At one time this was going to become a sort of online OK History Textbook, replete with primary sources. That no longer seems… likely.
It’s still growing, however, so anything is possible. In the meantime, “Well, OK Then…” is a collection of Blue Cereal articles about Oklahoma History and related topics, and Primary Sources related to Oklahoma History formatted for potential use in class. To the best of my knowledge, I haven’t violated any sincere copyrights or whatever – and none of this is for sale or publication. It’s just history stuff to help us teach kids, and maybe ourselves a bit along the way.
You are welcome to use anything here – that is, after all, the whole point – as long as you keep in mind the part where none of this is compiled for anyone else to sell or distribute either. Most of the primary sources included are edited and formatted for classroom use and have a Printable PDF attached. For that matter, so do some of the other things, because why not?
- Well, OK Then… (Introduction)
- Thoughts on Primary Sources
- 1540s: Coronado (Why Don’t You Come To Your Senses?)
- Primary Source: Letter from Francisco Vasquez de Coronado to the King of Spain (1541)
- Coronado’s Letter (“What I AM Sure Of Is This…”) – Excerpts & Commentary
- Land Ownership and the Foundations of Democracy, Part One (What Made This Particular Destiny So Manifest?)
- Land Ownership and the Foundations of Democracy, Part Two (Westward, Ho!)
- This Land Is Whose Land?
- Primary Source: President Andrew Jackson’s Message to Congress On Indian Removal (1830) – Excerpts
- Cherokee Nation v. State of Georgia (1831) and Worcester v. Georgia (1832) – Background & Excerpts of the Supreme Court Decisions
- Primary Sources: Two Supreme Court Cases – Cherokee Tribe & State of Georgia
- 1830s: Chief John Ross vs. The Treaty of New Echota
- Primary Source: Letter from Chief John Ross of the Cherokee to the U.S. Congress (September 28, 1836)
- 1860s: The Civil War in I.T.
- Primary Sources: Reconstruction Treaties w/ the Five Civilized Tribes (1866)
- Primary Source: Elias C. Boudinot’s Letter Promoting the Opening of the Unassigned Lands (1879)
- Primary Source: “Payne’s Pretexts” (Indian Chieftain, Vinita, I.T. – May 22, 1884)
- Boomers & Sooners, Part One (The Unassigned Lands)
- Boomers & Sooners, Part Two (An Editorial, A Payne, and Some Booming)
- Boomers & Sooners, Part Three (Sooner Born and Sooner Bred)
- Primary Source: “The Story of Oklahoma” (The Nation – April 4, 1889)
- Primary Source: “Oklahoma” (The New York Times – April 19, 1889)
- Primary Source: “Oklahoma Opened To-Day” (New York Times – April 22, 1889)
- Primary Source: “Into Oklahoma At Last” (New York Times – April 23, 1889)
- Primary Source: “Honest Settlers Duped, Swindled By Officials In Oklahoma” (The New York Times – April 26, 1889)
- Primary Source: “In And Out Of Oklahoma” (The Nation – May 2, 1889)
- Primary Source: “The Rush To Oklahoma” (Harper’s Weekly – May 18, 1889)
- Primary Source: “The Brutality of Civilization” (The Nation – May 30, 1889)
- Primary Source: “The Story of Oklahoma” (The Chatauquan – June 1889)
- Primary Source: “The Romance of a ‘Land Boom’” (The Leisure Hour – July 1889)
- Primary Source: “The Blacks In Oklahoma” (The New York Times – April 9, 1891)
- “The Blacks In Oklahoma,” Part One (w/ Commentary)
- “The Blacks In Oklahoma,” Part Two (w/ Commentary)
- “The Blacks In Oklahoma,” Part Three (w/ Commentary)
- Primary Source: “The Negroes In Kansas” (The New York Times – January 25, 1892)
- Primary Source: “The Rainfall Follows The Plow” (The Watonga Republican – May 15, 1895)
- Helen Churchill Candee – An Introduction (1890s – 1900s)
- Nuptial Benedictions: The Divorce Industry in Oklahoma Territory (1890s – 1900s)
- HCC on Women in O.T. (1890s – 1900s)
- Primary Source: “In Oklahoma” (HCC – The Illustrated American – April 4, 1896)
- Primary Source: “Divorcons” (HCC – The Illustrated American – April 11, 1896)
- Primary Source: “The Birth Of Oklahoma” (New York Times – April 26, 1896)
- Primary Source: WJB’s “Cross of Gold” Speech (July 1896)
- Let’s Have A (Populist) Party!
- Primary Source: “Social Conditions In Our Newest Territory” (The Forum, June 1898 – HCC)
- Primary Source: “Oklahoma Claims” (Lippencott’s Monthly Magazine – July 1898 – HCC)
- Primary Source: “While You Wait” (The Smart Set, June 1900)
- Primary Source: “Oklahoma” (The Atlantic – September 1900)
- Primary Source: “A Chance In Oklahoma” (Harper’s Weekly, 1901)
- “A Chance In Oklahoma,” Part One (w/ Commentary)
- “A Chance In Oklahoma,” Part Two (w/ Commentary)
- 1921: The Tulsa Race Riots (by Randy Krehbiel)
- 1921: The Tulsa Race Riot (by Scott Ellsworth)
- Primary Source: “Tulsa” (The Nation – June 15th, 1921)
- Primary Source: “The Lesson of Tulsa” (The Outlook – June 15th, 1921)
- Primary Source: From “The Week” (The New Republic – June 15th, 1921)
- Primary Source: “Mob Fury And Race Hatred As A National Danger” (The Literary Digest – June 18th, 1921)
- Primary Source: “The Tulsa Race Riots” (The Independent – June 18, 1921)
- Primary Source: “The Eruption of Tulsa” (The Nation – June 29th, 1921)
- Primary Source: Editorial – TRR Investigation (The Nation – August 10th, 1921)
- Primary Source: “Red River War” (Time Magazine – 1931)