Gabe E. Parker
Gabe E. Parker
“When Gabe E. Parker, superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes, steps out of office…the busiest period in the history of the government’s handling of Oklahoma Indian affairs will have passed.”
Biography
Gabe E. Parker was born in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and moved with his parents to a ranch in Nelson, Oklahoma, around 1879. He completed his early education at Spencer Academy (Choctaw Nation) in 1894 and graduated from Henry Kendall College in Muskogee, now the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, in 1899. He served as assistant and, later, principal teacher at Spencer Academy (1899-1900) and Armstrong Academy (1900-1904). In 1913, he accepted a position at the office of Registrar of the U.S. Treasury and served there until 1914, when he was made superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes (1915-1921). Parker served as a member of Oklahoma’s Constitutional Convention in 1906 and helped frame the state’s basic law.
Fun fact
Gabe Parker became known as “Great Seal Parker” after his service as chairman of the committee appointed to oversee the design of the Great Seal of the State of Oklahoma. He worked closely with the artists on the project and even penciled a sketch of the seal that was ultimately approved.
Oklahoma connections
He was born at Fort Towson, Indian Territory, in the Choctaw Nation in 1878.