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The Oklahoma Land Race or the '''Cherokee Strip Land Run''' was a Land Run or land rush that took place on April 22 , 1889 . The land concerned was a 58 mile (93 km) wide strip running for 225 miles (362 km) between southern Kansas and Oklahoma Territory , around 34,000 km². The Oklahoma Territory had been opened for settlement in the 1880s but the strip remained the possession of the Cherokee people. The strip, named the Cherokee Outlet , had been granted to them in 1828 as a route to the Indian Territories , other tribes took parts of the strip from the 1860s. After the Civil War a number of cattle trails, including the Chisholm Trail , were driven across the strip, linking Texas to the demanding eastern markets. In the 1880s the Strip itself was leased to a cattle farming association. Widespread greed for the land led to a law banning cattle farming. The Cherokee then sold the land to the government, opening it up for homesteaders. The strip was divided into 42,000 claims, available to the first person, with a certificate, to put foot and stake a claim in them. In the weeks leading up to September 16 , up to 100,000 potential settlers began arriving on all four borders of the territory, especially the 165 mile (266 km) Kansas border. On the appointed day, thousands of settlers lined up along the border, most on horseback, many on foot. Various rail companies had special trains stationed at the border, packed impossibly full of settlers. At noon, US Army stations blew bugles or fired cannons to start the race, and the settlers stampeded into the territory. Many or most found their choice lots already taken; despite Army assurances to the contrary, as many as 90% of settlers had snuck across the border prior to the race and staked their claim ahead of time. These "boomers," also known as "sooners," claimed most of the available land long before the race started, and few were prosecuted for cheating. The University Of Oklahoma later took the Sooner name as its mascot, represented at athletic events by a Covered Wagon . Reports of violence and recklessness abounded during the race. Settlers leaped off of moving trains to race towards their land; shootings over disputed parcels were widely rumored. Even US marshals, employed to maintain the lawful claiming of land, might have snatched hundreds of parcels for themselves. The land rush was one of the most sudden human migrations in history. Many towns in Oklahoma, pre-planned by the government, went from a population of zero to 10,000 or more in a single afternoon. Storefronts were erected within days at the city centers. The land rush was dramatized in films: at the climax of the Ron Howard film Far And Away , and two versions of the novel Cimarron . The original Cimarron won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1931 and the remake in 1960 starring Glenn Ford . |
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