Land Rush of 1889: Difference between revisions

[[File:Land Rush. Oklahoma, 1889.jpg|thumb|Painting depicting the famous land rush in the former western [[Indian Territory]] and future [[Oklahoma Territory]], April 22nd, 1889.]]

The '''Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889''' was the first [[land run]] into the [[Unassigned Lands]] of the former western portion of the federal [[Indian Territory]], which had decades earlier since the [[1830s]] been assigned to the [[Muscogee|Creek]] and [[Seminole]] native peoples. The area that was opened to settlement included all or part of the [[Canadian County, Oklahoma|Canadian]], [[Cleveland County, Oklahoma|Cleveland]], [[Kingfisher County, Oklahoma|Kingfisher]], [[Logan County, Oklahoma|Logan]], [[Oklahoma County, Oklahoma|Oklahoma]], and [[Payne County, Oklahoma|Payne]] counties of the present-day USU.S. state of [[Oklahoma]].<ref name=drcrush>{{cite web|title=Rushes to Statehood, The Oklahoma Land Runs|url=http://drc.nationalcowboymuseum.org/exhibits/rushes/default.aspx|publisher=Dickinson Research Center|access-date=May 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402131842/http://drc.nationalcowboymuseum.org/exhibits/rushes/default.aspx|archive-date=April 2, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The land run started at high noon (12:00 pm) on April 22, 1889. An estimated 50,000 people were lined up at the start, seeking to gain a piece of the available {{Convert|2000000|acre|km2|spell=in}}.<ref name="ok history museum 1890 (archive)">{{cite web | url=http://ww.ok-history.mus.ok.us/lib/1890/1890index.htm | title=1890 Oklahoma Territory Census |access-date=March 3, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060206034927/http://www.ok-history.mus.ok.us/lib/1890/1890index.htm |archive-date=February 6, 2006}}</ref>

The Unassigned Lands were considered some of the best unoccupied public land in the United States. The [[Indian Appropriations Act]] of 1889 was passed and signed into law with an amendment by [[United States Representative|U.S. Representative]] (congressman) [[William McKendree Springer]] (1836-1903), ([[Republican Party (United States)|RRepublican]]- of [[Illinois|IL]]) that authorized 23rd [[President of the United States|President]] [[Benjamin Harrison]] (1833-1901, served 1889-1893), to open the two million acres (8,100&nbsp;km²) of the western portion of the remaining [[Indian Territory]] (established in [[1834]] with a much greater allotment set aside for the southeastern native tribes of extensive lands of the previous [[Louisiana Purchase]] of [[1803]], west of the [[Mississippi River]]), during the administration of 7th President [[Andrew Jackson]] (1767-1845, served 1829-1837). The additional land opening being authorized by Congress also included the adjacent western [[Unassigned Lands]] for settlement. A quarter-century earlier, the 16th President [[Abraham Lincoln]] (1809-1865, served 1861-1865), had earlier signed the famous [[Homestead Act of 1862]], during the [[American Civil War]] which allowed settlers to claim lots of up to {{convert|160|acre|km2}}, provided that they lived on the land and improved it for several years.<ref name="ok history museum 1890 (archive)"/>

After the Civil War, the other Indian tribes that had been relocated to the Territory had been assigned approximately one half of the total landmass occupied by the five tribes. The five tribes had allied with the Confederacy and were forced to give up some of the Indian lands.<ref name=":3" />{{page number|date=April 2022}} On April 22, 1889, the day that the government had set aside for the settlement, the crowd in the Oklahoma settlement land was overwhelming. When the signal for the process of land registration was raised, thousands of people rushed across the border as the Oklahoma land rush began. Approximately fifty thousand people; young and old, men and women rushed to try their luck in acquiring the 12,000 land tracts that were available.<ref>Bohanon, Cecil E., and Philip, pp. 205-221205–221</ref>{{Infobox historical event

|Image_Caption = A [[Land Run of 1893|land rush]] in progress

The [[Muscogee (Creek) Nation|Creek]] were the next tribe to move to Indian Territory. In 1829 they had held a council, agreeing that they would submit to state laws in order to stay on their lands. But, continued pressure from settlers and the state government resulted in the Creek ceding most of its lands in what became Alabama to the United States.<ref name="Tribes">{{Cite book|title=The Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole|last=Foreman|first=Grant|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=2018|location=Norman, OK}}{{page number|date=April 2022}}</ref>{{page number|date=April 2022}} By 1836, the entire Creek Tribe had been removed to Indian Territory. They had suffered armed conflict with settlers and effectively a civil war within the bands of the tribe.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of the Indians of the United States|last=Debo|first=Angie|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1979|location=Norman, OK|pages=102}}</ref>

The [[Cherokee]] were the third tribe to be removed to Indian Territory. Tribal leaders Chief [[John Ross (Cherokee chief)|John Ross]], and other high-ranking families worked to keep their lands, challenging Georgia state actions against them. They were upheld by the US Supreme Court in ''[[Worcester v. Georgia]]'', which said that Georgia had no authority over them. But President Jackson refused to enforce the ruling that recognized the [[Cherokee Nation]] as a community with its own boundaries, and that Georgia residents could not enter their lands without consent of the Cherokee.<ref name="Tribes" />{{page number|date=April 2022}} [[John Ross (Cherokee chief)|Chief John Ross]] believed that removal was inevitable and worked to gain the best deal possible from the federal government. Opponents gained a new treaty, but by the end of the 1830s, most of the tribe was forced to remove to Indian Territory, accompanied by US military forces. By the end of 1838, most of the Cherokee tribe had been fully removed from the Southeast. Those who remained became state and federal citizens without tribal standing. Of the 18,000 who traveled west from 1835 to 1838, about 4,000 died on what became known as the [[Trail of Tears]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of the Indians of the United States|last=Debo|first=Angie|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1979|location=Norman,OK|pagespage=104}}</ref>

The [[Chickasaw]] elected to leave their lands freely and did not suffer like the Cherokee tribe. The tribe had adopted some European-American practices: gaining some formal education for their children, building churches, and farming. They struggled with encroachment by the state government of Mississippi. Beginning in 1832 they signed a collection of treaties with the US, and gained some better terms than the other tribes. They left for Indian Territory in the winter of 1837–38 and paid the Choctaw to be able to settle on some of their lands.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of the Indians of the United States|last=Debo|first=Angie|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1979|location=Norman, OK|pages=109}}</ref>

The [[Seminole Nation of Oklahoma|Seminole]] Tribe was tricked into signing a removal treaty and the [[Seminole Wars|Seminole War]] is what followed. This was the bloodiest and costliest Indian war in United States history. [[Osceola|Chief Osceola]] and his tribe hid in the [[Everglades]] in Florida, where the military sought to hunt them down. Many were captured and sent to Indian Territory in chains. Osceola surrendered and died in prison. The war and removal reduced their population by 40%. The Seminole in the Everglades never surrendered and their descendants today comprise two federally recognized tribes in the state. According to the 1859 census<!-- state? -->, 2,254 Seminole remained in Florida.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of the Indians of the United States|last=Debo|first=Angie|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1979|location=Norman, OK|pages=109–111}}</ref>

The US also relocated tribes here from the upper Midwest. After the Indian Wars on the Great Plains, the US also relocated some western tribes to Indian Territory. The [[Quapaw]] and [[Seneca people|Seneca]] were placed in Northeast Oklahoma with the Cherokee.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of the Indians of the United States|last=Debo|first=Angie|publisher=Norman: University of Oklahoma Press|year=1979|location=Norman, OK|pagespage=112}}</ref> By 1845 they were joined by the [[Shawnee]], [[Delaware tribe|Delaware]] (Lenape), and [[Kickapoo people|Kickapoo]].{{Cn|date=April 2022}}

With the end of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], land hungry people sought land in the West. EuropeanWhite Americans pressed their legislators to open the Indian Territory. Certain Native Americans like [[Elias Cornelius Boudinot|Elias C. Boudinot]] encouraged other Native Americans to participate in the effort to welcome westward expansion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/America's+last+frontier%3A+Oklahoma%3A+with+America's+westward+expansion...-a0435001704.|title=America's last frontier: Oklahoma: with America's westward expansion petering out, owing to a lack of available land, easterners demanded that government open up Indian territory, leading to land rushes.|last=Dwyer|first=John J.|date=November 9, 2015|access-date=April 5, 2019}}</ref> From 1870 to 1879, thirty-three bills were introduced in Congress to open the territory for settlement.<ref>{{Cite book|title=West of Hell's Fringe: Crime, Criminals, and the Federal Peace Officer in Oklahoma Territory, 1889–1907|last=Shirley|first=Glenn|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1990|isbn=0806122641|pages=5}}</ref>

[[William Couch]] was a former lieutenant under Payne. He did not possess the brash personality of his predecessor, but, he had a kindred personality and spoke with strength. He rigorously studied all treaties, court cases, and laws regarding the Oklahoma land issue in order to present logical and concise boomer claims.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Land Hunger: David L. Payne and the Oklahoma Boomers|last=Rister|first=Carl|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1942|location=Norman, OK|pages=189}}</ref> He had led unsuccessful movements into Indian Territory, but under military and legal pressure the Oklahoma movement stagnated. It was rebooted with the construction of the [[Santa Fe Railroad]] line across the middle of Indian Territory from [[Arkansas City, Kansas]], to [[Gainesville, Texas]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Land Rush of 1889|last=Hoig|first=Stan|publisher=University of Oklahoma|year=1984|location=Norman, OK|pages=4}}</ref> Certain that the lands would be opened to settlement shortly after the construction of the railroad was completed in the spring of 1887, the Oklahoma movement again slowed down.

By December 1887 the inaction of Congress reignited the movement behind Couch's leadership. After a conference of boomers was held in Kansas, the conference sent delegates [[Sidney Clarke|Sydney Clarke]], [[Samuel L. Crocker|Samuel Crocker]], and Couch to Washington to promote the passage of an act to open Oklahoma lands for settlement.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Land Rush of 1889|last=Hoig|first=Stan|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1984|location=Norman, OK|pages=6}}</ref> After Couch and company presented the bill to Congress, it faced opposition from state representatives [[George T. Barnes]] of Georgia, [[Charles E. Hooker]] of Mississippi, and Colonel G.W. Harkins of the Chickasaw Nation.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Land Rush of 1889|last=Hoig|first=Stan|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1984|location=Norman, OK|pages=7–9}}</ref> They opposed it because the U.S. government had promised the land to the Indian Nations living there and the government did not have the right to open up land in the territory to settlement.

The Springer Oklahoma Bill, which was proposed by Illinois representative William M. Springer, was meant to use the Homestead Act to open the lands for settlement.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Land Rush of 1889|last=Hoig|first=Stan|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1984|location=Normn, OKNorman|pages=11}}</ref> Arguments over the payment for the lands continued until the legislative session ended and the bill was not passed. In December, Couch presented the Springer Oklahoma Bill to Congress again, which led to the passage of the Indian Appropriation Bill.<ref name="Movement">{{Cite book|title=1889: The Boomer Movement, the Land Rush, and Early Oklahoma City|last=Hightower|first=Michael|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=2018|location=Norman, OK|pages=152}}</ref> With this bill, Congress paid $1,912,952.02 to the Seminole and Creek Nations in exchange for 2,370,414.62 acres of unassigned land. A section giving the president the authority to open the land to settlement was added.<ref name="Movement" />

[[African Americans]] had been trying to find communities they could settle without the worries of racism against them. When the Land Rush took place, black families had been building their own way of life and culture since the [[Reconstruction era]]. Even in the Oklahoma Territory, the five main Native American Tribes had to sign agreements with the US government that they would no longer practice slavery, and if they continued, they would be exempted from their land by the United States.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Oklahoma: a History of the Sooner State|last=McReynolds|first=Edwin|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1981|location=Norman, OK|pages=232}}</ref>

During the Land Rush, it was a growing belief within the African American community that this opening of free land was their opportunity to create communities of their very own, without the influence of racism. Their intentions were to make Oklahoma a state just for them. One organization that took advantage of this movement was the Oklahoma Immigration Organization owned by W. L. Eagleson. Eagleson spread the announcement of recolonization to the black community throughout the United States, especially focused in the South.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Black Dreams and 'Free' Homes: The Oklahoma Territory, 1891–1894|last=Littlefield|first=Daniel|publisher=Atlanta University Center|year=1962}}{{page number|date=April 2022}}</ref>{{page number|date=April 2022}}[[File:Land_office,_Okl._(Oklahoma)_LCCN2014682280.jpg|thumb|304x304px|U.S. land office after the Land Rush of 1889.]]One attempt to make Oklahoma a black state was to appoint [[Edward P. McCabe|Edward Preston McCabe]] as the governor of the Oklahoma Territory. This would make it easier for black families to settle within the region during the land rush. This plan failed, as there seemed to be less and less excitement of immigrating to the new land, and instead McCabe had to settle to being a treasurer in [[Logan County, Oklahoma|Logan County]] of Oklahoma.<ref name=":0" />{{page number|date=April 2022}}

At twelve o'clock on Monday, April 22d,<!-- "April 22d" is an old-fashioned way of writing "April 22nd"; it is correctly quoted, so don't change it. --> the resident population of Guthrie was nothing; before sundown it was at least ten thousand. In that time streets had been laid out, town lots staked off, and steps taken toward the formation of a municipal government.<ref name=harpersrto>{{cite magazine|last=Howard|first=William Willard|title=The Rush To Oklahoma|magazine=Harper's Weekly|date=May 18, 1889|issue=33|pages=391–94|url=http://urbanplanning.library.cornell.edu/DOCS/landrush.htm|access-date=May 9, 2014}}</ref>

With the signal of troops to cross into the territory, over a dozen Santa Fe trains pulled into Oklahoma Territory, but most migrants traveled on horseback, in wagons, and on foot. Establishing a claim involved placing a stake with the claimant's name and place of entry at a U.S. land, one of which was located in Guthrie and the other in Kingfisher.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Oklahoma: A History of the Sooner State|last=McReynolds|first=Edwin|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1981|location=Norman, OK|pages=289}}</ref> The settler had to live on the claimed section of land for a five-year period and visibly improve it (including with buildings) before they could attain the title to the property. That period could be shortened to fourteen months if the settler paid a price of $1.25 per acre.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}

Guthrie, [[Oklahoma City]], Kingfisher, [[El Reno, Oklahoma|El Reno]], [[Norman, Oklahoma|Norman]], and [[Stillwater, Oklahoma|Stillwater]] were six of the townsites established in 1889. They were designated as county seats.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Oklahoma: A History of the Sooner State|last=McReynolds|first=Edwin|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1981|location=Norman, OK|pages=290}}</ref> Guthrie was named capital of the Territory and later was capital of the state of Oklahoma for a brief period.

Oklahoma City was designated as the permanent capital of the state. On April 23, Oklahoma City contained more than 12,000 people. Within an hour of land being opened, 2,500 settlers occupied lands in a township that they initially named Lisbon, but would later be called Kingfisher.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Oklahoma: A History of the Sooner State|last=McReynolds|first=Edwin|publisher=University of Oklahoma|year=1981|location=Norman, OK|pages=291}}</ref>

**[[Cimarron (1931 film)|''Cimarron'' (1931)]]: directed by [[Wesley Ruggles]]; cast includes [[Richard Dix]], [[Irene Dunne]], and [[Estelle Taylor]]. It was an Academy Award Winner for [[Academy Award for Best Art Direction|Best Art Direction]], [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)|Best Writing and Adaptation]].<ref>{{AllMovieIMDb title|id=96400021746|title=Cimarron}}</ref>

** [[Cimarron (1960 film)|''Cimarron'' (1960)]]: directed by [[Anthony Mann]] and [[Charles Walters]]; cast includes [[Glenn Ford]], [[Maria Schell]], and [[Anne Baxter]].<ref>{{AllMovieIMDb title|id=872660053715|title=Cimarron}}</ref>

* The [[Oklahoma City 89ers]] was the original name for the Oklahoma City [[Triple-A (baseball)|Triple-A]] [[Minor League Baseball]] from 1962 to 1997, when the team played at the now-demolished [[All Sports Stadium]] at the state fairgrounds. The team is known now as the Oklahoma City DodgersBaseball Club. Among the most notable players for the 89ers were [[Juan González (baseball)|Juan González]], [[National Baseball Hall of Fame]] inductee [[Ryne Sandberg]], [[Rubén Sierra]] and [[Sammy Sosa]].