
*Sixth &ndash; Woods, Woodward, Beaver, Day and Dewey Counties
*Seventh &ndash; Caddo, Comanche, Kiowa and Greer Counties

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.<ref name="COO-Doyle"/>

===Federal representation===
The territory was entitled to elect one delegate to 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 Archibald Harvey|David A. Harvey]].<ref name="EOHC-StatehoodMovement">Wilson, Linda D. [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=ST025 "Statehood Movement,"] ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009. Accessed March 1, 2015.</ref>

Four men represented Oklahoma Territory as [[Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives|non-voting delegates]] in the United States House of Representatives:

{| class=wikitable
! Congress
! Delegate
! Party
! Years
! Notes

|- align=center
|'''[[51st United States Congress|51st]]'''
|rowspan=2|[[David Archibald Harvey]] 
|rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|rowspan=2 | November 4, 1890 - March 4, 1893
|rowspan=2 |
|- align=center
|'''[[52nd United States Congress|52nd]]'''
|- align=center
|'''[[53rd United States Congress|53rd]]''' 
|rowspan=2|[[Dennis Thomas Flynn]] 
|rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|rowspan=2| March 4, 1893 - March 4, 1897
|rowspan=2 |
|- align=center
|'''[[54th United States Congress|54th]]'''
|- align=center
|'''[[55th United States Congress|55th]]'''
| [[James Yancy Callahan]]
|{{Party shading/Free Silver}} |[[Free Silver Party (United States)|Free Silver]]
| March 4, 1897 - March 4, 1899
|
|- align=center
|'''[[56th United States Congress|56th]]'''
|rowspan=2|[[Dennis Thomas Flynn]] 
|rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|rowspan=2| March 4, 1899 - March 4, 1903
|rowspan=2 |
|- align=center
|'''[[57th United States Congress|57th]]'''
|- align=center
|'''[[58th United States Congress|58th]]'''
|rowspan=2| [[Bird Segle McGuire]] 
| rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|rowspan=2| March 4, 1903 - March 4, 1907
|rowspan=2 |
|- align=center
|'''[[59th United States Congress|59th]]'''
|}

== Lands within the territory ==
* [[Unassigned Lands]] – April 22, 1889 – opened by land run.
* [[Neutral Strip (Oklahoma)|No Man's Land]] – May 2, 1890, assigned to Oklahoma Territory by Organic Act.
* [[Iowa tribe|Iowa reserve]] – September 22, 1891 – opened by land run.
* [[Sac and Fox Nation|Sac and Fox reserve]] – September 22, 1891 – opened by land run.
* [[Tonkawa|Tonkawa reserve]] – 1891 – allotment.
* [[Potawatomi|Citizen Potawatomi]] and [[Shawnee|Absentee Shawnee]] reserve – September 22, 1891 – opened by land run.
* [[Cheyenne]] [[Arapaho]] reserve – April 19, 1892 – opened by land run.<ref name="COO-CheyArap">Dale, Edward Everett. ''Chronicles of Oklahoma'' "The Cheyenne-Arapaho Country." Vol. 20, No. 4 December 1942. Retrieved May 30, 2013.[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v020/v020p360.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619224846/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v020/v020p360.html |date=June 19, 2013 }}</ref>
* [[Cherokee Outlet]] – September 17, 1893 – opened by land run.<ref name="EOHC-Cherokee Outlet">[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=CH021 Alvin O.Turner, "Cherokee Outlet Opening."  ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Retrieved May 30, 2013.]</ref>
* [[Kickapoo people|Kickapoo reserve]] – May 4, 1896 – opened by land run.
* [[Greer County, Texas|Greer County]] – March 16, 1896 – officially assigned to Oklahoma Territory (Supreme Court decision May 23, 1895, separated the county from Texas).
* [[Comanche]], [[Kiowa]], and [[Plains Apache|Apache]] reserve – July 10 through August 6, 1901 – lottery.
* [[Wichita (tribe)|Wichita]] and [[Caddo]] reserve – July 10 through August 6, 1901 – lottery.<ref name="EOHC-WCOpening">[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=WI005 Carolyn Garrett Pool, "Wichita-Caddo-Delaware Opening". ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.] Retrieved May 30, 2013.</ref>
* [[Ponca]] and [[Otoe tribe|Otoe]]–[[Missouri tribe|Misouria]] reserve – 1904 – allotment.
* [[Kaw (tribe)|Kaw reserve]] – 1906 – allotment.
* [[Osage Nation|Osage reserve]] – 1906 – allotment.
* [[Big Pasture]] – December 1906 – sealed bid.

==Counties==
[[File:1894 Map of Indian & Oklahoma Terrs.jpg|thumb|Map of Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory in 1894, showing political subdivisions existing then. Both Territories ceased to exist November 16, 1907, when the State of Oklahoma became effective.]]

===Original counties===
When Oklahoma Territory 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 County, Oklahoma|Logan]], [[Cleveland County, Oklahoma|Cleveland]], [[Oklahoma County, Oklahoma|Oklahoma]], [[Canadian County, Oklahoma|Canadian]], [[Kingfisher County, Oklahoma|Kingfisher]], [[Payne County, Oklahoma|Payne]] and [[Beaver County, Oklahoma|Beaver]].<ref name="COO-CountyNames">''Chronicles of Oklahoma''. "Origin of County Names in Oklahoma." v. 2, N, 1. March 1924. Retrieved May 26, 2013.{{cite web|url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v002/v002p075.html |title=Chronicles of Oklahoma |access-date=July 7, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218084724/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v002/v002p075.html |archive-date=February 18, 2009 }}</ref>

The Secretary of 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.<ref name="COO-CountyNames"/>

===Greer County===
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 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 of the South|Red River]]) until it reached the [[100th meridian west]], as noted on [[John Melish|John Melish's]] map published in 1818. However, the upper reaches of 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 {{convert|90|mi|km}} east of the true 100th meridian and the Red River forked about {{convert|50|mi|km}} east of the 100th meridian. Another survey team discovered the mapping error in 1857 and showed that the southern fork was 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 Fork Red River|Prairie Dog Town River]]).<ref name="EOHC-OldGreer">Heisch, John D. [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OL002 "Old Greer County,"] ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', 2009. Accessed March 1, 2015.</ref>

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 a more active role in looking for a resolution of the dispute.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=68974 |title= Chester A. Arthur: "Proclamation 259 - Prohibition of Non-Indian Settlement of Oklahoma Lands in the Indian Territory," July 1, 1884 |author1=Peters, Gerhard |author2=Woolley, John T |publisher = University of California - Santa Barbara |work= The American Presidency Project |access-date= 17 January 2016}}</ref> However, the attempt failed to resolve anything. Meanwhile, area residents officially organized Greer County as a Texas entity in 1886, designating [[Mangum, Oklahoma|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.<ref name="EOHC-OldGreer"/>

The dispute went directly before the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]], since no lower court had [[jurisdiction]]. The court's opinion, in ''United States v. State of Texas'' {{ussc|162|1|1896}}, issued on March 16, 1892, held that the land of approximately 1.5 million acres (6070&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>/2345&nbsp;mi<sup>2</sup>) belonged to the United States.<ref>Justicia.com US Supreme Court Center. United States v. Texas, 143 U.S. 621 (1892). Retrieved May 30, 2013.[http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/143/621/]</ref> 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 the Texas settlers the 160 acres (647,000&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup>) they were living on and the option to purchase an additional 160&nbsp;acres (647,000&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup>) for $1.00 per acre ($247/km<sup>2</sup>).<ref name="COO-Estill-Harbour">Estill-Harbour, Emma. ''Chronicles of Oklahoma''. Vol. 12, No. 2. June 1934. Greer County." Retrieved June 3, 2013.</ref>

When Oklahoma became the 46th U.S. state on November 16, 1907, old "Greer County" was divided into [[Greer County, Oklahoma|Greer]], [[Jackson County, Oklahoma|Jackson]], and part of [[Beckham County, Oklahoma|Beckham]] counties. Mangum remained the county seat of the redefined Greer County. [[Harmon County, Oklahoma|Harmon County]] was created May 22, 1909, by a vote of the people from a portion of Greer County, Oklahoma. Mangum remained the county seat of the redefined Greer County.<ref name="EOHC-OldGreer"/>

In the [[1900 United States census]], [[List of counties in Oklahoma|23 counties in the Oklahoma Territory]] and 6 [[Indian reservation]]s reported the following population counts (after only 8 counties and 13 Indian reservations reported the following counts in the [[1890 United States census]]):<ref>{{cite report|editor-last=Forstall|editor-first=Richard L.|title=Population of the States and Counties of the United States: 1790–1990|pages=129–132|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1990/population-of-states-and-counties-us-1790-1990/population-of-states-and-counties-of-the-united-states-1790-1990.pdf|access-date=May 18, 2020}}</ref>
{| class=wikitable
! 1900<br>Rank
! County
! 1890<br>Population
! 1900<br>Population
|-
|1
|[[Woods County, Oklahoma|Woods]]
|–
|34,975
|-
|2
|[[Lincoln County, Oklahoma|Lincoln]]
|–
|27,007
|-
|3
|[[Logan County, Oklahoma|Logan]]
|12,770
|26,563
|-
|4
|[[Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma|Pottawatomie]]
|–
|26,412
|-
|5
|[[Oklahoma County, Oklahoma|Oklahoma]]
|11,742
|25,915
|-
|6
|[[Kay County, Oklahoma|Kay]]
|–
|22,530
|-
|7
|[[Garfield County, Oklahoma|Garfield]]
|–
|22,076
|-
|8
|[[Payne County, Oklahoma|Payne]]
|7,215
|20,909
|-
|9
|[[Kingfisher County, Oklahoma|Kingfisher]]
|8,332
|18,501
|-
|10
|[[Greer County, Oklahoma|Greer]]
|5,338
|17,922
|-
|11
|[[Grant County, Oklahoma|Grant]]
|–
|17,273
|-
|12
|[[Cleveland County, Oklahoma|Cleveland]]
|6,605
|16,388
|-
|13
|[[Canadian County, Oklahoma|Canadian]]
|7,158
|15,981
|-
|14
|[[Washita County, Oklahoma|Washita]]
|–
|15,001
|-
|15
|[[Pawnee County, Oklahoma|Pawnee]]
|–
|12,366
|-
|16
|[[Custer County, Oklahoma|Custer]]
|–
|12,264
|-
|17
|[[Noble County, Oklahoma|Noble]]
|–
|11,798
|-
|18
|[[Blaine County, Oklahoma|Blaine]]
|–
|10,658
|-
|19
|[[Dewey County, Oklahoma|Dewey]]
|–
|8,819
|-
|20
|[[Woodward County, Oklahoma|Woodward]]
|–
|7,469
|-
|21
|[[Roger Mills County, Oklahoma|Roger Mills]]
|–
|6,190
|-
|22
|[[Beaver County, Oklahoma|Beaver]]
|2,674
|3,051
|-
|23
|[[Day County, Oklahoma|Day]]
|–
|2,173
|-
|
|[[Indian reservation]]s
|16,641
|16,090
|-
|
|Oklahoma Territory
|78,475
|398,331
|-
|}

==Notable people==
<!---♦♦♦ Only add a person to this list if they already have their own article on the English Wikipedia ♦♦♦---> 
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦--->
*[[Elisabeth Enochs]] (1895–1992), American government official and journalist; born in Oklahoma Territory<ref>{{Cite web |title=Enochs, Elisabeth Randolph Shirley, 1895-1992 - Social Networks and Archival Context |url=https://snaccooperative.org/view/30347043 |access-date=2023-09-07 |website=snaccooperative.org}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Compromise of 1850]]
*[[Historic regions of the United States]]
*[[History of Oklahoma]]
*[[Territorial evolution of the United States]]
*[[State of Sequoyah]] (proposed)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Oklahoma Territory}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121024013411/http://www.library.okstate.edu/okmaps/ Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory]
* {{cite web |url= http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=71584 |title= Grover Cleveland: "Proclamation 266 - Prohibition of Non-Indian Settlement of Oklahoma Lands in the Indian Territory," March 13, 1885 |author1=Peters, Gerhard |author2=Woolley, John T |publisher = University of California - Santa Barbara |work= The American Presidency Project |access-date= 17 January 2016}}
* {{cite web |url= http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=71805 |title= Grover Cleveland: "Proclamation 268 - Revoking Executive Order of February 27, 1885 and Prohibition of Non-Indian Settlement on Indian Lands," April 17, 1885 |author1=Peters, Gerhard |author2=Woolley, John T |publisher = University of California - Santa Barbara |work= The American Presidency Project |access-date= 17 January 2016}}

{{Territories of the United States}}
{{Oklahoma history}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Oklahoma Territory| ]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1890]]
[[Category:Indian Territory]]
[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Native American history of Oklahoma]]
[[Category:1890 establishments in Oklahoma Territory]]
[[Category:1890 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:1907 disestablishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Former organized territories of the United States]]