PLSO Oregon Surveyor January/February 2019

22 Vol. 42, No. 1 The Oregon Surveyor | The Lost Surveyor ? Territory and the Unassigned Lands of the Indian Territory. At the age of 23 this Kentucky born surveyor was in charge of the crews assigned to this contract. Near the heart of downtown Norman, legend has it that they scribed an elm tree pro- claiming the site “Norman’s Camp.” Our Lost Surveyor is memorialized in a stat- ue in front of Norman City Hall. (Photo 2) The City of Norman was founded as a re- sult of the famous Land Run of 1889 and was initially in contention to become the territorial capitol. However, city leaders opted to site the state’s first university here instead as it was a less controversial option than vying for the capitol designa- tion. With a population of about 122,000 Norman is now the states third largest city and is home of the “Sooners” of the University of Oklahoma which was found- ed 18 years before statehood. Contrasted with the City population, the university student population in 2016 was 31,000. Norman, Oklahoma was founded by our Lost Surveyor, Abner Norman, and has a rich history in the fabric of the state Oklahoma. The city was formally incor- porated on May 13, 1891. Continuing north on I-35 from Norman brings us to the state capitol of Oklaho- ma City. Located in the southeasterly quadrant of downtown Oklahoma City is Bricktown, which is their version of theMill District in Bend. At the southerly end of the Riverwalk is the Oklahoma City Land Run Monument celebrating that famous day of April 22, 1889 where settlers raced to claim their fortunes. The monument is a stunning rendition of the army firing the cannons and the settlers rushing for- ward in a wild melee to claim their land. It contains 47 larger-than-life statutes spread over 365 feet. The 1889 land run had approximately 50,000 participants and was famous for the “Sooners” who raced forward ahead of the official start time to claim their lands. Some of these “Sooners” were the surveyors who had laid out the boundaries and the railroad employees who had laid out the towns. Many of the Sooners had their claims thrown out in court after the notorious day was over. Other land runs were held after 1889. One of those, in 1893, had more than 100,000 participants. Thismon- ument, which traverses over a small hill, crosses an artificial stream, and ends on a small grassy plain, is beautifully done and well worth your travels to check it out. (Photos 3, 4, 5) 3–5 (above): Land Run monument near Bricktown in Oklahoma City continued T