OKLAHOMA GOVERNOR TO MOBILIZE MORE GUARD UNITS AGAINST KLAN
Oklahoma City (JFK+50) On September 23, 1923, The Evening Star reports additional units of the Oklahoma National Guard will be mobilized soon by Governor J.C. Walton* in response to Ku Klux Klan infiltration into the state.
The Star quotes the Governor as saying the "invisible empire" is financed with money coming from their headquarters in Atlanta and "subsidized (by) several Oklahoma (news) papers."
Gov. Walton is requesting $100,000 from the state legislature to enforce martial law in "several other counties."
The Governor said...
"If I am whipped in this fight, it will be an unsafe state for any man to live in who is anti-klansman."
*John "Jack" Calloway Walton (1881-1949) was born in Indianapolis, Indiana & grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. JCW served in the Spanish-American War & as mayor of Oklahoma City 1919-1923. He served the shortest term of any governor of Oklahoma (10 months, 1923) & was the 1st governor of the state to be removed from office.
SOURCES
"Grip of Military To Be Extended By Governor Wallace," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., September 23, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
"John C. Walton," City Clerk, www.okc.gov/
