A Fluid Frontier: Minority and Ethnic Groups and Opportunity in Oklahoma
Middle Easterners on the Frontier
“Middle Eastern” is a term that refers to land in the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf. “Middle Easterners” can be people from many different countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and many more locations.
It is important to recognize that just like Europe and North America have many ethnicities, there are many ethnic backgrounds that make up the Middle East.
A few traveling “peddlers” (image courtesy of the Library of Congress).20
Business on the Frontier
The first Middle Easterners in present Oklahoma came in the late nineteenth century. Many of these early immigrants began in business. A number of stores in the mining towns were operated by people of Middle Eastern background.
A practice called peddling proved common in the days of the frontier. Stores on the frontier were few and not always close to those who lived outside of town. Since this makes shopping more difficult, stores often sold products to individuals who then traveled across the territory to the more remote locations and resold products to the people there. These traveling salesmen earned the name “peddlers.” Many Middle Easterners became peddlers on the frontier.
By the time the 1900 census was taken, one hundred people identified as Syrians lived in Oklahoma and Indian Territories.
