dropped anchor in Hampton Roads. The accomplishment of this feat,

without precedent in naval annals, still farther contributed to the

establishment of the prestige of the United States as a great world

power.

In 1889 the government of the United States purchased from the Indians a

large irregular tract of land not then occupied by them and erected it

into a separate territory under the name of Oklahoma. When it was opened

for settlement, April 22, 1889, a horde of settlers who had been waiting

on the borders rushed in to take possession of the lands. Cities and

towns sprang up as if by magic. The loose system of government exercised