Tams Bixby

Tams Bixby (1855-1922) was best known for his work on the Dawes Commission, which was formed to formally enroll members of the Native American tribes that were to be allotted portions of the tribal lands in what would become Oklahoma, and prepare for the abolition of the tribal governments before the territories could be accepted as a state. Named as a commission member in 1893, he was elevated to chairman after Senator Dawes' death in 1903. In that position, he was the official custodian of over two million of acres of land whose ownership was being transferred from the tribes to individual members. The organization he led numbered at least 500 people and occupied a large special-purpose building erected in downtown Muskogee. Decades later, a Muskogee reporter wrote that he was, "... arguably the most important figure in Indian Territory."

Bixby retired from government service in 1906, after completing the bulk of the commission's assigned duties. He continued living in Muskogee, and resumed his original occupation, that of a newspaper man, which he continued until his own death in 1922.