ALLEN WRIGHT
Did you ever wonder how our state got its name? Oklahoma.
What does that mean? We can find out by learning more about
our history and the people who came to live here long ago.
Back in the 1800s, Native Americans moved to the lands that
would become our state. One tribe arriving was the Choctaw.
Allen was just a boy when he and his mother came from
Mississippi along the Trail of Tears. His mother died on the
journey. Allen was all alone. But he went to school and later
became a preacher to his people.
A few years later, he was chosen to be the first
governor of the Choctaw. Allen Wright came up
with an idea to call the lands of the Native
Americans in their new territory. It was a name from
his own language- Choctaw. It came from putting
two word together- “okla” and “homa.”
It meant “land of the red man.”
But his people didn’t like the idea. Instead, their
new homelands were called Indian Territory.
Later, the name would be used by settlers in the
western part of our state. They called their lands
Oklahoma Territory.
1. How did Allen Wright come to Oklahoma?
2. What things did he do to help both himself and his tribe?
3. What idea did Allen Wright suggest to his tribe? How is his idea used today?
Courtesy Oklahoma Council for Social Studies