USA > Oklahoma > A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I > Part 42
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D. E. McCormick
Robert Galbreath
C. P. Spinning
Hugh Jones
J. W. McNeal
John H. Terrill
John F. Stone A. C. Staley
George Miles
Ira M. Terrill
Newton M. Taylor
James Potts
Frank M. Moore
W. H. Wilson
James R. Taylor
Charles McCormick
W. B. Overton
J. M. Kuykendall
E. D. Turvin
W. H. Fallis
Milton W. Reynolds
B. F. Woodworth
W. W. Thomas S. J. Jackman
D. M. Ross
W. H. Merriweather
R. C. Vanarsdale
J. H. Fenlon
T. J. Hart
W. D. Saunders E. N. Yates
Frank J. Wikoff
W. D. Lindsay
J. M. Monroe
B. F. Larsh
S. S. Cole
C. W. Andrew T. R. Waggoner
Dick T. Morgan
P. H. Guthrie
J. M. Ennis
Frank Guthrie
W. A. Matherson
Frank Rector James L. Rock W. B. Russell
J. F. Saunders
Alonzo Ervin
T. R. McElroy
S. E. Seeley
S. W. Bradford
W. B. Russell
F. M. Vaughn
Thomas Seeley
T. A. Stockslager
Horace Speed T. J. Lowe
H. C. Schilling
Ottimus E. Schow
Theo. Pierce
W. C. Grafton (From "Illustrated History of Oklahoma," 1890, by Marion Tuttle Rock.)
Digitized by
James Morgan
J. A. McDonald
N. W. Daniels
James R. Day
J. E. Grigsby
T. P. Oliver
George A. Garrison
J. G. McCall
D. G. Woodworth
A. D. Hecock
W. Lumpkin
Franklin Springer
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA
Democrats and one of the Alliance party. tory of this movement is told by Mr. The death of two members-elect, C. M. Brown, in his contribution to the early Burke and M. W. Reynolds, necessitated history of Oklahoma, given in the preced- ing chapter. a special election, and the first legislature was not convened until August 27.10
The history of the location of the terri- torial capital is of interest. Section 15 of the organic act provided, That the legislative assembly should hold its first session at Guthrie, "and at said first ses- sion, or as soon thereafter as they shall deem expedient, the governor and legisla- tive assembly shall proceed to locate and establish the seat of government for said territory at such place as they may deem eligible, which place, however, shall there- after be subject to be changed by the said governor and legislative assembly."
In September, 1890, Councilman J. L. Brown of Oklahoma county, introduced a bill, that became notorious as "Council Bill No. 7," providing for the establishment of the seat of government at Oklahoma City and the transfer of all territorial offices to that place by February 15, 1891. The his-
ORGANIC ACT.
An act to provide a temporary government for the Territory of Oklahoma, to enlarge the jurisdiction of the United States Court in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep- resentatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SEC. 1. That all that portion of the United States now known as the Indian Territory, except so much of the same as is ac- tually occupied 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 Oklahoma. 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 ninety-eighth 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,
" The first territorial legislature of Oklahoma consisted of the following members:
Council.
District 1-Charles Brown, John Foster, John F. Lynn. 2-James L. Brown, John W. Howard, Leander G. Pitman. 3-Robert J. Nesbit. 4- Joseph Smelser. 5-Mort L. Bixler. 6-Daniel Harady, W. A. McCartney. 7-George W. Gar- denhire. 8 Charles F. Grimmer.
House of Representatives.
1-Robert J. Barker, Wm. H. Campbell, Samuel L. Lewis, Wm. H. Merten, Wm. S. Robertson, James L. Smith. 2-Moses Neal, C. G. Jones, Samuel D. Pack, Daniel W. Perry, Hugh G. Tros- per. 3-Wm. C. Adair, James M. Stovall, Thomas R. Waggoner. 4-Arthur N. Daniels, D. W. Tal- bot, John H. Wimberly. 5-Green J. Currin, D. C. Farnsworth, Joseph C. Post, Edward C. Tritt. 6- Samuel W. Clark, James T. Matthews, Ira N. Ter- rill. 7-Elisha A. Long. 8-A. M. Colson.
Territorial Governors.
Oklahoma, during its territorial existence, had
seven governors. Governor Steele resigned soon after the capital fight and returned to Indiana, where he is still living. During the remainder of the Harrison administration the office was held by Andrew J. Seay, who was one of the first judges of the Oklahoma supreme bench. When Cleveland became president in 1893, his appointment for the office of governor was bestowed upon William C. Renfrow, a banker at Norman. Cassius M. Barnes became governor under Mckinley in 1897. He had been receiver at the Guthrie land office and was otherwise well known in the territory, and was the first governor to serve a full four-year term. His successor, in May, 1901, was William M. Jenkins, who had come to Oklahoma with the opening of the Cherokee Strip in 1893. After seven months he was removed, and President Roosevelt then selected Thompson B. Ferguson, at that time post- master and editor at Watonga, for the vacancy. Ferguson served four years, his successor and the last territorial governor being the Rough Rider captain, Frank Frantz, who at the time of his appointment was Osage Indian agent.
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thence along the north line of the Creek country, to the ninety-sixth meridian, thence northward by said meridian to the southern boundary line of Kansas, thence west along said line to the Ar- kansas River, thence down said river to the north line of the land occupied by the Ponca tribe of Indians from which point the line runs so as to include all the lands occupied by the Ponca, Ton- kawa, Otoe and Missouria, and the Pawnee tribes of Indians until it strikes the south line of the Cherokee outlet which it follows westward to the east 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 Territory of Oklahoma is bounded east by the one-hundredth meridian, south by Texas, west by New Mexico, north by Colorado and Kansas. Whenever the interest of the Chero- kee Indians in the land known as the Cherokee outlet shall have been extinguished and the Presi- dent shall make proclamation thereof, said out- let shall thereupon and without further legisla- tion, 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 when- ever 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 proclama- tion to that effect.
Congress may at any time hereafter change the boundaries of said Territory, or attach any por- tion of the same to any other State or Territory of the United States without the consent of the inhabitants of the Territory hereby created: Pro- vided, That nothing in this act shall be construed to impair any right now pertaining to any Indians or Indian tribe in said Territory under the laws, agreements, and treaties of the United States, or to impair the rights of person or property per- taining to said Indians, or to affect the authority of the Government of the United States to make any regulation or to make any law respecting said Indians, their lands, property, or other rights which it would have been competent to make or enact if this act had not been passed.
SEC. 2. That the executive power of the Terri- tory of Oklahoma shall be vested in a governor, who shall hold his office for four years, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, un- less sooner removed by the President of the United States. The governor shall reside within said Ter- ritory; shall be commander-in-chief of the militia thereof; he may grant pardons for offenses against the laws of said Territory, and reprieves for offenses against the laws of the United States, until the decision of the President can be made
known thereon; he shall commission all officers who shall be appointed to office under the laws of said Territory, and shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
SEC. 3. That there shall be a secretary of said Territory, who shall reside therein and hold his office for four years unless sooner removed by the President of the United States; he shall record and preserve all the laws and the proceedings of the legislative assembly hereinafter constituted, and all acts and proceedings of the governor in his executive department; he shall transmit one copy of the laws and journals of the legislative assembly, within thirty days after the end of each session thereof, to the President of the United States and to the Secretary of the In- terior and, at the same time, two copies of the laws and journals of the legislative assembly to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate for the use of Con- gress; and in case of the death, removal, resig- nation, or other necessary absence of the governor from the Territory, the secretary shall execute all the powers and perform all the duties of gov. ernor during such vacancy or absence, or until another governor is appointed and qualified.
SEC. 4. That the legislative power and authority of said Territory shall be vested in the governor and legislative assembly. The legislative assem- bly shall consist of a council and a house of rep- resentatives. The council shall consist of thir- teen members, having the qualification of voters as hereinafter prescribed, whose terms of service shall continue two years. The house of repre- sentatives shall consist of twenty-six members, possessing the same qualifications as prescribed for members of the council, and whose term of service shall continue two years, and the sessions of the legislative assembly shall be biennial and shall be limited to sixty days' duration: Provided, however, That the duration of the first session of said legislative assembly may continue one hundred and twenty days.
That for the purpose of facilitating the or- ganization of a temporary government in the Ter- ritory of Oklahoma, seven counties are hereby established therein, to be known, until after the first election in the Territory, as the First County, the Second County, the Third County, the Fourth County, the Fifth County, and the Sixth County, the boundaries of which shall be fixed by the gov- ernor of the Territory until otherwise provided by the legislative assembly thereof. The county seat of the First County shall be at Guthrie. The county seat of the Second County shall be at Oklahoma City. The county seat of the Third County shall be at Norman. The county seat of the Fourth County shall be at El Reno. The county seat of the Fifth County shall be at King-
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fisher City. The county seat of the Sixth County shall be at Stillwater. The Seventh County shall embrace all that portion of the Territory lying west of the one hundredth meridian, known as the Public Land Strip, the county seat of which shall be at Beaver: Provided, That the county seats located by this act may be changed in such manner as the Territorial legislature may provide.
At the first election for members of the legis- lative assembly the people of each county may vote for a name for such county, and the name which receives the greatest number of votes shall be the name of such county. If two or more counties should select the same name, the county which casts the greatest number of votes for such name shall be entitled to the same, and the names receiving the next highest number of votes in the other counties shall be the names of such counties. An apportionment shall be made by the governor as nearly equal as practicable among the several counties or districts for the election of the council and house of representatives, giv- ing to each section of the Territory representa- tion in the ratio of its population (excepting In- dians not taxed) as nearly as may be, and the members of the council and house of representa- tives shall reside in and be inhabitants of the district for which they may be elected, re- spectively. Previous to the first election the gov- ernor shall cause a census or enumeration of the inhabitants of the several counties or districts of the Territory to be taken, unless the same shall have been taken and published by the United States, in which case such census and enumeration shall be adopted, and the first election shall be held at such times and places and be conducted in such manner, both as to the persons who super- intend such election and the returns thereof, as the governor shall appoint and direct, and he shall at the same time declare the number of the members of the council and house of representa- tives to which each of the counties or districts shall be entitled, as shown by the census herein provided for. The number of persons authorized to be elected, having the highest number of legal votes in each of said council districts for mem- bers of the council, shall be declared by the governor to be duly elected to the council, and the person or persons authorized to be elected, having the greatest number of votes for the house of representatives equal to the number to which each county or district shall be entitled, shall be declared by the governor to be elected members of the house of representatives: Provided, That in case two or more persons voted for have an equal number of votes, and in case a vacancy other- wise occurs in either branch of the legislative as- sembly, the governor shall order a new election, and the persons thus elected to the legislative
assembly shall meet at such place and on such day as the governor shall appoint, but after such first election, however, the time, place, and man- ner of holding elections by the people, and the apportionment of representation, and the day of the commencement of the regular sessions of the legislative assembly shall be provided by law: Provided, however, That the governor shall have power to call the legislative assembly together by proclamation, on an extraordinary occasion at any time.
SEC. 5. That all male citizens of the United States above the age of twenty-one years, and all male persons of foreign birth over said age who shall have twelve months prior thereto declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, as now required by law, who are actual residents at the time of the passage of this act of that portion of said Territory which was de clared by the proclamation of the President to be open for settlement on the twenty-second day of April, anno Domini eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and of that portion of said Territory heretofore known as the Public Land Strip, shall be entitled to vote at the first election in the Territory. At every subsequent election the quali- fications of voters and of holding office shall be such as may be prescribed by the legislative as- sembly, subject, however, to the following restric- tions on the power of the legislative assembly, namely : First. The right of suffrage and of hold- ing office shall be exercised only by citizens of the United States above the age of twenty-one years and by persons of foreign birth above that age who have declared, on oath, before a com- petent court of record, as required by the natural- ization laws of the United States their intention to become citizens, and have taken oath to sup- port the Constitution of the United States, and who shall have been residents of the United States for the term of twelve months before the election at which they offer to vote. Second. There shall be no denial of the elective franchise or of holding office to a citizen on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Third. No officer, soldier, seaman, marine, or other per- son in the Army or Navy, or attached to troops in the service of the United States, shall be al- lowed to vote in said Territory by reason of being on service therein. Fourth. No person belonging to the Army or Navy shall be elected to, or hold, any civil office or appointment in said Territory.
SEC. 6. That the legislative power of the Terri- tory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legis- lation not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States, but no law shall be passed interfering with the primary disposal of the soil; no tax shall be imposed upon the prop- erty of the United States, nor shall the lands or
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other property of non-residents be taxed higher than the lands or other property of residents, nor shall any law be passed impairing the right to private property, nor shall any unequal discrimi- nation be made in taxing different kinds of prop- erty, but all property subject to the taxation shall be taxed in proportion to its value: Provided, That nothing herein shall be held to prohibit the levying and collecting. license or special taxes in the Ter- ritory from persons engaged in any business therein, if the legislative power shall consider such taxes necessary. Every bill which shall have passed the council and the house of representa- tives of said Territory shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the governor of the Terri- tory. If he approves he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it with his objections to the house in which it originated, who shall enter the ob- jections at large upon their journal and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house it shall become a law. But in all such cases the vote of both houses shall be de- termined by yeas and nays to be entered on the journal of each house, respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within five days (Sunday excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the assembly by adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.
SEC. 7. That all township, district, and county officers, not herein otherwise provided for, shall be appointed or elected, as the case may be, in such manner as shall be provided by the governor and legislative assembly of the Territory. The governor shall nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the council, appoint all officers not herein otherwise provided for, and in the first instance the governor alone may ap- point all such officers, who shall hold their offices until the end of the first session of the legis- lative assembly; and he shall lay off the necessary districts for members of the council and house of representatives, and all other officers, and when- ever a vacancy happens from resignation or death, during the recess of the legislative council in any office which is filled by appointment of the gov- ernor, by and with the advice and consent of the council, the governor shall fill such vacancy by granting a commission, which shall expire at the end of the next session of the legislative council. It is further provided that the legislative assembly shall not authorize the issuing any bond, script, or evidence of debt by the Territory, or any
county, city, town, or township therein for the construction of any railroad.
SEC. 8. That no member of the legislative as- sembly shall hold or be appointed to any office which has been created or the salary or emolu- ments of which have been increased while he was a member, during the term for which he was elected and for one year after the expiration of such term, but this restriction shall not be ap- plicable to members of the first legislative as- sembly provided for by this act; and no person holding a commission or appointment under the United States, except postmasters, shall be a member of the legislative assembly, or shall hold any office under the government of said Territory.
SEC. 9. That the judicial power of said Terri- tory shall be vested in a supreme court, district courts, probate courts, and justices of the peace. The supreme court shall consist of a chief justice and two associate justices, any two of whom shall constitute a quorum. They shall hold' their of- fices for four years, and until their successors are appointed and qualified, and they shall hold a term annually at the seat of government of said Territory. The jurisdiction of the several courts herein provided for, both appellate and original, and that of the probate courts and of the justices of the peace, shall be as limited by law: Provided, That justices of the peace, who shall be elected in such manner as the legislative assembly may provide by law, shall not have jurisdiction of any matter in controversy when the title or boun- daries of land may be in dispute, or where the debt or sum claimed shall exceed one hundred dollars; and the said supreme and district courts, respectively, shall possess chancery as well as com- mon law jurisdiction and authority for redress of all wrongs committed against the Constitution or laws of the United States or of the Territory affecting persons or property. Said Territory shall be divided into three judicial districts, and a district court shall be held in each county in said district thereof by one of the justices of the supreme court, at such time and place as may be prescribed by law, and each judge after assign- ment shall reside in the district to which he is assigned. The supreme court shall define said judicial districts, and shall fix the times and places at each county seat in each district where the district court shall be held and designate the judge who shall preside therein. And the terri- tory not embraced in organized counties shall be attached for judicial purposes to such organized county or counties as the supreme court may de- termine. The supreme court of said Territory shall appoint its own clerk, who shall hold his office at the pleasure of the court for which he is appointed. Each district court shall appoint its
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clerk, who shall also be the register in chancery, and shall keep his office where the court may be held. Writs of error, bills of exception, and ap- peals shall be allowed in all cases . from the final decisions of said district courts to the supreme court under such regulations as may be prescribed by law, but in no case removed to the supreme court shall trial by jury be allowed in said court. Writs of error and appeals from the final de- cisions of said supreme court shall be allowed and may be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States in the same manner and under the same regulations as from the circuit courts of the United States, where the value of the property or the amount in controversy, to be ascertained by oath or affirmation of either party or other competent witness, shall exceed five thousand dol- lars; and each of the said district courts shall have and exercise, exclusive of any court here- tofore established, the same jurisdiction in all cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States as is vested in the circuit and district courts of the United States. In addition to the jurisdiction otherwise conferred by this act, said district courts shall have and exercise exclusive original jurisdiction over all offenses against the laws of the United States committed within that portion of the Cherokee Outlet not embraced within the boundaries of said Territory of Oklahoma as herein defined, and in all civil cases between citizens of the United States resid- ing in such portion of the Cherokee Outlet, or between citizens of the United States, or of any State or Territory, and any citizen of or person or persons residing or found therein, when the value of the thing in controversy or damages or money claimed shall exceed one hundred dollars; writs of error, bills of exceptions, and appeals shall in all such cases, civil and criminal, be al- lowed from the district courts to the supreme court in like manner, and be proceeded with in like manner as in cases arising within the limits of said Territory. For all judicial purposes as herein defined such portion of the Cherokee Outlet not embraced within the boundaries of the Terri- tory of Oklahoma shall be attached to, and be a part of, one of the judicial districts of said Ter- ritory as may be designated by the Supreme court. All acts and parts of acts heretofore en- acted, conferring jurisdiction upon United States courts held beyond and outside the limits of the Territory of Oklahoma as herein defined, as to all causes of action or offenses in said Ter- ritory, and in that portion of the Cherokee Out- let hereinbefore referred to, are hereby repealed, and such jurisdiction is hereby given to the su- preme and district courts in said Territory; but all actions commenced in such courts, and crimes committed in said Territory and in the Cherokee
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