While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
General Facts Relating to the Indians of
Indian Territory
"In history we meet the great personalities, who have crystallized in their
own lives, the hopes and fears of nations and races. We meet the living God, as
an actor, and discover in passing events, a consistent purpose, guiding the
changing world to an unchanging end." W. A. Brown.
"Four things a man must
learn to do,
If he would make his record true;
To think without confusion, clearly;
To act from honest motives purely;
To love his fellowmen sincerely;
To trust in God and heaven securely."
Vandyke.
"The study of history, as a means of
cultivating the mind and for its immediate
practical benefit, ever since the days of
Moses, who wrote the pioneer history of
Israel, and Herodotus, the father of profane
history, has formed a necessary part of a
liberal and thorough education." History of
Pocahontas County, Iowa.
"Let us develop the resources of our
land, call forth its powers, build up its
institutions, promote all its great
interests and see whether we, also, in our
day and generation may not perform something
worthy to be remembered." Daniel Webster.
Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, was a
part of the public domain that was reserved
for several tribes of Indians whose native
hunting grounds were principally in the
Southern states. While they remained in
their native valleys they proved a menace to
the safety of the frontier settlers, and in
times of war were sure to take sides against
them. Thomas Jefferson in his day advised
that they be located together on some
general reservation. This was gradually
affected during the earlier years of the
last century.
The official act of congress constituting
it an Indian Reservation did not occur until
1834, but a considerable number of the
Choctaws, Chickasaws and of some other
tribes were induced to migrate westward and
locate there previous to that date. Other
leading tribes that were transferred to
special reservations in Indian Territory
were the Cherokees, Creeks and Seminoles.
The Five Civilized
Tribes
The Choctaw Indians recently occupied lands
in the states bordering on the Gulf of
Mexico. In 1820 a considerable part of them,
ceding their lands in Georgia, were located
on a reservation in the Red River valley
west of Arkansas. In 1830 they ceded the
remainder of their lands in Alabama and
Mississippi and all, together with their
slaves, were then transferred to their new
reservation in the southeastern part of
Indian Territory.
The Chickasaws, who originally occupied the
country on the east side of the Mississippi
river, as early as 1800 began to migrate up
the valley of the Arkansas. In 1805, 1816
and in 1818 they ceded more of their lands
and more of them migrated westward, many of
them going to the country allotted to the
Choctaws. In 1834, when the last of their
lands in the Gulf States were ceded, they
were located on a reservation south of the
Canadian river, west of the Choctaws. These
two tribes lived under one tribal government
until 1855, when they were granted a
political separation.
The Cherokees, previous to 1830, occupied
the upper valley of the Tennessee River,
extending through the northern parts of
Georgia and Alabama. In 1790 a part of the
tribe migrated to Louisiana and they
rendered important services in the army of
Gen. Jackson at New Orleans in the war of
1812.
In 1817 they ceded a part of their native
lands for others and the next year 3,000 of
them were located in the northwestern part
of Arkansas in the valleys of the Arkansas
and White rivers. In 1835 the remainder of
them were located just west of the first
migration in the northeast part of Indian
Territory.
The Creek Indians originally lived in the
valleys of the Flint, Chattahoochee, Coosa
and Alabama rivers and in the peninsula of
Florida. About the year 1875, a part of them
moved to Louisiana and later to Texas. In
1836 the remainder of the tribe was
transferred to a reservation north of the
Canadian river in Indian Territory.
The Seminoles were a nation of Florida
Indians that was composed chiefly of Creeks
and the remnants of some other tribes. After
the acquisition of Florida from Spain in
1819 many slaves in that section fled from
their masters to the Seminoles. The
government endeavored to recover them and to
force the Seminoles to remove westward.
These efforts were not immediately
successful, Osceola, their wily and intrepid
chief, defeating and capturing four of the
generals sent against them, namely, Clinch,
Gaines, Call and Winfield Scott. He was
finally captured by his captors violating a
flag of truce. In 1845 they were induced to
move west of the Mississippi and in 1856,
they were assigned lands west of the Creeks
in the central part of Indian Territory.
These five tribes, the Choctaws, Chickasaws,
Cherokees, Creeks and Seminoles, were the
most powerful in numbers. After their
settlement in Indian Territory, they made
considerable progress in elementary
education and agriculture, their farm work
being principally done by their slaves
previous to the time they were accorded
their freedom in 1865. As a result of their
progress in the arts of life, during the
last half of the last century, these were
often called "The Five Civilized Tribes, or
Nations."
In 1900 when the last census was taken of
them in their tribal form their numbers were
as follows: Choctaw nation, 99,681;
Chickasaw, 139,260; Cherokee, 101,754;
Creek, 40,674; Seminole, 3,786.
The Osage Indians were early driven to the
valley of the Arkansas River. They were
conveyed to their reservation west of that
river, in the north part of Indian
Territory, in 1870. The supplies of oil and
other minerals found upon their reservation
have caused some of the members of this
nation to be reputed as quite wealthy.
Other tribes that were located on small
reservations in the northeast part of the
Territory were the Modoc, Ottawa, Peoria,
Quapaw, Seneca, Shawnees and Wyandotte.
During this early period the Union Indian
agency established its headquarters at
Muskogee, and it became and continued to be
their principal city, during the period of
their tribal government.
Opening Of Indian
Territory
On April 22, 1889, 2,000,000 acres of the
Creek and Seminole lands were opened to
white settlers, and there occurred an ever
memorable rush for lands and a race for
homes. An area as large as the state of
Maryland was settled in a day. On that first
day the city of Guthrie was founded with a
population of 8,000, a newspaper was issued
and in a tent a bank was organized with a
capital of $50,000. Oklahoma and other
cities sprang up as if in a night.
On June 6, 1890, the west half of Indian
Territory was created a new territory,
called Oklahoma, with its capital at
Guthrie, and with later additions it soon
included 24,000,000 acres.
On June 16, 1906, President Roosevelt signed
the enabling act that admitted Oklahoma,
including Oklahoma and Indian Territories,
as a state, one year from that date. On
November 6, 1906, occurred the election of
members to the constitutional convention
that met at Guthrie January 1, 1907. The
first legislature met there January 1, 1908.
Two years later the capital was moved to
Oklahoma City.
The growth, progress and
advancement of the territory of Oklahoma
during the sixteen years preceding statehood
in 1907 has never been equaled in the
history of the world, and in all probability
will never be eclipsed. This was due to the
mild and healthful climate of this region,
and a previous knowledge of its great, but
undeveloped agricultural and mineral
resources. So great has been the flow of oil
near Tulsa, in the north central part of the
state, it has been necessary to store it
there in an artificial lake or reservoir.
Oklahoma
The surface of Oklahoma consists of a gently
undulating plain, that gradually ascends
from an altitude of 511 feet at Valliant in
the southeast to 1197 feet at Oklahoma City,
and 1893 at Woodward, the county seat of
Woodward County, in the northwest. The
principal mountains are the Kiamichi in the
southern part of Laflore County, and the
Wichita, a forest reserve in Comanche and
Swanson counties.
Previous to statehood Indian Territory was
divided into 31 recording districts for
court purposes. In 1902 when Garvin was
founded it became the residence of the judge
of the southeastern judicial or recording
district, and a small court house was built
there for the transaction of the public
business. In 1907, when McCurtain County was
established, Idabel was chosen as the county
seat. The location of Oak Hill Academy
proved to be one and a half miles east of
the west line of McCurtain County. In 1910
the population of McCurtain County was
20,681, of Oklahoma City 64,205; and of the
state of Oklahoma, 1,657,155.
Clear Creek
During the period immediately preceding the
incoming of the Hope and Ardmore Railroad in
1902, the most important news and trading
center, between Fort Towson and Wheelock,
was called "Clear Creek." Clear Creek is a
rustling, sparkling little stream of clear
water that flows southward in a section of
the country where most of the streams are
sluggish and of a reddish hue. The Clear
Creek post office was located in a little
store building a short distance east of this
stream and about three miles north of Red
river.
A little log court house, for the
administration of tribal justice among the
Choctaws of that vicinity, a blacksmith shop
and a Choctaw Church were also located at
this place. These varied interests gave to
Clear Creek the importance of a miniature
county seat until Valliant and Swink were
founded.
Oak Hill
During this early period the oak covered
ridge, extending several miles east of Clear
Creek, was known as Oak Hill and the
settlement in its vicinity was called by the
same name.
When the first Church (1869)
and school (1876) were established among the
Freedmen in this settlement, the same name
was naturally given to both of them. It has
adhered to them, amid all the changes that
have occurred, since the first meetings were
held at the home of Henry Crittenden in
1868.
Valliant
Valliant was founded in 1902, and was so
named in honor of one of the surveyors of
the Hope and Ardmore, a branch of the Frisco
railway. It is located in the west end of
McCurtain county eight miles north of Red
river. It has now a population of 1,000 and
a branch railroad running northward.
The country adjacent to the town consists of
beautiful valleys and forests heavily set
with timber, principally oak, walnut, ash
and hickory, and with pine and cedar along
the streams. The soil is a rich sandy loam
that is easily cultivated and gives promise
of great agricultural and horticultural
possibilities. It is in the center of the
cotton belt and this staple is proving a
very profitable one. The climate is
healthful and the locality is unusually free
from the prevalence of high winds.
This site
includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes
reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These
items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be
interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes
implied .
Choctaw Freedmen and Oak Hill Industrial
Academy, 1914, Robert Elliott Flickinger
