Oklahoma Land Run, 1892

This is a early photo of settlers waiting for the "Run of 1892" in Clinton, Ok.

Tonight I would like to finish writing about that great journey my Grandfather, Lloyd M. Rice, and my Great Grandfather, Boone C. Rice, made in 1889. Their migration from Polk County, Mo., to the Rice homestead, outside Elk City, Ok., in Roger Mills County, was not an easy one. The migration of families is the most important part of what built America. Our country built from East to West. The Rice(Rhys) family from Wales to England, then to Jamestown in 1656. From there, the family seeds follow lands opened to the West into Kentucky by Daniel Boone, then to Missouri, and Illinois, which became public domain after the Louisiana Purchase. Now, Boone C. Rice compelled to move his family to the last unoccupied, and uninhabited lands left in America. These are my thoughts after reading and researching what Lloyd M. Rice wrote about what happen so many years ago.

Prior to the passage of the Organic Act of 1890, an Indian Commission of three men were appointed to work with the Indians and persuade them to take their lands by allotment. The surplus would then be opened for settlement. The Indian Commission worked with the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes at Fort Sill for several years, and finally the Jerome Agreement was signed. The Tribes were allotted their homesteads, and the remainder of the rest of the area would be available for settlement by others. The lands of the Cheyenne - Arapaho country were to be decided by a "land run", a race for claims in the reservation. This run was held April 19, 1892.

There were some prominent stock men (cattlemen) in the Walnut Grove township, Polk County MO. I believe Boone C. Rice , according to Goodspeeds Biography, made frequent trips to Texas to sell cattle, or mules, selling to the Southern Market, and then returning to Missouri. Then eventually, I believe is why he settled in Roger Mills County, Ok. To homestead a cattle ranch. By 1880, there were no more cattle drives to be found. Moving cattle was now in the hands of the great railroad system. The Railroad had bypassed the town of Orleans, Mo., close to where Boone lived. Eventually Orleans became non-existent. Boone is now forty-five years old, but he needed to move on. Boone brought his cattle with him to Oklahoma in 1889. They lived in tents for almost two years, in the Arbuckle Indian Territory, close to Purcell, Ok., and then participated in the "Oklahoma Run", in 1892. During this time he leased land to grow feed for his cattle. Lloyd M. Rice wrote " In a few minutes he (Boone) came back to the second wagon, pulled by four horses and driven by my twin brother. The wheel horse was saddled and one of us rode it while the other drove. Sometimes one rode a horse and herded the cattle following behind the wagons", "The Land is again a cattle ranch. However, there are no small boys chasing coyotes to their dens in this modern age". To put this in perspective, Lloyd and Leslie were only five or six years old when they made this trip. Here was one twin boy on a horse, and the other twin pulling at the reins of a covered wagon.

Even though the "Run" had been announced in 1889, due to government bureaucracy, the run did not take place till 1892. There were problems getting some of the Indians off the land, and some of the Indians got first choice of properties, which had to be formalized. The land also had to be surveyed, which took a substantial amount of time. Maybe Boone thought it was going to happen quickly, which it didn’t, but at any rate, they lived there in limbo for some time. I have been told by reliable sources, that almost twenty-five thousand settlers lined on the Texas side of the territory, and they ran south to north. The U.S, Calvary was there, and fired the gun to start the "Run", and yes, there were those who jumped the gun, now called "Sooner’s". It would be almost another fifteen years before any roads were built around Roger Mills County. When Boone settled on the land, they made a "dugout" to live in until they built the house.

When, my brother Tim, and my father visited there in the mid-seventies, the old dugout was still visible, the windmill was still standing. It must have taken months getting the lumber to the land to build the home. The lumber was hauled one hundred and fifty miles from the end of the railroad. It is overwhelming for me to think of this land with no roads, no fences, wild prairie grass growing to shoulder length while on horseback. It would be another fifteen years before this land was even to become a state.

From Judy Tracy, Roger Mills County
Prior to our Land run, we were cordoned off in quarter sections (160 acres) and then Cheyenne was made into town lots. The Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians were given first choice of their 160 acres and paid $75, in 1891, because they were here first. Basically the land run began when the Cavalry men (who had been here for a year or more getting things ready) shot their guns in the air all along the lines. The lines were on the north of County "F" (our county prior to the government being formed here who later named the county Roger MIlls in 1893) and on the east it ran north south through Ft. Reno (El Reno of today which is located just west of Oklahoma City) and on the south down to Old Greer County and on the west at the Texas line. Prior to our statehood, November 16, 1907, our Roger Mills County included Beckham County and half of Ellis County of today. Beckham County was not established until November, 1907.

The Great Western Cattle Trail

When driving between Lone Wolf in Kiowa County and Granite in Greer County, on Highway 9, or west out of Sentinel on Highway 55, even the natives of the area has trouble imagining six million Texas Longhorn cattle with hundreds of trail bosses, chuckwagons, and remudas of 40 to 50 horses ambling through and grazing contentedly in the lush, green grass during the period from 1866 until 1885. In addition to the many enormous drives, cattle herds also traveled in fewer numbers until 1892 when homesteaders located and began fencing Oklahoma Territory. Local lore and history tells about the Great Western Trail traversing this area with it's origin at Bandera, Texas, just to the NW of San Antonio, about 450 miles south of the Red River, and it's destination of Dodge City, Kansas, about 45 miles north of Indian Territory. Some historians called the trail the old Doan Trail, because it crossed the Red River at Doan's crossing. Others called it the Old Dodge City Trail, because it ended at Dodge City. Some even confused it with the Chisholm or Chisum Trail, which actually lay further east near El Reno. Oklahoma State Highway Department called it the Old Texas Trail on their map published in 1933.

The Great Western cattle Trail was only a few miles west of Elk City, and the Rice Homestead. After the land had been settled in 1892, there were others who used the old trail. Lloyd M. Rice wrote: Father had a windmill on the place, which furnished an everlasting stream of pure, cold water. So, all the freighters, all the hunters of homes, all the outlaws, all the people who were running from "you guess what" came by our Homestead.....at different times we met Frank and Jesse James, Temple Houston and others who were nameless. They stopped, drank our water, watered their horses and slept in my fathers house, ate his bread and went on their way.

Song of the Week

Who would have thought that my favorite song in the whole wide world would have been from a band from my hometown of Springfield, Mo. The Ozark Mountain Daredevils were very popular during the seventies, with alot of big hits. I even knew some of the bandmembers, afterall, they went to the same high school I did. I never thought they would have written a song for veterans. This song "Standing on the Rock", almost sounds Gospel. Well, I guess it is to me.

Have a Good Week

Daniel