REPORT OF THE GOVERNOR OF OKLAHOMA. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, TERRITORY OF OKLAHOMA, SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith my annual report as the governor of Oklahoma Territory for the year ending June 30, 1899, detailing a record of prosperity and progress wonderful to contemplate in even this era of general prosperity for the whole nation. A LAND OF PROSPERITY. There is no place, section, or country where prosperity is so rampantly manifest as it is in Oklahoma. It is positively inspiring to see that country now and hear the reports of everyone in the extraordinary section, of the success which has followed every venture. The above statement was the expressed opinion of James A. Davis, industrial commissioner of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, after a complete tour of their extensive system a few weeks ago. Oklahoma is prosperous and happy, and she invites all to come and share in her prosperity and joy. The story of the settlement and progress of the Territory reads almost like a chapter of the Arabian Nights; yet, the conquests of the past ten years but foreshadow a still greater advance, more wonderful achievements, more rapid strides in the future. For general prosperity of all classes, rapid advancement, and bright prospects for the future Oklahoma stands to-day at the head of the great Commonwealths of America. Another year of abundant crops for the farmer; of increase in value and number of the herds of the stock grower; of expanding business for the merchant; of building up of manufacturing industries; of extension of railways; of general growth in financial lines; of development of the manifold natural resources of the Territory, has realized the most optimistic predictions of the past; has made all of our people not only contented with their lot, but anxious that their relatives, friends, and old-time neighbors of the less prosperous and progressive States shall come and partake of this bounteous share of the good things of life. With a population rapidly advancing toward the half million mark; with a fertile soil that successfully produces every crop of the temperate zone, except oranges and sugar cane; with an area in wheat greater than that of Great Britain; with a corn crop equal to many of the great corn-growing States; with orchards and vineyards laden with fruit; with cattle upon a thousand hills; with a public school within reach of every home and a college education obtainable for every young man or woman; with 700 churches, 1,000 Sunday schools, and 150 newspapers; with an area greater than that of the six States of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Delaware; with a rapidly increasing taxable valuation and decreasing tax rate; with all lines of business in a prosperous condition; manufacturing industries growing rapidly and great natural resources on every side inviting development, Oklahoma offers inducements to the capitalist, the laborer, the professional man, the farmer, and the home seeker unequaled anywhere. AREA, LOCATION, AND ALTITUDE. Oklahoma is located in about the same latitude as Tennessee. The north boundary is 37° north latitude. Except in Greer County, little of the Territory extends south of the thirty-fifth parallel. With the exception of Beaver County, which extends in a strip 35 miles wide to the one hundred and third meridian, west longitude, nearly all of the Territory lies between 96° 30' and 100° west longitude, being in the same belt as central Kansas and Texas. In general, the face of the country is rolling prairie, with a considerable number of rivers and streams, usually flowing from the northwest to the southeast, and often having high and steep banks. In the eastern half there are considerable areas covered with timber, usually of the different varieties of oak. Timber is found in the valleys of the streams in all parts of the Territory. The area of the Territory is 38,715 square miles, or about 26,000,000 acres, corresponding in size to the State of Ohio. The altitude of the Territory ranges from about 800 to over 4,000 feet above the sea level, the greatest altitude being reached in the extreme west, the average being about 1,500 feet. The country originally known as Oklahoma, or "Beautiful Land," contained less than 3,000,000 acres, comprising the larger portions of the counties of Kingfisher, Canadian, Oklahoma, Cleveland, Logan, and Payne. This land was thrown open by proclamation of the President, April 22, 1889, but a Territorial government was not provided until June, 1890, the 75,000 or more people being for over a year with no form of civil government save that devised and carried on by common consent, yet during this time there was no lawlessness prevalent, and there was never an hour in which property and life were not as safe as in any of the States. The act creating the Territorial government created the county of Beaver, with an area of 3,681,000 acres, out of No Man's Land and attached it to Oklahoma. In September, 1890, the Sac and Fox, Iowa, and Pottawatomie reservations, embracing 1,282,434 acres in the eastern part of the Territory, were thrown open to settlement, and the following spring the Cheyenne and Arapahoe lands of 4,297,771 acres were added. In 1893 came the opening of the Cherokee Outlet, with its 6,014,239 fertile acres, in 1895 the Kickapoo Reservation of 206,662 acres, and early in 1896 Greer County, a small empire in itself, was added by decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, giving the Territory its present settled area of something over 19,000,000 acres, 6,949,715 acres being still included in Indian and other reservations. |