Sooners

For the University of Oklahoma's athletic teams, seeOklahoma Sooners.For the Canadian football team, seeOttawa Sooners.For other uses, seeSooner (disambiguation).

Unassigned Lands – 1885

Soonersis the name given tosettlerswho entered theUnassigned Landsillegally in what is now the state ofOklahomabefore the official start of theLand Rush of 1889.The Unassigned Lands were a part ofIndian Territorythat, after a lobbying campaign, were to be opened to American settlement in 1889. PresidentBenjamin Harrisonofficially proclaimed the Unassigned Lands open to settlement on April 22, 1889. As people lined up around the borders of theOklahoma District,they waited for the official opening. It was not until noon that it officially was opened to settlement. The name derived from the "sooner clause" ofProclamation 288 — Opening to Settlement Certain Lands in the Indian Territory,which stated that anyone who entered and occupied the land prior to the opening time would be denied the right to claim land.

The designation "Sooner" had a very negative connotation.While "Boomers" were merely expressing "pioneer spirit" in their desire to take and settle former Indian territory, Sooners were essentially stealing from other white settlers by cheating on the claim requirements to get better land. However, these negative connotations cooled as time passed after 1889 and land claims were settled. In 1908, theUniversity of Oklahomafootball team adopted the nickname "Sooners". The U.S. state of Oklahoma at times has been controversially nicknamed the "Sooner State" since the 1920s.

Characteristics

Sooners are not to be confused withdeputy marshals,land surveyors,railroad employees, and others who were able to legally enter the territory early.Sooners who crossed into the territory illegally at night were originally also sometimes called "moonshiners" because they had entered "by the light of the moon." These Sooners would hide in ditches at night and suddenly appear to stake their claim after the land run started, hours ahead of legal settlers.

Relationship with Boomers

The termBoomerrelating to Oklahoma refers to participants in the "Boomer Movement," white settlers who believed the Unassigned Lands were public property and open to anyone for settlement, not just Native American tribes. Their reasoning came from a clause in theHomestead Act of 1862,which said that any settler could claim 160 acres (0.65 km²) of public land.Some Boomers entered and were removed more than once by the United States Army.

Those who actually observed the official start of the land run and began the race for free land often found choice sections of land already occupied by Sooners or, in some cases, by Boomers. Problems with Sooners continued with each successive land run; in an 1895 land run as much as half of the available land was taken by Sooners. Litigation between legitimate land-run participants and Sooners continued well into the 20th century, and eventually theUnited States Department of the Interiorwas given ultimate authority to settle the disputes.

Sports

In 1908, the University of Oklahoma adopted "Sooners" as the nickname of its football team, after having first tried "Rough Riders" and "Boomers".Eventually, Oklahoma became known as" The Sooner State. "The school fight song is titled "Boomer Sooner".The school" mascot "is a replica of a 19th-century covered wagon, called the"Sooner Schooner."When the OU football team scores the Sooner Schooner is pulled across the field by a pair of ponies named" Boomer "and" Sooner ". There are a pair of costumed mascots also named" Boomer "and" Sooner ".

External links

• "Home Page".Oklahoma Historical Society.
• "Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory".Oklahoma State University. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-10-24.
• Hoig, Stan (2009). "Boomer Movement".Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture(online ed.). Oklahoma Historical Society.