Editing Indian Territory (section)

==History==
===Indian Reserve and the Louisiana Purchase===
{{main|Indian Reserve (1763)}}
[[File:U.S._Territorial_Acquisitions.png|thumb|upright=1|The [[Louisiana Purchase]] (highlighted in white), one of several historical territorial additions to the United States]]
The concept of an Indian territory is the successor to the British [[Indian Reserve (1763)|Indian Reserve]], a [[British America]]n territory established by the [[Royal Proclamation of 1763]] that set aside land for use by the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American tribes]]. The proclamation limited the settlement of Europeans to lands east of the [[Appalachian Mountains]]. The territory remained active until the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] that ended the [[American Revolutionary War]], and the land was ceded to the United States. The Indian Reserve was slowly reduced in size via treaties with the American colonists, and after the British defeat in the Revolutionary War, the Reserve was ignored by [[European Americans|European American]] [[settler]]s who slowly [[Territorial evolution of the United States|expanded westward]].

At the time of the American Revolutionary War, many Native American tribes had long-standing relationships with the British, and were loyal to [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]], but they had a less-developed relationship with the American colonists.  After the defeat of the British in the war, the Americans twice invaded the [[Ohio Country]] and were twice defeated. They finally defeated the Indian [[Western Confederacy]] at the [[Battle of Fallen Timbers]] in 1794, and imposed the [[Treaty of Greenville]], which ceded most of what is now Ohio, part of present-day [[Indiana]], and the lands that include present-day [[Chicago]] and [[Detroit]], to the [[Federal government of the United States|United States federal government]].

The period after the American Revolutionary War was one of rapid western expansion. The areas occupied by [[Native Americans in the United States]] were called Indian country. They were distinguished from "[[Territories of the United States#Formerly unorganized territories|unorganized territory]]" because the areas were established by treaty.

In 1803, the United States agreed to purchase [[French First Republic|France]]'s claim to [[Louisiana (New France)|French Louisiana]] for a total of $15 million (less than 3 cents per acre).<ref>
{{cite web | url=http://www.blm.gov/natacq/pls02/pls1-1_02.pdf |title=Acquisition of the Public Domain, 1781–1867, Table 1.1 |access-date=2012-03-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110723183417/http://www.blm.gov/natacq/pls02/pls1-1_02.pdf |archive-date=July 23, 2011}}</ref>

President [[Thomas Jefferson]] doubted the legality of the purchase. [[Robert Livingston (1746–1813)|Robert R. Livingston]], the chief negotiator of the purchase, however, believed that the 3rd article of the treaty of the [[Louisiana Purchase]] would be acceptable to [[United States Congress|Congress]]. The 3rd article stated, in part:<ref name="Downes v Bidwell">{{cite web | url= http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?page=us/182/244.html| title=Downes v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 244 (1901).| access-date=2012-03-02}}</ref>
:{{blockquote|the inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incorporated in the Union of the United States, and admitted as soon as possible, according to the principles of the Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of the United States; and in the meantime they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the religion which they profess.|8 Stat. at L. 202}}
This committed the U.S. government to "the ultimate, but not to the immediate, admission" of the territory as multiple states, and "postponed its incorporation into the Union to the pleasure of Congress".<ref name="Downes v Bidwell"/>

After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson and his successors viewed much of the land west of the Mississippi River as a place to resettle the Native Americans, so that white settlers would be free to live in the lands east of the river. [[Indian removal]] became the official policy of the United States government with the passage of the 1830 [[Indian Removal Act]], formulated by President [[Andrew Jackson]].

When [[Louisiana]] became a state in 1812, the remaining territory was renamed [[Missouri Territory]] to avoid confusion.{{Clarification needed|reason=Which confusion? Is this isupported by a source? Which one?|date=January 2025}} [[Arkansas Territory|Arkansaw Territory]], which included the present State of Arkansas plus much of the state of Oklahoma, was created out of the southern part of Missouri Territory in 1819. During negotiations with the [[Choctaw]] in 1820 for the [[Treaty of Doak's Stand]], Andrew Jackson ceded more of Arkansas Territory to the Choctaw than he realized, from what is now Oklahoma into Arkansas, east of [[Ft. Smith, Arkansas]].<ref>{{Cite web | title=Encyclopedia of Arkansas| url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/arkansas-state-boundaries-2546/| access-date=2020-07-09| website=Encyclopedia of Arkansas| language=en-US}}</ref> The [[General Survey Act]] of 1824 allowed a survey that established the western border of Arkansas Territory 45 miles west of Ft. Smith. But this was part of the negotiated lands of [[Lovely's Purchase]] where the [[Cherokee Nation (1794–1907)|Cherokee]], Choctaw, Creek and other tribes had been settling, and these indian nations objected strongly. In 1828 a new survey redefined the western Arkansas border just west of Ft. Smith.<ref>{{Cite book | last=Stein, Mark| title=How the States got Their Shapes| date=2008| isbn=978-0-06-143138-8| edition=First| location=New York| publisher=HarperCollins| oclc=137324984}}</ref> After these redefinitions, the "Indian zone" would cover the present states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and part of Iowa.<ref name="EOHC-Indian Territory">{{cite web |url = http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/I/IN018.html |title = Everett, Dianna. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. "Indian Territory." |access-date = 2012-02-15 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120225155712/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/I/IN018.html |archive-date = 2012-02-25}}</ref>

===Relocation and treaties===
{{Main|Indian Removal| American Indian Wars|Treaty of St. Louis (disambiguation){{!}}Treaty of St. Louis}}
Before the 1871 [[Indian Appropriations Act]], much of what was called Indian Territory was a large area in the central part of the United States whose boundaries were set by treaties between the US Government and various indigenous tribes.  After 1871, the Federal Government dealt with Indian Tribes through statute; the 1871 Indian Appropriations Act also stated that "hereafter no Indian nation or tribe within the territory of the United States shall be acknowledged or recognized as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the United States may contract by treaty: Provided, further, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to invalidate or impair the obligation of any treaty heretofore lawfully made and ratified with any such Indian nation or tribe".<ref>{{cite web|title=Subchapter I – Treaties |url=http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/25C3.txt|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317074540/http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/25C3.txt|archive-date=March 17, 2012|access-date=27 February 2011|work=25 USC Chapter 3 – Agreements with Indians |publisher=uscode – house.gov}}</ref><ref name="25 usc 71">25 U.S.C. § 71. Indian Appropriation Act of March 3, 1871, 16 Stat. 544, 566</ref><ref>Congress' plenary authority to "override treaty provisions and legislate for the protection of the Native Americans." United States v. City of McAlester, 604 F.2d 42, 47 (10th Cir. 1979)</ref><ref>United States v. Blackfeet Tribe of Blackfeet Indian Reservation, 364 F.Supp. 192, 194 (D.Mont. 1973) ("[A]n Indian tribe is sovereign to the extent that the United States permits it to be sovereign – neither more nor less.")</ref>

The Indian Appropriations Act also made it a federal crime to commit murder, manslaughter, rape, assault with intent to kill, arson, burglary, or larceny within any Territory of the United States. The Supreme Court affirmed the action in 1886 in ''[[United States v. Kagama]]'', which affirmed that the U.S. government has [[plenary power]] over Native American tribes within its borders using the rationalization that "The power of the general government over these remnants of a race once powerful&nbsp;... is necessary to their protection as well as to the safety of those among whom they dwell".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=118&invol=375 | title=United States v. Kagama, 118 U.S. 375 (1886), Filed May 10, 1886| access-date=2012-04-29}}</ref> While the federal government of the United States had previously recognized the Indian Tribes as semi-independent, "it has the right and authority, instead of controlling them by treaties, to govern them by acts of Congress, they being within the geographical limit of the United States&nbsp;... The Indians [Native Americans] owe no allegiance to a State within which their reservation may be established, and the State gives them no protection."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/118/375/
| title=United States v. Kagama – 118 U.S. 375 (1886)  | access-date=2012-04-29}}</ref>

===Reductions of area===
[[Image:1855 Colton Map of Kansas and Nebraska (first edition) - Geographicus - NebraskaKansas-colton-1855.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Kansas Territory|Kansas]], [[Nebraska Territory|Nebraska]], and [[Minnesota Territory|Minnesota]] Territories in 1855]]

White settlers continued to flood into Indian country.  As the population increased, the homesteaders could petition Congress for creation of a territory. This would initiate an [[Organic Act]], which established a three-part territorial government. The governor and judiciary were appointed by the President of the United States, while the legislature was elected by citizens residing in the territory. One non-voting representative was allowed a seat in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]. The federal government took responsibility for territorial affairs. Later, the inhabitants of the territory could apply for admission as a full state.  No such action was taken for the so-called Indian Territory, so that area was not treated as a legal territory.<ref name="EOHC-Indian Territory"/>

The reduction of the land area of Indian Territory (or Indian Country, as defined in the [[Indian Intercourse Act]] of 1834), the successor of Missouri Territory began almost immediately after its creation with:
* [[Wisconsin Territory]] formed in 1836 from lands east of the Mississippi and between the Mississippi and [[Missouri River|Missouri]] rivers. Wisconsin became a state in 1848
** [[Iowa Territory]] (land between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers) was split from Wisconsin Territory in 1838 and became a state in 1846.
*** [[Minnesota Territory]] was split from Iowa Territory in 1849 and part of the Minnesota Territory became the state of Minnesota in 1858
* [[Dakota Territory]] was organized in 1861 from the northern part of Indian Country and Minnesota Territory. The name refers to the Dakota branch of the [[Sioux]] tribes.
** [[North Dakota]] and [[South Dakota]] became separate states simultaneously in 1889.
** Present-day states of [[Montana]] and [[Wyoming]] were also part of the original Dakota Territory
Indian Country was reduced to the approximate boundaries of the current state of Oklahoma by the [[Kansas–Nebraska Act]] of 1854, which created [[Kansas Territory]] and [[Nebraska Territory]]. The key boundaries of the territories were:
* [[40th parallel north|40°&nbsp;N]] the current Kansas–Nebraska border
* [[37th parallel north|37°&nbsp;N]] the current Kansas–Oklahoma (Indian Territory) border
[[Kansas]] became a state in 1861, and Nebraska became a state in 1867. In 1890 the [[Oklahoma Organic Act]] created Oklahoma Territory out of the western part of Indian Territory, in anticipation of admitting both Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory as a future single State of Oklahoma.

Some in federal leadership, such as Secretary of State [[William H. Seward]], did not believe in the rights of Indians to continue their separate tribal governments, and vocally championed opening the area to white settlement while campaigning for [[Abraham Lincoln]] in 1860.<ref>{{cite news |last=Huston |first=James L.|url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=CI011 |title=The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture: Civil War Era |work=[[Oklahoma Historical Society]] |date= |access-date=June 20, 2024 }}</ref> 
Some historians argued Seward's words steered many tribes, notably the Cherokee<ref>{{Citation | last = Gibson| first = Arrell| title = Oklahoma, a History of Five Centuries | publisher = University of Oklahoma Press| year = 1981| isbn = 0-8061-1758-3}}</ref> and the Choctaw<ref>{{cite book|last = Debo|first = Angie|title = The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Republic|publisher = University of Oklahoma Press|chapter = The Civil War and Reconstruction|page = 80|year = 1934}}</ref> into [[List of treaties of the Confederate States of America|an alliance]] with the Confederate States.

===Civil War and Reconstruction===
{{Main|Indian Territory in the American Civil War|Native Americans in the American Civil War |Choctaw in the American Civil War|Cherokee in the American Civil War|Reconstruction Treaties|Medicine Lodge Treaty|Cultural assimilation of Native Americans}}
At the beginning of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Indian Territory had been essentially reduced to the boundaries of the present-day U.S. state of [[Oklahoma]], and the primary residents of the territory were members of the Five Civilized Tribes or [[Plains tribes]] that had been relocated to the western part of the territory on land leased from the Five Civilized Tribes.  In 1861, the U.S. abandoned [[Fort Washita]], leaving the [[Chickasaw#American Civil War (1861)|Chickasaw]] and Choctaw Nations defenseless against the Plains tribes.  Later the same year, the [[Confederate States of America]] signed a [[Treaty with Choctaws and Chickasaws]]. Ultimately, the Five Civilized Tribes and other tribes that had been relocated to the area, signed treaties of friendship with the Confederacy.

During the Civil War, Congress gave the U.S. president the authority to, if a tribe was "in a state of actual hostility to the government of the United States... and, by proclamation, to declare all treaties with such tribe to be abrogated by such tribe"(25 USC Sec. 72).
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/25C3.txt |title=Act of Congress, R.S. Sec. 2080 derived from act July 5, 1862, ch. 135, Sec. 1, 12 Stat. 528. |access-date=2012-02-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317074540/http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/25C3.txt |archive-date=March 17, 2012 }}</ref>

Members of the Five Civilized Tribes, and others who had relocated to the Oklahoma section of Indian Territory, fought primarily on the side of the Confederacy during the [[Indian Territory in the American Civil War|American Civil War in Indian territory]].  Brigadier General [[Stand Watie]], a Confederate commander of the [[Cherokee Nation (19th century)|Cherokee Nation]], became the last Confederate general to surrender in the American Civil War, near the community of [[Doaksville]] on June 23, 1865. The [[Reconstruction Treaties]] signed at the end of the Civil War fundamentally changed the relationship between the tribes and the U.S. government.

The [[Reconstruction era]] played out differently in Indian Territory and for Native Americans than for the rest of the country. In 1862, Congress passed a law that allowed the president, by proclamation, to cancel treaties with Indian Nations siding with the Confederacy (25 USC 72).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/25C3.txt |title=Abrogation of treaties (25 USC Sec. 72) Codification R.S. Sec. 2080 derived from act July 5, 1862, ch. 135, Sec. 1, 12 Stat. 528. |access-date=2012-02-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317074540/http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/25C3.txt |archive-date=March 17, 2012 }}</ref>
The [[United States House Committee on Territories]] (created in 1825) was examining the effectiveness of the policy of Indian removal, which was after the war considered to be of limited effectiveness. It was decided that a new policy of [[Cultural assimilation of Native Americans#Americanization and assimilation (1857–1920)|Assimilation]] would be implemented.  To implement the new policy, the Southern Treaty Commission was created by Congress to write new treaties with the Tribes siding with the Confederacy.

[[File:Indian terr. 1890.svg|right|thumb|upright=1|The post-Civil War Indian Territory shaded in orange with its former western lands seized by the federal government (the future Oklahoma Territory), shaded in light orange, {{Circa|1890}}. The [[Oklahoma Panhandle|Panhandle]] is not shaded as it was a ''No Man's Land'' that was never ruled by any of the Five Tribes which governed the territory before the War.]]

After the Civil War the Southern Treaty Commission re-wrote treaties with tribes that sided with the Confederacy, reducing the territory of the Five Civilized Tribes and providing land to resettle Plains Native Americans and tribes of the mid-west.<ref>Pennington, William D. '''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'''. "Reconstruction Treaties." Retrieved February 16, 2012. [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/R/RE001.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220113803/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/R/RE001.html|date=2014-02-20}}</ref> General components of replacement treaties signed in 1866 include:<ref name="Choctaw Chickasaw 1866"/>
* Abolition of slavery
* Amnesty for siding with Confederate States of America
* Agreement to legislation that Congress and the President "may deem necessary for the better administration of justice and the protection of the rights of person and property within the Indian territory."
* That the tribes grant right of way for rail roads authorized by Congress; A [[land patent]], or "first-title deed" to alternate sections of land adjacent to rail roads would be granted to the rail road upon completion of each 20 mile section of track and water stations
* That within each county, a quarter section of land be held in trust for the establishment of seats of justice therein, and also as many quarter-sections as the said legislative councils may deem proper for the permanent endowment of schools
* Provision for each man, woman, and child to receive 160 acres of land as an allotment. (The allotment policy was later codified on a national basis through the passage of The [[Dawes Act]], also called General Allotment Act, or Dawes Severalty Act of 1887)
* That a land patent, or "first-title deed" be issued as evidence of allotment, "issued by the President of the United States, and countersigned by the chief executive officer of the nation in which the land lies"
* That treaties and parts of treaties inconsistent with the replacement treaties to be null and void.

One component of assimilation would be the distribution of property held in-common by the tribe to individual members of the tribe.<ref>Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek: Hearings on H.R. 19213 Before the H. Subcomm. on Indian Affairs, at 24 (February 14, 1912) (statement of Hon. Byron P. Harrison) ("While the {1866 Treaty of Washington} contemplated the immediate allotment in severalty of the lands in the Choctaw-Chickasaw country, yet such allotment in severalty to anyone was never made under such treaty, and has only been consummated since the breaking up of the tribal organization and preparatory to the organization of the State of Oklahoma.")</ref>

The [[Medicine Lodge Treaty]] is the overall name given to three treaties signed in [[Medicine Lodge, Kansas]] between the U.S. government and southern Plains Indian tribes who would ultimately reside in the western part of Indian Territory (ultimately Oklahoma Territory). The first treaty was signed October 21, 1867, with the [[Kiowa]] and [[Comanche]] tribes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/kio0977.htm|title=Treaty with the Kiowa and Comanche, 1867 (15 Stats., 581) (Medicine Lodge Treaty #1)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126182821/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/kio0977.htm|archive-date=2011-11-26}}</ref>
The second, with the [[Plains Apache]], was signed the same day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/kio0982.htm|title=Treaty with the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache, 1867" (Medicine Lodge Treaty #2), (15 Stats. 589)|access-date=2012-02-29|archive-date=2017-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170530230852/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/kio0982.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The third treaty was signed with the [[Southern Cheyenne]] and [[Arapaho]] on October 28.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/che0984.htm|title=Treaty with the Cheyenne and Arapaho, 1867" (Medicine Lodge Treaty #3), (15 Stats. 593)|access-date=2012-02-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629043849/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/che0984.htm|archive-date=2009-06-29|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Another component of assimilation was homesteading. The [[Homestead Act of 1862]] was signed into law by President [[Abraham Lincoln]]. The Act gave an applicant [[freehold (law)|freehold]] [[Title (property)|title]] to an area called a "homestead" – typically 160 acres (65 hectares or one-fourth [[Section (United States land surveying)|section]]) of undeveloped [[federal land]]. Within Indian Territory, as lands were removed from communal tribal ownership, a land patent (or first-title deed) was given to tribal members. The remaining land was sold on a first-come basis, typically by [[land run]], with settlers also receiving a land patent type deed. For these now former Indian lands, the [[United States General Land Office]] distributed the sales funds to the various tribal entities, according to previously negotiated terms.

It was in 1866 during treaty negotiations with the federal government on the use of the land, that Choctaw Nation Chief [[Allen Wright|Kiliahote]] suggested that Indian Territory be given the name ''Oklahoma,'' which derives from the [[Choctaw language|Choctaw]] phrase {{lang|cho|okla}}, 'people', and {{lang|cho|humma}}, translated as 'red'.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Choctaw Dictionary » Search Results » humma|url=https://www.webonary.org/byington-choctaw?s=humma&search=Search&key=&tax=-1&search_options_set=1&match_whole_words=1&displayAdvancedSearchName=0|access-date=2021-10-12|language=en-US}}</ref> He envisioned an all–American Indian state controlled by the tribes and overseen by the United States [[Bureau of Indian Affairs|Superintendent of Indian Affairs]]. ''Oklahoma'' later became the de facto name for [[Oklahoma Territory]], and it was officially approved in 1890, two years after that area was opened to white settlers.<ref name="Oklahoma's Name">{{cite web|title=Chronicles of Oklahoma|first=Muriel|last=Wright|publisher=Oklahoma State University|date=June 1936|url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v014/v014p156.html|access-date=July 31, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013231154/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v014/v014p156.html |archive-date=October 13, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|year=2007|url=http://www.state.ok.us/osfdocs/stinfo2.html|title=Oklahoma State History and Information|website=A Look at Oklahoma|publisher=Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation|access-date=June 7, 2006|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060729003635/http://www.state.ok.us/osfdocs/stinfo2.html|archive-date=July 29, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Merserve|first=John|year=1941|url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v019/v019p314.html|title=Chief Allen Wright|website=Chronicles of Oklahoma|access-date=June 7, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060507052851/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v019/v019p314.html|archive-date=May 7, 2006}}</ref>

===Oklahoma Territory, end of territories upon statehood===
{{Historical populations
|type= United States
|1890|180,182
|1900|392,060
|footnote=Source: 1890–1900<ref name="Forstall pp. 47–49">{{cite report|editor-last=Forstall|editor-first=Richard L.|title=Population of the States and Counties of the United States: 1790–1990|page=132|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1990/population-of-states-and-counties-us-1790-1990/population-of-states-and-counties-of-the-united-states-1790-1990.pdf|access-date=May 18, 2020}}</ref>
}}
The Oklahoma Organic Act of 1890 created an organized Oklahoma Territory of the United States, with the intent of combining the Oklahoma and Indian territories into a single State of Oklahoma. The citizens of Indian Territory tried, in 1905, to gain admission to the union as the [[State of Sequoyah]], but were rebuffed by [[United States Congress|Congress]] and an Administration which did not want two new Western states, Sequoyah and Oklahoma. [[Theodore Roosevelt]] then proposed a compromise that would join Indian Territory with Oklahoma Territory to form a single state.  This resulted in passage of the [[Oklahoma Enabling Act]], which President Roosevelt signed June 16, 1906.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol3/HTML_files/SES0186.html#sec2a | title=Enabling Act (Oklahoma) Public Law 234, HR 12797, Jun 16, 1906 (59th Congress, Session 1, chapter 3335 | access-date=2012-01-30 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303170646/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol3/HTML_files/SES0186.html#sec2a | archive-date=March 3, 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref>  empowered the people residing in Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory to elect delegates to a state constitutional convention and subsequently to be admitted to the union as a single state. Citizens then joined to seek admission of a single state to the Union. 

With Oklahoma statehood in November 1907, Indian Territory was effectively extinguished.  However, in 2020, the United States Supreme Court prompted a review of tribal lands through its decision in [[McGirt v. Oklahoma]].  Subsequently, almost the entire eastern half of Oklahoma was found to have remained [[Indian country]].