Oklahoma Land Rush

• The big land rush occurred

  1893
• In 1893, land taken from the Indians in Oklahoma was opened up to settlement
• Homesteaders staking claims

  On pieces of land effectively on a first come first served basis
• The land rush in 1893 was one of the last significant episodes of mass settlement in the West
• The process of removing Indians from their land began in about 1830 with the Indian Removal Act
• Over 60 years later, the Indians were confined to reservations in the West
• In the 1880s, land not allocated to a particular tribe was tempting to white settlers
• In 1887, the Dawes Act tried to encourage Indians to take up homesteading on their own account
• In 1889, Indian land was opened up for sale
• On the 22nd of April 1889 at 12 noon, the area was opened up to claims signaled by the firing of the cannon
• There were seven land rushes between 1889 and 1895
• In 1893, 8 million acres of land were opened up for sale
• People rushing onto the land were taking a bit of a gamble to secure the best land
• By the end of the 19th century, there was nowhere for the Indians to live free on the plains
• White settlement closed the Indian frontier
• The Indian way of life paid the price
• Claims were surveyed and then opened up on a first come first served basis
• People rushed onto the land in a series of seven land rushes between 1889 and 1895
• Guarantees to protect Indian land were continually overturned
• The land rushes sold off former Indian territory
• By the end of the 19th century, Indians were only on their ever-shrinking reservations