The story was that Oklahoma’s first post-territorial governor stole the state seal in the dead of night, drove from Guthrie to Oklahoma City, stashed the seal under his hotel bed and collapsed from exhaustion.
The temporary Capitol was in Guthrie, OK. But the plan for a permanent Capitol Building brought with it a fight between the Republicans in the West, and the Democrats in the East. they originally sought to create 2 states (Oklahoma & Sequoyah), but Roosevelt didn’t want another Democrat state(Sequoyah), so he supported a 1-state solution and hoped the Western Republicans would prevail.
The New Jerusalem
William H. “Alfalfa Bill” Murray proposed buying a township for the capital. He proposed selling lots around the capitol building and said the chosen place should have “good drainage and a picturesque grandeur. ” This and similar plans became known as the “new Jerusalem” approach to the capital - creating an entirely new city on the prairie with construction of the Capitol funded by the platting and selling of lots.
Lt. Gov’s bodyguard quits amid allegations of affair
December 8, 1998 AP
Mrs. Fallin, a Republican who was elected to a second term in 1996, filed for divorce a few weeks after the election. At a hearing, Fallin’s attorney raised an allegation about the lieutenant governor having an affair with an unidentified bodyguard.
In a statement Monday, Public Safety Commissioner Bob Ricks said rumors surfaced in early September about ”alleged unprofessional conduct between a member of the executive security detail and the lieutenant governor.”
The statement said the trooper first denied the allegations, but was again questioned late last month and ”admitted to unprofessional conduct and was permitted to resign. That resignation was accepted last week. His admission did not indicate that sexual activity was involved.”
Lana Tyree, Mrs. Fallin’s attorney, later issued a statement saying the lieutenant governor would have no comment.
”Out of legitimate concern for the privacy and welfare of her minor children through the Christmas holidays, Lieutenant Governor Mary Fallin, having denied the allegations, will not respond to or debate these issues in the media and will make no further public comment,” the statement said. Mrs. Fallin, 43, and her husband have two children, ages 11 and 8.
In court, Mrs. Fallin had said the allegations of an affair with a bodyguard were a rumor started by her husband. At last week’s hearing, District Judge Jerry Bass prevented Fallin’s attorney from pursuing questions about an alleged affair.
In response to a question from his wife’s attorney, Mr. Fallin said he had hired a private investigator to follow her.
Another hearing in the divorce case is set for next Monday.
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Sex scandal roils Oklahoma politics:Official accused of having affair with trooperGov. Keating Accused of HypocrisyDecember 12, 1998 Kansas City Star (MO)
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