Oklahoma Specific info

The opening of the Indian lands in Oklahoma Territory was of great interest to people across the United States. Their reasons for attempting to obtain lands in "the great American desert" were almost as many as the individuals who made the attempt. The opening of the Unassigned Lands in the center of the present State of Oklahoma in April 1889, created almost as many problems as it solved. The passage of the Organic Act of 2 May 1890 created Oklahoma Territory and allowed the organization of Government in the central area: the present Panhandle of Oklahoma was declared open to settlement and would be included in Oklahoma Territory.

The area in the very southwestern corner of the State was still considered "Greer county, Texas", pending the decision of the United States Supreme Court. Other Indian lands in Oklahoma Territory, equally desirable for settlement, were to be opened as the Indians were treated with; these lands would also be included in the newly organized Oklahoma Territory. Prior to the passage of the Organic Act in 1890 an Indian Commission of three men was appointed to work with the Indians and persuade them to take their lands by allotment. The surplus land was then opened to settlement by others. The first of these openings took place September 22, 1891 in the Iowa, Sac and Fox, and Pottawatamie-Shawnee reservations. The Cheyenne-Arapaho reservation was opened the following year. Two years latter (1893) the Cherokee Outlet, Tonkawa and Pawnee reserves were added to the Territory. Finally in 1895 the Kickapoos gave up their land. The Indian Commission worked with the Wichita and Caddo tribes at Anadarko and the Comanche, Kiowa and Plains Apache tribes at Fort Sill for several years.

These lands had been leased to Cattlemen for cattle range for several years and finally an agreement called the Jerome Agreement was signed where the Indians were to allotted their homesteads and the remainder of the area was available for settlement by others. The lands in the Kiowa-Comanche country were to be decided by a "land lottery" instead of a race for claims as had been the case for the other openings. The people were to register at either El Reno or Lawton. The homesteaders were then determined by a drawing of an envelope which contained the persons name and address. These envelopes were numbered as they were drawn by the land officials. Each person then had the opportunity to "stake his claim in turn" according to the number on his envelope. Over 160,000 people registered for the chance to obtain a home- stead in the drawing. This volume records the homesteaders that registered and obtained their land at El Reno. The opening occurred August 1, 1901. This was the last large land opening in the present State of Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Gold!