By T.S. Akers
Oklahoma has been home to three grand lodges of
Ancient Free & Accepted Masons. Interestingly, the state of Oklahoma itself
was assembled from three different areas: the Indian Territory, No Man’s Land,
and Oklahoma Territory. Beginning in the late 1820s, citizens of the Five
Tribes (the Muscogee, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole) were forced
west of the Mississippi River by the federal government. At that time, their
new designated lands ran from the western border of Arkansas to the eastern boarder
of Texas. Since the Missouri Compromise of 1820 prohibited slavery north of the
thirty-sixth parallel, Texas surrendered a 168 x 34 mile-wide strip of land it
had claimed since declaring independence, so that it could join the Union in
1845.[2] The area was often noted
as “Public Land” on government maps, but became more commonly known as “No
Man’s Land” as it remained unattached to any government until 1890.[2] It was in that year that
the Oklahoma Territory was formed, which is directly linked to the
reconstruction treaties with the Five Tribes that were entered into in 1866.
These punitive treaties imposed upon the Five Tribes for aligning with the
Confederacy resulted in the western half of Five Tribes’ land being ceded to
the federal government.[3] Punitive treaties, such
as these, were nothing new for the Muscogees for example, who suffered forced
land reductions in 1790 and 1814.[4] Though the Indian
Territory likely could have, and should have, stood on its own as the state of Sequoyah
with the wealth of the coal and oil fields in the region, it was from that
territory, along with the Public Land, and Oklahoma Territory that the state of
Oklahoma was organized in 1907. Both twin territories that became Oklahoma were
fertile places for the spread of Freemasonry, and that growth led to grand
lodges in each territory; grand lodges which ultimately created a new grand
lodge following statehood.
Whilst the reconstruction treaties of 1866 have had
lasting repercussions in Oklahoma today, they had very little impact on the
lives of Five Tribes citizens then. Few Muscogees or Cherokees ventured to the
western end of their lands, as they first encountered the existing Osage before
other Plains tribes; similarly, virtually no Chickasaw citizen lived west of
the Cross Timbers due to the Plains tribes. The federal government ended up
leasing the land between the 100th and 98th meridians from the Chickasaws in
1855, known as the Leased District, to be used as reservation land for the
Plains tribes. Further to the west was Greer County, created by Texas, and an
area in dispute.[5]
It was in the Leased District, on the Kiowa Reservation, that Freemasonry began
to creep from the boundary of the Indian Territory. With charters obtained from
the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, Freemasonry quickly began to grow and prosper
amongst the Five Tribes, leading to the formation of the Grand Lodge of the
Indian Territory in 1874. Though outside of the bounds of the Chickasaw Nation,
and thus outside of the Indian Territory, it was not a serious stretch for the
Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory to grant a dispensation for a lodge to form
on the Kiowa Reservation. It was, after all, still Indian country. On May 15,
1884, Grand Master Edmond H. Doyle granted a dispensation for the formation of
a lodge at Anadarko.[6]
That lodge was chartered a few short months later on the 5th of November as the
twenty-first lodge on the rolls of the Indian Territory and had sixteen Masons
among its ranks by 1885.[7]
The year 1889 would see an event occur that has come
to define Oklahoma’s identity. People outside of Oklahoma may not know much
about the state, but if one mentions the Oklahoma Sooners, they are likely familiar
with that college football legacy. It is the Land Run of 1889 which brought
forth the Boomers and Sooners of present-day Oklahoma fame. The Boomers being
those advocating for the opening of the “Unassigned Lands” to white settlement,
who often entered the area illegally, and the Sooners being those who set out
to stake land claims before the land run commenced.[8] The “Unassigned Lands”
encompassed the area not assigned to any of the Indian tribes that had been
removed to the region. These lands were, however, far from empty of people,
namely Indians considered to be “off the reservation.” Technically, the
Muscogees and Seminoles still had a legal claim to the Unassigned Lands, but
the Indian Appropriations Act for 1890 provided for payment to quit any claims
to the 2,950 square miles. At the same time, the Springer Amendment to the act
called for the opening of the “Oklahoma District” for homesteading.[9] Oklahoma is a Choctaw
word meaning “red people” and comes from the Choctaw and Chickasaw reconstruction
treaty of 1866 where a clause referred to all the area of the Five Tribes as
the "territory of Oklahoma." This had been suggested by Allen Wright,
a Freemason, and member of the Choctaw delegation.[10] At noon on April 22, 1889,
settlers raced into the newly opened territory to stake their claims for 160
acres of free land.[11] This event, the first of
several land runs, has become the quintessential image of Oklahoma. Today, the
legacy of Oklahoma Territory outweighs, to some extent, that of the Indian Territory;
due to the principle of Manifest Destiny, which the several land runs embodied.
On that opening day of the land run in April of 1889,
two cities of note came into existence before night fall. The Santa Fe Railway
crossed the Unassigned Lands, running north and south. Near where the railroad
crossed the North Canadian River existed the Oklahoma Station. To the north,
not far from where the railroad crossed the Cimarron River existed the Guthrie
Station. Overnight, Oklahoma City and Guthrie came into existence, with streets
laid out, town lots staked off, and steps taken towards forming municipal
governments.[12]
Within months, Freemasonry had taken hold at both cities. At Guthrie, Brethren
were granted a dispensation to form a lodge on the 29th of August. At Oklahoma City,
brethren received a dispensation to work as North Canadian Lodge on the 17th of September.[13] A grand lodge truly
exists for administrative purposes to provide for regularity in Freemasonry. In
this administrative capacity, it was the Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory
that provided the necessary paper for the lodges at Guthrie and Oklahoma City
to be established.
The Guthrie Station in April of 1889.
(Courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society)
At the annual communication of the Grand Lodge of the
Indian Territory in November of 1889, the question of issuing charters to both
Guthrie and Oklahoma City was considered. In reviewing the records of Guthrie
Lodge, the Committee on Charters & Dispensations found them to be “very
irregular.” It was also noted that Guthrie had passed a newly initiated Entered
Apprentice to the degree of Fellowcraft and raised him a Master Mason in a
timespan of less than thirty days. The committee remarked on this, stating that
it is a universal custom that every brother serves as an Entered Apprentice at
least one lunar month before passing to the degree of Fellowcraft, and so on.
The committee recommended that a charter not be issued to Guthrie at that time,
and their dispensation be continued. Regarding North Canadian Lodge at Oklahoma
City, the Committee on Charters & Dispensations received no evidence that
the lodge had performed any Masonic degree work and recommended their
dispensation be discontinued. Whilst the committee, chaired by Past Grand
Master Edmond H. Doyle, reported poorly on these two lodges, it also reported
poorly on other lodges under dispensation, but recommended charters for them. (Remember,
it was Doyle who chartered the first lodge outside of the Indian Territory at
Anadarko.) With that in mind, the delegates to the annual communication chose to
show “charity and fraternity” to the brethren at Guthrie and Oklahoma City,
setting aside certain laws and usages, and granted both charters.[14] Thus Guthrie Lodge No.
35 and North Canadian Lodge No. 36 officially became constituent lodges of the
Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory on November 6, 1889.[15]
The Organic Act, which became law on May 2, 1890,
provided for the formation of Oklahoma Territory and a territorial government.
A governor and secretary were to be appointed by the President of the United
States and a bicameral legislature was to be elected by the residents of the
new territory. Guthrie was to be the provisional capital, courts were to be established,
and seven counties delineated.[16] The first session of the
territorial legislature saw the creation of institutions of higher education.
At Norman, the University of Oklahoma was established; at Stillwater, the
Agricultural and Mechanical College; and at Edmond, the Territorial Normal School.
Of these three institutions, it was the Territorial Normal School that first
held classes in November of 1891. Classes at Stillwater commenced in December
of 1891, and it was not until the fall of 1892 that instruction began in
Norman.[17] Edmond also happened to
be the next Oklahoma Territory town to secure a dispensation for a Masonic
lodge on April 5, 1890. This was followed by Norman on the 28th of July of the same
year. Both lodges were granted charters on November 4, 1890, becoming Edmond
Lodge No. 37 and Norman Lodge No. 38. Stillwater was granted a dispensation for
a lodge the following year on July 4, 1891, and that lodge was chartered less
than thirty days later on the 18th of August as Frontier Lodge No. 48. The year 1892
saw the Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory charter an additional four lodges
in Oklahoma Territory, which included: El Reno Lodge No. 50, Kingfisher Lodge
No. 52, Hennessey (later Coronado) Lodge No. 56, and Chandler Lodge No. 58.[18]
Leo Bennett, Grand Master of Masons of the Indian Territory.
(Courtesy of the Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma)
During this period, Leo
Bennett was at the helm of the Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory as Grand
Master of Masons, his term would last four years. Bennett was a physician and
newspaper publisher, who was well known in the Indian Territory. He served as
Indian Agent, Mayor of Muskogee, and United States Marshal at various times in
his life.[19]
One of the challenges facing Bennett’s tenure as Grand Master was that of
establishing a uniform system of ritualistic work for the Indian Territory.[20] With Masons coming from a
variety of jurisdictions, each tended to bring their own ritualistic work with
them. This issue was further compounded in the lodges of the new Oklahoma
District where so many men from so many other states filled a relatively small
geographic area. District Deputy Grand Master H.H. Moose noted this in his 1891
report, stating:
The
impediment to harmony in most of our Lodges is due from discrepancies in the
work. Our Lodges are made up of members from nearly all the jurisdictions in
the United States, consequently there are discrepancies in the manner of
teaching the grand principles of the Order. The only way to obviate these
things is for the Grand Lodge to adopt a work and have that work
properly taught by our Grand Lecturer. In my visitations I have not attempted
to instruct our Lodges in the work for the reason this Grand Lodge has no
adopted work at this time. The Lodges of Oklahoma each have a way of teaching
its members in the principles of Masonry, and they do smooth work, but no two
Lodges teach alike.[21]
Grand Master Bennett had hopes of securing for the
Indian Territory a form of the Preston-Webb ritual in its purest state but had
struggled to find an example of that work without “innovations.” The Grand
Lecturer of Arkansas was brought to Muskogee for an exemplification of that
jurisdiction’s work, the jurisdiction from which the original Indian Territory
lodges had originated, but it was ultimately rejected for having “features
which seemed not to be appropriate.”[22] To resolve this issue
concerning Masonic ritual, a special Committee on Work was created in 1891. It
reported the following year that it had arrived at a “satisfactory degree of
unanimity in the revision of the work,” which was exemplified at the annual
grand communication and adopted.[23] There is no mention of
a specific Masonic monitor (written ritual) being adopted and the Grand Lodge
of the Indian Territory never published a monitor of its own. The committee
men, which included Bros. F.H. Nash, D.C. Blossom, R.W. Hill, W.A. McBride, and
D.D. Leach, likely just agreed on what they believed were the best ritual
workings from the variations being practiced in the Indian Territory.[24]
In addition to the adoption of ritualistic work, the
annual communication of the Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory in 1892 saw another
important matter come before it. Selwyn Douglas of Oklahoma City introduced a
letter before the assembled Craft asking consent for the lodges of Oklahoma
Territory to form their own “separate and independent grand lodge.” The letter
was referred to the Committee on Law and Usage who determined that the Grand
Master of the Indian Territory would call a convention of the Oklahoma
Territory lodges to consider the question of forming their own grand lodge and
if those lodges chose to separate, the Grand Master would preside over the organization
of the new grand lodge, its adoption of a constitution, and election of
officers. The Grand Master of the Indian Territory would then formally claim
that the new grand lodge was legally organized.[25] These additional steps
by the Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory were likely taken owing to the
challenges she faced in obtaining recognition as a legitimate grand lodge from
other jurisdictions.
August J. Spengel, the first Grand Master of Masons of Oklahoma.
(Courtesy of the Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma)
On November 10, 1892, at
ten o’clock in the morning, in the Masonic Hall of Oklahoma City, Grand Master
Leo Bennett assembled the lodges of the Oklahoma District for the purpose of
forming a new grand lodge. Grand Master Bennett first ascertained who were the
accredited representatives of the several lodges, finding the ten lodges of
Oklahoma Territory represented. With thirty available votes, those men
unanimously chose to move forward with separating themselves from the Indian
Territory. The convention then took up the matter of adopting a constitution
and agreed to employ that of the Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory, known as
the “Bennett Constitution,” with the necessary changes concerning boundaries
and name. The brethren then proceeded with electing their officers, selecting
August J. Spengel of Guthrie as their first Grand Master. At eight o’clock in the evening,
the officers of the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma were duly installed. At ten o’clock
in the evening, the newly formed grand lodge was opened in ample form to
conduct some necessary business, which included the renaming and numbering of
the lodges. Those lodges of the old Oklahoma District thus became:Anadarko Lodge No. 1
Guthrie
Lodge No. 2
Oklahoma
Lodge No. 3 (formerly North Canadian)
Edmond
Lodge No. 4
Norman
Lodge No. 5
Frontier
Lodge No. 6
El
Reno Lodge No. 7
Kingfisher
Lodge No. 8
Coronado
Lodge No. 9 (formerly Hennessey)
Chandler
Lodge No. 10[26]
As a sign of good will toward the newly formed grand
lodge, the Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory agreed to appropriate funds to
purchase a complete set of grand lodge officer jewels for the Grand Lodge of
Oklahoma.[27]
The Grand Lodge of Oklahoma's original grand officer jewels.
(From the collections of the Oklahoma Grand Lodge Museum & Library)
The Grand Lodge of Oklahoma first met after its
formation in November of 1892 on February 14, 1893, at El Reno. According to
the annual proceedings of that body, the total number of Masons in the Oklahoma
Territory was 437. Grand Master A.J. Spengel was carried forward as Grand
Master, as was Deputy Grand Master Selwyn Douglas. One additional lodge was
even chartered, Crescent Lodge No. 11 at Crescent City, which had just been
granted a dispensation to organize on the 11th of January.[28] The jurisdiction of
Oklahoma Territory was also soon to be increased. Though the Cherokee Outlet
was not included in the Unassigned Lands, it might as well have been. The
Cherokee’s treaty of 1866 required them to allow the federal government to
settle other tribes in the outlet, which was originally hunting and range land.
As previously noted, few Cherokees ventured into the Outlet owing to the
existing Plains tribes there. The outcome of the treaty of 1866 was to
essentially cut the Cherokees off from the Outlet by placing other tribes
between the Cherokee Nation and the remainder of the Outlet. The Cherokees did
lease the Outlet to Kansas ranchers operating as the Cherokee Strip Livestock
Association and attempted to collect a tax on cattle passing through the Outlet
to market. This all ceased in 1890 when President Benjamin Harrison forbade all
grazing in the Outlet, ending any revenue for the Cherokees. They were then
forced to sell the remainder of the Outlet for $1.40 to $2.50 an acre, even
though they had previously rejected an offer of $3.00 an acre made by the Cherokee
Strip Livestock Association. The Cherokee Outlet was opened to settlement by
land run on September 16, 1893, thus bringing it into the Oklahoma Territory,
which connected the previously non-contiguous Public Land to the remainder of
the territory.[29]
Whilst Oklahoma Territory was short lived, the true
story of the territory and its grand lodge is one of expansion. Two land runs
have been mentioned here, but there were five altogether, plus a land lottery
and a land auction.[30] The end result was of
course the reduction in lands occupied by Indian tribes in favor of white
settlement. And then there was the case of Greer County, an area in dispute
with the state of Texas. The dispute arose from the Adams-OnÃs Treaty of 1819,
which defined the border between the United States and Spanish territory in
North America. The treaty relied on the 1818 Melish Map, based on secondary
sources, which showed the Red River to have a single channel. A further
surveying error in 1852 placed the 100th Meridian one degree east of its actual
location, making it intersect the Red River near the mouth of its north fork.
The surveying expedition reached the south fork but was unaware it was also the
Red River. The error was discovered in 1857 and Texas, which had entered the
Union in 1845, was now claiming the area between the two forks as its own,
creating Greer County in 1860. Finally, in 1896, the Supreme Court of the
United States ruled that the south fork of the Red River was indeed the
boundary established by the Adams-OnÃs Treaty.[31] And of course, the
Grand Lodge of Texas had established Masonic lodges in the disputed territory
along the way. Mangum Lodge No. 685 had been chartered in 1889 and Altus Lodge
No. 711 in 1891.[32]
The Grand Master of Texas wrote to the Grand Master of Oklahoma in May of 1896
to address the transfer of these two lodges. To see to this matter, Grand
Master Henry Rucker of Oklahoma appointed Cassius M. Barnes of Guthrie, then
serving as the first Grand Commander of Knights Templar, to attend the annual
communication of the Grand Lodge of Texas at Houston in December. There it was noted
that “following the American rule and Masonic custom,” the two lodges of Greer
County should be transferred to the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma Territory (a
reference to the principle of American grand lodges having jurisdiction over
the states and territories in which they reside). The resolution offered to make
the transfer was adopted by the Grand Lodge of Texas and on February 10, 1897, and the two lodges joined with Oklahoma Territory as Mangum Lodge No. 29 and Altus
Lodge No. 30.[33]
The opening of the Unassigned Lands had a direct
impact on the Indian Territory. The General Allotment Act of 1887, authored by
Senator Henry Dawes, called for the allotment of reservation lands. That is,
the dissolution of communally held land, in favor of privately owned land. The
act specifically exempted the Five Tribes and the Osage, Miami and Peoria, and
Sac and Fox Nations. With the Unassigned Lands being opened to white
settlement, the way was paved for allotment of other Indian land, and thus the
end goal of Indian assimilation. This began in 1889 when President Benjamin
Harrison appointed the Jerome Commission to negotiate with the Cherokee and
other tribes, specifically around the Cherokee Outlet. The outcome was the sale
of the Cherokee Outlet to the federal government, along with any land not
specifically allotted to individuals. This was followed by the Dawes Commission
beginning in 1893, which was responsible for compiling rolls of members of the
Five Tribes and allotting homesteads. Land thus not allotted was then available
for sale by the federal government.[34] The Curtis Act of 1898
dealt a further blow to tribal sovereignty in the Indian Territory, as it was
set to dissolve tribal governments in 1906. Due to this, several principal
chiefs of the Five Tribes sought to form their own state for admission into the
Union in 1905, the state of Sequoyah.[35] Whilst bills for
Sequoyah statehood were filed, the Republican-led Congress refused to consider
them, as they had no desire to admit a heavily Democratic state into the Union.[36] It is unfortunate that
this was the prevailing sentiment in Congress. According to the pre-eminent
Oklahoma Masonic historian Charles E. Creager, the popular proposal of the time
was that the new State of Oklahoma would include only the Territory of
Oklahoma.[37]
The Twin Territories ultimately became the state of Oklahoma on November 16,
1907, and the new state found itself with two grand lodges
within its bounds. According to the rules concerning Masonic regularity, this
was not a situation that could prevail, and a remedy had already been set in
motion.
Map of the proposed state of Sequoyah, c. 1905.
(Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
The
Oklahoma Enabling Act, signed by President Theodore Roosevelt on June 16, 1906,
provided for the writing of a constitution for a state to be formed from the Twin
Territories.[38]
The year 1906 also saw the process begin of merging the two grand lodges into
one. A committee consisting of Masons from each of the territories was
appointed that year and met in December at Oklahoma City. The plan for
consolidation was laid out by the committee as follows:
Each grand jurisdiction
was to be surrendered, in order that a new grand lodge could be organized by
the two existing grand lodges; the new grand lodge was to be known as that of
the State of Oklahoma; the Grand Master and Grand Senior Warden were to come
from the Indian Territory, with the Deputy Grand Master, Grand Junior Warden,
and Grand Treasurer coming from Oklahoma Territory; the balance of the grand
officers were to be equally apportioned from each territory; the Grand Secretaries
of each territory were to be retained, sharing the role geographically; the
esoteric, or ritual, work of each grand jurisdiction was to be retained until
the new grand lodge adopted work; and the charters of the original sixty lodges
chartered by the Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory would revert to their
previous numbers, with lodge numbers being determined after that based on their
date of dispensation.[39]
These details were to be
considered by each grand lodge for approval by the Craft. The membership of
each grand lodge at the time was roughly equal with 6,236 Masons in the Indian
Territory and 6,777 in Oklahoma Territory. However, the Indian Territory was in
a better position financially, as noted in early 1907 with a Masonic Home fund
balance of $64,105 and a general balance of $9,145 compared to Oklahoma’s
balances of $7,420 and $3,339. The Grand Lodge of Oklahoma Territory, in
adopting her amalgamation committee report, set the date for the plan to be set
into motion by her subordinate lodges as August of 1907, unless in the
judgement of the Grand Master it should be called off.[40]
Inevitably, by August of 1907, there was no state of Oklahoma and the meeting
to commence amalgamation was not held.
When the Grand Lodge of
Oklahoma met again on February 11, 1908, the Grand Lodge of the Indian
Territory sent a delegation to attend the communication. In that delegation’s report
to the Craft, they remarked upon how the question of statehood had remained
undetermined when they met in August of 1907. The situation had of course
changed by February of 1908 and the Indian Territory delegation invited
Oklahoma to send a similar delegation to their annual communication that coming
August. The Oklahoma Territory delegation did indeed attend at McAlester and at
that communication Joseph S. Murrow, known today as the Father of Masonry in
Oklahoma, offered a resolution to provide for delegations from the Twin
Territories to further outline the “details upon which a harmonious and
fraternal union of the two Grand Lodges into one may be effected.” The
resolution was adopted, and the two delegations conferred, reporting on the
outcome of those discussions the following day. To bring about the merger of
the two grand lodges, it was decided that the Grand Lodge of the Indian
Territory would assemble on the second Tuesday of February 1909, the same time
of the next annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma. The two grand
lodges were to each pass resolutions vesting their jurisdiction in the Grand
Lodge of the State Oklahoma upon its organization and both grand bodies were
then to meet in convention at Guthrie the following day to form the new grand
lodge.[41]
This souvenir watch fob, which originally featured a leather strap attached to it, was presented to those Brethren who attended the last regular communication of the Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory at McAlester in August of 1908.
(From the author's collection)
It
was at McAlester on February 9, 1909, that the Grand Lodge of the Indian
Territory met, under the direction of Grand Master Henry L. Muldrow, to
officially begin their portion of the steps toward merging with Oklahoma
Territory.[42]
Similarly convened in Guthrie under the direction of Grand Master David D. Hoag
was the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma. In his address, Hoag remarked:
It is with some degree of
sadness that I view the closing day of the bright, prosperous, and zealous
Grand Lodge of Oklahoma. I have enjoyed so many happy days with friends, in
good fellowship, that I dread to see it pass into a greater and larger body
where I cannot have that intimate and close acquaintanceship with all the
brethren that I have had with my brethren in this Grand Lodge.[43]
Though the casual
observer might interpret Hoag’s remarks as the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma being
small, by the end, her most recent lodge chartered, Kenney Lodge, appeared on
the rolls as Number 197. Shortly before seven-thirty in the evening, a telegram
was received in Guthrie from McAlester. The message simply read “Resolution
Transferring Property Adopted as per Copy Sent You.”[44]
The real business of the day was officially concluded, and the following day,
February 10, 1909, had come at last. The Indian Territory delegates arrived at
Guthrie and the convention was called to order at two o’clock in the afternoon
by Past Grand Master David D. Hoag of Oklahoma Territory. He then introduced
Past Grand Master Leo E. Bennett of the Indian Territory as the presiding
officer of the convention.[45]
Bennett was no stranger to such a convention, having presided over the
organization of the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma. With 1,400 Masons from the Twin
Territories in attendance, a new Constitution, By-Laws, and Uniform Code were
submitted for consideration and adopted. Grand Officers were elected, with
Henry L. Muldrow, formerly of the Indian Territory, selected as Grand Master
and George Ruddell, formerly of the Oklahoma Territory, as Deputy Grand Master.[46]
The dawning of the twentieth century not only ushered into existence a new
state, but it also brought forth the third Grand Lodge of Ancient Free &
Accepted Masons to occupy the region that had become the state of Oklahoma, a
region assembled from three principal geographic areas.
[1] Matthew Wills, “Why Oklahoma Has a Panhandle:
The long, strange story of why Oklahoma has that panhandle,” JSTOR Daily,
last modified September 29, 2016, https://daily.jstor.org/why-oklahoma-has-a-panhandle/.
[2] John J. Dwyer, The Oklahomans: The Story
of Oklahoma and Its People (Norman, OK: Red River Press, 2016), 206.
[4]
Trasen S. Akers, Chilly McIntosh and Muscogee (Creek) Nation: 1800-1875
(Oklahoma City: Akers & Sons, 2018), 6.
[5] John D. May, “Leased District,” The
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, accessed August 9, 2022, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=LE002.
[6] Masonic Centennial Lodges: 1874-1974 ed.
Marvin L. Julian (Guthrie: Oklahoma Lodge of Research, 1974), 18.
[7] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: Eleventh Annual Communication
(McAlester, Choctaw Nation, 1885).
[8] Stan Hoig, “Land Run of 1889,” The
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, accessed August 9, 2022, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=LA014.
[9] Dianna Everett, “Springer Amendment,” The
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, accessed August 11, 2022, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=SP016.
[10] William D. Pennington, “Reconstruction
Treaties,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, accessed
August 9, 2022, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=RE001.
[12] William W. Howard, "The Rush to
Oklahoma," Harper's Weekly (New York, NY), May 18, 1889: 391-394.
[13] Masonic Centennial Lodges: 1874-1974,
31-32.
[14] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: Fifteenth Annual Communication
(Purcell, Chickasaw Nation, 1889), 47-49.
[15] Masonic Centennial Lodges: 1874-1974,
31-32.
[17] Patricia Loughlin, “University of Central
Oklahoma,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, accessed
August 9, 2022, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=UN009.
[18] Masonic Centennial Lodges: 1874-1974, 44-51.
[19] Harry F. O'Beirne & Edward S. O'Beirne, The
Indian Territory: Its Chiefs, Legislators, and Leading Men (St. Louis: C.B.
Woodward, 1892), 122-124.
[20] J. Fred Latham, The Story of Oklahoma
Masonry (Guthrie: Grand Lodge of Oklahoma, 1978), 120.
[21] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: Seventeenth Annual Communication
(Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Territory, 1891), 18-19.
[22] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: Seventeenth Annual Communication,
15.
[23] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: Eighteenth Annual Communication
(Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, 1892), 59.
[24] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: Seventeenth Annual Communication,
63.
[25] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: Eighteenth Annual Communication, 52-53.
[26] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: Nineteenth Annual Communication
(Ardmore, Chickasaw Nation, 1893), 18.
[27] Charles E. Creager, History of Freemasonry
in Oklahoma (Muskogee: Muskogee Print Shop, 1935), 160.
[28] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of Oklahoma: First Annual Communication (El Reno, O.T.,
1893), 40.
[29] Alvin O. Turner, “Cherokee Outlet Opening,” The
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[30] "Rushes to Statehood: The Oklahoma Land
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