Horace Speed

Horace Speed (January 25, 1852 – December 28, 1924) was an Oklahoma pioneer and the first United States District Attorney for Oklahoma Territory.

Speed was born in Nelson County, Kentucky, and was a prominent attorney in Indiana with Benjamin Harrison. In 1889, he moved to Winfield, Kansas, and following the Run of '89 he established a law practice in Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory. His experience with the Cherokee Commission led now President Benjamin Harrison to appoint him United States Attorney for the territory (1890–1894). He served again for a short time in 1900 as the last territorial US Attorney before it was divided into districts. As US Attorney he prosecuted many of the outlaws running rampant in the territory and the land fraud cases that troubled the land openings.

In 1901, following Territorial Governor William Miller Jenkins removal from office, President Theodore Roosevelt called Speed to Washington and offered him the governorship. Speed declined and Thompson Benton Ferguson was eventually appointed as a compromise.

After statehood, Speed moved to Tulsa and opened a law firm. He died there in 1924.

Early life Horace Speed was born to Thomas and Margaret (Hawkins) Speed on January 25, 1852, in Nelson County, Kentucky. He attended public school until he was 14 years old, then dropped out to work on his father's farm. When he was 17, he became a clerk for General John Parker Hawkins, assistant to the commissary general in Washington, D. C. He worked in that position for eight years, meanwhile studying law and was admitted to the bar. In 1877, he was hired by the law firm of Harrison, Haines and Miller, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The senior partner was General Benjamin Harrison, who would later be elected President of the United States. After one year at the firm, he resigned to start his own practice.

Speed continued his solo law practice in Indiana until 1889, when he moved to Winfield, Kansas. He did not remain long, because that was the year of the first Oklahoma land run, which he intended to enter. On April 22, 1889, the day of the run, he established his law office in Guthrie, Indian Territory. He had been appointed secretary for the Jerome Commission (a.k.a. Cherokee Commission), which negotiated the opening of the Cherokee Outlet with the Cherokee Nation. and his sister, Miss Louise J. Speed of Louisville, Kentucky.