Gore & Owen: Oklahoma's First Two U.S. Senators
Robert L. Owen served as U.S. Senator for the first 18 years of statehood. After coming to Indian Territory with his mother, Owen was a schoolteacher, lawyer, journalist, Indian agent, and banker. He was popular for winning a major court case on behalf of the Eastern Cherokees in seeking compensation from the federal government for eastern lands lost during removal. A Democrat who fought to strengthen public control of government and fight child labor use, Owen is best known as the Senate sponsor of the Glass-Owen Federal Reserve Act of 1913, the legislation that created the Federal Reserve System. For his efforts in stabilizing America’s banking industry, Owen has been called the “Father of the Federal Reserve.”