The Unassigned Lands

On April 22, 1889, more than 50,000 men and women rushed to stake claims in the Land Run of 1889 across this location and some 2,000,000 surrounding acres, changing the land’s future and helping lead to the creation of Oklahoma as the nation’s 46th state. Present-day Oklahoma was once Indian Territory except for the panhandle and old Greer County, a disputed area with Texas. Part of the Louisiana Purchase, Indian Territory was created in 1825 as a refuge for tribes relocated from the Northeast and South. Through treaties in 1866, the Five Civilized Tribes ceded approximately half their lands to the government for the relocation of their tribes, but about 2,000,000 acres in the center of the area remained unassigned. Farmers, businessmen, and railroad officials argued that these unassigned lands were public domain and pressed the government to open them to non-Indian settlement. Their cause was advanced by boomers who repeatedly tried to settle there, only to be removed by the U.S. Army, including Cheyenne scouts and Buffalo Soldiers, African American troopers from nearby Fort Reno. Public demand finally forced Congress to yield, and on March 23, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed that the unassigned lands would open for settlement at high noon on April 22, 1889.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma · United States