Indian Territory

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Indian Territory

The Indian Territory, also known as The Indian Country, The Indian territory or the Indian territories, was land set aside within the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
for the use of Native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii....
.

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The Indian Territory, also known as The Indian Country, The Indian territory or the Indian territories, was land set aside within the United States

United States

Native Americans in the United States

Indian Intercourse Act

The Indian Intercourse Acts were several acts passed by the United States Congress regulating commerce between Native Americans in the United States and non-Indians and restricting travel by non-Indians onto Indian land....
of 1834. It was more properly "Indian territory" (lower-case T) than "Indian Territory" (capital T) because the name referred to the unorganized

Unorganized territory

An unorganized territory is a region of land, generally with less self-governmental powers than other regions, controlled by a specific government....
lands set aside for Native Americans, as opposed to an organized territory meant for settlement by Europeans.

The Indian Territory had its roots in the British

British colonization of the Americas

British colonization of the Americas began in the late 16th century, before reaching its peak after colonies were established throughout the Americas, and a protectorate was established over the Kingdom of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean....
Royal Proclamation of 1763

Royal Proclamation of 1763

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by George III of the United Kingdom following Kingdom of Great Britain's acquisition of New France in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War....
, which limited white settlement to Crown lands east of the Appalachian Mountains

Appalachian Mountains

The Appalachian Mountains or , often called the Appalachians, are a vast mountain range in eastern North America. Definitions vary on the precise boundaries of the Appalachians....
. Indian Territory was reduced under British administration and again after the American Revolution

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , also known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Thirteen Colonies on the North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers....
, until it included only lands west of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
.

At the time of the American Revolution, many Native American tribes had long-standing relationships with the British, but a less developed relationship with the American rebels. After the defeat of the British, the Americans twice invaded the Ohio Country

Ohio Country

The Ohio Country was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie....
and were twice defeated. They finally defeated a Native American confederacy at the Battle of Fallen Timbers

Battle of Fallen Timbers

The Battle of Fallen Timbers was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between American Indians in the United Statess and the United States for control of the Northwest Territory ....
in 1794, imposing the unfavorable Treaty of Greenville

Treaty of Greenville

The Treaty of Greenville was signed at Fort Greenville , on August 3, 1795, between a coalition of Native Americans in the United States and the United States following the Native American loss at the Battle of Fallen Timbers....
, which ceded most of what is now Ohio, part of what is now Indiana

Indiana

The State of Indiana was the 19th U.S. state admitted into the union. It is located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America....
, and the present day sites of Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
and Detroit

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Wayne County, Michigan. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwestern United States of the United States....
to the United States.

The Indian Territory served as the destination for the policy of Indian Removal

Indian Removal

Indian Removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to Ethnic cleansing Native Americans in the United States tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river....
, a policy pursued intermittently by American presidents

President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
early in the nineteenth century, but aggressively pursued by President Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States . He was List of governors of Florida of Florida , commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans , and eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy....
after the passage of the Indian Removal Act

Indian Removal Act

The Indian Removal Act, part of a United States government policy known as Indian removal, was signed into law by President of the United States Andrew Jackson on May 26, 1830.-19), the U.S....
of 1830. The Five Civilized Tribes

Five Civilized Tribes

The Five Civilized Tribes is the term applied to five Native Americans in the United States nations, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek , and Seminole, considered civilized by white settlers during that time period because they adopted many of the colonists' customs and had generally good relations with their neighbors....
in the South were the most prominent tribes displaced by the policy, a relocation that came to be known as the Trail of Tears

Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears was the relocation and movement of Native Americans in the United States in the United States from their homelands to Indian Territory in the Western United States....
in regards to the Cherokee. The trail ended in what is now Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States of the United States. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River....
and Oklahoma, where there were already many Native Americans living in the territory, as well as whites and escaped slaves. Other tribes, such as the Delaware

Lenape

The Lenape are organized bands of Native Americans in the United States peoples with shared cultural and linguistic characteristics.These are the people who are living in what is now New Jersey and along the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, the northern shore of Delaware, and the lower Hudson Valley and New York Harbor in New York, at the t...
, Cheyenne

Cheyenne

Cheyenne are a native Americans in the United States nation of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united Indian tribe, the S?'taa'e and the Ts?-ts?h?st?hese , which translates to "those like us"....
, and Apache were also forced to relocate to the Indian territory.

The Five Civilized Tribes set up towns such as Tulsa

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population in the United States. With an estimated population of 384,037 in 2007, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 905,755 residents projected to reach one million between 2010 and 2012....
, Ardmore

Ardmore, Oklahoma

Ardmore is a business, cultural and tourism city in and the county seat of Carter County, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2007 census estimates, the city had a population of 24,625, while a 2007 estimate has the Ardmore Ardmore micropolitan area totaling 56,694 residents....
, Tahlequah

Tahlequah, Oklahoma

Tahlequah is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States located at the foot hills of the Ozark Mountains. The population was 14,458 at the United States Census, 2000....
, Tishomingo

Tishomingo, Oklahoma

Tishomingo is a city in Johnston County, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,162 at the United States Census, 2000. It is the county seat of Johnston County, Oklahoma....
, Muskogee

Muskogee, Oklahoma

Muskogee is a city in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States. It is the county seat of Muskogee County, Oklahoma. The population was 38,310 at the 2000 United States Census, making it the eleventh largest city in Oklahoma....
, and others, which often became some of the larger towns in the state. They also brought their African slave

Slavery

Slavery is a form of forced labor where a person is compelled to Labor for another . Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive Remuneration in return for their labor....
s to Oklahoma, which added to the African-American population in the state. Members of these tribes fought primarily on the side of the Confederacy

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America formed as the government set up from 1861 to 1865 by eleven Southern United States U.S. state of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S....
during the American Civil War in Indian territory

Indian Territory in the American Civil War

During the American Civil War, Indian Territory occupied most of what is now the U.S. state of Oklahoma and served as an unorganized territory set aside for Native American tribes of the Southeastern United States that had been Indian Removal....
. Following the Battle of Doaksville

Battle of Doaksville

The Battle of Doaksville of was the last battle of the American Civil War. Cherokee Brigadier General Stand Watie was the last Confederate States of America to surrender, and he did so at the battle, which took place in the Indian Territory on June 23, 1865....
, Brigadier General Stand Watie

Stand Watie

Stand Watie was a leader of the Cherokee and a Brigadier General of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He commanded the Confederate Indian cavalry of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi made up mostly of Cherokee, Creek and Seminole....
, a Confederate commander of the Cherokee nation, became the last Confederate general to surrender in the American Civil War on 23 June 1865.

In time, the Indian Territory was gradually reduced to what is now Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a U.S. state and a sovereignty located in the South Central United States and Southern United States of the United States of America ....
; then, with the organization of Oklahoma Territory

Oklahoma Territory

Oklahoma Territory was an organized territory of the United States from May 2, 1890 until November 16, 1907, when Oklahoma became the 46th U.S....
in 1890, to just the eastern half of the area. The citizens of Indian Territory tried, in 1905, to gain admission to the union as the State of Sequoyah

State of Sequoyah

The State of Sequoyah was the proposed name for what proved to be an abortive attempt by Native Americans in the United States in the early years of the 20th century to establish a U.S....
, but were rebuffed by Congress and Administration who did not want two new Western states, Sequoyah and Oklahoma. Citizens then joined to seek admission of a single state to the Union. With Oklahoma statehood in November 1907, Indian Territory was extinguished.

Many Native Americans continue to live in Oklahoma, especially in the eastern part.

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Indian Territory

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