The First Eight Months of Oklahoma City

Founded in 1889, Oklahoma City represented the culmination of one of the most singular and chaotic events in world history. After the U.S. Government began to open lands to homestead in the previously restricted Indian Territory, a series of land-runs were organized to allow settlers to acquire and purchase up to 160 acres of parcel from the U.S. Land Office. The initial run, which occurred in April of that same year, would go on to become the most renowned of the seven that...
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Founded in 1889, Oklahoma City represented the culmination of one of the most singular and chaotic events in world history. After the U.S. Government began to open lands to homestead in the previously restricted Indian Territory, a series of land-runs were organized to allow settlers to acquire and purchase up to 160 acres of parcel from the U.S. Land Office. The initial run, which occurred in April of that same year, would go on to become the most renowned of the seven that ultimately took place in the territory. The Oklahoma Land Rush, as it would come to be known, introduced a surge of bristling humanity to the once quiet region, bringing with it a turmoil and mayhem that would forever redefine the landscape.Published under the pseudonym of "Bunky", The First Eight Months of Oklahoma City, is most frequently credited to Irving Geffs, who in the 1890 Oklahoma Territory Directory was listed as the city editor of the Evening Gazette. In this straightforward history, Geffs captures much of the bedlam that characterized the nascent days of Oklahoma's capital city. His eyewitness accounts of the events that unfolded during this period offer readers some of the rarest glimpses into the city's early history, making it one of the most unique and defining works available on western settlement.