Commerce in Oklahoma
Commerce in Indian Territory
Forced removal from their native lands, combined with treaties and agreements, brought the arrival of the Five Tribes to Indian Territory in the first half of the 19th century. Some white citizens believed the newly established Indian Territory was the solution to the “Indian Problem.” The Five Tribes were the Choctaw, Cherokee, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Muscogee (Creek) Nations. With them came enslaved people, cattle, cotton, and conflict. Tribes that previously lived thousands of miles apart were now forced to occupy smaller sections of land within Indian Territoryon land already settled by tribes indigenous to the area: the Caddo, Wichita, and Osage. Through the use of slaves, some members of the Five Tribes saw economic success and became wealthy. The Choctaw were the first to plant cotton and took advantage of the free labor obtained through slavery to contribute to trade on a global scale.
Cherokee Farming and Animal Husbandry by Olga Mohr, located in a post office in Stilwell, Oklahoma (image courtesy National Postal Museum).
A Freedmen cabin in Okmulgee, Indian Territory, c. 1898-1901 (15816, Aylesworth Album Collection, OHS)
While the Five Tribes established themselves in Indian Territory, US soldiers were stationed at Fort Gibson, among other forts, with orders to maintain peace and facilitate the arrival of the eastern tribes. Fort Gibson was built on the Arkansas River and relied on steamboats for transporting goods, people, and supplies. A relatively new creation, steamboats were a fast and inexpensive opportunity to expand trade. Cotton and other goods from Indian Territory traveled via steamboat to international seaports in the east and, from there, were shipped to New England or Europe. Steamboats were a major source of transportation for several decades until railroad expansion brought a more reliable form of fast travel.
Barracks at Fort Gibson, Indian Territory (12625.0, Heye Foundation Collection, OHS).
The cattle industry arrived in the Indian Territory with the Five Tribes from the east. Due to tribes’ communal land ownership practices, large herds of livestock could openly graze massive tracts of land. The herds saw explosive growth for two decades until the California gold rush in the 1850s brought a new market. The new consumers purchased the surplus, creating balance. The cattle industry grew rapidly for two decades and transformed by the end of the Civil War.
Steamboat in the late 1800s (image courtesy Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library).
