The Unassigned Lands in

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

were in the center of the lands ceded to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

by the Creek (Muskogee) and

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

Indians following the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

and on which no other tribes had been settled. By 1883, it was bounded by the

Cherokee Outlet The Cherokee Outlet, or Cherokee Strip, was located in what is now the state of Oklahoma in the United States. It was a parcel of land south of the Oklahoma–Kansas border between 96th meridian west, 96 and 100th meridian west, 100°W. The Che ...

on the north, several relocated Indian reservations on the east, the

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

lands on the south, and the

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

Arapaho The Arapaho ( ; , ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho bands formed t ...

reserve on the west. The area amounted to . In 1889, this territory was offered by the federal government to non-Native Americans for settlement in the Oklahoma Land Rush.

Indian era

The Treaty of Indian Springs, February 12, 1825, provided for a delegation of Creeks to visit the west in order that

they may select any other territory, west of the
Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
, on Red,
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,
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
, or
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
Rivers

to replace their lands in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. A dispute arose between the Lower Creek Council, which signed the treaty, and the Upper Creek Council, which objected. The dispute led to the killing of General William McIntosh, the chief of the Lower Creeks, and left the treaty in doubt. Despite that, the Creeks were relocated to the west. On February 14, 1833, the Treaty of Okmulgee was signed at Fort Gibson. In it the Creeks finally agreed to cede their lands in the east. Article 2 of the 1833 treaty defined the land chosen under the 1825 treaty as being west and south of the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

lands and bordering the Canadian River on the south and what was then the Mexican border on the west. In the Seminole Treaty signed March 28, 1833, but not ratified, the Seminole agreed to settle on the Little River portion of the Creek lands in Indian Territory. Some Seminole moved but the rest retreated within Florida. The US tried again to remove them, resulting in the Second Seminole War. After the Second War, most of the Seminole moved to the Indian Territory. A treaty between the Creek and the Seminole tribes, ratified August 16, 1856 by the US Senate, gave the Seminole the agreed-upon tract of Creek land between the Canadian River on the south and the North Fork of the Canadian River on the north. The divisions within the Creek people continued up through the

. The Council, then under control of the Lower Creek, signed a treaty of support with the Confederacy on July 10, 1861. Creek support for the South was not unanimous, however. After a series of armed confrontations,

Opothleyahola Opothleyahola (also spelled Opothle Yohola, Opothleyoholo, Hu-pui-hilth Yahola, Hopoeitheyohola, and Hopere Yahvlv, – March 22, 1863) was a Muscogee Creek Indian chief, noted as a brilliant orator. He was a Speaker of the Upper Creek Co ...

's pro-Union Creeks, belonging mostly to the Upper Creek, were driven into

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

during the winter of 1861–62. They suffered a huge loss of life, as did their limited number of

allies under Halleck Tustenuggee. When the Confederacy lost the Civil War, the United States forced the Creek nation into a new treaty, and forced them to cede some lands in compensation for having supported the wrong side. Under Article 3 of the 1866 Creek Treaty, the Creek agreed to cede the western portion of their lands

In compliance with the desire of the United States to locate other Indians and
freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...
thereon, the Creeks hereby cede and convey to the United States, to be sold to and used as homes for such other civilized Indians as the United States may choose to settle thereon ... the west half of their entire domain ... or... the sum of thirty (30) cents per acre ($74.13/km²), amounting to nine hundred and seventy-five thousand one hundred and sixty-eight dollars ...

The Seminoles' active support of the Confederacy cost them much more land than it did the Creeks. Article 3 of the Seminole Treaty, ratified July 19, 1866, required that

the Seminoles cede and convey to the United States their entire domain ... or... the sum of three hundred and twenty-five thousand three hundred and sixty-two ($325,362) dollars, said purchase being at the rate of fifteen cents per acre ($37.07/km²).

By the same treaty, the

were the first tribe relocated to the ceded Creek land. Several tribes of Eastern Indians were also moved to the eastern end of the ceded Creek land. The Absentee Shawnee and Citizen Band of Pottawatomi shared a reserve; also, the

Sac and Fox The Sac and Fox Nation (Sauk language: Thâkîwaki) is the largest of three federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Sauk people, Sauk and Meskwaki, Meskwaki (Fox) American Indians in the United States, Indian peoples. They are ...

. Later, the Kickapoo were moved in and, lastly, the

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. The combined

tribe was given the western end of the Creek and Seminole land, along with some land ceded from the other tribes. Most of the former Creek and Seminole land, as was true for the rest of central and western Indian Territory, was already leased from the Indian tribes for grazing by large cattle ranching companies.

Pro-settlement campaign

In about 1879, Elias C. Boudinot began a campaign, perhaps at the behest of one of his clients, the M–K–T Railroad, to open the land "unoccupied by any Indian" to settlement by non-Indians. He pointed out in a letter published in 1879 that four of the

Five Civilized Tribes The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by the United States government in the early federal period of the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast: the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Cr ...

, unlike the Cherokee, had extinguished their complete title to the lands ceded following the Civil War and received full payment. He also said:

Whatever may have been the desire or intention of the United States Government in 1866 to locate Indians and negroes upon these lands, it is certain that no such desire or intention exists in 1879. The Negro since that date, has become a citizen of the United States, and Congress has recently enacted laws which practically forbid the removal of any more Indians into the Territory.

He suggested that the area was now

Public Land In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land (Commonwealth realms). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countries. ...

and suggested the names "Unassigned Lands" and "Oklahoma" for the district. In an attempt to prevent encroachment,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Rutherford B. Hayes issued a proclamation on April 26, 1879, forbidding trespass into the area

which Territory is designated, organized, and described by treaties and laws of the United States and by executive authorities as the Indian's country ...

It was too late. Almost immediately speculators and landless citizens began organizing and agitating for the opening of the land to settlement. The newspapers generally referred to these pro-settlement forces as ''Boomers'' and followed Boudinot's lead in referring to the area as the Unassigned Lands or Oklahoma. The Boomers planned excursions, which they called raids, into the area and surveyed townsites, built homes, and planted crops. The United States sent troops to round them up and expel them. The raids continued for several years. The Boomers tried to get a legal opinion as to the status of the public lands, but the government, instead of charging them for illegal settlement of Indian land, charged them only under the Intercourse Act. Finally, in ''United States vs. Payne'' in 1884, the

United States District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district. Each district cov ...

at Topeka,

ruled that settling on the Unassigned Lands was not a criminal offense. The government refused to accept the decision and continued to raid the squatters. Finally General Pleasant Porter, the Creek Council's delegate to Washington, offered to relinquish all Creek claims to that part of the ceded territory which remained unassigned. On January 31, 1889, the United States and the Creek agreed to quit any claims to title of the land. The Creek received approximately $2,250,000.

Settlement and statehood

The Springer Amendment was immediately added to the Indian Appropriation Act of 1889 to authorize settlement under the provisions of the

Homestead Act The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of Federal lands, government land or the American frontier, public domain, typically called a Homestead (buildings), homestead. In all, mo ...

of 1862. The amendment, however, denied the settlers their squatter's rights. The lands were to be settled by a land run. The original settlers were rounded up and expelled. On April 22, 1889, the Oklahoma lands were settled by what would later be called the Run of '89. Over 50,000 people entered on the first day, among them several thousand freedmen and descendants of slaves.

Tent cities A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents or other temporary structures. State governments or military organizations set up tent cities to house evacuees, refugees, or soldiers. UNICEF's Supply Division supplies expandable ten ...

were erected overnight at

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

Kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

, El Reno, Norman, Guthrie and Stillwater, which was the first of the settlements. Federal troops of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

provided law enforcement; the closest criminal and civil jurisdictions were the federal courts of the

for the Western District of Arkansas, with its courthouse centered in the border town to the east of

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the List of municipalities in Arkansas, third-most populous city in Arkansas, United States, and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County, Arkansas, Sebastian County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the pop ...

. Despite that, the district and territory was generally peaceful with its longtime infamous federal judge Isaac C. Parker (1838-1896), and a posse of his United States deputy marshals. Most land disputes were settled without bloodshed, although a few took years to resolve. The passage of the Organic Act of 1890 by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

, signed by 23rd

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

(1833-1901, served 1889-1893), incorporated the former western Unassigned Lands into the newly organized federal

Oklahoma Territory The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as ...

, (which endured 17 years until 46th statehood in

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Moment magnitude scale, Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 9 – The "Mud March (suffragists), Mud March", the ...

). Under the congressional act, local officials were appointed to handle civil and criminal matters until elections were held. Under the later Curtis Act of 1898, the communal lands of the Five Civilized Tribes in the adjacent Indian Territory to the east, were allocated to registered heads of households, thus extinguishing tribal title. The federal government declared any excess lands as "surplus" and allowed sale to non-Native Americans. In 1907, the new

State of Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked state in the South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northeast, Arkansas to the east, New Mexico to the west, and Colo ...

(the merger of the full Indian Territory and former Oklahoma Territory areas) was admitted as the 46th state in the American Union.

References

Sources

*Kappler, Charles (ed.
"Treaty with the Creeks, 1825"
''Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties''. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1904. 2:214–217 (retrieved August 16, 2006). *Kappler, Charles (ed.

''Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties''. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1904. 2:388–391 (retrieved August 16, 2006). *Kappler, Charles (ed.

''Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties''. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1904. 2:931–937 (retrieved August 16, 2006). *Kappler, Charles (ed.

''Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties''. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1904. 2:756–763 (retrieved August 16, 2006). *Kappler, Charles (ed.

''Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties''. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1904. 2:910–915 (retrieved August 16, 2006). *Meserve, John Bartlett

''Chronicles of Oklahoma'' 9:4 (December 1931) 439–453 (retrieved August 16, 2006). {{authority control Former regions and territories of the United States History of Indian Territory Native American history of Oklahoma Oklahoma Territory