"Boomers" is the name used for two groups of
settlers in the
Southern United States in what is now the state of
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
.
The first group were participants in the "Boomer Movement." These participants were white settlers from 1879–1889 who believed the so-called "
Unassigned Lands" within the
Indian Territory were public property and open to anyone for settlement, not just Indian tribes. Their belief was based on a clause in the
Homestead Act of 1862 which said that any settler could claim of "public land."
The land was said to be public because it had been set aside for Indian reservations, yet the allotment for some tribes was reduced as a result of
allying with the Confederacy during the Civil War and the
Reconstruction Treaties that followed. The name "Boomer" came from figuratively making noise and raising hell for their claims. Some Boomers entered the Unassigned Lands and were removed more than once by the
Army on the Frontier.
Charles C. Carpenter was the earliest leader of the Boomer movement, but was eventually succeeded by
David L. Payne
David Lewis Payne (December 30, 1836 – November 28, 1884) was an American soldier and pioneer. Payne is considered by some to be the "Father of Oklahoma" for his work in opening the state to settlement.
He organized, trained, and led the ...
. Payne helped grow the movement by founding the Southwestern Colonization Company, which served to organize the movement. After his death, Payne was succeeded by
William L. Couch
William Lewis Couch (November 20, 1850 – April 21, 1890), a native of North Carolina and later a resident of Kansas, was best known as a leader of the Boomer Movement and as the first provisional mayor of what became Oklahoma City, Okla ...
.
President
Grover Cleveland opened the Indian Territory to settlement by signing the
Indian Appropriations Act of 1889 on March 2, 1889. The result was the
Land Rush of 1889. In it, rushers could be divided into two groups: the
Sooners were settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands just prior to the April 22, 1889 official opening in a race to grab the best land, while the ones who waited until the actual opening date are also sometimes referred to as "Boomers", confusingly.
Do You Know Your Oklahoma History?
for one example of using Boomer in this style
After its founding in 1890, the University of Oklahoma adopted "Boomers" as the nickname of their football team, after having first tried "Rough Riders." In 1908, the name was changed to "Sooners", the current team name. Their fight song is " Boomer Sooner". The OU "mascot" is the Sooner Schooner, a Conestoga wagon that crosses the field when the University of Oklahoma football team scores. It is pulled by a pair of ponies named "Boomer" and "Sooner". There are a pair of costumed mascots also named "Boomer" and "Sooner".
References
External links
* {{cite encyclopedia , first=Stan , last=Hoig , title=Boomer Movement , encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture , publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society , date=2009
Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
Pre-statehood history of Oklahoma
Oklahoma culture
History of agriculture in the United States
American regional nicknames
Agriculture in Oklahoma