William A. Durant, born March 18, 1866 in Indian Territory, in what is now Bryan County, Oklahoma, He became a lawyer and practiced in the courts of Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, as well as the US federal courts. He was elected to the legislature of the Choctaw Nation in 1890 and became its speaker in 1891.
When Oklahoma became a state in 1907, he was elected to the state legislature and served in the first six regular sessions of the Oklahoma Legislature. He became the only Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives to serve simultaneously as the Speaker of the Choctaw Nation.
Durant was appointed by Franklin Roosevelt in 1937 as Principal Chief of the Choctaw Nation until his death in 1948.
He died in August 1948.
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