Which U.S. state was admitted to the Union in 1907?

The U.S. state admitted to the Union in 1907 was Oklahoma. It became the nation’s 46th state on November 16, 1907, when the former Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory were combined.

Oklahoma’s path to statehood was unusual because two territories with different political histories were joined together. Oklahoma Territory had been organized by the federal government in 1890, while Indian Territory was home to several Native nations, including the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee, and Seminole. Earlier proposals even imagined Indian Territory becoming a separate state called Sequoyah.

Congress ultimately required a single state. The Oklahoma Enabling Act authorized a constitutional convention, and voters approved the new state constitution in September 1907. President Theodore Roosevelt issued the statehood proclamation on November 16. Charles N. Haskell became Oklahoma’s first governor.

The date can be confused with later statehood in the Southwest. New Mexico and Arizona joined the Union in 1912, while Alaska became a state much later, in 1959. Oklahoma was therefore the only state admitted during 1907 and the last state created before New Mexico and Arizona entered the Union.