[Why our area has its unique political and religious attitudes.]

To most people, the history of Oklahoma and Indian Territory began at the atrocity called the Trail of Tears. We have traced the Cherokee to 1824 in previous columns, which brought the early groups to the location of the original Dwight Mission near Petit Jean on the Arkansas River in the portion of the Louisiana Purchase called the Missouri Territory.

“History is not a sequential event, but is the confluence of numerous parallel ventures.” –MOD

At this convergence of history, within a decade, so many dramatic events are going to occur that we will use this era as a way-marker.

The difficulty is that every time a group moves, another group becomes displaced. Seldom did government policy consider the earlier inhabitants.

We find that this was not just the displacement of one tribe by another, but Indians by whites, and whites by Indians. For now, we will hint at the intriguing story of the white farmers and ranchers who had settled, had elected officials, and had the blessings of the federal government, but were then forcibly evicted and uncompensated to make this place called Indian Territory. Our region went through so much conflict, contention, and consternation that it is unfathomable to those of us who enjoy such an ethnically diverse, beautiful region.

The one constant is that any time government makes a policy to favor one group, another will be discriminated. Individuals tend to work out their differences until forced into a political environment, not of their making.

Why did the federal government make the absurd policy for occupants west of the Mississippi? Follow the money. A few influential individuals persuaded politicians to create laws for both their financial benefit, but couched in terms of the public good.

Who were the people in our neck of the woods? The Heavener Runestones are related by some to be from Viking visits in 1012. These engravings are nebulous and we have no other record of who they contacted.

The Spanish originally came to our area about 1540. DeSoto’s flotilla came up the Arkansas River, while Coronado trudged across the western plains. They were explorers looking for resources to develop. Although DeSoto met the Tula, the Spanish in the west had little conflict and mostly removed back to the Santa Fe area. A contingent remained in the Wichita Mountains to mine gold and silver, until the Louisiana Purchase. Where did you think the gold treasure sent back to Europe came from? These natural resource developers left little records, since they did not want to share their wealth.

The French Explorer LaHarpe made it from the Red River to the Tulsa suburbs on the Arkansas River in 1719, where he was ceremoniously received by 6,000 Tawakoni cannibals and their allies. They presented him with a young Apache for a later dinner. Rather than set up a trading post, he astutely headed back to the Red River, before the Tawakoni wondered what fried French tasted like. LaHarpe’s kick-off point on the Red River plays into the white eviction one-hundred years later.

Other French came through Mayes County and Kay County from St. Louis on the Mississippi. These traded with the local Indians. The French became fur-traders, but never were interested in farming or the land it required. Their common interest with the Native people kept conflict down to personal antagonisms. Another French corps came up the Canadian River but turned-back because of the low water on their next trip.

The explorers were not in the New World for charitable purposes. Because of these natural resource developers, we have a good record of the occupants of our territory since 1719. Archaeological evidence shows people were here well before that time.

A quick recap to the earliest occupants of our fair land illustrates our rich history. The evidence continues from the Ice Age, about 11900 radiocarbon years ago. Paleo-Indians were the earliest known people. The Paleo people progressed into Clovis, Folsom, Dalton and other cultures.

Meso-Indians (also called Archaic-Indians) were the next sequence of pre- history occupants. Then came the mound builders about 3500 BC, contemporaries with the Egyptian pyramids and the early Mayan culture of Latin America.

Next, the Mississippian people, who had their capital at Spiro Mounds, were a highly developed culture who traded along the Ohio River in Pennsylvania to the Aztecs

Their descendants were the region, when forced out by us to the 1825 time-frame. in Mexico.

Caddo speaking people, who were still in the southeastern Indians travesty. This brings

“History is NOT for history’s sake. It is to tell the story.” –MOD

Think about the long linage of Original people who lived here. Remember the early European natural resource developers who were evicted so southeastern Native Americans were forced here. Individuals, regardless of cultural differences, eventually work out a tenable relationship, if not provoked by outside instigators. Most people just want to be left alone.

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Excerpts from our book:

Where Indians, Outlaws & Oilmen Were Real, ISBN: 9781658834643.