The Redbud City: It happened in March
Clyde Wooldridge
Contributing writer
1889 - Even though Shawnee was not part of the original land run in Oklahoma of 1889, it set the stage for the second, that would follow in just a couple of years. On February 27, 1889, Illinois representative William M. Springer added section 13 to the annual Indian Appropriation bill which authorized President Grover Cleveland to open the lands to settlement through issuance of a proclamation.
Known as the Springer Amendment, this rider authorized settlement under the provisions of the Homestead Act of 1862, and it denied the original settlers their squatter’s rights. They were to be expelled and the lands were to be settled by a land run. The Act as amended was signed into law by President Cleveland on March 2, 1889. During his third week in office, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation on March 23, 1889 to settle the 1,887,796 acres.