Sooner... or Later

Have you ever wondered what an Oklahoma Sooner was?  Honestly? I never gave it much thought until today.

My kids were so sad they missed the annual kid biz fair in Cedar City this year, but I saw that a homeschool group north of Dallas was doing an activity that looked similar with an Oklahoma twist.  Every year this group does a simulation of the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush (evidently this is a common activity in the schools in OK) A homeschool mom from OK started the tradition in Texas 15 years ago.  

It was pretty fun.  They have all the kids line up and then they read a little speech explaining what was happening and why and then they blow a bugle and let the kids rush to "claim" some land.  They file a claim at the land office and then must "improve" the land (ie set up blankets, chairs, etc). Then the children can set up "businesses" to sell and/or barter with each other.  So even though they missed out on last weeks Kid Biz Fair in Utah they were still able to put their business sense into practice.

When the gal in charge was sharing the history of the Land Rush, 12,000 claims and 50,000+ people racing to claim it, I remembered the frenzied Easter egg hunt and shuddered to imagine the intensity of that day April 22nd at high noon. We also discovered that some people snuck onto the land early and hid so that they could "claim" it during the rush and these people were called "Sooners," because they went too soon.

As an FYI  I thought this was an interesting snippet from a local paper regarding the growth

"Unlike Rome, the city of Guthrie was built in a day. To be strictly accurate in the matter, it might be said that it was built in an afternoon. At twelve o'clock on Monday, April 22d [sic], the resident population of Guthrie was nothing; before sundown it was at least ten thousand. In that time streets had been laid out, town lots staked off, and steps taken toward the formation of a municipal government."

Many settlers immediately started improving their new land or stood in line waiting to file their claim. Many children sold creek water to the homesteaders waiting in line for five cents a cup, while other children gathered buffalo chips to provide fuel for cooking. By the second week, schools had opened and were being taught by volunteers paid by pupils' parents until regular school districts could be established. Within one month, Oklahoma City had five banks and six newspapers. Pretty cool eh? 

I always find it interesting to watch kids figure out the money/trade system. 

Dallin set up a shooting gallery, 

Lauren a bakery/sweet shop, 

and Ben established a cold drinks/ice pops establishment. 

They did great work and made about $14 along with acquiring several new toys through bartering. It was fun to see other kids ideas. One little girl brought a bunny and guinea pig and had a petting zoo, and another kids set up a golfing game (he was one of Ben's best customers as he had to run through  a hot field gathering up all the golf balls after each participant). My kids had learned from last years Kid Biz Fair that less expensive goes over better with a kid sized customer base so they made smaller popcorn balls, cookies, muffins and soda cups and sold them cheap. Of course Ben is so cute many of the older girls and moms gave him a quarter and told him to keep the change so he made bank! Lauren sold out of most things and all the kids had fun! Unfortunately the drive home through Dallas during rush hour was not so much fun!

That night I attended a game night for a local woman's group- I met a gal at the park last week and she invited me to join them.  I was definitely the oldest one there. It was a great reminder of how much I've changed.  These women were trying to figure out who they were and who they wanted to become.  I remember the transition from ME to wife and mom, it's a toughie- but it's so nice now to have a clear vision of who I am and what I want from life. I love being a wife and mother!