Map of Oklahoma Territory – From the corrected map of the General Land Office of 1898 and from data on file in the Executive Offive of the Territory, to accompany the Annual Report of the Governor of the Territory 1901

Oklahoma Territorys history began with the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834 when the United States Congress set aside land for Native Americans. At the time, the land was unorganized territory that consisted of all the federal land “west of the Mississippi and not within the states of Missouri and Louisiana, or the territory of Arkansas'” By 1856, the territory had been reduced to the modern day borders of the State of Oklahoma. These lands quickly became known as Indian Territory. Oklahoma Territory existed from 1890 to 1907. During that time, seven Governors (and two acting Governors) administered the territory. The territory’s only real purpose was to serve as a transitional government from unorganized territory to state. The movement to secure statehood for Indian Territory began in 1902 with a convention in Eufaula, consisting of representatives of the “Five Civilized Tribes”. The representatives met again in 1903 to organize a constitutional convention.

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