4/22【历史上的今天】The Oklahoma land rush | 抢土地

美国历史上的今天

The Oklahoma land rush

每天一篇《美国历史上的今天》，提炼和总结历史在今天发生的重要事件：谁，在哪里，什么时候，做了什么，这件事为什么重要、以及在写关于什么主题的论文的时候可以作为潜在论据引用。

每天半分钟，轻松积累史实

为AP历史拿5分打下坚实基础

When: April 22, 1889

What: The Oklahoma land rush began.

Why significant: The Oklahoma land rush is an extraordinary display of both the pioneer spirit and the American lust for land. The land rush took place in Indian Territory, which encompassed much of modern-day Oklahoma. Initially considered unsuitable for white colonization, Indian Territory was thought to be an ideal place to relocate Native Americans who were removed from their traditional lands to make way for white settlement. The relocations began in 1817, and by the 1880s, Indian Territory was a new home to a variety of tribes.

By the 1890s, improved agricultural and ranching techniques led some white Americans to realize that the Indian Territory land could be valuable, and they pressured the U.S. government to allow white settlement in the region. In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison agreed.

On March 3, 1889, Harrison announced the government would open the 1.9 million-acre tract of Indian Territory that the government had never assigned to any specific tribe for settlement precisely at noon on April 22. Anyone could join the race for the land. Land-hungry Americans quickly began to gather around the borders of the irregular rectangle of territory, and they are referred to as "boomers." At noon on April 22, 1889, on the signal of the soldiers, 50,000 to 60,000 Boomers rushed into the territory in wagons, on horseback, and on foot.

The government operated more land rushes later. By 1905, white Americans owned most of the land in Indian Territory. Two years later, the area once known as Indian Territory entered the Union as a part of the new state of Oklahoma.

Tags: The Oklahoma land rush, Indian Territory, President Benjamin Harrison