Morrill Hall, above, and Old Central are the only remaining campus facilities built when Oklahoma was still a territory.

Even while recommending construction of a new administration and agriculture building, he hoped the following year would bring new funding for construction. But uncertainty 35 miles away in Guthrie, the territorial capital of Oklahoma, would create barriers to his plan.

Concerned the state capital would move to Oklahoma City, the leading citizens and politicians of Guthrie turned to Dennis T. Flynn, their territorial delegate to the U.S. Congress, for assistance.

In 1903, Flynn sponsored congressional legislation restricting the use of Oklahoma Territorial expenditures for construction of public buildings, thus guaranteeing a new state capital building could not be constructed in Oklahoma City and securing the capital in Guthrie, or so the citizens of Guthrie thought. While Guthrie's supporters were pleased, many others throughout the territory were not, as building programs for other public entities were delayed or eliminated.

President Scott was determined to see construction continue. With approval from the college board of regents, he went to Washington, D.C., in January 1905 along with John Fields, director of the OAMC Experiment Station, for the annual meeting of the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations. Scott and Fields also sought a property title transfer for 640 acres of "school lands" located next to the existing campus and an increased revenue adjustment for leases of property in the Cherokee Outlet that were designated to benefit the institution under provisions of the Morrill Act.

At least two factors were working in President Scott's favor; he had earned a law degree before entering academia, and his brother Charles was a senator from Kansas. With Scott's legal experience and Charles' introductions, Scott and Fields met with several subcommittees and Speaker of the House Joseph Cannon before returning to Oklahoma to meet with influential territorial legislators. Five weeks later, President Scott submitted a proposal identifying the new building as Morrill Hall, a name closely associated with land-grant colleges and the work of the late Vermont Sen. Justin Morrill. All three of Scott's initiatives passed during a unanimous consent hour, and the OAMC president returned to Stillwater in mid-February.

Scott and Fields continued encouraging Oklahoma legislators to fund construction of Morrill Hall after President Theodore Roosevelt signed the legislation into law on Feb. 16, 1905. They invited territorial leaders and influential college patrons to campus the next day to tour college facilities, and $100,000 was appropriated two months later for several new facilities. Morrill Hall was to be built and furnished for $78,000. The regents selected a bid from Oklahoma City firm of A.O. Campbell for $62,800, and engineering professor Richard E. Chandler was directed to manage the installation of fixtures, water, gas, heating and electrical systems using the remaining funds from the appropriation.

Political bickering in Guthrie led to a legal challenge of the bid process, resulting in a lowered bid, but all animosity was put aside on Jan. 15, 1906, to set the cornerstone for one of the largest public buildings in the territory. Fields and Scott were both recognized for their contributions, and they in turn expressed appreciation to the citizens, especially the farmers, of the Indian and Oklahoma Territories. Completed in only nine months, the regents officially accepted Morrill Hall in mid-October 1906.

Oklahoma statehood on Nov. 16, 1907, brought with it new challenges and changes. President Scott announced his resignation in 1908. The board of regents was dramatically reorganized and OAMC fell under the authority and control of the Oklahoma State Board of Agriculture. Guthrie lost the state capital to Oklahoma City in 1910, and a disastrous fire in August 1914 destroyed all but the exterior walls of Morrill Hall. Much of the college's early administrative history was lost, but in a few years Morrill Hall was rebuilt. Today only Old Central and Morrill Hall, the second oldest building on campus, remain from Oklahoma's territorial period.