The Land Run of 1892 was the opening of the
Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation to settlement in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. One of seven in Oklahoma, it occurred on April 19, 1892, and opened up land that would become
Blaine,
Custer
George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...
,
Dewey,
Washita, and
Roger Mills counties.
[Land Run](_blank)
a
OKGenWeb Project
(accessed April 8, 2010) The land run also opened up what would become part of
Ellis County, but was designated County "E" and then
Day County prior to statehood.
Background
The
Creek and
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...
were originally relocated to the area in the 1820s and 1830s, but
Reconstruction Treaties
On the eve of the American Civil War in 1861, a significant number of Indigenous peoples of the Americas had been relocated from the Southeastern United States to Indian Territory, west of the Mississippi. The inhabitants of the eastern part of th ...
of 1866 took the land away from both tribes.
[Wilson, Linda D.,]
Blaine County
,"
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
'' (accessed June 11, 2010). The Cheyenne and Arapaho were moved to the area from
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
in 1869.
The of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Reservation were opened by a proclamation from U.S. 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 ...
on April 12, 1892.
[Reggio, Michael H.,]
Cheyenne-Arapaho Opening
,"
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
'' (accessed April 8, 2010). The reservation had become a part of the federal public domain after allotment of plots to individual Indians.
Settlers and developments
A diverse group gathered for the land run. It included Kansans, Texans, Missourians, Oklahomans, African-Americans, Swedes, Bohemians, Germans, and Russians.
According to Kiowa chief Big Tree, there were "as many
eopleas the blades of grass on the Washita in the spring."
Settlers claimed more than 400 lots in what would become
Arapaho
The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota.
By the 1850s, Arapaho band ...
, the county seat of
Custer County.
Land Run
a
Ponca City, Oklahoma
(accessed April 8, 2010) The region became cattle country, due to both its geography and the tenacious efforts of cattlemen, who often harassed farmers on the land.
See also
* 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 ...
* Land Run of 1889
The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands of former Indian Territory, which had earlier been assigned to the Muscogee, Creek and Seminole peoples. The area that was opened to settlement included all or part ...
* Land Run of 1891
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 race involved approximately 20,000 homesteaders, who gathered to ...
* Land Run of 1893
Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various islan ...
* Land Run of 1895
The Land Run of 1895 was the smallest and last land run in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It came about with an agreement between the Kickapoo Indians and the federal government that gave individual Kickapoos .
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Land Run Of 1892
History of United States expansionism
Pre-statehood history of Oklahoma
April 1892 events
1892 in Oklahoma Territory