At noon on April 22, 1889, a gunshot on the border of what was then called the Unassigned Lands of the Indian Territory launched the first of six well-defined land giveaways in what is now the state of Oklahoma. Contemporary newspaper and eyewitness accounts described the prairie starting line as awash in the largest gathering in the West to that date, with a subsequent massive rush, followed by the disappointment of many who were unable to make a claim. Similar outcomes were reported at the other openings, and these reports have been repeated and accepted in popular culture and the academic literature. Using recently digitized BLM land grant records, data from the U.S. Census of Agriculture, and the 1890 Oklahoma Territorial Census, we re-examine the land openings and show that the historical accounts greatly overstate the number of people actually rushing for lands.

1889年4月22日中午，在当时称为“印度领土未分配土地”的边界上开枪，在现在的俄克拉荷马州发起了六次明确定义的土地赠予活动中的第一项。当代报纸和目击者的报道称，草原起跑线在当时为止西方最大的聚会中充斥着，随之而来的是大批奔波，随后许多无法提出要求的人感到失望。在其他开幕式上也报道了类似的结果，这些报告已经在流行文化和学术文献中被重复和接受。使用最近数字化的BLM土地授予记录，美国农业普查数据和1890年的俄克拉何马州领土普查数据，