Due to their combined efforts Oklahoma entered the Union as a dry state. Consequently, Oklahoma's first legislature passed a law to enforce prohibition. Oklahoma State Sen. Richard A. Billups, chair of the Oklahoma Senate Prohibition Committee, initiated a bill to prohibit the manufacture, transportation, and possession of liquor. Popularly known as "Billups Booze Bill," the bill was amended after Speaker of the House William H. Murray proposed an amendment allowing state dispensaries to dispense liquor for medicinal and scientific purposes. Gov. Charles N. Haskell signed the compromise bill on March 24, 1908.
