On September 16, 1893, 15,000 land hungry whites gathered
here to make "the Run" into the Cherokee Outlet to the
south. Caldwell was 1 of 9 places where over 100,000
potential settlers awaited cavalry soldiers' gunshots to start
the last land rush in the United States. The Outlet, commonly,
but incorrectly, referred to as the "Strip", contained
6,000,000 acres and roughly laid between Caldwell, Stillwater,
and the Oklahoma Panhandle.
Originally set aside for the Indians in 1835, the Outlet went
unused and white cattleman grazed Texas longhorn cattle
across it on the way to eastern markets. Under heavy
pressure from while landsquatters, known as "boomers",
and lacking help from federal authorities to protect their
property, the Indians reluctantly began negotiations with
Washington in 1889.
The Cherokees sold the Outlet to the government in 1891
for $8.5 million but when Congress finally appropriated the
monies in 1893, the Indians were shorted $200,000.
Erected 1993 by Donations from the Caldwell Cherokee Strip
Centennial Committee
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