Dictionary.net

is a portion of the public land of the United States which has been set apart for various tribes of Indians who have been moved thither from various portions of the United States. Jefferson first suggested such a territory, and on June 30, 1834, an Act of Congress set apart for the use of the Indians all the country west of the Mississippi which was not included within Missouri, Louisiana and Arkansas. This has been diminished by the organization of various States and Territories, so that at present (1894) the area is only about 25,000 square miles. The principal tribes are the Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks and Chickasaws. During the Civil War many of the tribes made treaties with the Confederate States. In 1870, an attempt was made to organize a State. In 1866, the Indians agreed to grant the right of way through their land to railroads. Agents of the United States live among the Indians and protect them from encroachments from the whites. The United States has jurisdiction over all cases in which a white man is a party. Sale of intoxicating liquors is prohibited. In 1881-82 attempts were made by " boomers" from Kansas to force their way into the Territory. An Act of Congress of May 2, 1890, erected the unoccupied portion of the Territory into a separate Territory to be called Oklahoma. The population of the Territory is about 75,000.