Oklahoma Land rush

• What year did the Oklahoma land rush take place?

  1893
• What was the basis for staking claims during the Oklahoma land rush?

  Claims were staked on a first come first served basis
• What significant event occurred in 1893 regarding land in Oklahoma?

  Land taken from the Indians was opened up to settlement
• Why is the 1893 land rush considered significant?

  It was one of the last significant episodes of mass settlement in the west
• What act initiated the process of removing Indians from their land?

  The Indian Removal Act
• What happened to the Indians by the end of the 19th century?

  They were confined to ever-shrinking reservations
• What were the key events leading to the Oklahoma land rush?

  • Indian Removal Act initiated in 1830
  • Indians confined to reservations by the end of the 19th century
  • Land rushes began in 1889 with the opening of Indian land for sale
  • The biggest land rush occurred in 1893, opening 8 million acres
• How many land rushes occurred between 1889 and 1895?

  Seven land rushes
• What was the fate of the leftover land after the Dawes Act?

  It was sold off to white settlers
• What was the gamble faced by settlers during the land rush?

  Whether to claim land quickly or wait for potentially better land
• What was the impact of the land rush on the Indian way of life?

  It effectively closed the Indian frontier and diminished their way of life
• What were the consequences of the Oklahoma land rush for the Plains Indians?

  • Loss of land and territory
  • Confined to reservations
  • Overturned guarantees to protect Indian land
  • Diminished traditional way of life
• What was the method used to signal the start of the land rush in 1889?

  Firing of a cannon
• What was the purpose of the Dawes Act of 1887?

  To encourage Indians to take up homesteading
• What was the size of the homestead plots surveyed by the government?

  160 acres
• What was the primary reason many Indians failed to succeed in homesteading?

  Lacked good land and necessary skills
• How did the land rushes affect the relationship between white settlers and Native Americans?

  It exacerbated tensions and led to further displacement of Native Americans
• What was the outcome for the Indians after the land rushes?

  They had nowhere to live freely on the plains