The Land Run of 1891 was a set of horse races to settle land acquired by the federal government through the opening of several small Indian reservations in

Oklahoma Territory The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as th ...

. The race involved approximately 20,000

homesteaders The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of th ...

, who gathered to stake their claims on 6,097 plots, of each, of former reservation land.Oklahoma Land Run Openings 1889-1907
(accessed June 10, 2010). The settlement that took place in September 1891 included three

land run A land run or land rush was an event in which previously restricted land of the United States was opened to homestead on a first-arrival basis. Lands were opened and sold first-come or by bid, or won by lottery, or by means other than a run. The s ...

s. On September 22, 1891, a land run was held to settle

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

Sac and Fox The Sac and Fox Nation ( ''Mesquakie'' language: ''Othâkîwaki / Thakiwaki'' or ''Sa ki wa ki'') is the largest of three federally recognized tribes of Sauk and Meskwaki (Fox) Indian peoples. Originally from the Lake Huron and Lake Michigan ...

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

, and

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

lands. A September 23, 1891, land run was held to settle

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and ...

, the predesignated location of the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of County B, later renamed as Pottawatomie County. Finally, on September 28, 1891, a land run was held to settle

Chandler Chandler or The Chandler may refer to: * Chandler (occupation), originally head of the medieval household office responsible for candles, now a person who makes or sells candles * Ship chandler, a dealer in supplies or equipment for ships Arts ...

, the predesignated location of the county seat of County A, later renamed as Lincoln County. These land runs also expanded Payne,

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gover ...

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 ...

, and

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

counties.

Background

The Indian reservation land was broken up through allotment following a proclamation by President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

. Members of the tribe each received of land.Green, Donald E.,
Settlement Patterns
,"
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
'' (accessed June 10, 2010). Once tribe members had each received an allotment, the remaining land was declared surplus, purchased from those tribes and put on the block for sale to settlers who took part in the land run at $1.25 per acre. The Iowa tribe settled for eighty-acre allotments for each of its 86 members and sold the remaining as "surplus" at less than $0.28 per acre. The Sac and Fox agreed to accept 160 acres per member and sold at $1.25 per acre. The Citizen Band Potawatomi agreed with the 160-acres per member for 1,498 members. The Absentee Shawnee took 569 allotments and sold the remaining at $0.68 per acre. The Kickapoo tribe did not agree to take their allotments at this time, so their land was not opened until 1895.
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Wilson, Linda D. Retrieved November 29, 2016.

September 22 run

Before noon on September 22, 1891, a large number ("thousands") of would-be settlers lined up at various starting points along the western border of the Creek Nation. These points included Oklahoma City, Norman, and Guthrie. No land offices had been established inside the run area (a major change from the 1889 run), so claimants had to travel back to Guthrie or Oklahoma City in order to file their claims. Two new counties were formed in Oklahoma Territory from the newly-open area: County A (later named Lincoln County) and County B (later named Pottowatomie County). Lands within the boundaries of the two new county seats (Chandler and Tecumseh, respectively) were excluded from this run, allegedly because the towns had not been platted.

Background

September 22 run

Notes

References

See also