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Play deals online from your library, classroom hands, and generator. But with two million acres left to claim, settlers turned their attention to the veritable "final frontier" with a gusto.Play bridge with friends or practice on your own. What significance would this have moving forward? According to Frederick Jackson Turner, a young historian, "The frontier has gone, and with its going has closed the first period of American history." Without distant wildernesses to conquer, how would Americans maintain their vitality and "rugged individualism?" Nobody knew. The last land rushes ushered in beginning in 1889 also coincided with the official closing of the frontier, which meant for the first time in history, Americans no longer had greener pastures to dream about, per PBS. But with the realization that the land protected by these treaties had commercial value, everything changed in a matter of a month, leaving the Natives reeling as the land they once shared disappeared. Once upon a time, these treaties had forbidden settlers from entering Indian Territory (via The Conversation). To accommodate the land-hungry, non-indigenous settlers, more than 375 treaties made with various Native American tribes were broken. By nightfall, more than 11,000 agricultural homesteads had been claimed during the Oklahoma Land Rush." Conflicts about town lots sold to settlers by more than one company would soon ignite. The result? According to History, cities like "Guthrie had been transformed from a small railroad station to a tent city of 10,000 people in just hours. They received early access to the "unassigned lands" to survey potential townsites. These included companies such as the Seminole Townsite and Improvement Company, founded by members of the Santa Fe line. Although the 1889 Land Rush placed a primary focus on securing agricultural plots for homesteading, a significant number of individuals had their sights set on establishing city centers. Townsite companies and settlers also flocked to railroad stations in Oklahoma City, Verbeck (modern-day Moore), Guthrie, and Norman. Many optimistic land seekers also lined up in Arkansas City. At Purcell, passengers flooded railcars, vying for top dog positioning. These train-riding "Boomers" converged at two locations, Purcell and Arkansas City.
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It came in the form of the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889 (aka the "Sooner clause"), which permitted settlers to enter and claim the "unassigned lands" (via the National Park Service). But only after the "Boomers" lobbied President Benjamin Harrison did the deal get clinched.
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For example, the 1887 Dawes Act privatized Native American land, beginning the slow stripping of territory from tribes. Potential settlers saw this as an opportunity to lay claim to new lands, and they had legislative backing to assist their case. The land sat vacant post-Civil War, designated for the settlement of Plains Indians and other Native American nations yet to experience relocation, per the Oklahoma Historical Society. But advances in agricultural technology by the late 19 th century convinced some settlers that these previously "unassigned lands" could prove lucrative. "Initially considered unsuitable for white colonization, Indian Territory was thought to be an ideal place to relocate Native Americans who were removed from their traditional lands to make way for white settlement," per History. According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, "A cavalry troop from Fort Sill arrived at Purcell on the day before the run, far too late to contain the settler mass from spreading out to unmonitored points, like 7-C Flats, along the eastern and southern boundaries." But much of the designated "Land Rush" area remained thinly manned by troops. Comprised of six African American infantry and cavalry regiments, they served mainly in the American West. The federal government dispatched Buffalo Soldiers for crowd control. From there, they either headed to the land office to register their claims or began making minor improvements to the land per the Homestead Act. Racers looked to surveyors' cornerstone markers to find the perfect plots and then plant stakes bearing their locations and names.
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Wagons kicked up clouds of dust, and settlers cracked their whips, ripping across the plains. The air was alive with the sounds of spurs and thundering horse hooves. As reported by the Oklahoma Historical Society, the thousands of settlers poised along the line raced headlong into "unclaimed lands," searching for the perfect place to build their homesteads.
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