Volume 10 , Issue 6

Earlier Agitation For Statehood

After the Oklahoma Territorial Government had scarcely completed its organization, there began to appear in the press of Oklahoma, expressions in favor of an early movement for the admission of Oklahoma into the Union as a state.

The holding of a statehood convention was mooted, even while the first Territorial Legislative Assembly was in session. This scattered and independent agitation finally culminated in the calling of a statehood convention to be held in Oklahoma City, December 15, 1891. This convention was well attended, every county in Oklahoma being represented and a number of delegates being present from various parts of the Indian Territory. As a result of its deliberations, the following memorial to Congress was adopted:

• "To the Congress of the United States: "The people of Oklahoma Territory, without distinction of party, assembled in convention at Oklahoma City, on December 15, 1891, hereby submit to the Congress of the United States the following statement of facts relating to the condition of the Territory and the section of country occupied by the five civilized tribes, and in behalf of the passage of an enabling act providing for the admission of Oklahoma as a state:
  
  "That area of the old Indian Territory comprises 68,991 square miles or 44,154,240 acres of land:
  
  "That this area is exceeded by only fourteen States of the Union, and that, in fertility of soil and in its capacity for agricultural and mineral production, is not excelled by any other section of the United States:
  
  "That the committee on Territories of the House of Representatives of the Fifty-first congress reported that 'excluding the fullblood Indians there are in the Indian Territory and Oklahoma about 247,200 people, who are either white or of mixed blood, but who in personal appearance and in their habits and customs and in their intelligence do not differ materially from the people who inhabit other parts of the United States;"
  
  "That since said report was made the Indian title to more than 5,000,000 acres of land in Oklahoma Territory has been extinguished, and has been opened and is about to be opened to settlement, adding, with the increase of other sections, not less than 50,000 to our population, and increasing the sum total to about 300,000;
  
  "That the opening to settlement of other lands in the near future will only be, in rapidity of settlement, a repetition of settlements already made, and that, before the expiration f the present Congress, there will be in Oklahoma and the Indian Territory a population of half a million people;
  
  "That the population of Oklahoma Territory proper by the Federal census of 1890, before the opening of the new lands, was 61,934, which exceeds the population of either of the states of Illinois, Ohio, Nevada, Oregon, and Wyoming at the time they were admitted as States, and that not a single Territory, with the exception of Washington and South Dakota, has had a population equal to Oklahoma, with the five Tribes included, when admitted to the rights and privileges of statehood:
  
  "That the rapid settlement and development of Oklahoma has been exceptional. Cities have been born in a day, and vast areas in the public domain have been as speedily occupied by an industrious and thriving population. A single year has witnessed more development in Oklahoma than has taken place in any other territory in a whole decade:
  
  "That, in the interest of good government, all of the old Indian Territory should be included in the future State of Oklahoma, and that by so doing there will be no conflict with treaty stipulations and no infringement upon the rights or property of the Indian tribes;
  
  "That following the uniform precedents established by congress in the admission of States, we favor the protection of the Indians in all their legal and equitable rights under the treaties and agreements. We believe, in the language of president Harrison in his recent message that 'The relation of the five civilized tribes now occupying the Indian Territory to the United States is not best calculated to promote the highest advancement of these Indians. That there should be within our borders five independent states, having no relations except those growing out of treaties with the government of the United States, no representation in the nation's legislation, its people not citizens, is a startling anomally.' And we further agree with the President that 'it seems to be inevitable that there shall be before long some organic changes in relation to these people.' We believe these changes should come through statehood, citizenship, equitable laws, home courts, prompt suppression of crime, and equal representation;
  
  "That, while we are at all times loyal to the Federal Government, and fully recognize the constitutional power of congress to enact all laws for the government of the Territories, we seek self-government and home rule as a necessity for our full measure of prosperity, and as a part of the pride and glory of all patriotic citizens;
  
  "That here as in the other Territories, the divided jurisdiction between Congress and the Territorial Legislature is an impediment to the investment of capital, to the permanency of manufacturing and business enterprises, and inefficient and unsatisfactory in the protection of life and property;
  
  "That we have more than 1,000 miles of railway now in operation, other lines in progress of construction, and with the confidence that would be assured by the passage of an enabling act by Congress providing for the formation of a State government, many more lines would be projected;
  
  "We therefore declare that, in view of the extent of territory we ask to be included within the geographical limits of the State of Oklahoma, the number of the population, the variety and magnificence of our material resources, the business, educational, religious, and social conditions which exist here, and the aggressive and enterprising character of our people, the time has come for congress to pass an enabling act as herein indicated, and that at an early day we should be permitted to throw off our Territorial pupilage and assume the dignity and responsibility of a sovereign State.
  "J. P. Lane, President of the Convention.
  "T. M. Upshaw, Secretary of the Convention."

In addition to the foregoing memorial, the following resolution was also adopted:

• "Resolved, That an executive committee, to be composed of one member from each county, be appointed by the chair, whose duty it shall be to prepare an enabling act providing for the admission of Oklahoma as a State, to include all of the old Indian Territory within its geographical boundaries, to collect the necessary statistics and information in support of said act, and to present the same, together with the proceedings of this convention, to the congress of the United States.
  

Resolved, That our delegate in Congress be requested to introduce and support said organic act.

The following persons were then appointed as members of the Statehood Executive Committee: Oklahoma County, Sidney Clarke; Logan county, William P. Hackney; Cleveland County, Samuel H. Harris; Canadian County, William J. Grant; Kingfisher County, J. P. Cummins; Payne County, Frank J. Wykoff; Beaver County, George F. Payne; County "A," William M. Allison; County "B," J. H. Woods; Chickasaw County, H. C. Potterf. -- [Vol. II, Chapter LXVIII, pg. 672, A Standard History of Oklahoma, by Joseph B. Thoburn]
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