Robert L. (Robert Latham) Owen

Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1856, he was the son of Robert Latham Owen Sr. and Narcissa Chisholm Owen, who was of Cherokee ancestry. After graduating from Washington and Lee University, he moved to Indian Territory, where he taught in Cherokee schools, studied law, and built a career that included work as an attorney, educator, and federal Indian agent.

He later became a banker in Muskogee and emerged as an important political figure in the years around Oklahoma statehood. In 1907, he was elected as one of Oklahoma's first two United States senators and served until 1925.

During his years in the Senate, he was especially associated with financial and reform legislation, including work tied to the creation of the Federal Reserve System. He is also remembered as one of the few early U.S. senators known to have Native American ancestry, making his life story part of both Oklahoma history and the broader history of American public life.