Three Inches of Oklahoma
by Dave Provost
In 1957, Oklahoma celebrated the 50th anniversary of its admission to the Union as the 46th state. To help mark this event, a number of tokens and medals were produced by organizations throughout the state. The most notable, however, is the large, high-relief medal designed by Laura Gardin Fraser, one of the most celebrated American artist/sculptors of the 20th century.
As the number of European settlers in the southern U.S. increased during the early 1800s, more and more calls were made for the removal of the Native Americans that lived in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. In 1834, the Federal Government negotiated a relocation treaty with the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee nations - the Five Civilized Tribes. The treaty provided for an Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River in what is now Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, as well as for annual payments of food and money. The tens of thousands of Native Americans who were forcibly moved called the trek to Oklahoma the "Trail of Tears."
In time, European settlers also moved west of the Mississippi and calls were once again heard for the white settlement of lands occupied by Native Americans. Though the U.S. Government was successful in maintaining the autonomy of the Indian Territory for a time, by the 1880s it was becoming increasingly more difficult. Eventually, it was decided that 2,000,000 acres of land in Indian Territory, known as the Unassigned Lands, would be opened to white settlement.
On April 22, 1889, an estimated 50,000 settlers lined up on the border of the Unassigned Lands and waited for the official "go" signal. When it came, these frontier men and women raced into the open land and staked their claim for a piece of the American West. This event became known as the Oklahoma Run, and was one of several such "runs" that took place as our western lands were settled.
The obverse of the Oklahoma Semi-Centennial medal features a symbolic representation of the Oklahoma Run of 1889. Fraser presents a seemingly endless line of settlers on horseback and in wagons racing to stake their claim at the start of the run.
Oklahoma was admitted to the Union on November 7, 1907 and was created by combing the largely European settled Oklahoma Territory with the largely Native American inhabited Indian Territory. In order for the Indian Territory to be included, however, Congress had to first pass a series of laws that took away the sovereignty of the Indian Territory and converted Native Americans living there to United States citizens. These laws were passed during the 1890s.
The reverse of the piece marks the semi-centennial of Oklahoma's statehood and is dominated by two male figures facing left. The leftmost figure represents energy and progress, and is shown holding and surrounded by symbols of harvesting, mining, animal husbandry, and power. The other figure represents imagination and vision and is shown looking skyward with outstretched arms.
The central devices are encircled by the inscriptions "Oklahoma SemiCentennial Exposition - Oklahoma City" and are flanked by the anniversary dates "1907 - 1957." The exposition took place in Oklahoma City, the capital of Oklahoma, during June and July of 1957. An atomic energy symbol pieced by an arrow is shown below the two symbolic figures; it was the symbol of the Exposition and represented "Arrows to Atoms" in 50 years.
The three-inch medal was struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York in bronze and was available for $7.50 from the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce.
Happy Collecting!
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