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Lot Essay
The present painting The Opening of the Cherokee Strip represents the momentous event leading up to the formation of T.Boone Pickens’ home state of Oklahoma: the Cherokee Outlet Opening of 1893. Olaf Wieghorst said, “During my travels and my research I have always been fascinated with the state of Oklahoma. It has such a multitude of material for painting. And in this case here I used the opening of the Cherokee Strip in '93 as an example of the activity of the white people and the Indians in the state of Oklahoma.” (Wieghorst, exhibition catalogue, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1982, n.p.)
Under the Treaty of New Echota in 1836, the United States required the Cherokee Indians to cede all lands east of the Mississippi River and move West. The tribe was given three designated areas to relocate, including the seven-million-acre Cherokee Outlet in present-day Kansas and another area known as the Cherokee Strip along the present-day Kansas-Oklahoma border. Over time, the Cherokees struggled to maintain control of their new land as cattlemen and other anxious coveters known as “boomers” protested for settlement opportunities. Tensions escalated after the completion of railroads inspired boomer groups to unlawfully settle in the area. Although the Cherokees initially profited from leasing their land to ranchers, the mounting pressures caused the government to persuade them to sell the Outlet altogether in 1893. Under the sale agreement, individual Cherokees were permitted to establish claims in the Outlet and the remaining land would become available to the public. At noon on September 16, 1893, the Cherokee Outlet Opening, or the Cherokee Strip Land Run, marked the opening to settlement for the approximately 100,000 participants. The event remains the largest land run in Oklahoma history.
Under the Treaty of New Echota in 1836, the United States required the Cherokee Indians to cede all lands east of the Mississippi River and move West. The tribe was given three designated areas to relocate, including the seven-million-acre Cherokee Outlet in present-day Kansas and another area known as the Cherokee Strip along the present-day Kansas-Oklahoma border. Over time, the Cherokees struggled to maintain control of their new land as cattlemen and other anxious coveters known as “boomers” protested for settlement opportunities. Tensions escalated after the completion of railroads inspired boomer groups to unlawfully settle in the area. Although the Cherokees initially profited from leasing their land to ranchers, the mounting pressures caused the government to persuade them to sell the Outlet altogether in 1893. Under the sale agreement, individual Cherokees were permitted to establish claims in the Outlet and the remaining land would become available to the public. At noon on September 16, 1893, the Cherokee Outlet Opening, or the Cherokee Strip Land Run, marked the opening to settlement for the approximately 100,000 participants. The event remains the largest land run in Oklahoma history.