Anthony F. Rice

The Opening of the Cherokee Outlet, Oklahoma Anthony F. Rice

The Cherokee Outlet was opened to settlement at noon, Central Standard Time, September 16, 1893. The opening was participated in by more than 115,000 persons. The work was supervised on the ground by 45 employees of the General Land Office. The Outlet, excluding reservations, contained nearly 6,500,000 acres, an area sufficient to make about 40,000 homestead claims of 160.acres each. Anthony F. Rice was an employee of the General Land Office in 1893, who assisted in the opening of these lands. This paper chronicles what he saw during this time in Oklahoma history,and is a reprint of his original paper from 1893.