History of Oklahoma

The history of Oklahoma traces the region from Indigenous societies and forced removal through territorial rule, statehood, and modern political, economic, and cultural change.

Mississippian culture: A network of Indigenous societies in eastern North America, known for farming, mound-building, and large settlements. Its regional influence preceded the later Indigenous nations whose histories define Oklahoma.
Treaty of New Echota: An 1835 treaty signed by a minority of Cherokee leaders that the United States used to justify Cherokee removal. It supplied the legal pretext for the Cherokee removal to Indian Territory.
Oklahoma statehood: Oklahoma’s admission to the United States as the forty-sixth state on November 16, 1907. Statehood formally joined Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory under one government.
Sequoyah: A Cherokee silversmith who created a syllabary for writing the Cherokee language in the early nineteenth century. His work strengthened Cherokee literacy before the forced migration to Indian Territory.
Tribal sovereignty in the United States: The inherent authority of Indigenous nations to govern themselves, subject to the limits of federal law. Oklahoma’s treaty and reservation history makes sovereignty a continuing political question.
Caddo: An Indigenous people of the southern Great Plains and lower Mississippi Valley, with communities in what is now Oklahoma. Caddo communities lived in the region before U.S. territorial expansion.
Dawes Act: An 1887 U.S. law that divided communally held tribal lands into individual allotments and opened surplus land to non-Native settlement. Allotment dismantled tribal landholding and prepared much of Indian Territory for statehood.
Green Corn Rebellion: A 1917 rural uprising in southeastern Oklahoma against conscription during World War I. The revolt exposed local resistance to wartime policies and economic hardship.
John Ross: A Cherokee leader who opposed removal and served as principal chief for much of the nineteenth century. His leadership connected Cherokee resistance to removal with the nation’s history in Indian Territory.
Oklahoma tribal nations: The Native American nations with governments and communities in present-day Oklahoma, including nations forcibly relocated there. Their institutions and communities are central to the state’s present-day history.

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History of MissouriCompared with: Oklahoma’s later settlement and statehood followed different federal policies than Missouri’s early admission.