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.

Facebook.com/authorAlannaRadleRodriguez
Pinterest.com/alannaradlerodr/
Amazon

Edmond, OK History: The Schoolhouse Pt 3 Wedding of the Century

The Wedding of the Century

By Alanna Radle Rodriguez

I’m so glad you’re back for the conclusion of my blog on the 1889 Territorial Schoolhouse in Edmond, because this blog covers something that is truly and dearly close to my heart. It’s been a few months since my last post about the schoolhouse, so let me recap.

The land run of Unassigned Lands in Oklahoma happened on Friday, April 22, 1889. Edmond was a small town settled that day. The ladies of Edmond formed the Aid Society and did enough fundraisers that they were able to build the first free school in the territory. It was open for the first church service on August 11, 1889, just shy of four months after the land run, and it was the site for the first funeral recorded in the county. It was also the site for the first recorded wedding in the county on August 11, 1889, probably after the Sunday service. Over the ten years it served as a schoolhouse, church and meeting place, many weddings took place there. The last one was held on Saturday, April 17, 1897. Over 117 years later, in 2014, the schoolhouse saw another first. Another wedding! And I was the bride!

The first wedding in over 117 years!

My husband, Judge—yes, that’s his first name—and I met in an Old West reenactment group back in 2000. We both treasure history and family heritage. I had started volunteering at the Territorial Schoolhouse once they opened it up for public tours a year after the Oklahoma Centennial in 2007. The Preservation Trust allowed us to have the wedding at the schoolhouse. We found out that it really isn’t set up for weddings, so there won’t be any more in the foreseeable future. Because we love history, we wanted our wedding to be like it would have been back in 1889. Our wedding attire was period specific. We also did little decorating in order to keep everything in the schoolhouse like it was. Since Edmond is located in tall prairie grasslands, I wanted my bouquet to look like I, or someone else, had gone out in the prairie and picked wildflowers. Due to the fact we both have Scottish heritage, we also wanted to have a Celtic influence in our wedding.

My bouquet that held my great-great grandmother's crocheted doily

Unmarried women would wear their tartans on the left shoulder where married women would wear theirs on the right. Now typically, a Scotsman would marry into the bride’s clan and take her tartan, but sometimes the Scotswoman would marry into the groom’s clan, too. It’s called Changing of the Tartans. Since my husband is a veteran, he wore the Armed Forces tartan, the Blackwatch. I wanted to honor his service so I changed my tartan. But don’t worry, I still have my old tartans and wear them too.
 

Walking down the isle on my daddy's arm, my maiden tartan on my left shoulder

A daddy handing off his daughter

Changing the tartans, putting on my new tartan. On the right shoulder

Another Celtic wedding tradition we did was the Loving Cup and Sharing of Bread. The Loving Cup is an important part of a Celtic marriage. It symbolizes unending love. It’s actually a source of our modern tradition of the Wedding Toast. Directed by the minister, the couple drinks three “toasts” as a salute to Past Love (past loves), Current Love (the love you feel for each other today) and Future Love (love that will grow as you are together through the years). It is much older than Communion. The “sharing of the bread” was purely a symbolic gesture alluding to the willingness to put the other’s needs before your own and to provide for their sustenance and well being. Both are older than taking Communion, although we did choose to do a first Communion as a married couple and offered it to anyone who wanted to join us.
 

The Loving Cup

Sharing of Bread

A common Celtic wedding tradition, which we also did, was hand-fasting. This is where the term “tying the knot” originated. Hand-fasting was recognized as a binding contract of marriage between two families, or clans, even before weddings became a function of State or a responsibility of the Church. Along with taking vows and exchanging rings, the couple’s hands were bound together by a cord, generally a strip of tartan, signifying the joining of their lives in a sacred union. Today, it is a symbol to honor the couple’s commitment to one another, to acknowledge that their lives and their destinies are now bound together. My sister did a hand-fasting during her wedding ceremony, and she braided together three cords, one cord her favorite color, one cord her husband’s, and a white cord representing Christ binding them together.

Hand-fasting

The Knot has been tied!

Rings exchanged

My sister's hand-fasting cord

We all know how important wedding vows are. It’s a life covenant, not only between man and woman, but between the couple and God. We chose to say Old Irish wedding vows. They express what we really craved, not only between each other, but between us and God.

Repeating our vows

So on this day, two years ago, we bound our hearts, our futures, our lives and our families to the other. Here is a copy of the vows we took:

“I , Judge, promise you, Alanna, that I will stand beside you in sunshine and storm, in darkness and light, through good times and bad. Will you accept me as your husband?

I will. I, Alanna, promise you, Judge, that I will stand beside you in sunshine and storm, in darkness and light, through good times and bad. Will you accept me as your wife?

I will.”

Together, we said:

“I have joined my life to yours

To stand by your side and sleep in your arms

To be a joy to your heart and food to your soul

To work as partners and live as a family

While we grow old.”

Happy Anniversary, my husband, my muirnait (beloved), my anmchara (soul friend). I love you.

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. Alanna loves the history of the state and relishes 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 lives with her husband and parents in the Edmond area. She is currently working on a historical fiction series that takes place in pre-statehood Waterloo, Oklahoma.

Facebook.com/AlannaRadleRodriguez
Pinterest.com/alannaradlerodr/

Edmond, OK History: The Schoolhouse Pt 2

By Alanna Radle Rodriguez

Sanders Camera Shop 1980's, picture provided by Beverly Terry

In my last blog, I talked about how the first schoolhouse in Edmond Oklahoma was built. In this blog, I would like to talk about the renovation of the schoolhouse. First of all, I apologize for a mistake I made in my last blog. The schoolhouse was not purchased in 1998, but instead, on May 31, 2001. In 1998, the task of raising funds to purchase the property began in earnest.

Midfirst Bank donation banks

After the property was purchased, the Edmond City Council and Mayor voted to match the amount the Trust raised, up to $125,000. Nearly $10,000 had been raised by the beginning of 2001, followed up with the Kirkpatrick Foundation giving an extremely generous $35,000, $5,000 from the Kerr Foundation and pledge of $25,000 from the State Oil Spill Fund. While the Edmond Women’s Club donated $95,000, the City of Edmond kept their word and matched the Women’s Club’s donation. So on Thursday, May 31, 2001, the Edmond Historic Preservation Trust bought the property for $100,000.

Small schoolhouse shaped money banks were put around Edmond by the president of the Oklahoma based local bank, MidFirst (which has now expanded into Phoenix, Arizona and Denver, Colorado) in support for the public’s donations in the final stretch for the funding. But all of that adds up to more than enough, right? Correct. However, they needed funds to renovate and purchase furnishings and other essentials, like bathrooms and educational program development.

One of five blackboards found,
picture provided by
Beverly Terry

Downstairs, they had to deal with all of the camera equipment that was left behind. Upstairs, in the bedrooms, objects were left like bookshelves. There was beautiful pine paneling in a back office, and wall paper from each generation. 

As I said in my first blog (posted in the Archives & dated Feb. 19th), there was a lot of debate that the old Sander’s Camera Shop was the original 1889 Territorial Schoolhouse. One of the breakthroughs came on a boiling hot August day, when workers had been pulling back years and layers of wall paper, paint, inside walls, newspapers and cheesecloth they uncovered five blackboards and the outlines of the original windows. 

On one of the blackboards, you can still see bits and pieces of the last writing. The blackboards were just painted on the walls, the paint they used being a mixture of burnt sweet potato and milk, then directly painted onto the boards on the wall. Which was very convenient since there were straight lines for you to write on! On the blackboard on the east wall you can still see the last words written on it.

Original roofing found under dormers

When the dormers were taken down, they found parts of the original roof! It now hangs inside. Among other original things being discovered was original flooring and holes for the stove pipe and holes for the rope for the bell. The walls for the majority, are original, and were so hard that the electrical and phone workers had troubles drilling holes. Workers and volunteers came in and sanded down nail holes. 

Progress was being made. An old stove was found in the back of a local barn was sent to Kansas to be refurbished. Students in two local high school wood classes, cleaned, sanded and refinished desks that had been donated. Skids on the desks were made and attached by the Boy Scouts, including the picnic tables in the yard. Books and supplies were donated and bought, and a paint color was chosen. 

After years of sweat, blood, stress, grief and restitution, the schoolhouse was finally complete and ready for the Oklahoma Centennial Celebration in 2007. There was a grand opening for the public that April, correlating with the first land run in 1889, and a schoolmarm was hired so local public school and home school kids could come to spend the day like it would have been back in 1889. The day there actually counts as a day of school, not a field trip for the kids. 

To find out about reserving a day at the old school, contact the Edmond Historical Society at (405)340-0078. The Edmond 1889 Territorial Schoolhouse can be used for limited group meetings and private tours. Call (405)715-1889. It is also open to the public every first and second Saturdays of every month from 1-4pm and on the 4th of July, with the weekend schoolmarm who has passion for its history.

Here I am, the weekend schoolmarm!

The third and final part of the schoolhouse blog will conclude in October. I know, why not next month?! Well, there is a very good reason and in October you will find out. Here’s a little clue. It is another first, an event that happened in 2014 that echoed another first in the schoolhouse, one that was mentioned in the first blog. Have I hooked you yet? Stay tuned!


Born and raised in the Edmond, OK area, Alanna Radle Rodriguez is the great, great, granddaughter of one of the first pioneers to help settle the area around what is now Seminole, Oklahoma. The fourth generation in a line of women in her family to be born in Indian Territory/Oklahoma, she has lived in her beloved state all her life. With her knowledge of surrounding area history, her heart relishes in volunteering at the Oklahoma Territorial Schoolhouse in Edmond. She lives with her husband and parents in the Edmond area, currently working on a historical romance set in pre-statehood Waterloo, Oklahoma.

Edmond, OK History: The Schoolhouse Pt 1

Edmond's Ladies Aid Society

1889.  Friday, April 22.  The cannons had fired, igniting the first chaotic land run, and several counties in central Oklahoma—at that time, Indian Territory—were settled within in hours, stragglers still coming in throughout the night and the day after.  The race had been won.  Schooners dotted the virgin lands, townships, and counties, and pioneers had already begun to set up their homes.  Many women, with their children, had joined their husbands in the land run.  A distinctive group of women in the Edmond township established the Ladies Aid Society and started almost immediately to gather resources for building a schoolhouse for the children.   Acquiring lumber on credit from The James Brown’s Lumber Co. in May of 1889, labor would be voluntary. To ensure the school would be free for all the children, the women of the Ladies Aid Society began a worthwhile endeavor—fundraising.

The first activity was an ice cream social where blackberries, ice cream, cake and lemonade were sold.  They made a whole whoppin’ twenty-five dollars from that!  That’s not very much in our day and age, but considering back then, you could get a kid sick on one penny’s worth of candy, it was a lot of money!  By August, the schoolhouse was in operation and doubled as the church and community center.   Rev. Thomas N. Horner preached the first sermon on the 4^th of August, then performed the first wedding recorded in Indian Territory on the 11^th of the same month.  On September 16, 1889, with Miss Ollie McCormick presiding as teacher, the first day of Edmond Public School began.  The first day she had nineteen students.  By the end of the week she had thirty-seven.  The floor was dirt, the seating handmade, children walked, ran, skipped, rode horses and donkeys to school.  There are stories that a few students actually rode goats!  The schoolhouse had a little lean-to so the animals that were ridden had shelter. The First through Eighth grades were taught there.

Edmond's Schoolhouse

The second fundraising endeavor on November 28, 1889, was the town’s first Community Thanksgiving Dinner followed by a ball held at the schoolhouse.  It was agreed that the men would go hunt, and the women would cook.  It was reported that the dinner included one hundred thirty-two quail, eleven prairie chickens, twenty-two rabbits, seven turkeys, two squirrels, two raccoons and . . . one opossum.  What a feast!  But their work was not in vain.  They managed to raise enough money that the Ladies Aid Society was able to pay off the debt for the lumber, and pay Miss McCormick’s first year salary which was thirty dollars a month for eight months.

Four different churches were established in the schoolhouse.  On November 9^th and 10^th, 1889, the Methodist Episcopal Church was officially organized in the schoolhouse.  January 19, 1890, the Christian Church was organized in the schoolhouse and held services there the longest.  On Easter Sunday, April 1^st, 1890, the First Presbyterian Church of Edmond was organized.  On May 11^th, 1890, the First Baptist Church was the last church established.  Not only did the schoolhouse see the first wedding in Indian Territory, it saw the first funeral on June 21st, 1890, where family, friends and parishioners gathered to say good-bye to the Reverend Rush McDonald.

Enough settlers had come in that, within ten years, the Edmond Public School had outgrown its building.  On August 21^st, 1899, Hardy C. “Pete” Anglea purchased the old schoolhouse and schoolyard lots for a residence before the new schoolhouse was completed.  He put in a staircase so he could use the empty attic space above, moved the house to a sit on a new foundation fifty feet west of the original location in 1903, added windows on each side of the front door, and a new Victorian-era front porch.  On January 2^nd, 1900, the Edmond Public School was moved to its new home, a two-story stone building.  In 1908, Anglea sold his schoolhouse residence to the McGowan family, who sold it to the Pledger family in 1919.  In 1927, the Sanders family bought it.  In 1950, the Sanders’ son, Woody, converted the downstairs front of the house to his camera shop while the back and upstairs continued to be their residence.  Sanders Camera Shop closed in 1975 due to too much traffic forcing the city to widen Second Street to four lanes, taking away the shop’s parking.  The building lay dormant for twenty-five years.  That’s my earliest memories of the building—odd green peeling paint on the building, boarded windows, cracking siding and sign.

In 1998, the Edmond Historic Preservation Trust started raising funds to buy and restore the schoolhouse.  There was a huge debate on whether or not the Sanders Camera Shop really was the original schoolhouse of the pioneer town Edmond, Indian Territory.  But the truth came out when the Trust bought it and read the deed.  “School Lands”.  The Trust had found their schoolhouse!  Over the years it has been restored, refurbished, repaired and lovingly attended.  Now it is open to local school kids to come experience what school would have been like back in 1889, bringing period-specific food (no bananas) for lunch, dressing up like Little House on the Prairie, and spending the day with the schoolhouse’s own schoolmarm.  It counts not as a field trip but as an actual day of school because of the curriculum and the certified teacher.  For the general public, it is open, free of charge, the first and second Saturday of every month from 1-4pm.  They have a weekend schoolmarm who is a life-long Edmondnite and very proud of her Edmond heritage.  Over 126 years ago, Edmond became history with the first schoolhouse in Indian Territory, the first wedding, and the first funeral.  About 125 years later, it’s made history again!

The Cherokee Strip Land Run & Book Giveaway!

I was born and raised in Oklahoma, and I’ve always been interested in the land runs--one aspect of our state’s unique history. In case you’re not familiar with Oklahoma, much of the state was designated as Indian Territory in the later half of the nineteenth century. Over forty Indian tribes were eventually moved there because white settlers in other states and territories wanted their valuable land.

Once much of the West had been settled, people started looking at Oklahoma as one of their last chances to get free land. They pressured the government to open the Unassigned Lands--land that had been promised to certain tribes, but no Indians had settled on it. The government finally agreed, and President Benjamin Harrison signed the paperwork for what was later called Harrison’s Hoss Race.

And they're off!

On April 22, 1889, over two million acres of land was opened for settlement in Oklahoma’s first land run. The homesteads were 160 acres with much smaller town lots also available. Anybody twenty-one and older could ride—women, foreigners, and blacks included. The race began with the blast of cannon and gunfire and a cheer so loud it made ears ache. An instant stampeded ensued. In less than a few hours, all of the homesteads had been claimed, leaving many people disillusioned and unhappy because they didn’t get one. In the first book in my series, Gabriel’s Atonement, my hero and heroine ride in the 1889 land run, which led to the settlement of Guthrie, Oklahoma City, and several other towns. 

Hopeful settlers waiting in line to register for the land run

Joline’s Redemption, which released on November 1st, is the second book in my Land Rush Dreams series. It features the Cherokee Outlet aka Cherokee Strip land run, which was held on September 16, 1893. More than 100,000 hopeful settlers raced for 42,000 claims. I’m sure you can imagine the chaos of such an event. Lucky winners settled in sod homes and dugouts carved from the prairie while others lived in their covered wagons. The first winters were harsh as the land tested the endurance and character of its new inhabitants. Many of the settlers could not endure the harsh conditions, and after weeks or months, gave up their dream. But for those who stayed, hard times gave way to better days as crops flourished and communities, schools and churches rose from the wind-swept plains.

In celebration of autumn and my new release, I'm giving away a copy of Hometown Harvest Cook Book. Just leave a comment with your email address to be entered.

Joline's Redemption is finally available!

Joline has fallen as far as any woman can. She once had lofty dreams of love and luxury, but she made a series of dreadful decisions, leaving her bereft of all hope. Jo has a long list of secrets to keep and has to continually look over her shoulder, as the man she’s running from may show up anywhere, anytime.

Bestselling author Vickie McDonough grew up wanting to marry a rancher, but instead married a computer geek who is scared of horses. She now lives out her dreams penning fictional romance stories about ranchers, cowboys, lawmen, and others living in the Old West. Vickie is an award-winning author of 38 published books and novellas. Her novels include the fun and feisty Texas Boardinghouse Brides series, and End of the Trail, which was the OWFI 2013 Best Fiction Novel winner. Whispers on the Prairie was a Romantic Times Recommended Inspirational Book for July 2013. Song of the Prairie won the 2015 Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Her latest series, Land Rush Dreams, focuses on the Oklahoma land runs.

What Happened in America in the 1890s

The 1890's were a time of financial struggles and economic depression, but it was also a time of hope. Immigrants streamed through the halls of Ellis Island in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. In their new home, they crossed the nation, growing the cities of the mid-west and the east coast, bringing with them their traditions and values, changing the landscape of the United States of America

Soldiers battled Indians at Wounded Knee, and just a few years later, white settlers rushed into the Cherokee Strip in a race to claim the land once promised to Indians. The rulers of the Kingdom of Hawaii were overthrown, opening the door for the beautiful land to one day join the United States.

As with any decade, there were good and bad things that happened, famous people born and people died. The 1890s brought the end of the Nineteenth Century, and ushered in the 1900s, which would prove to be a century of great change.
The list below is certainly not inclusive of all that happened during the decade of the 1890's but rather a list of the highlights.

President Grover Cleveland

U.S. Presidents:

1889 - 1893 Benjamin Harrison

1893 - 1897 Grover Cleveland

1897 - 1901 William McKinley


Important Dates:

December 13, 1890 - Wilbur and Orville Wright print the "Dayton Tattler" in their print shop in Dayton, Ohio. The paper was the creation of Paul Laurence Dunbar, an African American poet.

December 29, 1890 - The Battle of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, occurs in the last major battle between United States troops and Indians. 

June 1, 1890 - Preparations for the United States census begin using an automated tabulating machine with punch cards invented by Herman Hollerith. It was a historic moment in the history of computing; Hollerith's company eventually became IBM.

June 2, 1890 - The 1890 census indicates a population in the United States of 62,979,766, an increase of 25.5% since the 1880 census. Twenty miles east of Columbus, Indiana is now the geographic center of U.S. population.

April 1, 1891 - The Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago, Illinois, originally selling soap, baking powder, and the next year, chewing gum.

May 5, 1891 - Carnegie Hall, then known as Music Hall, opens its doors in New York with its first public performance under the guest conductor, Tchaikovsky.

Romanian immigrants

January 1, 1892 - Ellis Island, in New York Harbor, opens as the main east coast immigration center, and would remain the initial debarkation point for European immigrants into the United States until its closure in 1954. More than 12 million immigrants would be processed on the island during those years.

October 12, 1892 - The first recital of the Pledge of Allegiance in U.S. public schools is done to mark the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day.

November 8, 1892 - Grover Cleveland returns to the presidency with his victory in the presidential election over incumbent President Benjamin Harrison and People's Party candidate James Weaver.

January 14-17, 1893 - The United States Marines, under the direction of U.S. government minister John L. Stevens, but no authority from the U.S. Congress, intervene in the affairs of the independent Kingdom of Hawaii, which culminated in the overthrow of the government of Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani.

May 1, 1893 - The 1893 Chicago World Columbian Exposition, held on 686 acres and known affectionately as the White City, opens to the public. The world's fair hosted fifty nations and twenty-six colonies. Known today as the architectural wonder that saw replication of the styles of its white buildings throughout the United States in many public buildings for years to come, as well as the public introduction of the Ferris Wheel, a behemoth construction that held up to 2,160 riders.

May 5, 1893 - The New York Stock Exchange collapses, starting the financial panic of 1893. It would lead to a four-year period of depression.

September 16, 1893 - The fourth of five land runs in Oklahoma's dash, known as the Oklahoma Land Race or the Cherokee Strip Land Run, opened seven million acres of the Cherokee Strip. It was purchased from the Indian tribe for $7,000,000. Nearly 100,000 people gathered around the 42,000 claims that were available to the first person, with a certificate, to stake a claim.

Cherokee Strip land rush - 1893

November 7, 1893 - Women in Colorado are granted the right to vote.

May 11, 1894 - A wildcat strike of three thousand Pullman Palace Car Company factory workers occurs in Illinois.

November 5, 1895 - The first United States patent for the automobile, #549160, is granted to George B. Selden for his two stroke automobile engine.

November 25, 1895 - Oscar Hammerstein opens the first theatre, Olympia, in the Times Square section of New York City.

August 16, 1896 - Gold is discovered by Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie near Dawson, Canada, setting up the Klondike Gold Rush.

November 3, 1896 - Republican William McKinley claims victory in the presidential election with a majority of Electoral College voters, 271 selected him over Democratic and People's Party candidate William J. Bryan with 176.

December 10, 1896 - The New York City Aquarium at Castle Clinton opens on the tip of Manhattan Island.

April 15, 1897 - Oil is discovered in Indian Territory for the first time on land leased from the Osage tribe, leading to rapid population growth near Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Oilmen and Indians

July 17, 1897 - The Klondike Gold Rush begins with the arrival of the first prospectors in Seattle. The Gold Rush would be chronicled beginning eight days later when Jack London sails to the Klondike and writes his tales.

April 22, 1898 - The blockade of Cuba begins when the United States Navy aids independence forces within Cuba. Several days later, the U.S.A. declares war on Spain, backdating its declaration to April 20. On May 1, 1898, the United States Navy destroyed the Spanish fleet in the Philippines. On June 20, the U.S. would take Guam.

May 12, 1898 - San Juan, Puerto Rico is bombed by the American navy under the command of Rear Admiral William T. Sampson. Puerto Rico is overtaken by the United States between July 25 with its landing at Guanica Bay and August 12. These acts during the Spanish-American War would ultimately result in Spain deciding in December to cede lands, including Puerto Rico, to the United States.

December 10, 1898 - The Peace Treaty ending the Spanish-American War is signed in Paris. The Spanish government agrees to grant independence to Cuba and cede Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States.

March 2, 1899 - Mount Rainier National Park is established in Washington State.

New U.S. States:

1890 Idaho

1890 Wyoming

July 7, 1898 - The United States annexes the independent republic of Hawaii.


Science & Technology:

May 20, 1891 - The National Federation of Women's Clubs is the first public audience to view Thomas A. Edison's new strip motion picture film at Edison's West Orange, New Jersey laboratory. Later that year, Thomas Edison would patent the radio.

June 21, 1891 - Alternating current is transmitted for the first time by the Ames power plant near Telluride, Colorado by Lucien and Paul Nunn.

April 15, 1892 - The General Electric Company is formed, merging the Edison General Electric Company with the Thomson-Houston Company.

April 14, 1894 - The first public showing of Thomas Edison's kinetoscope motion picture is held.

September 1, 1897 - The era of the subway begins when the first underground public transportation in North America opens in Boston, MassachusettsFebruary 14, 1899 - The United States Congress approves the use of voting machines in federal elections.

Food:
1891   Fig Newtons

1893   Cracker Jacks

1894   Minute Tapioca

1895   Peanut Butter & tea bags

1896   Chop Suey, Corsicana fruitcake, oatmeal cookies &                     Waldorf Salad

1898   Jelly beans, candy corn & Texas sweet onions 

Food info taken from www.foodtimeline.org

Sports:

January 15, 1892 - James Naismith publishes the rules of basketball and the first official game of basketball is held five days later at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts.

September 7, 1894 - The fight between heavyweight boxing champ Gentleman Jim Corbett and Peter Courtney is caught on motion picture film by Thomas Edison at the Black Maria studio of his New Jersey laboratory.

September 3, 1895 - The first professional football game is played in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. The Latrobe YMCA defeated the Jeannette Athletic Club 12-0.

October 4, 1895 - The first United States Golf Open run by the USGA is held in Newport, Rhode Island. A thirty-six hole competition between ten professionals and one amateur, the winner was Englishman Horace Rawlins, who received prize money of $150.

April 6-15, 1896 - The first modern Olympic Games is held in Athens, Greece. Thirteen nations participated, including the United States of America. It was held in Panathinaiko Stadium and had originated from an 1894 congress organized by Pierre de Coubertin who established the International Olympic Committee.

April 19, 1897 - The first Boston Marathon is run with fifteen runners, won by John McDermott.

The 12 Brides of Summer #4 

Love Is Buzzing in the Good Old Summertime! Spend the sunny days of summer relaxing with an ice cold glass of lemonade and revel in the dreams of three brides who are a bit surprised by how the men of their dreams come into their lives. Journey to the Old West, stay on the prairie, and visit quaint small towns. without leaving the comfort of your own front porch!

Note: There are twelve novellas in The 12 Brides of Summer Collection. The collection has been split into four 3-in-1 novella collections. Check online to find volumes 1 - 3. There are also several exclusive Walmart editions, so check your local stores.

Vickie McDonough is the best selling author of more than 35 books and novellas. Her novels include the fun and feisty Texas Boardinghouse Brides series and the 3rd & 6th books in the Texas Trails series. Her novel, Long Trail Home, won the Inspirational category of the 2012 Booksellers’ Best Awards. Song of the Prairie, the final book in her Pioneer Promises series, set in 1870s Kansas, recently won the Short Historical category of the Inspirational Readers Choice Awards. 

Vickie also enjoys writing Christmas novellas, which can be found in The Westward Christmas Brides Collection, The Christmas Brides Collection, and The 12 Brides of Christmas, which releases in September, but it now available for pre-sale online.

To learn more about Vickie or to sign-up to receive Vickie's newsletter, visit her website: www.vickiemcdonough.com