4/12/2016. Exodusters, Boomers, Sooners, and Such. Post-Civil War Treaties. Eventually I.T. Will Look Something Like. Took away more land from the 5CT

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1 Exodusters, Boomers, Sooners, and Such Post-Civil War Treaties Took away land in I.T. from 5CT Took away more land from the 5CT Eventually I.T. Will Look Something Like 1

2 Where Will These New Tribes Come From? Homesteaders and Sod Busters Homestead Act Signed by President Lincoln Granted 160 acres of undeveloped land in the West to any family head or person over 21 years of age Pay a small fee, live on land for 5 years, and make improvements OWN IT 2

3 Sod was cut with special plows, or by hand with an axe or shovel. Roofs used timber if available. Otherwise, roofs were built up with twigs, branches, bushes and straw. Dugouts as the name suggests were homes dug out of an existing hillside, small cave, etc. They were at least partly rather sturdy, tended to stay cooler in the summer, and warmer in the winter. Exodusters 3

4 Exodusters Exodusters: Freedmen (former slaves) who moved West after the Civil War Benjamin Pap Singleton ( ) Former slave born in Nashville, Tennessee Became the leader of the Exoduster Movement c Later referred to as Father of the Exodus. Exodusters Buy a ticket w/ group, arrangements Encouraged sufficient resources for journey and first year Original Destination: Kansas! 4

5 Exodusters in Kansas Hey, a Windmill! Fancy. 5

6 So, from ish Amerindians already in I.T. are going to lose more land and be pushed towards private land ownership. Amerindians on the Great Plains will be largely confined to reservations, more and more of which are in I.T. Buffalo will be nearly extinct by 1900 So, from ish White Homesteaders will keep pushing west in hopes of owning a bit of land and claiming their small piece of the American Dream Black Homesteaders who can afford it will push west for the same reasons 6

7 So, from ish The U.S. will continue to push the American Dream on Amerindians who largely reject it At the same time, Black Americans will find great resistance to their attempts to buy into that same American Dream Who gets to be a Full American? What IS the American Dream? Who has the power? And Land! The Postbellum Indian Wars Include The Sand Creek Massacre (1864) The Battle of Washita (1868, a.k.a. The Washita Massacre ) The Battle of Little Bighorn (1876, a.k.a. Custer s Last Stand ) The Wounded Knee Massacre (1890), which effectively ended Amerindian resistance to the U.S. Boomer Sooner 7

8 Unassigned Lands There s what the treaties SAID, then there s what the U.S. Govt. was willing to DO or NOT DO 8

9 Boomers Definition #1: People who continued to call for OK s homestead settlement and got others excited; willing to break the law to make it happen Definition #2: Term associated with those who observed the official start of land runs and began the race at the sound of the starting BOOM Boomers David L. Payne Prince of Boomers Boomers David L. Payne Prince of Boomers 1 st attempt, 1879 Arrested & escorted back to Kansas 2 nd attempt (4 months later) Arrested & escorted back to KS, Charged and fined $1,000 (couldn t pay) 9

10 Boomers 3 rd attempt (1884), Arrested again Finally, Territorial Judge ruled that settling on Unassigned Lands NOT a criminal offense Federal government disagreed, but Payne died later that year (hero?) 10

11 Ejecting an Oklahoma Boomer Harper s Weekly March 28, 1885 Others Pushing to Open O.T. William Couch Farmers / Other Homesteaders RRs (most powerful businesses in U.S.) Merchants Mining Industry 11

12 Some Were Against Opening Some full-blood factions of 5 tribes Cattlemen losing grazing land Opening Territory 1889: Congress passed the Indian Appropriations Act It paid Creek/Seminoles small sum to remove claims to the Unassigned Lands President Benjamin Harrison assigned the time people could enter, April 22, Noon Sooners A derogatory term used to describe settlers who entered Unassigned Lands before noon on April 22, OU adopted Sooners as a nickname for their football team 12

13 1 st Land Run, 1889 ( Harrison s Horse Race ) Military officers to fire guns at start of race Traveled by buggies, horses, wagons Estimated 50,000-75,000 made run; 1 out of 3 actually got a claim Estimated 50% rode trains Towns were created in 1 day 13

14 14

15 Guthrie (1889) 15

16 2 nd Opening September 22, ,000 acres of Sac & Fox, Pottawatomie, Iowa, and Shawnee lands Opened by land run Opening Cheyenne-Arapaho Lands Lands opened on April 19, 1892 by land run 16

17 Now I m Here Soddies / Dugouts - Why? No Railroads no supplies in/out Water scarce or salty tasting Turnips! Crops varied at first cotton to cowpeas Wheat became main crop Life was very, very difficult, especially for those w/o resources. From 1889 Life is hard, but mostly manageable Some make it, some don t Oklahoma becomes a state in 1907 World War I ( ) The Roaring Twenties (1920s) The Wild West is largely fading, and the 20 th Century is gradually working its way towards the Midwest. But, trouble s a comin 17