Banking in Oklahoma Before Statehood
History / University of Oklahoma Press, 2013
*2014 Non-Fiction Finalist, Oklahoma Book Awards
This lively book takes Oklahoma history into the world of Wild West capitalism. It begins with a useful survey of banking from the early days of the American republic until commercial patterns coalesced in the East. It then follows the course of American expansion westward, tracing the evolution of commerce and banking in Oklahoma from their genesis to the eve of statehood in 1907. Banking went through a wild adolescence during the territorial period. The era saw robberies and insider shenanigans, rivalries between banks with territorial and national charters, speculation in land and natural resources, and fraud aimed at robbing Native Americans of what little land they had left. But as banking matured, the better-capitalized institutions became the nucleus of commercial culture in Oklahoma and Indian Territories.
What readers and reviewers have to say…
Michael Hightower’s cleverly written book is a spectrograph that breaks the bright light into one of its most important (and least written about) spectra. The original stories, many gathered here for the first time, of the men and women who brought working capitalism to the Twin Territories are both prescient and prophetic. Robert Henry, president, Oklahoma City University
The author’s real contribution to the field comes in his analysis of the early days of banking during the territorial period of Oklahoma… The author has some wonderful quotes from newspapers of the era concerning the financial failures of banks. Obviously, financial fraud is as old as money itself. As statehood approaches, Mr. Hightower shows the territories rapidly becoming more conventional in their legal structures, but not before a last gasp of lawlessness. Chronicles of Oklahoma. Reviewed by Randal Ice, University of Central Oklahoma
Banking in Oklahoma before Statehood achieves its goal of providing a history of the role of business and finance in the development of territorial Oklahoma. Journal of Southern History. Reviewed by Jeff Bremer, Iowa State University
Michael Hightower sorts through decades of firsthand accounts, newspaper articles, and government records to describe the evolution of banking from merchants to national bankers in the Indian and Oklahoma Territories… The volume and diversity of accounts present a monumental task but Hightower spins this narrative history into a captivating portrayal of Oklahoma’s “sooner” spirit. Journal of Economic History. Reviewed by Matthew Jaremski, Colgate University