Oklahoma Land Run

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Race undertaken by American homesteaders to claim plots of land in the former Indian Territory of Oklahoma, USA, on 22 April 1889. Over 800,000 ha/2 million acres of unassigned land in Oklahoma District were purchased from the Plains Indians by the US government in 1889. These were surveyed and divided into 65-ha/160-acre plots. The race began at noon and all the land was claimed within 24 hours. Towns such as Oklahoma City, Norman, and Stillwater were established in a single day. Oklahoma had been the last large territory held by the Plains Indians, who were now confined to Indian reservations, small areas of unwanted land. Americans now owned the land between the Mississippi River and the Pacific coast, making US belief in its manifest destiny to expand westwards a reality.

The land run was chaotic, with people on foot, bicycles, horses, and wagons. Conflicts raged over who reached a plot of land first and were sometimes settled violently because of the lack of law and order in the West. Cheating also occurred – those who slipped through the US Army lines along the territory's border to find the best plots before the race began were nicknamed ‘Sooners’.

The central band was originally red. It was changed to blue to express solidarity with the Allies during World War I. Effective date: 28 September 1917. >>