How Oklahoma Got Populated

Picture an area the size of about 2 million football fields available to be owned by whoever shows up first. This is how the state of Oklahoma was settled in 1899.

On April 22nd of that year, the United States government opened up vast tracts of unassigned land in Oklahoma Territory, allowing settlers to claim it on a first-come, first-served basis. At the sound of a cannon at noon, tens of thousands of hopefuls on horseback, wagons, and even bicycles charged into the territory, aiming to stake their claim to a piece of land they could call their own.

The Oklahoma Land Run of 1889 was a chaotic yet meticulously planned event. The rules were simple: at precisely 12:00 pm, settlers could enter the territory, and the first to physically reach a plot of land and stake their claim would become its new owner. This remarkable opportunity led to an estimated 50,000 people congregating at the borders, ready to race for their futures. They were called the “Boomers”.

But as you can imagine, it is hard to control such a big piece of land before the start of the land grab. A group of people, later called “Sooners”, snuck into the territory before the official start time, hoping to gain an unfair advantage by claiming the best lands early. Between the “Boomers” and “Sooners, by the end of the day, Oklahoma City and Guthrie had swelled from uninhabited plains to bustling cities of around 10,000 residents each.

Today’s world, where so many countries suffer from desertification in their countryside, with people moving in droves to the cities, presents such a stark contrast to the Oklahoma land rush. As people still value owning a piece they can call home, one is left to wonder what would happen if a government would allow for such a land grab event today?

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