The Oklahoma Land Runs: Myth or Mystery? Part 2

 

Oklahoma Land Openings Map
Used with permission from the Oklahoma Historical Society

By Alanna Radle Rodriguez and Judge Rodriguez



Thank you for joining us this month as we look into the history of the Oklahoma Land Runs.

Last month, we covered the history leading up to the allowance of white settlement in the Indian Territory by the US government, and of the first or the “Great Land Run”. This month, we are diving into several other of the Land Runs, as there were more than most people think.

After the success of the first Land Run, the federal government was pressured into opening more and more lands within the Indian Territory. Unfortunately, those lands were still in the hands of the tribes that were living there as part of their assignment proceeding the different conflicts, for example, the War Between The States, and the Red River War.

The US government, overlooking the existing treaties, opened the lands up for white settlement over the course of more than a decade, the first Land Run happening in 1889, the final one happening in 1901.

There was a set of five in 1891 which opened of the Shawnee lands, just to the east of the Unassigned Territory (which opened on April 22, 1889). The next four Land Runs, also taking place in 1891, the Shawnee lands became Pottawatomie and Lincoln counties, with Tecumseh and Chandler being their county seats, respectively.

The next Land Run was in 1892, the opening of the Comanche and Arapaho lands in the southwestern part of the state. This Land Run was important as many of the best plots of land that were opened for white settlement were given to the Indian Scouts that served with the army. Many of the scouts were able to take some of the more choice allotments of land as payment for their service to the Army.

   

"Boomers Camp, Arkansa City, Kansas. Waiting for the Strike to Open
May 1st, 1893"
Public Domain

The next and final Great Land Run was that of the Cherokee Outlet, or the Cherokee Strip, in 1893. This Land Run opened much of the Northwestern part of what is now the state of Oklahoma (minus the panhandle). This Land Run gave us towns such as Enid, Woodward, Seiling, Vici, Slap Out and Laverne.

This Land Run was, in some ways, more famous than the first, as it opened the mostly tall plains grassland, and the arid desert regions of the northwestern part of the state.

When most people think of Oklahoma, they think of the region that is in the north central part of the state, normally. This part of the state is empty prairie lands, as we like to call it “miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles.”

It was after the Land Run of the Kickapoo lands between the Shawnee lands and the Unassigned Territory in 1895, that the federal government determined that the problems that crop up with the large-scale Land Runs was too much trouble. So the large-scale land allotments were handled by sealed bid.

 

"Land Openings"
Used with permission from the
Oklahoma Historical Society

 
There were several sealed-bid allotments of land, to include the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation, the Wichita-Caddo Reservation, and the Big Pasture.

The final Land Run was in the town of Arcadia in the eastern part of Oklahoma County in 1901. It was allowing settlers to choose individual town plots within its district only. The town of Arcadia today has been annexed into Edmond and consists of several homes and one of the man-made lakes, Lake Arcadia.

Thank you for joining us this last couple of months as we looked into the history of the Land Runs of Oklahoma. If you are interesting in digging deeper in to the history of these historic events, please feel free to contact the Oklahoma Historical society, the regional and town Historical Societies, or preferably an older resident of the area you are inquiring about. Thank you, and have a blessed day!

Born and raised in Edmond, Oklahoma, Alanna Radle Rodriguez is the great-great granddaughter of one of the first pioneers to settle in Indian Territory. Judge was born and raised in Little Axe, Oklahoma, the son of A.F. Veterans. Judge and Alanna love the history of the state and relish in volunteering at the 1889 Territorial Schoolhouse in Edmond. Her second published story, part of a collaborative novella titled 18 Rebud Lane, came out March 2019. Alanna and Judge live with her parents in the Edmond area. They are currently collaborating on a historical fiction series that takes place in pre-statehood Oklahoma.

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The Oklahoma Land Runs: Myth or Myster? Pt 1

Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889
Public Domain
https://images.app.goo.gl/mbFtZmCsDx224yXNA

  

By Alanna Radle Rodriguez and Judge Rodriguez



Thank you for joining us this month as we look into the history of the Oklahoma Land Runs.

For those of us that live in the great state of Oklahoma, the terms 89er, Boomer, Sooner, or Land Run, is commonplace. Recently, however, it recently came to our attention, that even locally, most didn't learn the whole truth in school.

In honor of the 130th anniversary of the first land run, and after much discussion, we decided to cover the different Land Runs. Wait. There was more than one?

For those of you whom are familiar with us, we spend many of our Saturdays doing tours at a local museum, Edmond's 1889 Territorial Schoolhouse Museum. Sometimes, we go deeper into the history of the state than others, depending on the interest level of the visitors at the museum. It has taken quite the amount of independent study and research.

“Why would someone be interested in the history of the state up to sixty years before the settling of a town?” one might ask. Why indeed? Without going into the history , we can't describe the reasons behind such an interest and unique method to allocate the lands, such as the land runs.

Thanks to a slight navigation error in surveys of the Louisiana Purchase, the entirety of the lands that later became the state of Oklahoma, were identified as being "unsuitable for white settlement." This, of course, led to the reassignment of the lands and the creation of the reservations for the Native Americans during the Indian Removal Act of the 1830’s. If a Native American was found outside of their assigned reservation, they could be executed.

There were a series of forts that existed throughout the entire territory, termed the “Border Forts” that helped keep the peace between the tribes, and the white settlers in the territories around the Indian Territory. The border forts helped keep the number of slave raids down to a minimum.

During the Mexican War (1846-1848), troops were moving through the different reservations on their way to Texas, and beyond. Even today, the system of roads created between the different forts form a major part of the backbone of the highway system, in Eastern Oklahoma.

During the conflict commonly called the Civil War, or the War Between the States, many of the tribes sided with the Confederate States of America (the South).

As the conflict raged on, many troops moving through the different areas desired settling in the lands that were set aside as reservation lands.

Post War Western Indian Territory saw an increase in raiding of the Apache and Comanche tribes, requiring the intervention of the U.S. Cavalry (in the Red-River War). This intervention created a new series of forts in the territory, many of which still exist today.

In 1887, there was a dissolution of the Reservations that were set aside for each of the tribes. The corruption endemic with each of the “Indian Agencies” that were managing each of the reservations led to numerous problems.

It was the extension of the railroad through the unassigned lands in the late 1880’s that sealed the fate of the reservations, however, and made White Settlement of the Indian Territory an inevitability.

There were several groups that had been pushing for the allowance of white settlers in the Unassigned Territory for years, the most notable of which was David Payne’s Boomers. After several skirmishes with the U.S. Cavalry, leading to the removal of what were considered squatters, the US government gave in.

Many people associate the term Land Run with just the first in the series of Land Runs, or Land Rushes.

Outline Map of the lands, known asOklahoma Indian Territory
Used with permission from the Oklahoma Historical Museum

The Great Land Run, also called “Harrison’s Horse Race”, was the opening of the “Unassigned Territory” located in the center part of what is now the state of Oklahoma. The bill was signed into being in January of 1889 and the Land Run took place on April 22nd.

Each of the plots had a marker stone that indicated the plot, the amount of land, and the exact location as mapped by the surveyors. These plots varied in size. They ranged from an acre (in-town plots) up to a quarter plot (160 acres, or a quarter square mile in the rural areas).
Though it is not known the exact number of people that took part in the first Land Run, there are estimates of it being anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 prospective settlers.

There were a number of towns that formed overnight. Towns such as Norman, Moore, Oklahoma Station (later called Oklahoma City), Guthrie, Stillwater, and Summit (later called Edmond). Many of these towns were formed along the railroad itself, allowing for the import of badly needed building materials and supplies. Why didn't they just go out and cut trees down? The area where the '89 Land Run took place was tall-prairie grassland. There weren't any trees. Every piece of lumber came in on the railroad.

Edmond, I.T., depot before April 22, 1889
Used with permission from the Oklahoma Historical Society
Note: NO TREES

However, not many people were able to get the “Town plots” that were so coveted. Settlers that were able to, made the most of their allotments. "Tent cities" sprang up overnight.

Now this is not to say that there weren’t conflicts over land ownership. In fact, many of the conflicts that made it to arbitration lasted for years. One of the first families in Oklahoma was the Harn family. In 1891, President Harrison assigned William Harn to be a special commissioner to resolve land ownership disputes.

Many of those disputes lasted long enough that when one side’s claim was found valid, both parties had already moved on to other things. Eventually, Commissioner Harn ended up taking many of those plots of land for himself. You can visit the Harn Homestead Museum in central Oklahoma.

All together, there were seven Land Runs in Oklahoma. This article covers just the history leading up to and part of the information on the first of the Land Runs.

Please join us next month as we cover more information on the additional Land Runs that this state experienced as well.

Born and raised in Edmond, Oklahoma, Alanna Radle Rodriguez is the great-great granddaughter of one of the first pioneers to settle in Indian Territory. Judge was born and raised in Little Axe, Oklahoma, the son of A.F. Veterans. Judge and Alanna love the history of the state and relish in volunteering at the 1889 Territorial Schoolhouse in Edmond. Her first published story, part of a collaborative novella titled Legacy Letters, came out September 2016. Alanna and Judge live with her parents in the Edmond area. They are currently collaborating on a historical fiction series that takes place in pre-statehood Oklahoma.

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Pinterest.com/alannaradlerodr/
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