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Collinsville, Oklahoma
Nov. 26, 2006
Oklahoma Centennial
3rd in A Series As We Approach Oklahoma's First Century As A State
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Ted Wright -- last update 11/27/2006 (OKCentennial3.html) www.cvilleok.com
Copyright 2006 -- Collinsville, Oklahoma
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I wish that I could explain exactly how land was bought and sold by non-Indians prior to 1907 Oklahoma Statehood in and around Collinsville.
Instead, the best I can offer is a somewhat random sample of land deals as documented in these news articles. As far as I know there was not a "Land Run" in this portion of the Cherokee Nation as in some other parts of pre-statehood Oklahoma. The few abstracts I have viewed appear to begin with land transactions as if they started at statehood (with a transfer from the Cherokee Nation) even though many non-Indians "owned" (or at least occupied) land here long before statehood.

I also wanted to note that Oklahoma statehood had a significant impact on the Cherokee Nation's sovereign authority. According to one Cherokee history web site: 1905: "Land allotment begins after 'official' Dawes Commission Roll taken of Cherokee citizens". There was no elected Cherokee Chief from 1907 until 1971 but 7 individuals were appointed during those years. At Statehood: "The United States attempts to dissolve Cherokee Nation government, but it survived in a modified and restricted form."

-- Ted Wright (Newspaper Museum In Collinsville) -- Nov. 26, 2006

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There Was No "Land Run" In The Cherokee Nation
This was in regards to the payment for Ridgelawn Cemetery which had been in use for a few years already by the City of Collinsville.
These two 1905 stories (above) give some flavor of issues with determining which roads were "public" roads and which townsite lots had "sufficient improvement" to retain ownership. The 1916 story (right) shows the advanced state of the Cherokee Nation long before Oklahoma statehood.
This Jan. 1907 article gives the relative populations of the tribes and non-Indians in Indian Territory.
Many of the Cherokees in Indian Territory arrived in 1839 following the Trail of Tears.
This 1890 permit (reprinted in 1913) reflects a time when the non-Indian "intuders" were a minority in the Indian Territory.