Soddies In the western reaches of the Un­ assigned Lands where timber was scarce, many settlers built sod houses for initial protection from the elements. Most were small, about 12' x 12', and only tall enough to let a person stand upright. Walls were constructed from sod bricks, a foot wide and two or three feet long, held together by tough bluestem and Oklahoma City goldentop grasses. After extending logs On the morning of April 22. Capt. Daniel Stiles sur­ and planks from wall to wall, more veyed the treeless prairie around Oklahoma station. All blocks were arranged for a roof. Draw­ seemed quiet. One hundred years ago, on April 22, 1889, an backs included snakes and scorpions, The calm was shattered at high noon with an abrupt estimated 50,000 or more pioneers of all walks of leaks, and constant maintenance. jolt. Sooners, concealed in the brush along the river life crowded along the borders of the Unassigned bed. popped up everywhere and dashed for key lots. Lands to make the first land run in Oklahoma his­ Railroad officials, construction workers, and deputy marshals bounded from the railroad right-of-way and tory. On September 16. 1893. about 100.000 people partic­ ipated in the run for land in the Cherokee Outlet, Born Grown drove their stakes in the soil. Seminole Townsite sur­ At high noon the race began, a wild dash for making it the largest of all the land openings The veyors who arrived at around 11:30 a.m. by the regular In 1884, despite protests by the Cher­ western half, much of it drier and suitable only for 160 acre homesteads and smaller but more valu­ One young man who entered Oklahoma passenger train from the south, immediately started lay­ okee Nation, Congress approved the con­ grazing, remained largely unclaimed until the 1900s able town lots. They came by train, horse, bug­ City on the third train from Kansas de­ ing out streets and blocks. By 12:20 more than 40 struction of two additional railroads by scribed the scene when he arrived: “I gy, and even bicycle. There was one rumor that The lands of the Iowa and the Sac and Fox Indians tents already were pitched on the site of Oklahoma “aeronauts” planned to use a hot air balloon to the Santa Fe Railroad Company through were opened for non-lndian settlement on September kept looking for Main Street, but couldn’t the Indian Territory. One of them was 22. 1891. when approximately 20,000 homeseekers drop onto their claim. However they came, the see a street or anything that looked like a purposely diverted to run through the Un­ rushed for 7.000 quarter-sections of land At 1:15. Dr. Delos Walker, the first legal settler to men and women who made the run would long street. All I could see was a lot of tents arrive at Oklahoma City, pulled into the townsite in his assigned Lands, north and south. Com­ arranged in a haphazard way, much like remember April 22 as a day filled with drama and pleted in 1887, the line had water or coal buggy, his horse well lathered from the sprint. Behind someone had thrown a handful of white him came others from the 7-C Ranch, pouring over the excitement. stations at Beaver Creek (Alfred), Deer dice out on the open prairie.” The land run of 1889 was more than the Creek (Guthrie), Summit (Edmond), land in all directions. Then came the double-engined, world's greatest horse race. To the participants in Oklahoma (Oklahoma City), Verbeck 24-car special train from Purcell, arriving at 2:10 with the run, it was a last chance to win a piece of (Moore), and Dugout (Camp Norman) approximately 2,500 land-seekers ready to dash for land. For the rest of the afternoon, train after train the “Promised Land.” To the Indians of the ter­ On April 22, 1889, these sites drew almost half of the land seekers unloaded reinforcements in the battle for land. ritory, it was another brick removed from the By nightfall, Oklahoma station, only an isolated train making the run. walls of tribal survival. To Oklahomans a hun­ stop that morning, was a community of more than dred years later, it is a pivotal point in history, a The largest crowds making the run entered from the 10.000—a city bom grown. singular event in the story of their state. north The major embarkation points were the Santa Fe Railroad, Stillwater Creek. Skeleton Creek, and at Buffalo Springs on the Caldwell/Fort Reno Trail.

A third land run opened the Cheyenne-Arapaho reser­ Surplus lands of the Kickapoo Indians were claimed vation on April 19, 1892. The eastern half, which in the last land run on May 23. 1895 contained most of the Indian allotments, filled quickly. The western half was used primarily for grazing. ,

Once an important station on the Chisholm Trail. Bak- er Ranch (as stage stations were cal l ed er by 1889 served the Caldwell/Fort Reno Trail is townsite was platted in 1890 • Stillwater

W L Couch and the boomers established a prema­ Baker’s ture settlement on the banks of Stillwater Creek in Stage 1884. so the area was well known by large numbers of those who came from Kansas. The townsite, how- Station ever, was not platted until June.

Camps River After the date for the • Guthrie The Shawnee-Pottawatomie lands were included in the land run was announced, Kingfisher land run of September 22, 1891, along with those of land-seekers from all parts the Iowa and the Sac and Fox. of the country and several A former stage station, Kingfisher tor a time was the foreign nations poured into third largest urban center in the Unassigned Lands southern Kansas. The big­ with 2,500 settlers There were actually two townsites, one called Lisbon, settled by "westliners" from the gest staging ground was the Cheyenne-Arapaho lands, and Kingfisher proper, set­ • Seward Walnut Creek camp near tled by "northliners" from the Cherokee Outlet Al­ Arkansas City, Kansas, lo­ though Kingfisher did not have rail connections at the Based on 1890 Federal census data, time of the run. it was the site of a federal land When the sun rose on April 22 1889 cated only three miles north office. Guthrie consisted of a water tank, two most black homesteaders making the run of the state line. There, section houses, and a depot, presenting settled in Kingfisher County north and more than 10.000 men. wo- an austere appearance that in no way re­ east of Dover and in the southeast comer men, and children waited flected the coming tempest. of Logan County. In Canadian County, for the great race. Thou- • Edmond To capitalists and speculators, Guthrie several black settlers claimed land near El sands more were poised was the choice location of the Run. It Reno and Mustang. Payne and Oklaho­ near another “boomer” was one of two sites with a land office ma counties had only a few black set­ stronghold at Caldwell. and was projected to be a crossroads of tlers, while Cleveland County had none. El Reno railroad development. It also was the The majority of blacks settled in towns, beneficiary of “mob mentality.” With principally Guthrie and Oklahoma City. '^adW all the talk about Guthrie, everyone as­ Scouted before the run by boomers, railroad workers, sumed it was the place to go. and speculators, El Reno was recognized for its val­ • Oklahoma City ue as a future railroad site in a rich agricultural re­ the western border, the major ports of entry were Not surprisingly. Guthrie drew the larg­ gion. Two groups of Kansas townsite speculators mile west of Kingfisher station on the Caldwell/ est number of sooners, known as the surveyed the town, one group hiring two old soldiers Reno Road and in the area of Fort Reno and the “8:00 crowd” and including a sizable to make a claim and then lease the land to them Darlington Indian Agency Charges of soonerism against one of the men were army of deputy U.S. marshals, judges, upheld, and a second run for town lots occurred in commissioners, revenue collectors, rail­ 1892 road officials, reporters, and adventurers. • Moore Well before noon they had claimed most of the best lots, held a popular election David L. Payne is known as the “father of Silver City On the east. William McClure's 7-C Rant on the on which of several surveys to use for Oklahoma.” Following the collapse of C. C. Car­ Shawneetown Road provided a major point the town plat, and erected a city of tents. Located on the south bank of the Canadian River in especially for people intent on getting penter’s first weak effort to settle the Unassigned the Chickasaw Nation, Silver City was an important . Oklahoma City. At 12:40 the first rider arrived from Lands, he headed the boomer movement. In July cow town on the Chisholm Trail and had a post of­ fice as early as 1883 the legal border on the east, followed by of 1880, after a second attempt to invade and set­ • Norman the first special train from the north at tle in the Unassigned Lands, Payne was arrested, Established by the Santa Fe as a telegraph station. 1:25. As the train slowed, passengers hit transported to Fort Smith, and fined $1,000. Moore was pre-surveyed by the Seminole Company, the ground rolling, coming up and dash­ Payne escaped without punishment and returned to but lost out for major development when the company ing for the best lots. To their dismay, decided to promote other townsites. However, the sur­ Kansas a hero, ready to organize another inva­ rounding countryside showed great potential for farm­ the townsite was largely claimed, so most sion. At least twice a year for the next three ing and was quickly filled with claimants. simply ran until there were no flags and years, he led illegal excursions into Oklahoma staked the next-lot available. Others On April 22, this depot at Norman contained only a and each time was ejected. Payne died in Novem­ section house with telegraph and living quarters for bought lots, with realtors doing a land ber, 1884, his dream of opening the Unassigned the agent. The Seminole Town and Improvement office business. Lands as yet unrealized. Company faced competition from the Norman Townsite By nightfall, Guthrie had a population Company, but was the eventual winner in a town Most of the settlers coming from the south entered Boys in blue The Best Stock Country on Earth. which grew to several hundred by nightfall from purce|| ¡n Chickasaw Nation, although nu­ estimated at 10,000 to 15,OOO. True to Other than a few deputy U.S. mar­ merous crossings on the South Canadian River were Purcell the predictions, it eventually became the shals, the only effective law enforcement used. People entering by this route faced the addi­ territorial capital and the first state capital. The term “boomer” was given to the tional hazards of a river crossing Many entries were during the land run was provided by the people agitating or “booming” for the made from the south by railroad military. Troopers from Fort Reno pa­ opening of the Unassigned Lands to non­ Fort Reno was established on the eastern border of trolled the borders before the run. battled MINERALS! Indian settlement. They were initially led the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation in July, 1875 In an endless parade of Sooners, supervised by David L. Payne, who formed the 1889, the soldiers of Fort Reno, under commanding the opening signals, and maintained order officer Colonel J. C Wade, were charged with the Oklahoma Colony, advertised widely, and task of monitoring the land run. after the run. Temporary camps were es­ even published a publicity organ. The tablished at Oklahoma City under the Oklahoma War Chief. The boomers tried command of Capt. Daniel Stiles and at to establish numerous settlements in the Guthrie under Capt. Arthur MacArthur, Unassigned Lands between 1880 and father of Douglas MacArthur. 1885 and were ejected each time by the army. Onward by Train When the Unassigned Lands were sur­ Most of the land-seekers making the veyed during the early 1870s, a stone Sooners After staking claim to a lot or home­ run for Guthrie and Oklahoma City ar­ stead, land-seekers appeared before the was placed to mark the comers and mid­ By law, persons who entered or occu­ rived by train. At Guthrie the first train land office agent in Kingfisher or Guthrie way points of each section of land. pied the Unassigned Lands prior to noon from the north rolled to a stop at 1:25 where they paid about $14 in fees and Thus three comers of each quarter-section on April 22, 1889, were prohibited from p.m. followed by the second train at 1:33 commissions and filed a homestead appli­ were marked. To claim a homestead, making legal claims. Many entered with another 1.000 settlers. Other trains cation. They also signed affidavits that entrants erected signs, flags, or pointed “sooner” than the designated time. Anton Classen made the land run and settled first in arrived at 1:48, 2:00, 2:30, 3:00, and Guthrie, then in Edmond, where he practiced law, they were not a sooner, and that they wooden stakes bearing their name or ini­ Among them were settlers, former boom­ even later. The first special from the dealt in real estate, and published a newspaper In met the requirements of the Homestead tials. Land was selected at random and ers, railroad workers, deputy U.S. mar­ 1895 he moved to Oklahoma City, and was active in south arrived at Guthrie at 3:30. Each Act regarding age, marital status, and cit­ claimants simply hoped for the best. shals, and other government officials. property development and the street car system The litigation which resulted from the time a train slowed, land-hungry men and izenship. To “prove up” or obtain final claims of sooners kept the courts busy women jumped from windows, cow Henry Overholser, known as the "father ot Oklahoma proof of ownership, a settler was required catchers, and roofs, intent on finding the City " arrived in Oklahoma City a tew days after the W. L Couch became the leader of the boomer move­ for years following the run. run with capital for investment and several boxcars ment after Payne's death In December. 1884, he led to live on and improve the land for five best lots. The Greatest Horse Race: Centennial filled with prefabricated buildings. He purchased eight a well armed group of several hundred men. women, years, or pay $1.25 an acre after one lots in the heart of the business district and erected and children to Stillwater Creek Military reaction was year. Less than half of all claimants Map of the Oklahoma Land Run of six two-story buildings He would go on to build the swift The army cut off the camp's supply routes and 1889 is a cooperative project of the first opera house, create the Oklahoma State Fair, and waited Within two weeks, the occupants returned to proved up. build an ornate mansion that today is a museum op­ Kansas On April 22, 1889, Couch claimed and lost Oklahoma City Community Founda­ erated by the Oklahoma Historical Society. a choice tract at Oklahoma station and served as the tion, the Oklahoma Historical Soci­ first mayor of Oklahoma City, He died a year after the run from a gunshot wound inflicted by a man ety, and the Oklahoma Department who contested his claim of Tourism and Recreation.

Project Director ... .Nancy Anthony Editorial...... Bob L. Blackburn To qualify for the run, entrants had to and Mary Ann Blochowiak be the head of a family or a single per­ Design...... Ann Thompson son, at least 21 years of age, and an American citizen or declaring an intent to and Linda Garrett Layout...... Max Campbell become a naturalized citizen. The settler Printed at the University of Oklaho­ was required to begin living on the claim ma Printing Services within six months. Thereafter, if he left Copyright 1989 © OCCF the land for more than six months, he lost the land. The Five Civilized Tribes established democratic governments, published news­ The Five Civilized Tribes—the Cherokee, Choctaw, papers, and started down the path to frontier prosperity. Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole—were the largest and The Golden Age of the Five Tribes was interrupted by most numerous tribes in the Indian Territory. During the Civil War, a devastating blow that split the Cher­ the Revolutionary War they occupied lands in the Colo­ okee and Creek Tribes and tested the will of the Choc­ nial Southeast, from the Carolinas and Florida to Ten­ taw and Chickasaw. The final effect came at the end nessee and Mississippi. The first removals to tile West of the war when the federal government took away the began in the 1790s when groups of Cherokees moved western half of their lands in punishment for siding Actually, the land run was just one important part of the story. to the Arkansas River Valley. As Americans swept with the Confederacy. The land called the Indian Territory was not a wilderness in 1889. It into their homelands, pressure on the tribes increased. By 1887, having rebuilt their nations, the Five Tribes was not even isolated or uninhabited. On the contrary, the Indian Territory During the 1820s and 1830s more than 49,000 mem­ faced new threats—numerous assaults on their tribal was full of life. bers of the Five Tribes were forced west over what be sovereignty and control of the land. They cooperated To the east of the Unassigned Lands were the Five Civilized Tribes, the came known as the Trail of Tears. as never before to find solutions, including an attempt Osages, and other tribes moved from previous frontiers. To the west were the Civil War the nations owned all of what be- to enter the Union as the state of Sequoyah in 1905. reservations for the Plains Tribes. In both directions were towns, railroads, came Oklahomacame except for the Panhandle and Old In the end, they accepted allotment, and joined Oklaho­ newspapers, stagecoach routes, schools, and even telephone lines. It was a land Greer County. In their new homes they built schools, ma Territory to become one state in 1907. with a rich legacy, a blend of many cultures and the dreams of many people. The number of cattle in the five nations reached The land run of 1889 was only one chapter in the dramatic history of Oklahoma 320,450 in 1889. producing $1,361.000 in sales These figures included the stock of Indians and others living in the nations.

In 1889 the Panhandle came under the jurisdiction of no state or territory It was. in Land The area had been used for years by rancher when squatters began arriving in The area near the confluence of the Arkansas, Ver­ they formed a government and organized the area as Elias C. Boudinot was a prominent mixed-blood Cher­ Cimarron Territory, but the action was never digris, and Grand Rivers is the cradle of Oklahoma his­ okee lawyer who created a storm of excitement when by Congress No Man's Land became part tory. For decades it was the center of trade for he published a letter in 1879 urging the opening of homa Territory in 1890 the Unassigned Lands to non-lndians. Thought to be corn, wheat, and oats, 421,000 bushels vegetables, Indians, trappers, and traders, and it became a major working with the railroads and the boomers, he was 35,000 bales of cotton and 168,000 tons of hay for called a traitor by his people a combined value of $5 756.000 military center for the Indian Territory after construc­ tion of Fort Gibson in 1824. Most major transportation routes, including the Texas Road, Shawnee Cattle Trail, and later, the railroads, crossed through. The Three Black Mesa 4,973’ Elevation Forks also was the site of Indian agencies, missions, Osage Hills Beaver City schools, and the second largest city in the twin territo­ No Man’s * : Vinita ries at the time of statehood—Muskogee. Pawhuska • The 1890 census of the Five Civilized Tribes showed Pond Creek• a total population of 178,097, including 50,055 Indi­ After removal of the Five Civilized ans, 18 638 blacks, 109,393 whites, and 13 Chinese Chris Madsen was one of the "Oklahoma Guards­ Santa Fe Tribes, most villages were merely wide men," a famous deputy marshal, who. as a Danish places in the road, usually a few build­ soldier of fortune, came to the U.S in 1870 He joined Heck Thomas and Bill Tilghman in ridding the Tulsa Chouteau ings crowded around a military fort, area of outlaws such as the Doolin gang, who used Farming trading post, or Indian agency. Towns Indian Territory as their base such as Park Hill, Skullyville, Doaksville, Cultivation began among the Indians of Oklahoma Unassigned Lands Lands Eagletown, and Boggy Depot surfaced about 900 A.D. with crops of beans, com, and pump­ across the territory like islands in the Fifteen newspapers were published in Indian Territory kins. Citizens of the Five Civilized Tribes brought Musi The Cherokees published one, The Cherokee Advo­ with them a mixed agricultural heritage, a combination ocean. The first full service cities fol­ cate. a national paper in English and Cherokee: the Antelope Hills Iowa Village lowed railroad construction into the terri­ Chickasaw Nation had seven papers, all by non­ of subsistence farming and cash crop production. In citizens and whites; and the Choctaws printed three the 1850s mixed-blood plantation owners such as Choc Darlington, • • Okmulgee tory after 1871. The earliest towns newspapers, one of which was Indian. Four news­ taw Robert M. Jones cultivated more than 5,000 acres included Muskogee, Wagoner, Vinita, and papers were published in the Creek Nation; the Semi­ Fort Reno • Oklahoma City Durant, all located on rail lines. By 1889 noles had none and shipped his cotton to New Orleans on his own • Checotah steam boats. I • Shawneetown Muskogee had a population of 1,200. North • Seger Colony Ranching Eufaula The impact of ranch and range on the • Wewoka Railroads development of Oklahoma can be traced The first railroad across the Indian Ter­ to the first nomads who followed the vast Purcell ritory was built in 1871, following the buffalo herds. This commissary on the South Canadian • McAlester historic Texas Road from Kansas to hoof provided food, clothing, shelter, and Texas. Other roads were built in 1882 tools. Indians also accumulated large Mangum and 1887, including the Santa Fe line herds of ponies after 1500, forming an north and south through the Unassigned important symbol of wealth and power. Wichita Lands. Trailing longhorn cattle from Texas to Mountains Arbuckle Tuskahoma The railroads brought many changes to Kansas railheads spanned the era from Mountains the territory. With efficient transportation, 1866 to 1889. Four primary trails cut full service towns emerged for the first through the Indian Territory: the East time, attracting businessmen, merchants, Shawnee Trail, the West Shawnee Trail, and professionals from the outside world. the Chisholm Trail, Tishomingo and the Great West • With access to markets, white farmers em or Dodge City Trail. Eagletown flocked to the Indian Nations. By 1906 School property in the Choctaw Nation in 1889 was • Durant valued at $200.000 and included four boarding 287’ Elevation whites far outnumbered Indians in the In­ schools, 174 neighborhood schools, and several mis­ dian Territory. And the railroads, wanting Military Posts sion schools Blacks were provided with 25 schools One Vast Reservation development along their lines, added their To control the Plains tribes after the In 1889 the Unassigned Lands was an island a sea considerable political clout to the effort to Civil War, the government established a Because of long-standing survey errors, the land be­ of Indian reservations and nations. The Five Civilized tween the 100th meridian on the West, the Red River open the territory to non-Indian settle­ chain of forts from the Dakotas to Texas. Tribes, forced to surrender the western half of their on the south, and the North Fork of Red River on the ment. Without the railroads, the land run In the Indian Territory the new western north was claimed and settled by Texas until 1896, of 1889 may never have happened. lands following the Civil War, filled most of the area when a Supreme Court decision transferred the area outposts were Fort Sill, Fort Reno, and Jesse Chisholm, half-Scot, to the east and south. The remainder of the territory to Oklahoma Territory After statehood Old Greer From 1000 A.D to 1500 A D a complex culture Centennial Map Camp Supply. From these bases of oper­ County was divided into four counties called the mound builders flourished in the Arkansas half-Cherokee, was a dominant The total production of all grades of coal in Indian was filled with tribes whose origins ranged from the River Valley. Ancestors of the Caddo and Wichita, ation, troops tracked and battled elusive force on the frontier as a trader, Territory in 1889 was 752,282 short tons with a value Northern Plains and the Pacific Northwest to the deserts they established large cities, built temples, and pro­ of $1.323,807 Indians, chased and arrested horse duced sophisticated art forms and tools. interpreter, and guide. He ar­ of the Southwest. Other tribes were moved from Kan­ thieves, and found and drove out the per­ ranged numerous peace councils sas, Nebraska, and Texas as those states were occupied sistent armies of boomers led by David with the Indians, accompanied by whites. The confinement of indigenous western L. Payne and William Couch. In 1889, several important military expedi tribes began after the Civil War. By the 20th century, troops from Fort Reno supervised the General Allotment tions, and blazed a wagon trail Indian Territory was home to 67 different tribes. land run. through the center of the Indian The General Allotment Act, passed by Congress in Territory which became known After leading the final Comanche war parties in the 1887, was the beginning of the end for tribal sover­ 1870s, Quanah Parker, son of a captive white woman, as the Chisholm Cattle Trail. became a model citizen in two worlds Never forsak­ In August. 1888, the Kiowa-Comanche reserve was eignty and reservations in the Indian Territory. At first ing his Indian heritage, he lobbied in Congress for home to 1,564 Comanches. 1,121 Kiowas. 491 Cad- applied only to the tribes in the western part of the ter­ Indian interests, served fairly as a tribal judge, and dos. 348 Apaches, and 165 Wichitas Smaller tribes In 1890 the Cherokees numbered 20,624; Chickasaws, The Greatest Horse Race: Centennial negotiated lucrative grazing leases for his tribe No included the Tehuacanos. 143, Delawares. 89. Wacos, ritory, it was designed to allot parcels of land to each 3,941; Choctaws, 10,017; Creeks, 9,291; and the Map of the Oklahoma Land Run of less successful in the white man's world, he held po­ 64, and Keechies. 30 tribal member. “Surplus” lands would be opened to Seminóles, 1,621. sitions ranging from deputy sheriff to school board non-Indian settlers. 1889 is a cooperative project of the president and grew wealthy as a rancher Oklahoma City Community Founda­ Generally, after the government reached agreements tion, the Oklahoma Historical Soci­ with a tribe, heads of families received 160 acres of ety, and the Oklahoma Department land, while single individuals under 18 received 80 of Tourism and Recreation. acres. Allottees were able to choose which land they wanted; if they failed or refused to do so, the govern­ Project Director ... .Nancy Anthony ment selected land for them. The procedures took At the time of removal in the 1820s Editorial...... Bob L. Blackburn years to complete, delayed at first by attempts to deter­ and 1830s, slavery was common among and Mary Ann Blochowiak mine who were members of tribes and then by passive the Five Civilized Tribes, and many Design...... Ann Thompson resistance to ending traditional ways of life. After al­ blacks were even accepted into the tribes. and Linda Garrett lotment was completed, surplus lands were purchased During the allotment process, most freed­ Layout...... Max Campbell from the tribes and made a part of the public domain, men chose land near other blacks, form­ Printed at the University of Oklaho­ thus paving the way for the numerous land openings. ing black communities. As railroads built ma Printing Services As each new parcel was opened, it was added to Okla­ through these areas black towns such as Copyright 1989 © OCCF homa Territory, important steps in the state-making pro­ Boley and Taft emerged to serve the cess. black farmers.