Oklahoma Journeys
Week of August 2, 2008
Kiowa, Comanche, Apache Land Lottery August 6, 1901
The lottery finally arrives, but it’s not exactly what you think. Although most Oklahomans know that the state, for better or worse, approved the lottery a few years ago, most people don’t know that this was really the second lottery in our Oklahoma history. It’s the luck of the draw this week on Oklahoma Journeys from the Oklahoma History Center.
From the Oklahoma History Center, this is Oklahoma Journeys. I’m Michael Dean.
The great land runs of Oklahoma history, all five of them it turns out, were not maybe so great after all. Sure they were impressive to witness, and they probably were exciting events in which to be involved, but as far as a practical way to fairly distribute land, there may have been a better way to go; at least, that’s what territorial and national officials were thinking by the end of the last chaotic run into the Kickapoo Territory in May of 1895. The next major land opening in Indian Territory was the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache lands in the southwest part of the territory. This land opening was to be unusual and the first of its kind in the history of the United States and without so much chaos, bloodshed and violence as the early runs. To give away the more than two million acres, the US government decided to use a lottery system.
Those desiring land in this opening first had to qualify, meaning that they had to be of the right age and have no other land holdings, and register at either the El Reno or Lawton land offices The contestant had to fill out a card with their name, date of birth, height, weight and other various information, and this card was sealed in an envelope and put into a giant rotating container. Once officially entered into the drawing a contestant was free to travel about the country to see what quarter section they might want if they’re name was drawn. There were about thirteen thousand homesteads to be given away in this opening but more than one hundred fifty thousand people had qualified and were registered for the drawing. With those odds the chances were slim of receiving a claim, much less the one you actually were hoping to get. Drawings were held in El Reno and Lawton beginning on July 29th with crowds of thousands surrounding the hopper to both ensure fairness and to be ready to be recognized as a winner.
It was in this week on August 6th of 1901 that those lucky people whose names were drawn could begin claiming their land. The process worked like this; one by one, in the order in which they were drawn from the hopper, names were called out, and those people marched up to a giant map of the area and marked through the quarter section of land that they wanted to claim. According to eyewitnesses, crowds around the maps were so great that many used telescopes and opera glasses in order to see which land was now no longer available and cheers or groans were audible with almost every land claim marked on the map. Lots in the new cities of Lawton, Anadarko, and Hobart were auctioned off to the highest bidder. The giant land lottery of 1901, it was a gentler, kinder land opening.
You can learn more about the land runs and opening of various parts of what became Oklahoma by visiting the Oklahoma History Center on NE 23rd Street in Oklahoma City. The History Center is open Monday through Saturdays from 9 am to 5 pm, and Sundays from Noon to 5 pm. Oklahoma Journeys a production of the Oklahoma History Center, dedicated to the collection, preservation, and sharing of our state’s past. I’m Michael Dean.