Oklahoma Land Rush - limited edition print

A Mort Künstler HERITAGE EDITION limited edition print. This limited edition is UNSIGNED.

LIMITED EDITION PRINTS

Giclée Canvas Prints
Reproduction technique: Giclées are printed with the finest archival pigmented inks on canvas.
Each print is numbered and accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity.

Size: 18” x 41”
Numbered • Edition Size: 100

This print ships UNSTRETCHED. Stretching is available at an additional charge. Please contact us for pricing: 800-850-1776 or info@mortkunstler.com.

Custom framing is available for this print. Please call 800-850-1776 or email info@mortkunstler.com for more information.

Historical Information
In one of the most tragic chapters of American history, the State of Georgia — with the support of President Andrew Jackson — concocted a scheme to uproot all the “Civilized Tribes” from their hereditary soil, and give the land to Georgians. Thus the 1830s saw most of the Native Americans in Georgia — Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, and others — forcibly driven out of their lands and marched a thousand miles west to “Indian Territory,” the forerunner of Oklahoma.

By 1889 incessant pressure to open the Oklahoma Territory, some 200 million acres, to settlement finally convinced President Benjamin Harrison to authorize a land giveaway. The first Oklahoma Land Rush occurred on April 22, 1889. At the firing of a small cannon, fifty to sixty thousand people raced into the Oklahoma Territory to plant personal stake flags on proposed town lots and quarter-section farm claims. Those homesteaders who slipped past army guards before the official opening were dubbed “sooners” and were said to have “jumped the gun.”

I had wanted to paint this event for some time, and when I realized 1989 was its hundredth anniversary, I started painting. The subject intrigued me because of the tremendous amount of action, but I was hesitant because of the complexity of the scene. The challenge was to give the effect of thousands of people racing on horseback in an endless sea of dust. I knew I had to show every conceivable kind of rig – buckboards, spring wagons, sulkies, and covered wagons.

I believe I captured the spirit and action of the moment, and am proud that the State of Oklahoma requested my painting be reproduced as a large photo mural in the Oklahoma Tourism Centers.