We Were There at the Oklahoma Land Run

by Jim Kjelgaard

"Do you think there'll be trouble?" Alec sounded worried.

"I doubt it, Alec, but we must be ready if it comes."

Mindy knitted puzzled brows. "There is much I do not understand."

"If you have any questions," Pete said, "I'll try to answer them."

"Thank you, Mr. Brent. Please tell me how close we are to Oklahoma."

"We could almost throw a stone into it from this wagon," Pete said.

"Then why," Mindy asked, "can't the first people across simply stake the first claims they find?"

"They can do just that, and some of them will," Pete said. "But a great many people here on the border know where the best claims are. They're old-time Boomers, or they've been in before, or in some cases, a group of people have banded together to send a scout on ahead to find them a place. The really hot race will be for the best land."

"I see," said Mindy, "but you speak of claims. How are people to know where their claim ends and another begins?"