USA > Oklahoma > A standard history of Oklahoma; an authentic narrative of its development from the date of the first European exploration down to the present time, including accounts of the Indian tribes, both civilized and wild, of the cattle range, of the land openings and the achievements of the most recent period, Vol. II > Part 41
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While it is a fact that has quite generally escaped public notice, the most pronounced feature in the way of educational develop- ment in Oklahoma, since the advent of statehood, has been that of its secondary school system. The high schools of Oklahoma have
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been largely standardized in recent years not only as to require- ments for admission, courses of study, etc., but also the qualifica- tions of instructors. Vocational training has been successfully introduced into a number of the leading high schools of the state and is proving such a valuable adjunct that it is only a question . of time until instruction in such beneficial branches are quite geil- erally introduced and maintained in the high schools generally, all over the state.
The high schools of several of the larger towns of the state are offering a year or more of post-graduate work, for which credit can be received at the University of Oklahoma. More and more, are the high schools of Oklahoma being drawn into active affiliation with the higher educational system of the state. And, since the education of but a small percentage of the population can ever be carried beyond the high school, it is eminently fitting and proper that the attractiveness, efficiency and usefulness of the high schools of Oklahoma should be pushed to the highest possible stage of development.
The educational system of Oklahoma is still new and, therefore, it is still in the process of evolution. Indeed, its ultimate perfection is still in the more or less distant future. Mistakes have been made in public policies with regard thereto, the correction of which will require time and patient effort to achieve. But the germ of the laudable desire for the best that is to be had is present in the hearts and minds of the people of Oklahoma, so the present attain- ments in the field of popular education are but an earnest of what is yet to come.
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. APPENDIX
APPENDIX
PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION OPENING THE LANDS
The following is the text of President Harrison's proclamation setting the date for the opening of the Unassigned Lands to settle- ment, April 22, 1889 :
'A PROCLAMATION.
"Whereas, pursuant to section eight, of the act of Congress, approved March third, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, entitled 'An Act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian department, and for fulfilling treaty stipu- lations with various Indian tribes, for the year ending June thir- tieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and for other purposes,' certain articles of cession and agreements were made and con- cluded at the city of Washington on the nineteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, by and between the United States of America, and the Muskogee (or Creek) Nation of Indians, whereby the said Muskogee (or Creek) Nation of Indians, for the consideration therein mentioned, ceded and granted to the United States, without reservation or condition, full and complete title to the entire western half of the domain of the said Muskogee (or Creek) Nation, in the Indian Territory, lying west of the division line surveyed and established under the treaty with said nation, dated the fourteenth day of June, eighteen hun- dred and sixty-six, and also granted and released to the United States all and every claim, estate, right or interest or any and every description in and to any and all land and territory whatever, except so much of the former domain of said Muskogee (or Creek) Nation as lies east of said line of division surveyed and established as aforesaid, and then used and occupied as the home of said nation, and which articles of cession and agreement were duly accepted, ratified and confirmed by said Muskogee (or Creek) Nation of Indians, by act of its council, approved on the thirty-first day of January, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and by the United
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States by act of Congress, approved March first, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine ; and
"Whereas, by section twelve of the act entitled 'An Act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes, for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and for other purposes,' approved March sec- ond, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, a sum of money was appro- priated to pay in full the Seminole Nation of Indians for all the right, title, interest and claim which said nation of Indians might have in and to certain lands ceded by article three of the treaty between the United States and said nation of Indians, concluded June fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, said appropria- tion to become operative upon the execution by the duly appointed delegates of said nation, specially empowered to do so, of a release and conveyance to the United States of all right, title, interest and claim of said nation of Indians, in and to said lands, in manner and form, satisfactory to the President of the United States ; and
"Whereas, said release and conveyance, bearing date the six- teenth day of March, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, has been duly and fully executed, approved and delivered; and
"Whereas, section thirteen of the act last aforesaid, relating to said lands, provides as follows :
"Sec. 13. That the lands acquired by the United States under said agreement shall be a part of the public domain, to be disposed of only as herein provided, and sections sixteen and thirty-six of each township, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, are hereby reserved for the use and benefit of the public schools, to be established within the limits of said lands under such conditions and regulations as may be hereafter enacted by Congress.
"That the lands acquired by conveyance from the Seminole Indians hereunder except the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections shall be disposed of to actual settlers under the homestead laws only, except as herein otherwise provided (except that section two thousand three hundred and one of the Revised Statutes shall not apply) ; and provided further; That any person who having attempted to, but for any cause failed to secure a title in fee to a homestead under existing law, or who made entry under what is known as the commuted provision of the homestead law, shall be qualified to make a homestead entry upon said lands; and provided further, That the rights of honorably discharged union soldiers and sailors in the late civil war as defined and described in sections
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twenty-three hundred and four and sections twenty-three hundred and five of the Revised Statutes shall not be abridged ; and provided further, That each entry shall be in square form as nearly as prac- ticable, and no person be permitted to enter more than one quarter section thereof, but until said lands are opened, for settlement by proclamation of the President, no person shall be permitted to enter upon and occupy the same, and no person violating this provision shall ever be permitted to enter any of said lands or acquire any right thereto.
"The Secretary of the Interior may, after said proclamation and not before, permit entry of said lands for townsites under sec- tions twenty-three hundred and eighty-seven, and twenty-three hun- dred and eighty-eight of the Revised Statutes, but no such entry shall embrace more than one-half section of land.
"That all the foregoing provisions with reference to lands to be acquired from the Seminole Indians, including the provisions per- taining to forfeiture shall apply to and regulate the disposal of the lands acquired from the Muskogee or Creek Indians by articles of cession and agreement made and concluded at the city of Washing- ton, on the nineteenth day of January in the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine.
"Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by said act of Congress, approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, afore- said, do hereby declare and make known, that so much of the lands, as aforesaid acquired from or conveyed by the Muskogee (or Creek) Nation of Indians, and from or by the Seminole Nation of Indians, respectively as is contained within the following described bounda- ries, viz. :
"Beginning at a point where the degree of longitude ninety- eight west from Greenwich, as surveyed in the years eighteen hundred and fifty-eight and eighteen hundred and seventy-one, in- tersects the Canadian River, thence north along and with the said degree to a point where the same intersects the Cimarron River; thence up said river along the right bank thereof, to point where the same is intersected by the south line of what is known as the Cherokee lands lying west of the Arkansas River or as the ‘Chero- kee Outlet,' said line being the north line of the lands ceded by the Muskogee (or Creek) Nation of Indians to the United States by the treaty of June 14, 1866 ; thence east along said line to a point where the same intersects the west line of the lands set apart as a reserva- tion for the Pawnee Indians by act of Congress approved April 10.
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1876, being the range line between ranges four and five east of the Indian Meridian; thence, south on said line to a point where the same intersects the middle of the main channel of the Cimarron River; thence up said river along the middle of the main channel thereof, to a point where the same intersects the range line, between range one east and range one west (being the Indian Meridian), which line forms the western boundary of the reservation set apart respectively for the Iowa and Kickapoo Indians, by executive orders, dated, respectively, August 15, 1886; thence south along said range line or meridian to a point where the same intersects the right bank of the North Fork of the Canadian River; thence up said river, along the right bank thereof, to a point where the same is intersected by the west line of the reservation occupied by the Citizen Band of Pottawatomies, and the Absentee Shawnee Indians, set apart under the provisions of the treaty of February 27, 1867, between the United States and the Pottawatomie tribe of Indians, and referred to in the act of Congress, approved May 23, 1872; thence south along the said west line of the aforesaid reservation to a point where the same intersects the middle of the main channel thereof, to a point opposite to the place of beginning; and thence north to the place of beginning (saving and excepting one acre of land in square form in the northwest corner of section nine, in township sixteen north, range two east, of the Indian Meridian in the Indian Territory, and also one acre of land in the southwest corner of the northwest quarter of section fifteen, township sixteen north, range seven west, of the Indian Meridian in the Indian Territory; which last described two acres are hereby reserved for Government use and control will at and after the hour of twelve o'clock, noon, on the twenty-second day of April next, and not before, be open for set- tlement, under the terms of, and subject to, all the conditions, limi- tations and restrictions contained in said act of Congress, approved March 2, 1889, and the laws of the United States applicable thereto.
"And it is hereby expressly declared and made known, that no other portions of the lands embraced within the Indian Territory than those herein specifically described, and declared to be open to settlement at the time above named and fixed, are to be con- sidered as open to settlement under this proclamation, or the act of March 2, 1889, aforesaid ; and,
"Warning is hereby again expressly given that no person enter- ing upon and occupying said lands before said hour of twelve o'clock, noon, of the 22nd day of April, A. D. 1889, hereinbefore
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fixed, will ever be permitted to enter any of said lands or acquire any rights thereto; and that the officers of the United States will be required to strictly enforce the provisions of the act of Congress to the above effect.
"In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
"Done at the City of Washington this twenty-third day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States, the one hundred and thirteenth.
"BENJ. HARRISON. " (Seal) "By the President : "JAMES G. BLAINE, Secretary of State."
THE OPENING
It was a great day to commence the building of an empire. The sky was as blue as in June. A tonie air, as exhilarating as wine, was fanning down from the north with just force enough to make exertion of man and beast effective and pleasant. Mighty possibilities, sightly lands, fertility equalling the fabled Nile, the garden of the gods, were fenced in by an anxious human wall on that immortal 22d of April, 1889. No region had been so thoroughly advertised, so favorably advertised. The frequent heroic efforts of the boomers to possess, called the attention of all the earth to this modern Eden. The repeated removal of the boomers by the mili- tary, at the bchest of greed, wakened the world to the belief that a wondrous land was here. The very name Oklahoma was a poem, an inspiration, and invitation irresistible, impossible to ignore or refuse-Oklahoma! A slogan for conquering and conquest! Oh, yes, Oklahoma was advertised. The denizens of all civilization came ; came from the hills, from the valleys, from the prairie and forest ; came from the caves of the earth, from the isles of the sea and, seemingly, from the clouds of the air. They were here in all tongues, in all colors, in all garbs, with all kinds of profanity and every imaginable odor; were here at high noon. Well, I should guess old Time must have been knocked crazy on that twenty-second of April, '89, at high noon.
In all that legion of '89ers, there was not one Joshua who could have forced the sun to stand still, but every devil of them could force their watches ahead and they did it. Then, a moment of
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bated breath, a hush till hearts could be heard to beat, the final signal and a human flood deluged the wonder land.
And so we are here. The result is an open book, which pales into insignificance the most extravagant romance .- Dr. Delos Walker in the Daily Oklahoman of April 22, 1909.
THE DAWN
There is a new light in the East. The brightest day in all the history of the Red Man's land has dawned. From the skies of the receding night a hardy band of pioneers, builders of an empire, have plucked the brightest star and with brave hands and patri- otic hearts, pinned it to the azure field of Old Glory, adding a new luster to the Nation's flag.
In imperishable letters a new name has been inscribed upon the banner of freedom-a name synonymous with success, with beauty, grandeur, patriotism, fidelity, prosperity, loyalty and love of home; a name crooned as a lullaby in bygone days when, sitting in the twilight of the boundless prairies, the Indian mother from her tepee watched the shadows lengthen into night and put her little ones to sleep; a name interwoven in the matchless history of marvelous things accomplished by those who dared to put their blood and brain and brawn into the contest and win a victory where defeat seemed most certain; a name now heard along the arteries of commerce, in the busy marts of trade and wherever beats the Nation's throbbing heart of industry : OKLAHOMA.
But yesterday, we were a million and a half of political orphans, misunderstood, misgoverned and mistreated. Today we stand erect, clothed with the full panoply of American citizenship, in all things the equal in fact as well as in name, of the proudest people of the Nation. But yesterday, to all the other states we were strangers. Today we have entered into our inheritance and wear upon our brow the full-flowered wreath of American manhood and take our place in Columbia's household as the most favored of all the Nation's children. But yesterday, the long range government by appointment, by political favorites, by telegraph and by misin- formation was the rule. Today we begin a new era with the ideal government of the immortal Lincoln, a government of the people, for the people and by the people. Looking down the darkening shadows of the past, with its obstacles overcome, its disappoint- ments outlived, its obstructions to advancement swept aside by the energy, determination and ambition of our people, we turn with
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confidence to the future, proud of the record of yesterday, master- ful in the strength of today and meet that future, secure in the belief that tomorrow will bring to us but additional triumphs in life's battle. In this hour of our emancipation, when peans of joy are ascending throughout the land, when the clang of the political shackles falling from the arms of freemen makes wondrous music for the patriots who fought in freedom's cause, it is but mete that we should pause and give to those who led the van a fervent "God Bless You," and tell them that they have builded better than they knew in giving to posterity the greatest common- wealth the Nation ever welcomed into the sisterhood of states .- Clarence B. Douglas, in the Muskogee Phoenix, November 16, 1907.
THE GREAT SEAL OF OKLAHOMA
Each of the five civilized tribes had a great seal, which was attached to its official documents just as such seals are used by the public officials of the various states and territories. When the Territory of Oklahoma was organized, the first session of the Legis- lative Assembly made provision for a great seal, which was in use constantly up to the change from territorial to state government.
While the Sequoyah Constitutional Convention was in session in Muskogee, Rev. A. Grant Evans, who was then president of Henry Kendall College, was asked to suggest a design for a seal for the proposed State of Sequoyah. Doctor Evans designed and had carefully drawn a five-pointed star. In the angles of the star were placed the tribal seals of the five civilized tribes. Above the star and between the two upper points was a half-length figure of Sequoyah holding a tablet upon which appeared the words "We are Brothers" in the Cherokee text. In the other spaces between the points of the star were placed forty-five small stars, emblematic of the constellation to which a forty-sixth was to be added.
During the session of the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention, among the members of the committee which was named to design a great seal for the new state was Gabe E. Parker, a Choctaw Indian, a graduate of Spencer Academy (one of the oldest Choctaw schools), and of Henry Kendall College. Mr. Parker wrote to Doctor Evans for suggestions. The latter responded by calling attention to the design of the great seal for the proposed state of Sequoyah, and suggesting that the adoption of the same might not be inappropriate. This suggestion was substantially followed in the designing of a great seal for the State of Oklahoma wherein
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the great seal of the proposed State of Sequoyah was combined with that of the Territory of Oklahoma. The position of the star was so changed that one point stood vertically upward instead of one point being vertically downward, as was the case in the seal of Sequoyah. The five tribal seals were placed in the angles of the star as before, with the seal of the Territory of Oklahoma in the center. This design also admitted of a more symmetrical arrange- ment of the forty-five stars in five groups in the spaces between the points, putting nine in each group. In the surrounding circle were placed the words, "Great Seal of the State of Oklahoma," and the date, "1907."
ORGANIC ACT
The following is the text of the Organic Act, passed by Congress and approved May 2, 1890, under the provisions of which the government of the Territory of Oklahoma was organized and conducted :
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 Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, Sec. 1. That all that portion of the United States now known as the Indian Ter- ritory, except so much of the same as is actually 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, 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 Arkansas 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, Tonkawa, Otoe and Missouria, and the Pawnee tribes of Indians, until it strikes the south line of the Cherokee outlet, which
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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 Okla- homa is bounded east by the one-hundredth meridian, south by Texas, west by New Mexico, north by Colorado and Kansas. When- ever the interest of the Cherokee Indians in the land known as the Cherokee outlet shall have been extinguished and the President shall make proclamation thereof, said outlet shall thereupon and without further legislation, become a part of the Territory of Okla- homa. Any other lands within the Indian Territory not embraced within these boundaries shall hereafter become a part of the Terri- tory of Oklahoma whenever 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 proclamation to that effect.
Congress may at any time hereafter change the boundaries of said territory, or attach any portion of the same to any other state or territory of the United States without the consent of the inhabi- tants of the territory hereby created: Provided, 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, agree- ments and treaties of the United States, or to impair the rights of person or property pertaining 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 Territory 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, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States. The governor shall reside within said territory; 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 Interior, 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 Vol. II-29
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