Railroads in Oklahoma Page: 9
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"Never," wrote Francis A. Walker, commissioner of Indian affairs, in his
1872 report, "was an evil so gigantic environed, invaded, devoured by
forces so tremendous, so appalling in the celerity and the certainty of their
advance." More direct still was C. J. Hillyer, attorney for the Atlantic and
Pacific Railroad (A&P) which had followed the MK&T line, entering from
the east, into the Cherokee Nation in 1871. Hillyer, in a pamphlet pub-
lished by the railroad, said that for business purposes the Indian Territory
was, so long as it remained in control of the tribes, like a long tunnel. The
need for commerce in the area and the obligation of the federal government
to support national railroad growth should outweigh any treaty obligation,
and the Indians, if they resisted settlement of the region by whites and the
creation of industries to serve the railroad, should be exterminated. To
take any other view of the situation, Hillyer wrote, was "to pronounce
false and fallacious the universally accepted American idea of what consti-
tutes human progress and achievement."4
With two railroads in the field, authorized by treaties of 1866 to pass
through the Indian lands, and with such an attitude abroad about further
intrusion, the task of Indian lobbyists and delegations in Washington and
of tribal leaders at the isolated Indian capitals was difficult indeed. With
no military force to speak of and with such powers as they had much
dependent upon the whim of the giant on their borders, the tribes had to
be careful lest their attempt to avoid destruction by the railroads lead to
direct intervention and destruction by the United States. At the same time,
they recognized where uncritical acquiescence in progress as the whites
viewed it was bound to lead them.
The very earliest Indian response was one of promotion. The 1855
Choctaw treaty for example granted a blanket right-of-way to any railroad
authorized by Congress to build through Choctaw territory. Transcripts of
proceedings connected with the negotiations of the treaties of 1866 show that,
far from being forced into accepting one north-south and one east-west
railroad right-of-way, the tribes pressed Washington to grant much greater
privileges for railroad companies. Preliminary drafts submitted by tribal
delegations and their attorneys included large land grants to the companies,
sales of land with the proceeds going to buy railroad stock and permission
for railroads to build anywhere without consulting tribal legislatures. It
was the officers of the Interior Department at Washington and, ironically,
white attorneys representing competing railroads, who warned the Indians
4 Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Annual Report, 1872 (NCR Microfiche edition), p. 8; C. J.
Hillyer, Atlantic and Pacific Railroad and the Indian Territory (Washington: Government
Printing Office, 1871), passim.
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Railroads in Oklahoma (Book)
Book discussing the history of the railroads in Oklahoma, including stories of individual railroads and their effects on the Indian population in the state. Index begins on page 164.
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Hofsommer, Donovan L. Railroads in Oklahoma, book, 1977; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc862892/m1/19/: accessed April 25, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; .