Foot-loose and fancy-free By Angie Debo

Oklahoma judges regularly appointed guardians who had no interest in the children they were assigned to protect but were passionately interested in stealing their inheritances. Kate uncovered dozens of schemes to cheat Indians. In one case, a sixteen-year-old Indian boy was kidnapped and forced to marry a local prostitute. The marriage legally established his status as an adult. The men who staged the kidnapping then made him sign over the deed to his land. With this information in hand, Kate decided to undertake a probe of the orphans in Oklahoma’s asylums. She discovered hundreds of Indian children who had been turned out to fend for themselves after their lands were taken from them by court-appointed guardians.

Infuriated by these injustices, Kate Barnard went before the state legislature and demanded that the Department of Charities and Corrections be given the right to intervene on behalf of any Indian whose estate was being mismanaged. She was about adults as well as children. Many adult Indians could not read or write and did not understand business procedures.

For the first time in her political life, Kate Barnard had a hard time mustering a majority. Some of the most respected men in the Oklahoma Legislature were either profiting from the Indian land frauds or had powerful friends who were getting rich from them. Almost every guardian had a half dozen or more children under his supposed supervision.

A few Oklahomans were delighted with Kate’s work. Most, however, were not very enthusiastic about it and as the probes continued and a number of influential men were implicated, Kate’s popularity began to decline. The state legislature moved quickly to quiet the investigation.

Additionally, the legislature was considering a reduction in the budget of Kate’s Department of Charities and Corrections. Kate recognized political blackmail when she saw it. If she continued her investigation she would lose her funding. Unwilling to compromise, Kate found herself with no money to pay her staff. For the first time, Kate also found she was unable to tell her side of the story in the newspapers. Reporters avoided her. The publishers had joined the ugly conspiracy. They too had friends involved in the land frauds.

Kate tried to keep her office open with $350 of her own money and a few hundred more borrowed from friends. Behind the scenes she fought desperately to get another vote on an emergency vote from the state legislature. But the men in charge of Oklahoma’s politics talked about how the state budget had doubled in four years and hypocritically insisted that the elimination of Kate’s department was “necessary.” Kate Barnard finally had to accept the bitter truth. The Department of Charities and Corrections had ceased to exist.

Using the income from some property that her father had left her at his death in 1909 and the money she collected at fund-raising speeches, Kate organized a “People’s Lobby.” For the next twenty years Kate continued to speak out for the Indians, but it was not an issue on which she could rebuild he shattered political career. She became more and more affected by a disfiguring skin disease and nervous exhaustion. She died in 1930 at the age of 55, a defeated, forgotten name in Oklahoma. Two histories of the state, both published by the University of Oklahoma, did not even mention her name. They also failed to mention anything about Oklahoma’s robbing Indians.

Kate Barnard died thinking of herself as a failure. But the cause for which she fought did not die. In 1926, a growing chorus of critics persuaded the government to fund a study by the Brookings Institution to see how the Indians were faring under the land allotment system. The findings, published in 1928 and confirmed through a long, thorough Congressional investigation, stunned the nation. Poverty, starvation, humiliation, had become a way of life for tens of thousands of Indians.

In 1887, they had owned 138 million acres of land. By 1934, their holdings had shrunk to 47 million. In Oklahoma, the land belonging to the largest tribes had dwindled from 19.5 million acres to 1.5 million. It would be nice to say that all the injustices that Kate Barnard had fought have been rectified. But this is an imperfect world. At least her gallant voice, ignored in her own time, can be heard by courageous men and women of another era. She is one more example of a woman of courage transcending the limitation of her time and place.

Sooner Socialism
By W. David Baird and Danney Goble³⁸
Rich and Poor
Social class was a significant feature affecting early Oklahomans’ lives. Oklahoman’s liked to claim that the defining quality of their brand new state was the equality of all, but no one could deny that many families occupied a status considerably different than most. Even Oklahoma had its elites—some of whom, like the oil giant E.W. Marland, would have been considered upper-class anywhere in America. Though of much more modest standing, at least some in every community were blessed with wealth and comfort that separated them from their fellow residents.

That is hardly surprising. What may be startling is how very poor so very many early Oklahomans were. This was particularly true across the former Indian Territory, where the grafting of land allotments had serious consequences for not only Indians but everyone else as well. One consequence was that a few were able to take control of huge parcels of land. Another was that many were unable to own land at all. Instead, they rented it, usually in an arrangement known as sharecropping. What made it especially hard for them is that the crop was almost always cotton (many landlords would not allow their tenants to grow anything else), and cotton prices often barely covered the cost of production.

In no county in eastern Oklahoma did anything like one-half of the farmers own their own land. In many, not even one-tenth did. By the time the sharecropper had paid the cost of ginning the cotton, had given the landlord his share, and had paid off his debts at the local store, he could be left with little, if any, cash income.

Oklahomans who note how conservative their state has become may be astonished to learn just how strong socialism once was—particularly when the look at it from the vantage point of the collapse of socialism in eastern Europe and in the former Soviet Union. Such comparisons, however natural, are unfair. Oklahoma’s early socialists faced problems unknown to later generations and they advocated solutions completely unlike those that later failed so dismally in Communist nations. These were desperately poor people—people so poor and so desperate that they were ready to replace what they regarded as an evil economic, social, and political system with a socialist alternative.

Increasing numbers of Oklahoma’s farmers faced real want in the early years of statehood. This large class of the rural poor provided a fertile field for early socialism within Oklahoma. Socialists believed that the state’s Democratic officials not only could not solve their problems but also added to them. In particular, they believed that the state’s political elite had joined hands with its economic elite to force poverty upon the masses. In joining the Socialist Party (also known as the Working Class Union), they were in open revolt against that combined elite, the elite that they described as “the parasites in the electric light towns.”

Theirs was not a violent revolt. Rather, they appealed to voters to mark their ballots for Socialist Party candidates who pledged to promote fundamental changes: for publicly owned cooperatives, state credit for farmers, the forced breakup of great land estates, and the like.

Those appeals fell on fertile soil. In every election from statehood in 1907 to World War I in 1914, the Socialist vote at least doubled in Oklahoma. As early as 1910, Oklahoma had more Socialist Party members than did any state in the union, even more than New York, although the Empire State had seven times Oklahoma’s population. By the outbreak of the First World War, one out of every five Oklahomans was voting for Socialist candidates and electing them to the state legislature and to dozens of county and local offices. Particularly in the southern counties, the party was unusually strong. Drawing over one-third of the vote, the Socialists passed the Republicans to become the Democrats’ chief opposition in that large section of the state.
The First World War
This opposition did not survive the world war. One reason was that the war’s demand for farm products briefly pushed prices up to record levels. The temporary easing of the farmer’s plight took much wind from the Socialists’ sails. The larger explanation, however, was that the war gave state officials the opportunity to blast their vessel from the water. Because many Socialists opposed America’s participation in the war, and a few openly campaigned against it, their more powerful rivals were able to tar the entire party with the brush of “disloyalty,” even treason. This was especially the case after the Socialists became associated with several random acts of violence, as well as an episode known as the Green Corn Rebellion.

In the first summer of America’s involvement in World War I, a poorly organized band of farmers in the Canadian River valley took up arms, proclaiming the intent of marching on Washington to force peace on the government. The revolt took its odd name from the rebels’ supposed diet as they were marching along the way.

Few ever got beyond their home counties, and their pitiable forces were easily crushed by local sheriffs and the state militia (national guard). Still, the audacity of the deed was all that many Oklahomans needed for hysteria. Warmly supported by public opinion, state authorities proceeded to shut down Socialist newspapers and jail the party’s leaders—most of whom had no relationship at all to the pathetic rebellion. By the end of World War I, Oklahoma’s Socialist party was virtually dead.

The Green Corn Rebellion

Makes the News
Ada Weekly News August 2, 1917

To Resist Draft Law—Organization thought to exist in several counties in OK

That there is a wrong organization in Pontotoc, Seminole, Pottawatomie, and perhaps other counties, the purpose of which is to resist the draft law, is the opinion of Pontotoc County officials. Acting upon evidence collected the office of Sheriff Bob Duncan and county Attorney A.L. Bullock the federal authorities today took into custody Sam Bingham, Geo. Norman, Ernest Johnson, Jim Hammett Sr., and a Mr. Wilson, all of Francis or near that place. These will probably by lodged in the federal jail at Holdenville or Muskogee.

Sheriff Bob Duncan and Deputy U.S. Marshall Frank Whally made the arrests. The men charged with trying to incite young men in the draft age to resist the call to arms, urging the young men to defend themselves with weapons. A large meeting, it is said, was held Saturday night in a grove not far from Francis. And the attended was something like one hundred men and boys. Some of the boys refused to enter into the plans. The county officials know of many meetings that have been held in various parts of the county within the last few days, and are keeping an eye on all developments. They have a list of practically all those who have been attending the meetings. Arrests of dozens of these participants may be expected at any time. A meeting of the organization was to have been held in Seminole County Sunday night, but the News was unable to learn whether this meeting materialized or not.

Some of the agitators, it is alleged believe the time has come to strike for a different form of government. They believe that all of those not contented with things as they are now will rise up in a common cause and overthrow the powers of the government.

It is possible that this organization has spread to other counties. Mr. Bullock thinks. Rumors of it have been reaching Ada fro several days. Quietly the officers have been watching developments. Officials in other counties are doing the same. Arrests have been made in Pottawatomie County. Arrests in Seminole are looked for any time. One member of the organization who has not yet been arrested is said to have remarked that a few days would see some startling developments. The officers know who he is and are watching him.
Ada Weekly News August 9, 1917

U.S. District Attorney in Deadly Earnest Against Leaders of Uprising—Excitement Subsides—Believed trouble is about over but no chances will be taken

Anarchy reared its head in the southern part of Seminole County Thursday afternoon and night and part of that section is under control of mob of anti-draft men of various ages.

The first outbreak came about 4 o’clock. Thursday afternoon when Sheriff Grail of Seminole County and Deputy Cross of Sasakwa were waylaid east of Sasakwa and fired on. They had but one gun but with this they returned the fire. Some thirty-five shots were exchanged and the ambushers disappeared.

The next move of the anti-drafters was to make a general roundup of the country, forcing every man they could find to accompany their party. It is reported that Grant Scroggins and the father and brother of W.T. Melton were among those taken. It is said that the raiders were at least 100 strong when last reported, but they declared they would have 3,000 men together in a short time.

The Frisco Bridge was the next object of attention, and they fired it in three places, doing damage that required until noon today to repair. It was reported that dynamite was also used, but men from Francis said if such was the case the damage was slight. The fires were started and to make more certain of their work they set fire to a handcar of building material and shoved it to the middle of the bridge. To conceal their movements they cut the telegraph wires both north and south of Francis and service was not restored until noon today.

Evidently the leaders of this movement have been preparing for some time, for this morning when the news began to spread, many men went to the various hardware stores only to find that every high power gun had been sold. However, there are quite a number of such guns in the community and a good-sized squad could be armed.

In Ada there has been no undue excitement, but on every hand there has been evidence a grim determination to back the officers in any and all emergencies.
Ada Weekly News August 10, 1917

Seven New Arrests Today

At noon today Sheriff Duncan got word that one of the leaders and six men were captured and taken to Wewoka.

Anti-draft rioters who for three days run amuck in southeaster OK, this afternoon faced the United States commissioner’s to answer the charge of treason. District Attorney McGinnis, in charge of the prosecution, announced that where evidence is sufficient he will ask for the death penalty. Prohibitive bail will be asked in order to hold the men until trial.

Authorities are confident they have two National organizers among the 250 prisoners. Evidence and records seized by authorities show the Working Class Union had 27,000 members in the State. The records also give evidence for the arrest of many leaders of the revolutionary movement.

The uprising in Seminole County is apparently about to an end, but posses are still searching the woods and picking up suspects and arms. It is estimated that no fewer than 300 men have been taken and now that the tide has set in so strongly against them, they are beginning to come in and surrender.
Brewer’s Story

C.C. Brewer, age 41, and his two sons, Dave aged 18 and Homer aged 16, held in the city jail for the Seminole County authorities, talked freely to a News-Herald representative last night. They admitted membership in the Working Class Union, but maintained they entered into their plans only under duress and had been trying to get out.

Asked what the idea of the W.C.U. was in their present activities, Brewer replied that it was part of a tremendous revolution, which was expected to spread rapidly and become nationwide. The extermination of the officers and all who refused to fall in with their plans was contemplated. The only end the leaders could see was the victorious over throw of the government. Resistance of the draft was only a part of their purpose, but was emphasized by the actual nearness of the actual drawing for army service.
Details by United Press

The death toll of the anti-draft rioting reached three, when J.F. Moose of Okemah was shot and killed Sunday night by a posse guarding the roads leading to Holdenville. Moose was killed when he failed to heed the warning of the posse-men to halt, being riddled with buckshot rifle bullets. He was in an automobile and tried to escape.

Ed Blalock was killed and two posse-men injured when a band of thirty rioters were trapped in a schoolhouse southeast of here Sunday afternoon.

Jack Paige, former marshal, was shot in the leg and Henry Johnson shot in the head.

A special train took 56 arrested rioters from Holdenville to McAlester this morning. All jails of surrounding towns are filled. A total of 225 have been arrested in Seminole County since the outbreak started. Reports from Ada and Wewoka this morning state that everything is quiet. Posses are still scouring the country arresting all individuals in the groups or rioters. Many are giving themselves up to the authorities.

Alice Mary Robertson:

Anti-Feminist Congresswoman
By Louise B. James³⁹
Alice Mary Robertson is one of the most important women that Oklahoma has produced. The story of her life includes a list of many achievements culminating with her election to the United States House of Representatives in 1920. She was only the second woman elected to this body; she remains the only woman Oklahoma has ever elected to Congress. In spite of all her achievements, her public comments about the role of women in American life indicate her belief that a woman’s chief role was that of wife and mother. Her victory in the first election following the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment was a victory for those opposed to women’s suffrage, as Miss Alice did not wish the right of voting for herself or for other women. Her life story was a paradox for those interested in women’s rights. She was opposed to much of what the feminists of her day were seeking, yet, she achieved more in her own life than most men have achieved either in that time period or in the present.

Born into one of Oklahoma’s distinguished missionary families, she was the granddaughter of Rev. Samuel A. Worcester who devoted most of his life to work with the Cherokees. She was the daughter of two missionaries to the Creek Indians, William S. Robertson and Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson. Her mother set an example of what a woman might achieve as she raised a growing family. Her mother also taught classes of Indian students, translated books of the Bible into Creek, and became the first American woman to earn a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) degree. Her father, William, commented on his wife’s ability, “Tis not every mother that can teach with two children as assistants, yet Ann Eliza scarcely loses an hour.” Miss Alice desired to achieve a name for herself. At thirteen, she wrote to her older sister, Ann Augusta, “I have studied algebra today, and taken my first drawing lesson. I am going to be somebody yet.”

For much of her life “being somebody” was connected with her family’s position and came mainly in the field of Indian education, an endeavor which she thought was proper for a woman. At the age of nineteen she was employed by the Indian Department in Washington, D.C., as a clerk. While she was working there, she taught herself shorthand. Ben Pitman, the originator of the style of shorthand she learned, was impressed with the efforts and sent here an autographed copy of his shorthand manual. Shorthand brought her much recognition later as she was the only person in Indian Territory with such a skill and was frequently called upon to use this ability in developments in Indian Territory, including the commission which worked for the cession of the Cherokee Outlet.

While she was working outside Indian Territory, her parent’s mission at Tullahassee burned leaving the students without a chance to continue their educations. She convinced officials of the newly created school at Carlisle, PA, to accept twenty-five of the students from Tullahassee, and even arranged free fare for these students from railroad officials.

Her career outside Indian Territory was cut short by the death of her father, and she returned to help at home in 1881. During this time, she started the boarding school which eventually become Henry Kendall College, which in turn became Tulsa University.

Her knowledge in the field of Indian education led to Miss Alice being invited to speak at an educational meeting at Lake Mononk, NY, in 1891. In her audience was a man destined to changed her life, for he would bring her into fields of endeavor far from education and mission work. As she spoke she become aware of one extremely interested member of the audience, and by the end of the speech her remarks were directed to him. Theodore Roosevelt came to her after the speech, introducing himself with the remark that their views on Indian education were much the same.

The friendship grew, and during the Spanish-American War she helped recruit Troops L and M of Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. When Roosevelt became President, she found herself with a job far outside the education connected ones she had held in the past. He appointed his staunch Republican woman friend as the postmaster of Muskogee in 1905. Miss Alice did not stop to consider the fact that she would be the only postmistress of a first class post office. She saw work to be done, and she tried to do her best.

A postmistress created quite a stir at the convention of postmasters in the fall of 1906. She was placed on every committee. She was not intimidated by being the only woman. Miss Alice presented several papers containing her suggestions and addressed the convention supporting her views. She requested that she be allowed to become just “one of the boys,” with the only exception being that they not smoke cigarettes in her presence. She did not mind cigars being smoked, and as she attended all session, cigarette smoking was at a minimum.

At the same time that she was enjoying the limelight in the convention, she was making comments on women’s rights. “The exchange of a woman’s privileges for a man’s right is too much like bartering the birthright for a mess of pottage.” This statement was certain to anger suffragists who were trying to achieve political equality at this time! She made it clear that she was not a suffragist, but a “hard-working postmaster.” Roosevelt reappointed her to this position which she held until 1913.

Her next venture into national recognition was during World War I, and it was again in a field safely and traditionally feminine. She began meeting troop trains that came through Muskogee and gave out cigarettes, candies, post cards, gum, and coffee to the soldiers. She owned a cafeteria in Muskogee and fed soldiers and their families for free as they passed through Muskogee.

Following World War I, the avowed opponent of women’s suffrage found herself as a candidate for the United States House of Representatives. As she explained, “The men have thrust the vote on us and now I am going to see whether they mean it.” The campaign she conducted must have been one of the most unusual in political history. It truly had a woman’s touch. She usually ran advertisements in the Muskogee paper for her cafeteria. These advertisements listed the menus in enticing ways, “Lots of hot soup today; pole beans, boiled with bacon in the pot; corn bread, made from white meal, buttermilk, cherry pie!” After she filed for office, comments like, “our campaign seems to be going very well, even if we are not neglecting our customers,” appeared with the usual list of foods. She also observed, “I’m not anyone but home folks, and I want to go to Congress. First because a lot of men moved that I go and then a lot of women seconded them. Some say I won’t get there, but I’m well pleased with the outlook.”