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Paragraph 1
Sooners
A Sooner was someone who entered the territory of Oklahoma
to claim land, before they were allowed to by the government. If Sooners were caught they would not be allowed to keep the
land.
Sooners were also known as “Moonshiners”
because they would go into the territory at night “by the light of the moon.” Then they would hide out in ditches
and bushes, and then when the rush started they would have a head start. Regular settlers thought that the sooners were unfair,
bad people.
In 1908 The University of Oklahoma gave their
football team the name called “Sooners.” People then didn’t think the name “Sooners” was so
bad then.
Paragraph 2
The West (Sooners)
“Moved by the same impulse each driver lashed his horses furiously … each man on foot caught his breath
+ started forward.” Harpers Weekly 1889
Many
settlers waited to claim the 160 acres of land in the unassigned lands of Oklahoma. When the soldiers blew the bugles The Settlers knew that the rush
had begun + they ran to claim their piece of land. Many times when the settlers got to a good piece of land, they found someone
had already claimed it. The land had already been claimed by sooners who had snuck past the borders the night before.
Paragraph 4
The land run of 1889
Part of this article talked about the government’s
part in the Oklahoma
land rush of 1889. William Springer, the Illinois representative changed the
Indian Appropriations Bill to allow President Benjamin Harrison to open 2 million acres in Oklahoma
for people to settle in. A Settler could claim 160 acres of public land. They would have to live on it + improve it for 5
years and than they could own it. The kinds of people who wanted land were farmers, tradesman, professional men, common laborers
+ politicians.
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