The two million acres of the Unassigned Lands lay in the heart of Indian Territory, land taken from the Creek and Seminole nations after the Civil War. President Benjamin Harrison opened them to settlement by proclamation. Settlers on horseback, in wagons and aboard trains lined up at the borders. By nightfall, tent cities had sprung up at Oklahoma City and Guthrie, each with about 10,000 people. Those who had slipped in early to stake claims were called "Sooners", a name Oklahoma later adopted.
The land had been part of the territory promised to Native nations forced west in the 1830s. After the Civil War, the Creek and Seminole, who had sided in part with the Confederacy, were made to give up western portions of their land. For years white "Boomers" lobbied and trespassed to open it, until Congress agreed in 1889.
On Monday, April 22, soldiers fired signal shots at noon along the borders, and the race began. People rode horses, drove wagons, ran on foot and jumped from trains that had to slow to a set speed. When they found a promising plot, they drove in a stake and hurried to a land office to file. Many arrived to find someone already there. Some had hidden in the territory in advance, and disputes between these Sooners and later arrivals ended up in court for years.
By evening, Guthrie and Oklahoma City had become towns of about 10,000 people each, with streets laid out and businesses operating from tents. The run was the first of several that opened more Native lands. Oklahoma became a state in 1907.
Key people: Benjamin Harrison