"Peculiarly Situated Between Rebellion and Loyalty": Civilized Tribes, Savagery, and the American Civil War (open access)

"Peculiarly Situated Between Rebellion and Loyalty": Civilized Tribes, Savagery, and the American Civil War

Article discusses the concept of "savagism" in the context of participation of the "Five Civilized Tribes" in the Civil War. Tom L. Franzmann investigates details and accounts of brutal practices conducted by both white and American Indian soldiers during the war and deconstructs the ideas that perpetrated society during the time.
Date: Summer 1998
Creator: Franzmann, Tom L.
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
With Folded Arms? Or with Squirrel Guns? The IWW and the Green Corn Rebellion (open access)

With Folded Arms? Or with Squirrel Guns? The IWW and the Green Corn Rebellion

Article discusses the uprising that became known as the Green Corn Rebellion, an organization of tenant farmers in the Working Class Union to protest draft laws. Nigel Sellars examines its lack of connection with the Industrial Workers of the World despite public anti-radicalist assumptions.
Date: Summer 1999
Creator: Sellars, Nigel Anthony
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
Now the Wolf Has Come: The Civilian Civil War in the Indian Territory (open access)

Now the Wolf Has Come: The Civilian Civil War in the Indian Territory

Article provides documentation of personal experiences from those living in Indian Territory during the Civil War to illustrate its disastrous effects on the lives of individual citizens.
Date: Spring 1993
Creator: Warde, Mary Jane
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
Rehearsal for Civil War: The Texas Cavalry in the Indian Territory, 1861 (open access)

Rehearsal for Civil War: The Texas Cavalry in the Indian Territory, 1861

Article explores the skirmishes led by Texas cavalry units and their Indian allies in the south that acted as a precursor for a much larger conflict, the Civil War. Douglas Hale investigates how loyalties to the different armies caused intertribal conflict and damage to Indian Territory.
Date: Autumn 1990
Creator: Hale, Douglas
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
The Closing of Cordell Christian College: A Microcosm of American Intolerance during World War I (open access)

The Closing of Cordell Christian College: A Microcosm of American Intolerance during World War I

Article investigates the closing of Cordell Christian College due to its perceived antiwar sentiments during World War I. Michael W. Casey explores the attitudes in Oklahoma at the time and the vigilantism that occurred in the name of patriotism.
Date: Spring 1998
Creator: Casey, Michael W.
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
Snakes and Scribes: The Dawes Commission and the Enrollment of the Creeks (open access)

Snakes and Scribes: The Dawes Commission and the Enrollment of the Creeks

Article explores the factionalism that occurred within the Creek Nation during the enrollment process of the Dawes Commission in the late nineteenth century, as well as the events surrounding the "Crazy Snake" rebellion led by Chitto Harjo.
Date: Winter 1997
Creator: Carter, Kent
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
"Softened as into a Dream": The Letters of Robert B. Huston, Oklahoma Rough Rider (open access)

"Softened as into a Dream": The Letters of Robert B. Huston, Oklahoma Rough Rider

Article examines the experience of the Oklahoma Rough Rider through the life and correspondence of one such participant in the Spanish-American War, Robert Bell Huston.
Date: Spring 1998
Creator: Todd, Joe L.
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
Butternut and Blue: Confederate Uniforms in the Trans-Mississippi (open access)

Butternut and Blue: Confederate Uniforms in the Trans-Mississippi

Article describes the issues faced by the Confederate Army when their government could not supply uniforms for the troops while they were in the field, contributing to their ragtag appearance. Whit Edwards dwells on some of the difficulties this caused, including the yellowed look of unlaundered uniforms creating the "butternut" nickname for troops.
Date: Winter 1995
Creator: Edwards, Whit
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
Crisis of Command: The Hindman/Pike Controversy over the Defense of the Trans-Mississippi District (open access)

Crisis of Command: The Hindman/Pike Controversy over the Defense of the Trans-Mississippi District

Article describes the conflict that occurred between two Confederate officers, General Thomas C. Hindman and General Albert Pike, over the defense of Indian Territory. Thomas W. Kremm and Diane Neal discuss how this conflict impacted the military situation in the area.
Date: Spring 1992
Creator: Kremm, Thomas W. & Neal, Diane
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
Occupying the Middle Ground: African Creeks in the First Indian Home Guard, 1862-1865 (open access)

Occupying the Middle Ground: African Creeks in the First Indian Home Guard, 1862-1865

Article explores the participation of the first African Americans to join the federal army in the Civil War, the First Indian Home Guard. This regiment was a tri-racial unit in which free blacks and former slaves served many roles, including the role of translator for Creek and Seminole soldiers.
Date: Spring 1998
Creator: Zellar, Gary
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
Comanche Captives: People Between Two Worlds (open access)

Comanche Captives: People Between Two Worlds

Article illustrates the history of conflict between white and Hispanic settlers and the Comanche Indians, providing details about the Comanche practice of raiding forts and taking human captives to trade for goods. Michael Tate explores some of the literature written by survivors of captivity as well as some of the related conflicts that occured.
Date: Autumn 1994
Creator: Tate, Michael L.
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
Deadly Currents: John Ross's Decision of 1861 (open access)

Deadly Currents: John Ross's Decision of 1861

Article expounds on the situation Chief John Ross faced as leader of the Cherokees during the Civil War. Ari Kelman provides details about factionalism within the Cherokee Nation, the impossibility of neutrality during wartime with pressures from both Federal and Confederate armies, and the personal political intentions of the Cherokee leader.
Date: Spring 1995
Creator: Kelman, Ari
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
Indian Soldiers for the Gray Army: Confederate Recruitment in Indian Territory (open access)

Indian Soldiers for the Gray Army: Confederate Recruitment in Indian Territory

Article describes the history of alliances some Indian nations made with Confederate forces during the Civil War and examines the reasons for the alliances, which included connections, the promise of economic wealth, and threats of land removal.
Date: Summer 1991
Creator: Graves, William H.
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
William Penn Adair: Cherokee Slaveholder and Indian Freedom Advocate (open access)

William Penn Adair: Cherokee Slaveholder and Indian Freedom Advocate

Article explores the seemingly paradoxical life of William Penn Adair, a mixed-blood Cherokee who was both a slaveholder at one point and an advocate for the rights of American Indians. Paul Kelton draws connections between these two aspects of his life and investigates the meaning behind his beliefs.
Date: Spring 1999
Creator: Kelton, Paul
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
The Best City in the Best Country: Enid's Golden Ear, 1916-1941 (open access)

The Best City in the Best Country: Enid's Golden Ear, 1916-1941

Article explores the "golden era" of Enid, Oklahoma, exploring the factors that contributed to its rise as one of the most prosperous cities in the region, which included the construction of railroads and the impact of the oil industry.
Date: Summer 1998
Creator: Turner, Alvin O. & Gailey, Vicky L.
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
All that Glitters, Assaying S. H. Logan's "Trip to the Gold Fields" (open access)

All that Glitters, Assaying S. H. Logan's "Trip to the Gold Fields"

Article provides a thorough examination of S.H. Logan's "Trip to the Gold Fields," an account allegedly compiled from the writings of an emigrant who had joined Captain Randolph B. Marcy on a gold-seeking expedition to California, which was published in the Arkansas Gazette in 1941. Since it has been cited as a primary source, Stephen H. Dew exposes certain areas of the account that may be fabricated in comparison to more factual and evidentiary sources.
Date: Autumn 1993
Creator: Dew, Stephen H.
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
"Now Let Him Enforce It": Exploring the Myth of Andrew Jackson's Response to Worcester v. Georgia (1832) (open access)

"Now Let Him Enforce It": Exploring the Myth of Andrew Jackson's Response to Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

Article explores Andrew Jackson's reaction to John Marshall's ruling in the case of Worcester v. Georgia, a ruling that seemingly validated Cherokee claims to their territory in Georgia. Mark R. Scherer describes the proceedings of the case, as well as the contradictory result of the Cherokees being forced from their land, and the impact of the president's apathy.
Date: Spring 1996
Creator: Scherer, Mark R.
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History