First Water Works of Perry, Oklahoma Territory
10/10/1893
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The original caption for this photograph reads: First Water Works of Perry, Martin Bro's. Prop., Oct. 10th 93.
It was taken in Perry, Oklahoma Territory, during the Land Run of 1893, also known as the Cherokee Strip Land Run or Cherokee Outlet Opening.
In the 1800s, the Federal government had resettled American Indian tribes into Indian Territory. During removal, a treaty established that part of present-day Oklahoma would be a "perpetual outlet west" for the Cherokee Nation; it was called the Cherokee Outlet or the Cherokee Strip.
Then in the late 1800s, Congress adopted a policy of giving individual farms to American Indians on reservations and opening the remaining Indian lands to settlers. The most famous opening was the "land rush" in Oklahoma Territory. The Cherokee Strip was opened at noon on September 16, 1893, in the largest land run in history. From 100,000 to 150,000 home seekers rushed the 6.5 million acres of the Cherokee Outlet to claim homesteads.
This primary source comes from the Records of the Bureau of Land Management.
National Archives Identifier:
516457Full Citation: Photograph 49-AR-31; First Water Works of Perry [OkIa. Terr.]. Martin Bro's. Prop., Oct. 10th, 93; 10/10/1893; Opening of the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma Territory, 1893 - 1893; Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group 49; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/water-works-perry, December 8, 2024]