U.S. history The history of the present-day United States began in roughly 15,000 BC with the arrival of Peopling of the Americas, the first people in the Americas. In the late 15th century, European colonization of the Americas, European colonization beg ...

, the Land Run of 1893, also known as the Cherokee Outlet Opening or the Cherokee Strip Land Run, marked the opening to settlement of the

Cherokee Outlet The Cherokee Outlet, or Cherokee Strip, was located in what is now the state of Oklahoma in the United States. It was a parcel of land south of the Oklahoma–Kansas border between 96th meridian west, 96 and 100th meridian west, 100°W. The Che ...

in the

Oklahoma Territory The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as ...

's fourth and largest

land run A land run or land rush was an event in which previously restricted land of the United States was opened to homestead on a first-arrival basis. Lands were opened and sold first-come or by bid, or won by lottery, or by means other than a run. The ...

. It was part of what would later become the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

in 1907.

History

Background

The Cherokee Outlet was one of three areas the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

had acquired after resettlement to lands in present-day eastern Oklahoma in 1835 as part of the

Treaty of New Echota The Treaty of New Echota was a treaty signed on December 29, 1835, in New Echota, Georgia, by officials of the United States government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction, the Treaty Party. The treaty established terms ...

. Starting with the publication of a ''Chicago Tribune'' article in 1879, a growing movement of those pressing for the opening up to homesteading of the unoccupied

Unassigned Lands The Unassigned Lands in Oklahoma were in the center of the lands ceded to the United States by the Creek (Muskogee) and Seminole Indians following the Civil War and on which no other tribes had been settled. By 1883, it was bounded by the Cher ...

located in Indian Territory – people known as

Boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the demographic cohort preceded by the Silent Generation and followed by Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964 during the mid-20th century baby boom that fol ...

– began to gain widespread popular political clout. The Boomer's views had already prevailed in convincing the government to open up public domain lands to settlement in the 1880s culminating in the

Land Run of 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 Creek and Seminole native peoples. The ...

. After the issuance of Benjamin Harrison's Presidential Proclamation, which forbade all grazing leases in the

after October 2 of 1890 effectively eliminated tribal profits from cattle leases, the Cherokee came to an agreement to sell these lands to the government at a price ranging from $1.40 to $2.50 per acre the following year. Part of their agreement was that individual Cherokees were permitted to establish claims in the Outlet, an option many of them took advantage of. At the same time, droughts, sharply declining agricultural prices, and the

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States. It began in February 1893 and officially ended eight months later. The Panic of 1896 followed. It was the most serious economic depression in history until the Great Depression of ...

precipitated many to begin gathering in Kansas's boomer camps. Tension was high as the numbers of potential settlers waiting in tents or makeshift dwellings increased in the anticipation running up to the opening up of the last large remaining portion of tillable land that still remained in the public domain.

The event

The Land Run itself began at noon on September 16, 1893, with an estimated 100,000 participants hoping to stake claim to part of the 6 million acres and 40,000 homesteads on what had formerly been Cherokee grazing land. It would be Oklahoma's fourth and largest

. Four

United States General Land Office The General Land Office (GLO) was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government responsible for Public domain (land), public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 ...

s for the run were specially set up to handle the event – in

Perry Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...

, Enid, Woodward, and Alva. Infantry troops were stationed at those sites in an attempt to maintain order, while

Cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

troops were stationed at encampments near Alva, Bluff Creek, Chilocco, Clear Creek, Hennessey, Pond Creek, South Wharton, and Waynoka. Despite that, '

Sooners Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands illegally in what is now the state of Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889. The Unassigned Lands were a part of Indian Territory that, after a lobbyi ...

' – those who started before the designated time – still managed to sneak in and secure some of the best locations, especially in the eastern third of the Outlet and at many of the townsites. With demand for the land far outstripping that which was available, a majority of the participants did not actually secure a claim for themselves.

Aftermath

The counties of Kay, Grant, Woods, Woodward,

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis (cartoonist), Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976 (later changed to ''Garfield'' in 1977), then in nationwide Print syndication, syndication from 1978, it chro ...

Noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

, and

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...

were named following the run. Prior to the run, these seven counties had been assigned the letters K through Q, respectively. Upon Oklahoma's statehood in 1907, four additional counties –

Alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...

Ellis Ellis is a surname of Welsh and English origin. Retrieved 21 January 2014 An independent French origin of the surname is said to derive from the phrase fleur-de-lis. It has also been noted to be a Jewish surname. People with the surname include ...

Harper Harper may refer to: Names * Harper (name), a surname and given name and place names, for example: Harper Islands, Nunavut. Places ;in Canada * Harper Islands, Nunavut * Harper, Prince Edward Island ;In the United States *Harper, former name ...

, and

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

– were created in the Cherokee Outlet using existing land from Woods, Kay, and Woodward counties. While there were certainly success stories, not all land claimants found prosperity. Despite the opportunity afforded by free land, many of the new towns were overbuilt, while some farmers found their land claims unsuitable for farming, resulting in many claims being abandoned by the end of the year.

Depictions in popular culture

* ''

Tumbleweeds A tumbleweed is a kind of plant habit or structure. Tumbleweed, tumble-weed or tumble weed may also refer to: Films * Tumbleweeds (1925 film), ''Tumbleweeds'' (1925 film), William S. Hart film * Tumbling Tumbleweeds (1935 film), ''Tumbling Tumble ...

'', 1925 film * '' Cimarron'', a 1929 novel by

Edna Ferber Edna Ferber (August 15, 1885 – April 16, 1968) was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels include the Pulitzer Prize-winning '' So Big'' (1924), '' Show Boat'' (1926; made into the celebrated 1927 musical), '' Cima ...

** ''Cimarron'' (1931 film) ** ''Cimarron'' (1960 film) *'' The New Frontier,'' 1935 film *''

The Oklahoma Kid ''The Oklahoma Kid'' is a 1939 Western film starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. The film was directed for Warner Bros. by Lloyd Bacon. Cagney plays an adventurous gunslinger in a broad-brimmed cowboy hat while Bogart portrays his bl ...

'' a 1939 film that fictionalizes some aspects such as placing the future city of Tulsa within the territory * '' The Thundering Prairie'', a 1969 novel by M. A. Hancock * ''

Far and Away ''Far and Away'' is a 1992 American epic Western romantic adventure drama film directed by Ron Howard from a screenplay by Bob Dolman and a story by Howard and Dolman. It stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. This was the last cinematography cr ...

'', a 1992 film

References

External links

Cherokee Outlet Opening
– ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture – Oklahoma State University''

– ''Cherokee Strip Museum, Perry, Oklahoma''
Indian Territory
'Encyclopedia of the Great PlainsUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Land Run Of 1893 History of United States expansionism

1893 Events January * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * January 6 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; th ...

1893 in Oklahoma Territory September 1893