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THE development of the West has undergone various stages, both in kind and intensity, but the thread which is woven through all of these phases is the plight of the Indians and their interaction with the white settlers. The attitudes of both during the nineteenth century were generally belligerent, and the "Indian problem" became a subject of many legislative sessions and presidential concerns.

During the two terms of Andrew Jackson, a period in which this country traveled far from the principles of Jeffersonian democracy, the frontier emerged as an important aspect of our political development. As the westward movement progressed, it necessitated the exodus of Indians from that territory and they were steadily encouraged, via treaty and force, to inhabit an area beyond the reach of the white settlers. One group that was affected by this movement was composed of "the five civilized tribes" and they were eventually pushed into a large section in the West and Southwest, known as Indian Territory. Several of these tribes gave support to the Confederacy during the War Between the States, and governmental policy underwent a metamorphosis following the culmination of this calamity. The treaty of 1866 punished some tribes by causing them to sell millions of their acres to the U. S. Government at averages of fifteen cents and thirty cents an acre. Other friendly tribes were encouraged to inhabit this area after the Creeks and the Seminoles had given up more than five million acres. Although most of the areas were assigned to the other tribes, two million unassigned acres became known as the Oklahoma District. The military was empowered to keep out all settlers from this territory.

While the population was increasing throughout the country after the Civil War, the area surrounding this district made most extraordinary advances. Between 1870 and 1890 population increased threefold in Texas and fourfold in Kansas. The importance of grazing, the discovery of coal, and the admission of railroads into the five nations, augmented a demand for the opening of this uninhabited land to settlers.

In 1889 a two-million acre tract in the Oklahoma Territory was thrown open literally on a first come basis. Tens of thousands of pioneers and adventurers trekked westward by covered wagon, train, horse and foot in order to be in position at that particular hour to apply for land. As far as the eye could see on that historic day there was the vast assemblage of new settlers, and no one could doubt the importance land had for them. There were eleven thousand sections consisting of 160 acres, but so great was the influx that only about a tenth were rewarded with a lot. Title required tenancy over a five-year period or for only fourteen months if $1.25 per acre were paid. No previous surveying had occurred, nor were there any provisions for laws or courts or organized government. Confusion reigned. Further migration led to the development of the Oklahoma Territory and its statehood in 1907. Free and inexpensive land was a prime factor in the state's growth, and Oklahoma is but one of many states that have been influenced by this type of land title and tenure.