Today marks the 104th statehood anniversary of Oklahoma. On June 16, 1906 Congress passed HR 12707, which enabled the people of the Indian and Oklahoma Territories to form a state constitution and state government and to be admitted into the Union on equal footing with the existing states. Included in the bill file for HR 12707 is the pamphlet pictured above. It was submitted as evidence that the people in the territories were primed for statehood.
On September 17, 1907 the people of the Indian and Oklahoma Territories voted favorably on statehood. The vote was certified and delivered to the President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt issued Presidential Proclamation 780 admitting Oklahoma as the forty-sixth state on November 16.
To find out more about Oklahoma Statehood records at the Center for Legislative Archives, visit our featured article on Oklahoma Statehood.
HR 12707, HR 59A-D28, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives
Cover of pamphlet, 1906, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives
Humorist, actor and social commentator Will Rogers was born in Indian Territory (now present-day Oklahoma) on November 4, 1879.
