lation of 10,037 in 1900 (since greatly increased); Guthrie, 10,006.
Indians. Since the opening of the Kiowa and Comanche reservations there remain only the Osage and Kansas Indian reservations—in all 2,469,246 acres. The Indians are slowly progressing, but in the main continue to live in idleness.
Religion. In 1900 there were about 900 church organizations, with a membership of 70,000. They owned church property valued at $500,000. The Catholic Church had a membership of 13,804. The Methodist Episcopal, Christian, Baptist, and Missionary Baptist churches each recorded a membership of nearly 8000, but the total number of adherents was much greater. The Methodist Episcopal South had 6340 members.
Education. In 1900 the illiterate population amounted to 5.5 per cent. of the total population ten years of age and over. Almost from the first Oklahoma has provided facilities for primary education equal to those of the most advanced States. The first public structure in almost every community was a schoolhouse. Two sections in each township were reserved for the use and benefit of the common schools. The income from the rental of these lands has increased annually, and in 1890 amounted to $189,486. The total expenditure for public schools in 1900 was $686,095, of which $385,856 was paid as salaries to superintendents and teachers. In 1900 there were 120,210 children between the ages of five and eighteen, of whom 99,602 were enrolled in the public schools, and 63,718 were in average attendance. In 1901 the Legislature granted authority to counties having a population of over 6000 to establish high schools. There are separate schools for colored children. In 1900 there were 1004 male and 1339 female teachers. Higher institutions of learning maintained by the Territory are as follows: University of Oklahoma, at Norman; an agricultural and mechanical college, at Stillwater; the normal school, at Edmond; Northwestern Territorial Normal School, at Alva; and Langston University (colored), at Langston. There are also four sectarian colleges, and not a few academies and private schools. The United States Government maintains schools for the education of the Indians. The largest of these is the Chilocco Industrial School, in Kay County.
Charitable and Penal Institutions. The deaf mutes and insane of the Territory are cared for in private institutions by contract. The insane are kept in a sanatorium at Norman, the contract allowing $200 per patient. Convicts are cared for by contract in the Kansas State Penitentiary. The cost per convict for 1899 was $123.
History. Oklahoma was a part of the Louisiana Purchase, and was included in the “unorganized or Indian country” set apart by Congress in 1834. The Creek Indians (June 14, 1866) ceded to the United Stales the western part of their domain in Indian Territory, for 30 cents an acre, while the Seminoles gave up their entire holdings for 15 cents an acre. The Sacs and Foxes, Cheyennes, and other tribes were settled upon part of these lands, but great tracts remained unoccupied. Though white men were forbidden by law to settle upon these lands, schemes for colonization were developed in 1879. President Hayes issued proclamations both in 1879 and 1880 forbidding settlement, but it was necessary to use troops to dislodge the ‘boomers.’ Congress in 1885 authorized the President to open negotiations with the Creek and Seminole Indians, for the purpose of opening these vacant lands to settlement. This was accomplished in 1889, and by proclamation of the President the lands were thrown open to entry April 22, 1889. The only governmental authority within the region was a United States court. Troops kept the expectant settlers in order until noon of the appointed day. A mad race for the best lands and town sites ensued. Canvas towns were laid out and each began to lay plans to secure the capital. There was at once a vast influx of settlers, and the population increased at an extraordinary rate. Additional lands were laid open to settlement in 1891, 1893, and 1901; and the scenes of the original opening were repeated. There was no government in the Territory until Oklahoma Territory was created (March 2, 1890). The first Legislature met at Guthrie, August 27, but spent almost the entire session quarreling over the location of the capital, which remained at Guthrie. The agitation for Statehood began in 1891, and a bill admitting Oklahoma as a State passed the House of the Fifty-seventh Congress, but failed to reach a vote in the Senate.
| Governors of Oklahoma. | ||
| George W. Steele | 1890-91 | |
| Robert Martin (acting) | 1891-92 | |
| Abraham J. Seay | 1892-93 | |
| William C. Renfrow | 1893-97 | |
| Cassius M. Barnes | 1897-1901 | |
| William M. Jenkins | 1901 | |
| Thompson B. Ferguson | 1901— | |
OKLAHOMA, University of. A coeducational institution established in 1892 at Norman, Okla., and supported by a general State tax of one-half mill, and by the income from lands reserved in the Cherokee outlet. The university consists of (1) a College of Arts and Sciences, embracing an undergraduate course, in the main elective, a combined course in collegiate and medical studies, and combined courses in collegiate subjects and engineering; (2) a School of Pharmacy; (3) a School of Fine Arts; and (4) a Preparatory School. Tuition is free to residents of Oklahoma and Indian Territory. The total enrollment in 1902 was 359 and the faculty numbered 28. The library contained 8000 bound volumes and 5000 pamphlets. The college property was valued at $250,000, and the grounds and buildings at $128,000; the income was $50,000.
OKLAHOMA CITY. The county-seat of Oklahoma County, Okla., 31 miles south of Guthrie; on the North Fork of the Canadian River; and on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf, the Saint Louis and San Francisco, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas, the Oklahoma City and Western, and the Oklahoma City and Southeastern railroads (Map: Oklahoma, F 3). It has a Carnegie Public Library, and is the seat of Epworth University, an institution under the joint control of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church South. There are various manufactures, principally of flour; important wholesale interests, and a trade in cotton, grain, live stock, fruit, and produce, the city being the centre of a fine farming and stock-raising section. Settled in 1889, Oklahoma City was incorporated two years later. The government is vested in a mayor, elected biennially, and a unicameral council. The water-
