The Land Run of 1891 was a set of horse races to settle land acquired by the federal government through the opening of several small Indian reservations in

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 ...

. The race involved approximately 20,000

homesteaders The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of t ...

, who gathered to stake their claims on 6,097 plots, of each, of former reservation land.Oklahoma Land Run Openings 1889-1907
(accessed June 10, 2010). The settlement that took place in September 1891 included three

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 ...

s. On September 22, 1891, a land run was held to settle

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Sac and Fox The Sac and Fox Nation (Sauk language: Thâkîwaki) is the largest of three federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Sauk people, Sauk and Meskwaki, Meskwaki (Fox) American Indians in the United States, Indian peoples. They are ...

Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...

, and

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

lands. A September 23, 1891, land run was held to settle

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; (March 9, 1768October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the Territorial evolution of the United States, expansion of the United States onto Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, the predesignated location of the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of County B, later renamed as Pottawatomie County. Finally, on September 28, 1891, a land run was held to settle Chandler, the predesignated location of the county seat of County A, later renamed as Lincoln County. These land runs also expanded Payne,

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gove ...

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 ...

, and

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

counties.

Background

The Indian reservation land was broken up through allotment following a proclamation by President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

. Members of the tribe each received of land.Green, Donald E.,
Settlement Patterns
,"
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
'' (accessed June 10, 2010). Once tribe members had each received an allotment, the remaining land was declared surplus, purchased from those tribes and put on the block for sale to settlers who took part in the land run at $1.25 per acre. The Iowa tribe settled for eighty-acre allotments for each of its 86 members and sold the remaining as "surplus" at less than $0.28 per acre. The Sac and Fox agreed to accept 160 acres per member and sold at $1.25 per acre. The Citizen Band Potawatomi agreed with the 160-acres per member for 1,498 members. The Absentee Shawnee took 569 allotments and sold the remaining at $0.68 per acre. The Kickapoo tribe did not agree to take their allotments at this time, so their land was not opened until 1895.
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Wilson, Linda D. Retrieved November 29, 2016.

September 22 run

Before noon on September 22, 1891, a large number ("thousands") of would-be settlers lined up at various starting points along the western border of the Creek Nation. These points included Oklahoma City, Norman, and Guthrie. No land offices had been established inside the run area (a major change from the 1889 run), so claimants had to travel back to Guthrie or Oklahoma City in order to file their claims. Two new counties were formed in Oklahoma Territory from the newly-open area: County A (later named Lincoln County) and County B (later named Pottowatomie County). Lands within the boundaries of the two new county seats (Chandler and Tecumseh, respectively) were excluded from this run, allegedly because the towns had not been platted.

Background

September 22 run

Notes

References

See also