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N0KFQ > TODAY 22.04.17 14:08l 77 Lines 3460 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Apr 22
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IK6ZDE<VE2PKT<N0KFQ
Sent: 170422/1208Z 30250@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.13
1889
The Oklahoma land rush begins
At precisely high noon, thousands of would-be settlers make a mad
dash into the newly opened Oklahoma Territory to claim cheap
land.
The nearly two million acres of land opened up to white
settlement was located in Indian Territory, a large area that
once encompassed much of modern-day Oklahoma. Initially
considered unsuitable for white colonization, Indian Territory
was thought to be an ideal place to relocate Native Americans who
were removed from their traditional lands to make way for white
settlement. The relocations began in 1817, and by the 1880s,
Indian Territory was a new home to a variety of tribes, including
the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, Cheyenne, Commanche, and
Apache.
By the 1890s, improved agricultural and ranching techniques led
some white Americans to realize that the Indian Territory land
could be valuable, and they pressured the U.S. government to
allow white settlement in the region. In 1889, President Benjamin
Harrison agreed, making the first of a long series of
authorizations that eventually removed most of Indian Territory
from Indian control.
To begin the process of white settlement, Harrison chose to open
a 1.9 million-acre section of Indian Territory that the
government had never assigned to any specific tribe. However,
subsequent openings of sections that were designated to specific
tribes were achieved primarily through the Dawes Severalty Act
(1887), which allowed whites to settle large swaths of land that
had previously been designated to specific Indian tribes.
On March 3, 1889, Harrison announced the government would open
the 1.9 million-acre tract of Indian Territory for settlement
precisely at noon on April 22. Anyone could join the race for the
land, but no one was supposed to jump the gun. With only seven
weeks to prepare, land-hungry Americans quickly began to gather
around the borders of the irregular rectangle of territory.
Referred to as "Boomers," by the appointed day more than 50,000
hopefuls were living in tent cities on all four sides of the
territory.
The events that day at Fort Reno on the western border were
typical. At 11:50 a.m., soldiers called for everyone to form a
line. When the hands of the clock reached noon, the cannon of the
fort boomed, and the soldiers signaled the settlers to start.
With the crack of hundreds of whips, thousands of Boomers
streamed into the territory in wagons, on horseback, and on foot.
All told, from 50,000 to 60,000 settlers entered the territory
that day. By nightfall, they had staked thousands of claims
either on town lots or quarter section farm plots. Towns like
Norman, Oklahoma City, Kingfisher, and Guthrie sprang into being
almost overnight.
An extraordinary display of both the pioneer spirit and the
American lust for land, the first Oklahoma land rush was also
plagued by greed and fraud. Cases involving "Sooners" - people who
had entered the territory before the legal date and
time - overloaded courts for years to come. The government
attempted to operate subsequent runs with more controls,
eventually adopting a lottery system to designate claims. By
1905, white Americans owned most of the land in Indian Territory.
Two years later, the area once known as Indian Territory entered
the Union as a part of the new state of Oklahoma.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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