Frank Frantz

Frank Frantz (born May 7, 1872 in Roanoke , Woodford County , Illinois , † March 8, 1941 in Muskogee , Oklahoma ) was the last governor of the Oklahoma Territory before Oklahoma was accepted as a state in the United States .

Life

Frank Frantz was born in Illinois and grew up there in Roanoke. He settled in Medford during the " Oklahoma Land Run " , within a former Cherokee Indian sanctuary .

During the Spanish-American War he fought in the unit (1st Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, "The Rough Riders") of the then Colonel and later US President Theodore Roosevelt and took part in the battles of San Juan Hill and Santiago. During his service in the army a friendship developed with his superior Roosevelt, which helped him to his later political career. He was a frequent guest in the White House and in 1902 Roosevelt appointed him postmaster of Enid, Oklahoma. In 1904 he was appointed by Roosevelt as a negotiator with the Osage Indians .

On January 5, 1906, Frantz became the last governor of the Oklahoma Territory. After Oklahoma joined on November 16, 1907 as a state of the United States, Frantz ran as a member of the Republican Party for governor, but was defeated in the election to the Democrat Charles N. Haskell .

After his election defeat, he moved to Colorado and worked in the oil industry. In 1915 he returned to Oklahoma as head of the Oklahoma division of the Cosden oil company. In 1932 he tried to get back into politics in the Oklahoma Congress elections, but was again not elected.

Frantz died in Muskogee on March 8, 1941, at the age of 78, and was buried in Tulsa .

Political activity

Frantz was instrumental in building a functioning school system in Oklahoma. When he found out that oil companies were drilling unauthorized drilling on land reserved for schools and public buildings, he created an agency as governor responsible for overseeing the oil companies. Furthermore, he secured the rights of the state to the oil reserves.

In addition to securing the state territory, he acquired practically all of the unpopulated areas (“No Man's Land”) for the state of Oklahoma, which were later leased back to farmers and thus brought the state of Oklahoma income in the millions.

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personal data
SURNAME	Frantz, Frank
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	May 7, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH	near Roanoke , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH	March 8, 1941
Place of death	Muskogee , Oklahoma