Rebuilding Indian Territory

Rebuilding the Economy 4 things Herds of Cattle Railroads Mining Oil

Cattle Drives Lots of Longhorn in TX Too many $2/head Ranchers wanted to move cattle East where they were $40/head Cattle had to be herded to Missouri where they would load a train for slaughterhouses in Chicago

Cattle Drives Tribes soon realized that they could make money off of the drovers (cattle drive leaders) Began to lease the land Cattlemen paid to allow their livestock to eat on the Indian land.

Cattle Grazing Indian Land

Transcontinental Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad began its construction in Sacramento, California using Chinese immigrant labor to build toward the East. The Union Pacific Railroad’s Irish workers began in Omaha, Nebraska moving West.

Transcontinental Railroad The two were joined at Promontory Point, Utah as East and West joined the nation.

Coal Mining James McAlester attended school in Fort Smith where he learned about coal deposits in the Choctaw land He then married a Chickasaw woman and gained rights in the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations. Finally he started the Oklahoma Mining Company leased coal mines to an operating company

Coal Mining By 1889, there were over 2,000 men working in the mines The area became a melting pot of Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Belgians, Germans, Italians, Swedes, Frenchmen, Englishmen and others. Mining was dangerous work, and many accidents occurred.

Oil Springs Oil Springs or seeps, have been present throughout Indian territory for centuries. A few early oil wells were drilled in the territory, but the production was not significant

Maintaining Order The light horse police for each of the 5 tribes enforced tribal laws. Criminals were taken to tribal court. Punishments 20-50 lashes More severe lashing death

Outlaws From the end of the Civil War until statehood, Indian Territory was plagued with lawlessness. The Doolins, the Daltons, the Jennings brothers, the Cook gang, the Turner gang, Wesley Barnett’s bunch, Mose Miller’s gang, the Buck gang, Myra Belle Shirley, Cole Younger and Jesse James were a few.

The Calm before the Storm Post Civil War rebuilding and changes were leading to an even more drastic shift in the Indian Territory. More and more Euro- Americans were coming in to work in the territory As neighboring areas became more crowded, people began eyeing the territory more and more longingly.