Oklahoma land rush!
Meadow Mobley
You won't believe the amount of people asking for land!
On September 16, 1893 hundreds of thousands of immigrants and freed slaves gathered around land in the northern part of Oklahoma, also known as the Cherokee Strip, ready to test their luck to see if they can get their hands on acres of land. It costed only $10 to be officially entered in the race. Once the race began you had a chance to get a whole 160 acres of federal land. But for this all to be possible you have to thank the Homestead Act. The Homestead Act opened up 420,000 square miles of land for people like you to settle on!
The amount of violence at the land rush was just insane!
The sky above was very beautiful but the people below tell a different story. With the amount of people that had shown up, this amount of violence could and should have been expected. There were people on many different types of transportation including but not limited to horseback, carriages, bikes, and even some brave enough to go on foot. All of these people waiting for the cannon to strike at exactly noon was bound to cause some mishaps. Everyone was waiting anxiously at that starting line. If you even dared to cross that starting line before the cannon was shot then you were shot down then and there no ifs, ands, or buts. Some people would go to the very extreme just to get their hands on same land.
But first, how do you even get this land?
If you somehow luckily got to land where no one else has taken over now is the important time to finally claim your well earned land, but how? It was quite simple actually. When you purchased your ticket to get into the race you were given a flag, this flag is very important. Once you find the land you want that is unclaimed then you pull up the white flag and stick down your own. Just like that you have claimed your well deserved land. Now you have to ask what to do with this land. When asked most people responded that they are planning to farm. Since you have your land for five years then what is better than farming! Although the possibilities are nearly endless farming wheat is the most popular thing to do.
You won't believe what people did to get their land!
Some people were so eager to get some land that they cheated. Some people would wait around a patch of land that they do desperately wanted then claimed it for their own. These people have been called "Sooners". The people who actually followed the cannon boom rule were called "Boomers". Now the Boomers have been wildly upset about the Sooners. One, who wanted to remain unnamed, said they even almost killed a man because he cheated! It is very unfair that people would cheat their way to the top but it was almost expected. All that is known at this point is that the Boomers are very upset at these so called Sooners because they took what the Boomers so badly wanted.