Published: September 17, 2007 05:10 pm         

Oklahoma charted its course 100 years ago today

EDMOND — Sept. 17 may be just another day for most folks, but it marks the 100th anniversary of the election that gave birth to the State of Oklahoma.

From 1890 to 1907, the Oklahoma Territory was administered by a series of territorial governors appointed by the president. The government operated under the laws of Nebraska, of all places, until we could adopt our own statutes. After the failure of Congress to approve the Oklahoma and Indian Territories as separate states, most delegates joined forces to combine the two and admit Oklahoma as a single state.

The Oklahoma Enabling Act, approved by the federal government on June 16, 1906, established the procedures for statehood. One requirement was the adoption of a constitution by a vote of the people.

One hundred and twelve delegates to comprise a constitutional convention were elected in local elections on Nov. 6, 1906, with Oklahoma and Indian territories being equally represented. To the great surprise of many across the nation watching the proceedings, only 13 delegates turned out to be Republicans. The result was considered by many to be a rebuke of the Roosevelt administration’s long-distance management of local affairs, and of course didn’t set well with the incumbent territorial government appointed by Roosevelt.

The delegates were largely progressive, reflective of a national mood responding to modern industrialization and changing social conditions. They also were unhappy about the low price of farm products, the high railroad and interest rates, and the unregulated growth of business under the territorial government. That sentiment generally was contrary to the administration’s pro-business slant.

The delegates convened in Guthrie on Nov. 20 and elected Bill Murray from Tishomingo as the presiding officer. Murray, who had married into the Chickasaw Nation, had been heavily involved with Charles Haskell of Muskogee in the failed efforts to form a State of Sequoyah, and they brought many of their ideas from that effort to the Oklahoma convention. During the next 87 days they hammered out a complex and lengthy hand-written document outlining the new government. Haskell was present at every roll call vote, and strongly influenced the final document.

The constitutional convention adjourned April 16, and Murray took the original document home with him. This set off a flood of rumors in the Republican press that Murray was at home in Tishomingo “doctoring the instrument to his taste.” But when the convention reconvened in July, the document was produced and revised with 43 amendments.

Frank Frantz had been appointed governor of Oklahoma Territory in January by President Roosevelt. Frantz had been one of Roosevelt’s Rough Riders at San Juan Hill and impressed him with his leadership under fire. They became close friends, and after Roosevelt became president, Frantz would visit Roosevelt in the White House.

At a convention in Tulsa, Republicans nominated Frantz to continue as the state’s first governor. The Democrats tapped Haskell as the Democratic nominee.

Both parties pulled in big guns for the campaign. William Jennings Bryan, two-time Democratic nominee for president, and Roosevelt’s protégé William Howard Taft both made campaign tours through the state for Haskell and Frantz. Taft spoke against the progressive constitution, undoubtedly losing votes for the Republican ticket. Bryan and Taft would square off again for president in 1908, with Bryan carrying Oklahoma and the southern states in losing to Taft.

In the Sept. 17 election, the constitution was approved by a margin of 180,333 to 73,059. The vote on Prohibition was much closer; it was approved 130,361 to 112,258. Haskell was elected governor with 134,162 votes against 106,507 for Frantz and 9,740 votes for a Socialist candidate. Democrats were approved across the board for 15 other statewide offices and five Supreme Court justices. Five congressmen were elected, four of whom were Democrats. Kate Barnard became the first woman in the United States to be elected to a statewide office.

Roosevelt begrudgingly signed Oklahoma into existence two months later.

Those who preside over the formation of democratic governments don’t always get their way. In the end, the popular will, for better or for worse, has to be respected. Democracy is a sham if local people cannot collectively chart their own fate. It’s a lesson as true today in Iraq as it was a century ago right here at home.



WALTER JENNY JR., an Edmond resident, is secretary of the Oklahoma Democratic Party and chairman of the Edmond Democrats.

     

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