Oklahoma Marks 100Th Anniversary Of Its Great Cherokee Strip Land Run

OKLAHOMA CITY - At high noon, a gunshot rang out. It was followed by the thundering of horses' hooves and shouts of "yippee" and "yahoo" from a crowd of 100,000 people hoping to stake a land claim and a new lease on life.

"It was the largest, most spectacular competitive event in history," said Dr. John Charles Ogle, whose grandfather was part of the Cherokee Strip Land Run of 1893.

Ogle, president of the Cherokee Strip Centennial Foundation in Enid, and others have dedicated much of their lives to rekindling the history of Cherokee Strip and its pioneer spirit.

Their efforts are aimed at next year's 100th anniversary of what many call the most dramatic land run ever. It will be observed with powwows, trail rides, cattle drives and other events from April to September 1993.

However, some hesitate to observe the anniversary with celebration, noting it pushed Cherokee Indians off land they had occupied since their forced march from the East along the Trail of Tears about 60 years earlier.

"I use the word commemoration," said Irene Sturm Lefebvre, commissioned by the foundation to write a history of the Strip. "What history proves is that we were not very good to the Indian tribes."

The land run was the largest of five in Oklahoma. The first was in 1889, when Congress opened the territory's unassigned areas to homesteaders. The 1893 run is featured in the movie "Far and Away," about an Irish family who moved to Oklahoma.

For her history, Lefebvre has spent 2 1/2 years researching.

Her first book, "Cherokee Strip in Transition," was released in June, but there was so much information she saved events after the run for a second volume, which she hopes to release in April.

"I was overwhelmed by the fact that every time I asked a question, several doors would open," she said. "There's a common bond with people interested in the history of their own area."

Lefebvre said part of her effort was for children. She wanted her grandchildren to know about the hard, lonely lives of most early homesteaders.

"I just hope it will inspire them to carry out this pioneer spirit," she said.

The Cherokee Strip run was prompted by land hunger of railroads, cattlemen and desperate homesteaders suffering through a depression in the West. Many staked their all in coming to one of the nine registration points in Oklahoma and Kansas.

The 13,108-square-mile strip covers roughly the northern fourth of Oklahoma.