Paul Moore’s Centennial Land Run Monument

In 2019, Sculptor Paul Moore FNSS completed his monument of the 1889 Centennial Land Run in Oklahoma City, OK. It took him over twenty years to complete this powerful work, which is one of the largest monuments in the world. It stretches over an area slightly larger than a football field and contains forty-five powerful sculptures of horsemen and wagons racing over the Oklahoma landscape of hills and creek. It is a vision that caught the moment after a cannon announced the beginning of the Land Run, in which over 50,000 individuals took part in an effort to claim land in the Oklahoma Territory. The sculpture contains masterful images of straining horses and frantic individuals caught in a vital effort to succeed in this race to claim valuable homesteads and pastureland. Moore was awarded the Medal of Honor by the National Sculpture Society this past October, partially in regard for this outstanding public work and the quality of sculpture this extraordinarily talented artist has created in his lifetime.

Manufacture and Commerce

This chapter assesses Article XX of the Oklahoma constitution. This article concerns manufacture and commerce. Section 1 states that “nothing herein shall prevent the manufacture or sale of denaturized alcohol under such regulations as may be prescribed by law.” “Denaturized alcohol” is alcohol that has been made unfit for drinking without impairing its usefulness for other purposes. Section 2 provides that “until changed by the Legislature, the flash test provided for under the laws of Oklahoma Territory for all kerosene oil for illuminating purposes shall be 115 degrees Fahrenheit; and the specific gravity test for all such oil shall be 40 degrees Baume.”

The History and Development of the Oklahoma Constitution

This chapter traces the history and development of the Oklahoma constitution. Once Oklahoma Territory was opened to settlement by whites, there were cries for statehood. But what about Indian Territory? On June 16, 1906, Congress passed the Oklahoma Enabling Act, providing for single statehood for the Twin Territories. Commissions were then created for each of the territories to form districts for the election of delegates to the state’s constitutional convention. Most of the writing of the constitution was done from November 20, 1906, to adjournment on March 15, 1907. Subsequently, the date set for voting on ratification of the proposed constitution was September 17, 1907; the constitution was easily approved. A separate vote on Prohibition for what had been Indian Territory narrowly passed. Although Oklahoma’s constitution was viewed at the time as one of the most progressive in the nation, few of its provisions were innovative. What was “innovative” about the constitution was its eclectic design. The drafters borrowed from many sources, but mostly they borrowed progressive ideas, and by combining so many provisions in one document, they did create a rather unique document. The chapter then compares Oklahoma’s constitution with other state constitutions.

Contingencies of Place and Time: The Significance of Wilson v. Marion and Oklahoma Territory in the History of School Segregation

Between 1889 and 1890, John Wilson and his family were among nearly three thousand African American settlers to enter Oklahoma Territory, where Wilson's two daughters first attended an integrated school. The Wilson family was undoubtedly drawn by the educational and economic opportunities that were present in the fluid space—opportunities that did not always exist elsewhere in the country. Yet the territorial legislature sought to narrow those opportunities, which it did by segregating the schools. Wilson and his family did not accept this limitation and fought back through both the courts and active resistance. This article examines that first legal challenge to the segregated school system: Territory ex rel. Wilson v. Marion et al. This case informs not only our understanding of the durability of racism in an actively contested western space but also the forms of African American resistance to the reactivation of racial hierarchy.

The United States Sees Language

In 1902, U.S. Senator Albert Beveridge led four senators from the senate committee on the territories into New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma territory. While New Mexico had operated in Spanish in its courts, schools, and politics for decades, Beveridge’s team exposed the rest of the nation to this Spanish language reality in their campaign to portray the territory as unfit for statehood. During the Senate subcommittee hearings, dozens of New Mexicans relayed their connection to both their United States citizenship and their use of the Spanish language. From census takers to court interpreters to principals, Spanish-speaking New Mexicans defended their use of Spanish. While the use of the Spanish language did not definitively delay statehood, the increased national scrutiny in the media of the language did result in a shift in territorial policies related to language that increasingly favored English in order to better conform to the country's expectations.