page_title: Land Run of 1893
section_title: The event
hierarchical_section_title: Land Run of 1893 / History / The event
caption_attribution_description: English: Waiting for the opening of the Cherokee Strip (or Outlet) at a camp near Arkansas City.
context_page_description: The Land Run of 1893, also known as the Cherokee Outlet Opening or the Cherokee Strip Land Run, marked the opening to settlement of the Cherokee Outlet in Oklahoma's fourth and largest land run. It was part of what would later become the U.S. state of Oklahoma in 1907.
context_section_description: The Land Run itself began at noon on September 16, 1893, with an estimated 100,000 participants hoping to stake claim to part of the 6 million acres and 40,000 homesteads on what had formerly been Cherokee grazing land.  It would be Oklahoma's fourth and largest land run.
  Four land offices for the run were specially set up to handle the event – in Perry, Enid, Woodward, and Alva. Infantry troops were stationed at those sites in an attempt to maintain order, while Cavalry troops were stationed at encampments near Alva, Bluff Creek, Chilocco, Clear Creek, Hennessey, Pond Creek, South Wharton, and Waynoka.  Despite that, 'Sooners' – those who started before the designated time – still managed to sneak in and secure some of the best locations, especially in the eastern third of the Outlet and at many of the townsites.  With demand for the land far outstripping that which was available, a majority of the participants did not actually secure a claim for themselves.
caption: Settlers await the opening of the Cherokee Outlet.
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