Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/263

 OKLAHOMA

231

OKLAHOMA

has an area of 73,910 square miles. Oklahoma is boun- tifully blessed with streams, although, exactly speak- ing, there is not a navigable stream in the state. The rivers flow from the north-west to the south-cast. With the exception of the mountain districts the en- tire surface of the state is just rolling enough to render its scenery beautiful. The climate is delightful. Es- caping as it does the extremes of heat and cold, it is fitted for agricultural purposes even during the winter season. An irregular chain of knobs or buttes, enter- ing Oklahoma from Missouri and Arkansas on the east, extends through the southern part of the state to the western boundary, in a manner connecting the Ozark range with the eastern plateau of the Rocky Mountains. The groups, as they range westward across the state, are the Kiamichi, Arbuckle, and Wichita Mountains and the Antelope Hills. The highest mountain, 2600 feet above sea-level, is the Sugar Loaf peak. II. Population. — The report of the government census bureau relative to the special cen- sus of Oklahoma, taken in 1907, shows that the State had in that year a total population of 1,414,177, of whom 733,002 lived in what was prior to statehood called the Indian Territory. There were 1,226,930 whites; 112,160 negroes; 75,012 Indians. Since 1907 the influx of people has been enormous. The white people in Oklahoma represent every nationality, hav- ing come from every state in the union and from every country since the opening in 1889.

III. Industries. — The value of the agricultural output for 1907 was $231,.512,903. The principal crops are cotton, corn, and wheat, the production in 1908 being as follows: cotton 492,272 bales; corn 95,- 230,442 bushels; wheat 17,017,887 bushels. In that year Oklahoma ranked sixth in cotton production, eighth in corn, thirteenth in wheat, and first in petro- leum products. The oil fields of Oklahoma are now the largest and most productive in the world, there being produced in 1908, 50,455,628 barrels. In 1909 the production of natural gas amounted to 54,000,- 000,000 cubic feet. Coal has been mined extensively for a number of years; the production in 1909 was 3,- 092,240 tons, the number of men employed in this one industry being 14,580. Gold, lead, zinc, asphalt, gyp- sum, and other minerals are mined in paying quanti- ties. Oklahoma h.os deposits of Portland cement-stone that are said to be inexhaustible. There are two large cement mills in the state, each operating with a ca- pacity of 5000 barrels per day. In 1908 there were 5,695.36 miles of railway in the state, exclusive of yard tracks and sidings; the total taxable valuation of same amounted to .$174,649,682. During the year begin- ning 1 July, 1907, and ending 30 June, 1908, there were built in Oklahoma 107.89 miles of railroad. There are thirteen railroad companies operating in the state.

IV. Education. — The State University, located at Norman, was founded in 1892 by an act of the legisla- ture of the Territory of Oklahoma. The value of the university lands is estimated at $3,670,000. For 1908-9 the number of teachers in the institution was 84; enrollment was 790. Other state institutions are three normal schools, located at Edmond, Alva, and Weatherford; the Agricultural and Mechanical Col- lege at Stillwater; the imiversity preparatory school at Tonkawa; a school for the deaf at Sulpher; an in- stitute for the blind at Wagoner; the Whi taker Or- phans' Home in Pryor Creek; five district agricultural schools, one in each judicial district of the state. There were about 10,000 teachers employed in the public schools of the state, 1908-9, the enrolment of students being about 400,000; the total appropriation for educational purposes during this time was about $.500,000.

V. History. — In 1.540 Francisco Vasque de Coro- nado, commanding 300 Spaniards, crossed with Indian guides the Great Plains region to the eastward and northward from Mexico. In the course of their jour-

Se.\l of Oklahoma

ney these Spaniards were the first white men to set foot on the soil of Oklahoma. Coronado traversed the western part of what is now Oklahoma, while at the same time de Soto discovered and partially explored the eastern portion of the state. In 1611 a Spanish ex- pedition was sent east to the Wichita Alountains. From that time on until 1629, Padre Juan de Sales and other Spanish missionaries laboured among the tribes of that region. La Salle in 1682 took possession of the territory, of which the State of Oklahoma is now a part, in the name of Louis XIV, and in honour of that monarch named it Louisiana. Prior to the Louisiana Purchase, Bienville, accompanied by Washington Irving, had visited and related the wonderful beauty of the region now known as Oklahoma. In 1816 the Government conceived the project of dividing the region now embraced in the state into Indian reserva- tions. This plan was carried out, but at the close of the Civil War the Semi- noles. Creeks, Chick- asaws, and Choc- taws were induced to transfer back to I the Government 14,000,000 acres of ' this land at 15 to 30 cents per acre. Of these lands the Okla- homa that was opened to settlement in 1889, by procla- mation of the Presi- dent of the United States, embraced 1,392,611 acres ceded by the Creeks, and 495,094 acres ceded by the Seminoles in 1866. The lands so ceded were the west- ern portions of their reservations, including Oklahoma ("the home of the red man"). The Government's ob- ject in obtaining the lands was to "colonize friendly Indians and freedom thereon". Captain David L. Payne and his "boomers" declared the territory was thus public land and open to the squatter-settlement. Payne and his followers made several attempts to set- tle on Oklahoma soil, but the United States troops drove out the colonists. Much credit is due Payne and his followers for their many attempts at colonization; for they caused the lands of Oklahoma to be opened for white settlement. Finally in 1888 the Springer Bill, which provided for the opening of Oklahoma to settlement, although defeated in the senate, opened the way to partial success, and in Congress it was at- tached as a rider to the Indian Appropriation Bill, and was thus carried. On 2 March, 1889, the Bill opening Oklahoma was signed by President Cleveland ; and on 22 March, President Harrison issued the proclamation that the land would be opened to settlement at 12 o'clock noon, 22 April, 1889. The day previous to the opening it was estimated that ten thousand people were at Arkansas City awaiting the signal. Large numbers were also at Hunnewell, Caldwell, and other points along the south line of Kansas. Fifteen trains carried people into the territory from Arkansas City that morning. On foot, horseback, in wagons, and carriages people entered the promised land all along the Kansas border. Other thousands entered Oklahoma from the south, crossing the South Canadian at Pur- cell. The town of Lexington was perhaps the first vil- lage established. Two milhon acres of land were thrown open to settlement and on that eventful day cities and towns and a new commonwealth were cre- ated in a wilderness within twenty-four hours. On 6 June, 1890, Congress created the Territory of Okla- homa with six original counties. Nineteen other coun- ties were from time to time created prior to statehood by the various acts of Congress which provided for the opening of different Indian reservations within the