Land Rush of 1889

The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands of the former western portion of the federal Indian Territory, which had decades earlier since the 1830s been assigned to the Creek and Seminole native peoples. The area that was opened to settlement included all or part of the Canadian, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne counties of the present-day U.S. state of Oklahoma.^[1]

The land run started at high noon (12:00 pm) on April 22, 1889. An estimated 50,000 thousands of people were lined up at the start, seeking to gain a piece of the available two million acres (8,100 km²).^[2]

The Unassigned Lands were considered some of the best unoccupied public land in the United States. The Indian Appropriations Act of 1889 was passed and signed into law with an amendment by U.S. Representative (congressman) William McKendree Springer (1836-1903), (Republican of Illinois) that authorized 23rd President Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901, served 1889-1893), to open the two million acres (8,100 km²) of the western portion of the remaining Indian Territory (established in 1834 with a much greater allotment set aside for the southeastern native tribes of extensive lands of the previous Louisiana Purchase of 1803, west of the Mississippi River), during the administration of 7th President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845, served 1829-1837). The additional land opening being authorized by Congress also included the adjacent western Unassigned Lands for settlement. A quarter-century earlier, the 16th President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865, served 1861-1865), had earlier signed the famous Homestead Act of 1862 during the American Civil War which allowed settlers to claim lots of up to 160 acres (0.65 km²), provided that they lived on the land and improved it for several years.^[2]