Q&A

What were ‘Boomers’ and ‘Sooners’?

**A DIFFERENT KIND OF RUSH HOUR** Thousands of ‘Boomers’ scrambled to claim a free patch of Oklahoma land on 22 April 1889 – but only once the Native Americans living there had been forcibly removed

SHORT ANSWER

This is not a case of “OK Boomer”, more a matter of Boomers in OK

LONG ANSWER

By signing the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889, President Grover Cleveland opened up nearly 2 million acres of Oklahoma territory for settlement. (The Native American peoples living there had conveniently been removed.) People would be able to head onto the land at noon on 22 April 1889, and they sure were desperate to claim their spot.

Around 50,000 settlers lined the border and, at the sound of cannons and bugles at high noon, raced into the socalled Unassigned Lands to claim the 160 acres that they were entitled to. By the end of that day, Oklahoma City had been founded and already had a 10,000-strong population.

‘Boomers’ was the name given to those doing the rushing in the Oklahoma Land Rush, but they may have been beaten to the best plots by ‘Sooners’, the people who illegally entered the land early. Today, those names live on in Oklahoma sports teams.

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