1885 it began to be generally understood that the necessary proclamation
would be issued, and from all parts of the country home-hunters began to
set out on a journey, varying in length from a few hundreds to several
thousand miles. The Kansas border towns on the south were made the
headquarters for the home-seekers, and as they arrived at different
points they were astonished to find that others had got there before
them. In the neighborhood of Arkansas City, particularly, there were
large settlements of boomers, who from time to time made efforts to
enter the promised land in advance of the proclamation, only to be
turned back by the soldiers who were guarding every trail. The majority
of the newcomers thought it better to obey the law, and these settled
down, with their wagons for their homes, and sought work with which to
maintain their families until the proclamation was issued and the
country opened to them.

It was a long and dreary wait. The children were sent to school, the men
obtained such employment as was possible, and life went on peacefully in
some of the most peculiar settlements ever seen in this country. Finally
the Springer Bill was passed and the speedy opening of at least a
portion of Oklahoma assured. The news was telegraphed to the four winds
of heaven, and where there had been one boomer before there were soon
fifty or a hundred. In the winter of 1888, various estimates were made
as to the number of people awaiting the President's proclamation, and
the total could not have been less than 50,000 or 60,000. Finally the
long-looked-for document appeared, and Easter Monday, 1889, was named as
the date on which the section of Oklahoma included in the bill was to be
declared open. There was a special proviso that any one entering the
promised and mysterious land prior to noon on the day named, would be
forever disqualified from holding land in it, and accordingly the
opening resolved itself into a race, to commence promptly at high noon