[Goodpasture]

At noon, a shot was fired signaling the beginning of the Oklahoma Land Rush. 50,000 settlers scurried to make their claims on about 2 million acres opened by the federal government. By that afternoon, both Oklahoma City and Guthrie had gone from zero population to 10,000 each, with streets laid out, town lots staked off, and the beginnings of local government set up.


Happy birthday, Oklahoma................

[okcpulse]

Happy Land Run Day, everyone!

[karibear]

I remember a movie once, a long time ago [it was black and white, so it must have been a long time ago, right?], where this one family lost their last horse or ox or whatever it was, and the whole family got together and pulled the wagon just far enough to cross the line and staked out their parcel right there instead of racing off after everyone else. It was legal, too, the land judges or whoever they were granted it to them.

[J double R]

I wonder what would happen if i re-enacted it by shooting a gun in the air and running around claiming properties...

[Goodpasture]

I just did......of course, I was on my own property........

[BornToFly]

Originally Posted by karibear

I remember a movie once, a long time ago [it was black and white, so it must have been a long time ago, right?], where this one family lost their last horse or ox or whatever it was, and the whole family got together and pulled the wagon just far enough to cross the line and staked out their parcel right there instead of racing off after everyone else. It was legal, too, the land judges or whoever they were granted it to them.

Was it Cimarron?

I just happened to catch the last 30 or so minutes of that movie the other day, and without checking I knew it was about Oklahoma, because I saw the scene where they just barely make it over the line and claim that plot of land. What I saw of it was really, really good. I love older movies.

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

I just did......of course, I was on my own property........

Originally Posted by J double R

I wonder what would happen if i re-enacted it by shooting a gun in the air and running around claiming properties...

[karibear]

Originally Posted by BornToFly

Was it Cimarron?

I just happened to catch the last 30 or so minutes of that movie the other day, and without checking I knew it was about Oklahoma, because I saw the scene where they just barely make it over the line and claim that plot of land. What I saw of it was really, really good. I love older movies.

Might have been, I don't know. It was well over 50 years ago, aftar all!

[colleeng47]

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

At noon, a shot was fired signaling the beginning of the Oklahoma Land Rush. 50,000 settlers scurried to make their claims on about 2 million acres opened by the federal government. By that afternoon, both Oklahoma City and Guthrie had gone from zero population to 10,000 each, with streets laid out, town lots staked off, and the beginnings of local government set up.


Happy birthday, Oklahoma................

Okay, GP, maybe you can answer a question for me that's bugged me for years. Ever since I heard about the land rush, back in high school, I think, I always wondered how they claimed the land. In other words, did they just stake out parcels themselves, or were they already parceled out before the land rush started? I mean, here you are racing into open land, and how do you say, okay, this is mine???? I could never visualize it.

[HeatherDawn]

Anybody going to an 89er day celebration? The one in Lexington is good. They used to have a horse race across the river but I don't know if they still do that or not.

[Goodpasture]

Originally Posted by colleeng47

Okay, GP, maybe you can answer a question for me that's bugged me for years. Ever since I heard about the land rush, back in high school, I think, I always wondered how they claimed the land. In other words, did they just stake out parcels themselves, or were they already parceled out before the land rush started? I mean, here you are racing into open land, and how do you say, okay, this is mine???? I could never visualize it.

the land was surveyed into quarter sections and marked with a marker. If you claimed the land, you marked it with a stake. Many disputes went to court, some resulted in gunfights and brawls.

LAND RUN of 1889

Families that remained behind at the line cheered as a husband or father made his wild dash to choose his 160 acres. He would then determine its range and township from the surveyors' cornerstone markers and plant a stake bearing notice of his name and location. Some would immediately begin making token improvements such as digging a well or arranging logs for a potential home. Others would hurry to the land office to register their claim.

April 22, 1889, was a day of chaos, excitement, and utter confusion. Men and women rushed to claim homesteads or to purchase lots in one of the many new towns that sprang into existence overnight. An estimated eleven thousand agricultural homesteads were claimed. There would be many hardships ahead, and many would be forced to contest others who claimed the same farm or lot. A few sooner contests made it to the U.S. Supreme Court.