Oklahoma Journeys
Week of September 9, 2007
First Statewide Elections, 1907
"Constitution is safe, Haskell is elected!" screamed the headline in the Daily Oklahoman. It was in this week of September 1907 that the territory took a giant step toward statehood by holding the election that named those who would formally take office once President Roosevelt signed the statehood proclamation, that's the big story this week on Oklahoma Journeys: Celebrating our Centennial from the Oklahoma Historical Society.
From the Oklahoma Historical Society, this is Oklahoma Journeys: Celebrating our Centennial. I'm Michael Dean.
On Tuesday, September 17, 1907, voters in the two territories went to the polls for the first time together as one united territory. They had to approve the final version of the state constitution and elect the men who would govern the new state once it became a state. And prohibition was a big issue in that first election as well. For weeks before the election the anti-Saloon League ran full-page ads in the state newspapers urging voters to approve prohibition. On the eve of the election, members of the Methodist-Episcopal and Christian churches in Oklahoma City brought thousands to march down Broadway in downtown Oklahoma City in support of the issue. Not to be outdone, the citizens League of Oklahoma, those opposed to prohibition, also ran full-page ads. In there ads, they pointed out that everyone knew the perils of liquor, but said that once the territory became a state, they could be controlled and that it was an issue of "home rule." That a local option on allowing or not allowing saloons with regulations and a high license fee would accomplish the same goals as the prohibitionists.
The governor's race was hard fought. Frank Frantz was appointed territorial governor by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Frantz served with Roosevelt's Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War. It was the Battle of San Juan Hill that brought Frantz to the attention of Lt. Col. Roosevelt, who recommended Frantz for the Silver Star medal for his gallantry under fire. That eventually led to then-President Roosevelt naming him Territorial Governor in 1906. Frantz's greatest battle occurred during the constitutional convention in November 1906-the issue was whether the constitution would include Jim Crow laws discriminatory toward blacks-both parties fought over the issue. Frantz warned that Roosevelt would not approve of a constitution that included discrimination. Frantz won the battle. Then there was the issue of prohibition. Haskell openly accused Frantz of drunkenness. All of this led to Election Day, September 17, 1907.
Would the voters approve the constitution? How would they vote on prohibition? Who would be elected governor?
On Wednesday September 18, 1907 the first returns were in. Final returns from all 71 counties (and that how many there were then 71, not the 77 we have now) those final returns weren't calculated until Friday of that week. But the early returns were accurate and true.
The constitution was approved by an overwhelming 80,000-vote margin. Charles N. Haskell was elected Governor by more than 30,000 votes over Frantz. Prohibition was approved by a margin of more than 35,000 votes. Interestingly enough, women were not allowed to vote in 1907, but voters in Oklahoma elected Kate Bernard commissioner of Charities and Corrections.
You can learn more about the events that led to statehood by visiting the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City on NE 23rd just east of the State Capitol. Oklahoma Journeys is a production of the Oklahoma Historical Society dedicated to collection, preservation and sharing of our state's past. I'm Michael Dean.