Rogers County History

Rogers County History

Claremore's Historical Summary - 14 Flags Over Oklahoma

Claremore's Historical Summary
(Improved 2 June 97)

In the early 1800's, Oklahoma was considered to be the center of the Great American Desert. What is now Claremore was once a vast wilderness practically uninhabited except for wild animals.

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Major Jean Pierre Chouteau, founder of Saint Louis and Kansas City, established the first permanent white settlement in Salina. In 1802, Chouteau encouraged a band of Osage Indians to locate to a 25 acre mound along the Verdigris River to hunt and trap animals for trade. Chief Glahmo settled his village with 400-500 Osage Indians from Missouri in the mound, now know as Claremore Mound. The top of the mound was flat and over 100 feet above the river and plains and presented a natural fortification. The area allowed the tribe to continue their old livelihood of hunting and trapping. It has caves, excellent for curing and storing hides. The mound became known as Clermont, French for 'clear mountain' and Glahmo became known as Chief Clermont.

Chief Clermont was an impressive figure, very strong and highly intelligent. He was referred to as "builder of towns," an eloquent speaker, and a master politician. He also had four wives and thirty-seven children.

After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the area was designated as Indian Territory. The Panhandle, however, remained under the control of Spain until 1821.

The Cherokee tribe, through a series of federal treaties, were forced from their eastern homes to new lands in northeast Oklahoma by way of the infamous "Trail of Tears". They were given title to land which included Clermont Mound, and for several years sought to remove the Osage village. When the Cherokee hunters attempted to assert their hunting rights along the Verdigris, they were met by Osage war parties. In October 1817, a well-armed band of Cherokee and Delaware Indians attacked the Clermont village. The Osage warriors were away on a hunting trip. The village was filled with women, children and old men. During the attack, many of the Osage Indians got as far as the river, but drowned in an attempt to escape. The others were killed and some taken as prisoners. Chief Clermont was killed and buried on the mound.

Again, through a number of treaties, the U. S. Government obtained all of the Osage lands. In 1870, Congress purchased a small reservation for them in Oklahoma. Later the great Burbank oil field on this reservation made the Osage the wealthiest nation per capita in the U. S. This reservation is now Osage County.

Sometime during the years following the Clermont Mound Massacre, the Delaware Chief, John Bullette, obtained permission to re-establish Clermont as a Delaware Indian city on Cherokee land. The site was about three miles east of the mound and made it the second location of the town.

To reach an extension of the Frisco Railroad, the site of Clermont was moved a third time, at its present location, about seven miles southeast of the mound. A post office was established there on June 25, 1874. Through a clerical error, the name was listed as Claremore and that spelling stuck.

Most of the first settlers were Cherokees. The adjuhtment of the Indian tribes to live in Indian Territory was remarkable. They prospered, organized constitutional governments, established towns and plantations, published newspapers, magazines and books, and established an extensive educational system.

In 1883, the Indian Commission granted a square mile for the present site of Claremore to be platted and sold, with the money to go the Cherokee Treasurer. Auction of the lots were held on August 1, 1883, and they sold between $5 and $31 each.

At the turn of the century, Claremore was larger that Tulsa and shortly afterwards, the white population grew in size and took control of the town.

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14 FLAGS OVER OKLAHOMA

PART I - TEN FLAGS OVER NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA

	DATE	FLAG	KNOWN AS	HISTORY
(1)	1541	Royal Standard of Spain	"New Spain"	Where the Santa Fe Trail crosses the Cimarron is the inscription "Coronado 1541". This date is a very important one in Oklahoma history, because our state's history began with that carving. The governor of Mexico sent Francisco Coronado in search of seven rich cities in the region that is now Southwest United States. They did not find gold, but his travels gave Spain a claim to the new world. The European theory of titles to American.l@axids was that the nation first discovering a region secured title to it. During the years 1539-42, Hernando de Sota entered Florida and crossed the Mississippi River, giving Spain a claim to the North American mainland. It is quite possible DeSoto crossed northeast Oklahoma in his expedition.
(2)	1663	Great Union of Great Britain	"Carolina"	Great Britain flew their flag over this region. King Charles II gave a wide strip of land from the Atlantic to the Pacific to eight o@' his friends. This strip was called Carolina.
(3)	1719	French Royal	"Louisiana"	Robert de La Salle of France started from take Ontario and entered the Mississippi Valley and challenged "New Spain". They called their new province Louisiana in honor of King Louis XIV.
(4)	1763	Spanish Empire	"Louisiana"	The desire to control America resulted in war between England and France, and the English colonies were drawn in to the bitter dispute. This war, known as the French and Indian War, was began in America in 1754 and lasted nine years. In European history, the French and Indian War is known as the Seven Years War, and it continued there three years longer. A treaty, the Peace of Paris, was signed in 1763. England received the French territory east of Mississippi River. The Louisiana Territory was given to Spain.
	1776		"Louisiana"	Declaration of Independence-The region now known as Oklahoma was still Louisiana.
(5)	1800	French Republic	"Louisiana"	Napoleon forced Spain to return the Louisiana Territory to France by a secret treaty, but France did not take possession.
(6)	1803	United States	"Indian Territory"	Napoleon needed money and agreed to sell Louisiana for $15 million. The first American flag to fly over this territory had 15 stars and 15 stripes.
(7)	1818	United States	"Indian Territory"	The new American flag had 13 stripes and 20 stars.
(8)	1861- 1865	Confederate Battle Flag	"Indian Territory"	The Civil War sharply divided the Five Civilized Tribes. Many indians were in sympathy with the southern states, as many were slaveholders, and they believed that the Lincoln government would free their slaves. However, most of the Osage and Shawnees remained loyal to the federal government. General Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865, followed by the Confederate Indian troops. Stand Watie, a Cherokee commander, was one of the last to surrender at the end of the Civil War.
	1907		"Oklahoma"	Oklahoma became the 46th state on November 16, 1907.
(9)	1911	Oklahoma	"Oklahoma"	The first Oklahoma State Flag was adopted. The flag had a red field centered by a five-pointed white star with the figure "46" in the center.
(10)	1925	Oklahoma	"Oklahoma"	The present Oklahoma State Flag was adopted in 1925, although the word "Oklahoma" was added in 1941.

PART II - CHOCTAW NATION

	DATE	FLAG	KNOWN AS	HISTORY
(11)	1861- 1865	Choctaw Indian	Choctaw Nation	The Choctaw Nation was a separate government in southeastern Oklahoma until 1907. This flag, with a blue field had the Choctaw seal at the center, was carried by the Choctaw Confederate troops during the Civil War.

PART III - FOUR FLAGS FLOWN OVER THE PANHANDLE (OKLAHOMA)

	DATE	FLAG	KNOWN AS	HISTORY
(1)	1541- 1821	Royal Standard of Spain	"New Spain"	(See reference #1)
(12)	1821- 1836	Republic of Mexico
(13)	1836- 1839	Republic of Texas
(14)	1839- 1850	Lone Star of Texas
	1850- 1890	No Flag	"No Man's Land"
	1890- 1907		"Oklahoma Territory"	The Organic Act of 1890 divided the territory, now known as Oklahoma. The land west of the Five Civilized Tribes was called Oklahoma Territory, while the east side retained the name Indian Territory.
	1907		"Oklahoma"	The Panhandle, part of the Oklahoma Territory, was also included in statehood.

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This Page Last Updated 27 September 97 by Mike Swatek

This page has been accessed () times since 13 September 1999