Answer:
Survey Map of Oklahoma and Indian Territory showing distances, municipal towns, and post offices, published by George Cram, 1902 Most of the land that is now Oklahoma was acquired by the United States in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. In the 1830s, the U.S. used the land to relocate Indian tribes and the Indian Territory was formed from the land set aside by the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834. The Indian Territory originally extended beyond present-day Oklahoma, but the size was gradually reduced over the course of the 19th century. In 1889 Congress authorized the opening land seized from the Indian Territory for homestead settlement, and a year later Congress passed an act that officially created the Oklahoma Territory. RG 233, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Explanation: First page of the Joint Statehood Convention, Oklahoma City, July 12, 1905 Although the Oklahoma and Indian Territories had sufficient population to be admitted as separate states, Congress insisted that the territories would only be granted statehood as a single, combined state. As a result, delegates representing the citizens of the Indian and Oklahoma Territories met in Oklahoma City for a joint statehood convention. They outlined their reasons for statehood—they had sufficient land area, population, resources and character—and drafted a petition to Congress which was presented on March 7, 1906 and ordered printed. RG 233, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives HR 12707, A Bill to enabling the people of the Indian and Oklahoma Territories to form a state constitution and State government, January 20, 1906 The Oklahoma statehood bill, as originally introduced to the House, also included the admission of New Mexico and Arizona as one state. RG 233, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives
