10/25/2026
When Templary arrived in what would become Oklahoma, the territory of Oklahoma already existed. This allowed for the Grand Encampment Knights Templar of the United States to create commanderies within each territorial boundary. Guthrie Commandery No. 1 of Oklahoma Territory received its dispensation on the 12th of July, 1890, and Muskogee Commandery No. 1 of the Indian Territory received its dispensation on the 1st of October, 1891. Each jurisdiction quickly grew and with the requisite minimum of three commanderies, grand commanderies were formed: Indian Territory in 1895 and Oklahoma in 1896.
After Oklahoma statehood in November of 1907, it was clear that the two Templar jurisdictions would have to unite, but not until after the grand lodges did. The Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma was born from the Twin Territories in 1909, but Templary had a different trajectory. The Sir Knights of the Indian Territory were not ready to lay down their banner. The Grand Commandery of the Indian Territory convened in 1908 to consider consolidation, a conclave which even the Grand Master of the Grand Encampment attended, but the resolution failed to gain the necessary two-thirds support.
Following his election as Grand Master at the 31st Triennial of the Grand Encampment in August of 1910, William B. Melish made it clear to the Sir Knights in the state of Oklahoma that consolidation was necessary. The Indian Territory finally adopted such a resolution in April of 1911. With Grand Master Melish present, the Grand Commandery of the Indian Territory was declared "closed without day forever" on the 6th of October, 1911, at Oklahoma City, and that jurisdiction folded into the Grand Commandery of Oklahoma.
Image: Labor demonstration on Broadway in Oklahoma City, 1911. Courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society.
