Oklahoma Journeys

Week of June 10, 2007

The Capitol Moves to Oklahoma City, 1910

It’s a Capitol decision this week on Oklahoma Journeys: Countdown to Centennial. Most Oklahomans know that Oklahoma City is the capitol of our state. Not everybody, however, knows the complete history of how the site of our capitol was chosen. It’s a story that lies somewhere between urban legend and reality and it’s the topic of this weeks Oklahoma Journeys from the Oklahoma Historical Society.

From the Oklahoma Historical Society, this is Oklahoma Journeys: Celebrating our Centennial. I'm Michael Dean.

There seems to be much myth and misinformation surrounding the decision to locate the Oklahoma capitol in Oklahoma City, so this week we're attempting to separate fact from fiction. During the territorial period from 1890 to 1907 the Territorial Capitol was Guthrie. Here the Legislature met, the Governor was in office and all the business of running a territory took place. The Enabling Act of 1906, the bill that allowed for statehood, stated that Guthrie should remain the capitol until 1913. By 1910, however, it was obvious that other cities were surpassing Guthrie in size and importance and some citizens began to push for a different location for the capitol. Oklahoma had included in its constitution the initiative and referendum component, meaning that citizens could, through their own action, place a question on a state ballot and put it to a vote of the people. This was a rather progressive concept at the time and the question of the state capitol became the first use of the initiative and referendum in Oklahoma. It was in this week of 1910 on June 11 that the question in a special ballot was put before the citizens of Oklahoma, “Should the state capitol be located at Guthrie, Shawnee or Oklahoma City?” When the counting was over Oklahoma City emerged victorious. Did Oklahoma City “steal” the capitol away from Guthrie? Not really, citizens voted to move the capitol and the decision was obvious by a fairly large margin of victory. With the voting barely finalized, but obvious, the state seal was moved from Guthrie to Oklahoma City. Not giving up without a fight, Guthrie claimed that although the capitol would move to Oklahoma City, the Enabling Act required that the move wait until 1913. In the US Supreme Court, though, it was decided that the Enabling Act could not prevent a state from moving the capitol location and that the move to Oklahoma City was legal. Slowly but steadily the various governmental agencies began moving south out of Guthrie with the state supreme court being the last to leave. The land that had been set aside in Guthrie for the state capitol building went unused and eventually was sold to the Masons. The fact that the state seal was moved without any ceremony and the fact that Guthrie officials were upset about the relocation might help to explain the continued myth that Oklahoma City somehow, “stole,” the seal from Guthrie. You can learn more about the states early history by visiting the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City on NE 23rd street just east of the state capitol. The History Center is open Monday thru Saturday from 9am to 5pm and Sundays from noon to 5pm. Oklahoma Journeys: Celebrating our Centennial is a production of the Oklahoma Historical Society dedicated to the collection, preservation and sharing of our state’s past. I'm Michael Dean.