wobie --
The Oklahoma Panhandle has a long and interesting history, and I will
try to give you a summary of that complex history that is most
relevant to your question.
Here is the bottom line, which I will support with more detail and sources below:
In essence, the land that was to become the Oklahoma Panhandle
initially was to be part of the land assigned to Kansas after the
Compromise of 1850 in which the original Republic of Texas ceded much
of its territory. That plan was dropped in order to preserve for the
time being this rectangle of land as the province of the American
Indians who then controlled it. In the 1870's the Indians were
suppressed on placed on reservations, and the land was exploited by
ranchers. In 1890 it was included as part of Oklahoma (also former
Indian land) when it was finally made a Territory.
Let's start the more detailed story with a link to a map of the United
States after the Compromise of 1850, which resulted in the ceding of
much of the territory Texas had claimed when it was still a Republic:
WW Norton: U.S. History Timeline
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/ushist/timeline/comp1850.htm
Note the "Missouri Compromise Line," which separated Texas from the
"Unorganized Territory" to the north. Note also, that the
"unorganized territory" to the east of northern Texas includes Indian
land that will eventually become Oklahoma, but its "panhandle" has not
yet been defined.
In 1854, much of the heretofore "Unorganized Territory" was
apportioned to the new territories of Nebraska, Kansas and New Mexico,
but the land that was to become the Oklahoma Territory in 1890
remained unorganized federal land:
Things To Do: Oklahoma History (See timeline for 1890)
http://www.thingstodo.com/states/OK/history.htm
All of the history that ultimately directly resulted in creation of
the Oklahoma Panhandle occurred after 1854, but the pre-1854 history
above is necessary to "set the stage."
The best story of the Oklahoma Panhandle's creation that I have found
is contained at this page on this website of the Oklahoma Historical
Society:
Oklahoma History: No Man's Land
http://www.ok-history.mus.ok.us/enc/nomansland.htm
Here are key excerpts from this long account:
"An early proposal for Kansas Territory's southern boundary was to
have it run along the northernmost Texas state line, continuing
eastward along the same line of latitude (36º 30'N) to join the
Arkansas-Missouri boundary (the 1820 Missouri Compromise Line). Under
objections that much Cherokee land would thus be swallowed, the Kansas
boundary instead was moved northward in 1854 to 37º N.
"This left, between 36º 30'N and 37º N, a rectangle of federal public
land west of the Cherokee Outlet [that is, what later became
Oklahoma], north of the Texas Panhandle, cast of New Mexico Territory,
and south of Kansas and (after 1861) Colorado territories.
"This 34 ½ -mile-by-167-mile rectangle (between 36º 30'N and 37º N and
between 100º W and 103º W) was unattached to any state or territorial
government from 1850 to 1890. It was identified on most government
maps as "Public Land" or "Public Land Strip". Today, it is the
Oklahoma Panhandle, but during the late 1880s it was popularly known
as 'No Man's Land.'
"The Public Land Strip, seasonal home to nomadic American Indians of
the High Plains, was controlled by Comanche bands and allied groups
from 1850 to 1875.
[The next several paragraphs on the linked page describe the
suppression of the Indians and settlement and ranching activities that
gradually took hold in No Man's Land (i.e., the Panhandle) after 1875.
I commend them to your attention, but they are not necessary to the
direct answer to your question.]
"Between 1885 and 1890 Strip residents actively sought rights to
homestead their claims. The most ambitious effort was the attempt to
gain territorial status under the name of Cimarron Territory. Although
failing Congressional approval, the Cimarron Territory Provisional
Government met from late 1886 into early 1889. Strip residents also
sent letters and petitions to federal offices, but these likewise
failed to secure a land office and homestead rights.
"Around 1885 or 1886 that the term "No Man's Land" became widely
applied to the Public Land Strip. True to the plain language of the
old West, the nickname referred simply to the fact that no man could
legally own land in the Strip. It had no intended connotations
regarding lawlessness or dangerous conditions, as later writers would
imply, to the chagrin of the Strip's "old settlers". To make this
clear, residents of the Strip frequently used the epithet "No Man's
Land, but God's Land."
"Oklahoma Territory's 1890 Organic Act made the Strip part of Oklahoma
Territory and brought it homestead rights. The entire Strip was
designated the Seventh County, soon renamed Beaver County, and a land
office was placed at Beaver City, county seat for the entire
Panhandle."
Additional Site:
Here is a link to another history of the Panhandle:
No Man's Land Historical Society: Creation of No Man's Land
http://webslave.net/oklahoma_panhandle/no_mans_land.html
Search Strategy:
I got my first relevant "hits" with the following Google search:
oklahoma "the panhandle was"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=oklahoma++%22the+panhandle+was%22
I then perused of the results of various broader Google searches in
order to find the best sources for the answer and for any further
study that you might want to undertake. These included, among many
others:
"oklahoma territory" established
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&q=%22oklahoma+territory%22+established&spell=1
"compromise of 1850" panhandle
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=%22compromise+of+1850%22+panhandle
oklahoma "no man's land" texas oklahoma
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=oklahoma++%22no+man%27s+land%22+texas+oklahoma&btnG=Search
I am confident that this is the information you are seeking. I hope
that I have presented this complex but interesting history in a way
that is reasonably well-organized, readable and to the point of your
question. If any of the above is unclear, please ask for
clarification before rating this answer.
markj-ga |
