Today I'd like to welcome guest blogger, Vickie McDonough. You are in for a treat as she shares
I was born and raised in Oklahoma, and I’ve always been
interested in the land runs, one aspect of our state’s unique history. In case
you’re not familiar with Oklahoma, much of the state was designated as Indian
Territory in the later half of the nineteenth century. Over forty Indian tribes
were eventually moved there because white settlers in other states and
territories wanted their valuable land.
Once much of the West had been settled, people started
looking at Oklahoma as one of their last chances to get free land. They
pressured the government to open the Unassigned Lands--land that had been
promised to certain tribes, but no Indians had settled on it. The government
finally agreed, and President Benjamin Harrison signed the paperwork for what
was later called Harrison’s Hoss Race.
On April 22, 1889, over two million acres of land was opened
for settlement in a land run. The homesteads were 160 acres and much smaller
town lots were also available. Anybody twenty-one and older could ride—women,
foreigners, and blacks included. The race began with the blast of cannon and
gunfire and a cheer so loud your ears ached. An instant stampeded ensued. In
less than a few hours, all of the homesteads had been claimed, leaving many
people disillusioned and unhappy because they didn’t get one. In the first book
in my series, Gabriel’s Atonement, my
hero and heroine ride in the 1889 land run, which led to the settlement of
Guthrie, Oklahoma City, and several other towns.
Joline’s Redemption
is the second book in my Land Rush Dreams series, and it features the Cherokee
Sarah’s Surrender, the
final book in the series, release next year, and it features the Oklahoma land
lottery, which proved to be a less chaotic and dangerous way to claim the land.
Thanks for being here today.
Vickie McDonough
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Heroes, Heroines, and History blog: http://HHHistory.com
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