Dr. A.J. Beale, an outspoken Kickapoo, wasted no time in articulating new city policy on lot claims. Lot jumping became rampant.
Henry Overholser, a prominent businessman and Chairman of the Board of Trade, lost the election by 14 votes.
After troops from Fort Reno were dispatched to Oklahoma City on Dec 26, US Attorney General William H.H. Miller instructed US Marshals Needles and Walker on Dec 29 to ". . .keep the peace as heretofore."
A month later, another status quo order from US Attorney General Miller confirmed his earlier instructions to Oklahoma City, this time to apply to all city governments in the Unassigned Lands.
Beale Defeats Overholser for Mayor
Stop 16: 200 N Walker Ave
With a margin of only 14 votes, Beale claimed a mandate to overturn seven months of Seminole-dominated city rule. Within a month the city was in chaos and city governance was shut down by federal authorities.
Dr. A. J. Beale, the leader of the Kickapoo faction was nominated to replace Mayor Couch after his resignation on November 11. The Seminole faction, knowing how badly they had lost the charter election in late August, were leery of nominating one of their own. Instead, they pressed Henry Overholser, the chairman of the Board of Trade and a businessman aligned with neither faction, to run against Beale. 732 voters turned out for the election on November 27, and Beale won by 14 votes.
Facing a hostile Seminole city council, the new Kickapoo mayor announced his intention to declare two council seats vacant and to call an election for December 30. He also stated his opposition to recognizing the validity of Seminole lot certificates and announced a plan to file a plat of the city at the Land Office that would conflict with the Consensus Survey in use since April 27. A frenzy of lot jumping erupted, and panicked property owners began appealing to federal authorities for help. On December 30, US Marshal Walker in Wichita called off the election and ordered an end to any adverse claims against existing property ownership.