Elias Cornelius Boudinot

Elias Cornelius Boudinot (1835–1890) was a lawyer who gained appointment to the Cherokee delegation in Washington following the Civil War. Post delegation, Boudinot called for Indian Territory to be made into an official territory of the United States and proposed naming the territory, “Oklahoma.” Boudinot also believed that unoccupied land in Indian Territory should be open for settlers. After failing to be named commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1885, Boudinot moved to Arkansas. His efforts to encourage American Indian assimilation into white society have left him with a visible spot in Oklahoma history.