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The Land Run of 1889 was recorded by newspapers and journals
around the country as one of the major events in the history
of America's western migration. To the tens of thousands who
crossed into the Unassigned Lands during and shortly after
President Benjamin Harrison opened the lands for settlement,
Oklahoma represented one of the last opportunities to claim the
rich prairie lands of the frontier. They came from all over the
country, by horse and train, in wagons and on foot to establish
farms and ranches and to build the towns that today populate
the State of Oklahoma. Guthrie was designated to be the Capital
of the OK Territory and in 1907 to be the Capital of the 46th State.
around the country as one of the major events in the history
of America's western migration. To the tens of thousands who
crossed into the Unassigned Lands during and shortly after
President Benjamin Harrison opened the lands for settlement,
Oklahoma represented one of the last opportunities to claim the
rich prairie lands of the frontier. They came from all over the
country, by horse and train, in wagons and on foot to establish
farms and ranches and to build the towns that today populate
the State of Oklahoma. Guthrie was designated to be the Capital
of the OK Territory and in 1907 to be the Capital of the 46th State.
APRIL 22, 1889 - THE DAY GUTHRIE WAS BORN
New Yorker, Hamilton Wicks wrote:
"I strolled up on the eminence
near the land office and surveyed
the wonder cyclorama spread
out before me on all sides. Ten
thousand people had "squatted'
upon a square mile of virgin
prairie that first afternoon, and
the myriad of white tents
suddenly appeared upon the
face of the country, it was as
though a vast flock of huge
white winged birds had just
settled down upon the hillsides
and the valley.
"I strolled up on the eminence
near the land office and surveyed
the wonder cyclorama spread
out before me on all sides. Ten
thousand people had "squatted'
upon a square mile of virgin
prairie that first afternoon, and
the myriad of white tents
suddenly appeared upon the
face of the country, it was as
though a vast flock of huge
white winged birds had just
settled down upon the hillsides
and the valley.
Quote from Stan Hoag's book,
The Oklahoma Land Rush of
1889 citing Wicks, "Opening
of Oklahoma" Cosmopolitan
Sept, 1889
The Oklahoma Land Rush of
1889 citing Wicks, "Opening
of Oklahoma" Cosmopolitan
Sept, 1889