David Payne and the Boomers
Throughout the 1880s, public pressure to open Indian Territory—gradually gaining recognition as the “Oklahoma” country—spawned an increasingly robust private sector movement to make that happen. Elias C. Boudinot, son of the murdered newspaper publisher and Treaty Party leader, and nephew of Stand Watie, led the initial charge. He wrote influential newspaper editorials in the Chicago Times and elsewhere that caused American public interest in Oklahoma to skyrocket.
David Payne, the so-called “Prince of the Boomers,” actually launched a colony on the site of present-day Oklahoma City, before the U.S. cavalry burned it down. The U.S. government at first prevented, then restricted American public advance onto the Indian lands. In the end, the government merely acquiesced to the desires of the people it represented, however wrong or wrongly-approached those desires may have been.
The above article is a bonus to the fascinating historical content found within our book
Oklahomans Vol 2 :
Ancient-Statehood
which can be purchased HERE.
View the inspiring preview video HERE.
