[Oklahoma Land Rush]. [Photography]

[Cabinet Card of Orlando, Oklahoma, at the Outset of the 1893 Land Rush]

[Oklahoma City? 1893]. Cabinet card photograph, 4.75 x 8.75 inches, on a plain card mount. Some surface wear, scratching, and dust-soiling, minor edge wear. Good plus. Item #3848

A striking image of hopefuls preparing and waiting for the Oklahoma Land Rush in 1893. The image was taken in a town called Orlando, Oklahoma, located in the north-central region of the state. Orlando was the location of one of only four registration booths at which "sooners" could obtain certifications to claim land during the 1893 Land Run. The present photograph depicts dozens of wagons (covered and uncovered) and hundreds of people saddling their horses, preparing their wagons, and simply waiting for the event to begin. One of the wagons in the foreground is loaded with six men. The field of wagons and people extends what appears to be miles into the distance. The image is captioned in old pencil on the verso, "Orlando, before the run."

"The September 16, 1893, Cherokee Outlet Opening was Oklahoma's fourth and largest land run. Economic pressures plus poor planning and inadequate enforcement by federal agencies made it even more chaotic than earlier runs, resulting in massive fraud, widespread suffering, and a number of deaths. The Outlet was one of three areas the Cherokees had acquired upon removal to lands in present eastern Oklahoma under the Treaty of New Echota. Besides the Outlet, which contained about seven million acres directly west of their lands, the tribe also claimed the Neutral Lands in southeastern Kansas plus the area properly known as the Cherokee Strip along the southern border of Kansas. The Cherokees lost the Neutral Lands and the original Cherokee Strip with the 1866 Reconstruction Treaties. At the same time, the United States declared the eastern third of the Outlet surplus and began moving a number of smaller tribes there. Railroads, cattlemen, and home seekers then began efforts to acquire the remainder for their purposes" - The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.

Price: $750.00