The Washington herald., 1907-11-08

have People came to this new State
metropolis from every quarter of the
globe Each one missed something that
he had enjoyed back home" He set
about supplying the want. and was helped
by his neighbors. In turn. he aided the
neighbors to obtain those things which
they missed
The women from New Haven and
Quincy longed for their beloved shade
trees They got them. A man from the
81. Lawrence valley had lived, when
boy, in boat. winding about among q
thousand islands. He missed the old fun,
and said so. Therefore Oklahoma City
mas a great chain Of artificial lakes and
canals. surrounding many pretty little is
lands, and provided with many canoes
and row boats. And SO it has been from
the beginning What Oklahoma did not
a1ord naturally has been given 10 II from
the resourceful storehouse of American
ingenuity.
And so it was with a history. Okla
homa was painfully shy on history
Among the thousands who accepted the
invitation 70 open these vast plains %
the march OF civilization were those men
who, in every community, indulge them
selves In the profitable recreation of find
ing and preserving the annals of the
community. The hosts Of historians.
augmented by those whose curiosity was
piqued by adventuring into new fields.
looked about them In Oklahoma. and
there was nothing upon which TO feed
their hungry minds. Something must be
done. II was. The little newspapers
winch had sprung up all over the Ter
ritory began discussion as TO the mean
ing o: the word oklahoma" Instantly
the historians who had so huugered were
divided into two schools. The same old
division which has existed since Cadmus
sowed the dragons teeth-the school
romantic and the school prosaic. the one
eulogistic and the other iconoclastic
That school which firmly believed that
King Alfred did let the cakes burn; that
William Tell did shoot the apple. and
that the Maid of Orleans was burned at
the stake, set up the claim that the word
Oklahoma meant "the land of the
fair god" Now here was a great chance
for nice opening chapter for the his !
tory-to-be- But the other school fell upon !
that definition, even as others of their |
feather have assaulted the stories OF /
Alfred's bad cooking. OF Tells marks |
manship. and Joan OF Arcs martyrdom |
They opened fire on the romantic school !
and proved. by some three of four nun
dred Indians who lived right on the spot, |
that the word oklahoma" meant red |
men"
SO it happened in the fullness of time, |
when Oklahoma Territory was four years
old and able 10 walk alone. that the Ter |
r.torial press association met and organ /
lied the Oklahoma Historical Society. |
Two years later. when the Territory was
six years old and big enough 70 go to
school. the Legislature made the society
a public institution. The State Leglsla- |
ture will continue Il. and the work will |
20 on. Perhaps Il was because Of the |
initial victory in the discussion OF the |
meaning of the name Of the Territory
that the conservative class obtained con /
troll At any rate, the custodian Of the /
archives of the society takes no stock in !
the Walter Scott and Jane Porter vintage /
of history. He IS William =. Campbell. a
veteran OF the weekly press and a Kansas /
Republican. He INDUCES in shOrt-story
writing 60 satisfy his desire for romance. |
and thus keeps the gingerbread" work !
out of his history.
In the Carnage Library in Oklahoma /
City he has his retreat. into which he has I
gathered everything that has to do with /
the history Of the eighteen-year-Oid Ter
rtory of Oklahoma. Knowing that the |
State. when it was formed probably /
would include the Indian Territory also 4
he has collected the documents of the /
five civilized tribes. All of this mass Of 1
stun is carefully filed and bound accu- I
rately catalogued and in readiness for the 4
student so soon as time. which will not /
gallOp under the spur as history has /
been made to do, yellows the edges with |
the years that will come when those who /
have made the record are long since |
gone.
Not long ago the people OF Iowa became |
much interested in the search for docu- |
ments which would shed some light on /
the personnel and the transactions OF the /
first constitutional convention OF that |
State. The few documents that could be /
found were carefully brought together |
and interpreted. muchr as the ancient |
Egyptian inscriptions are read-most of II /
between the lines. Only a little over a |
hundred years ago the mountaineers of |
East Tennessee seeded from North Caro-
Ina and organized the State of Frank
land. Important as that event was in
the history Of the country, but few OF its
documents are preserved. Because there
was nobody 10 guard the interests OF fu-
ture historians. the question Of the au-
thenticity Of the MeckIenburg declaration
OF independence has been in debate for
ninety years
The Oklahoma Historical Society is not
writing history II is helping TO make it. |
Every act OF the late constitutional con-
ventlon IS preserved in documents. The
full proceedings on the floor are supple.
mented with hundreds OF private letters
newspaper articles, interviews. and the
like. Just 20 prove that he is not averse
TO romance In history, IL il be authentic |
Mr.. Campbell made the pen with which
the delegates signed their names to the |
official copy Of the fundamental law of
the new State.
This pen he will sacredly preserve as
chief among the relics Of the era OF ad-
mission TO the Union. II is made OF thir-
teen stems Of alfalfa, which were grown
on the farm of William III. Murray, presi-
dent OF the convention. These are bound 4
together by silk grown in Oklahoma and
fed on Oklahoma mClberTies, the cocoons
OF two silk-worms serving as ferules.
The pen itself Is A quill taken from an
Oklahoma eagle.
That the State constitutional convention
shared in this feeling OF State historic
pride is apparent from that section OF the
providing for the great seal
Of the State. The seal. as decreed by
the constitution, bears a large five-pointed
ono rav uoutpd inward /