On April 22, 1889, the sun sat high in the Oklahoma sky. At exactly noon, a cannon blast rang cut through the air, followed by the thundering sound of thousands of horses, wagons, and boots moving across the land. These some 50,000 men and women were propelled by that most valued currency: land. Those who moved fastest claimed for themselves and their families 160-acre parcels of land prime for ranching, farming, and settling. Overnight, this land grab transformed the Oklahoma countryside.
In the early 19th century, the land that would become Oklahoma was designated as a home for Native Americans who had been forced from their homes by the United States government. Over the years, the tribe lands filled the area, save one 2-million-acre area smack in the middle of the area. Many Americans, colloquially known as “boomers,” desperately wanted the land so they could make their fortune. Capitulating to the pressure of the boomer movement, in March 1889, President Benjamin Harrison agreed to sign a bill allowing the settlement of these 2 million acres in the land then known as Indian Territory. The rules were as follows: on April 22, 1889, at 12:00 p.m., the land would officially open for settlement. Those wanting the land could not enter the territory any earlier than that. Men or women who found a suitable tract of land could claim a “quarter section,” or a half-mile by half-mile area. According to the Homestead Act of 1862, so long as those settlers stayed on the land for five years and made marked improvements to it, they could receive the title.
In the following weeks, tens of thousands of people gathered around the border of this territory. It is estimated that about 50,000 people gathered for the chance to claim their piece of Oklahoma. As one might imagine, there were plenty of people who snuck into the territory, hiding until the time they could jump out and claim the best plots for themselves. These people were called “sooners.” At noon on the designated day, the boomers and sooners rushed onto the land, putting up stakes and tents before returning to the land offices to formalize their claims. Overnight, cities of thousands were formed. This was the Oklahoma Land Rush.
The ’89 rush was the beginning of the end for the Indian Territory. The U.S. wrested control of the remaining tribal land in Oklahoma, allowing similar land rushes to take place there. All of these lands together became the 46th state, Oklahoma, the “Sooner State.”
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