Holding the Claim - Dillingham Mem. Garden - Enid, OK - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

On the north side of Government Springs Park, the Dillingham Memorial Garden is a beautifully landscaped garden with plantings, a grid of walkways, and several sculptures. As you enter the garden from the south, there is a large brick circle with a two foot high concrete retaining wall. This raised area is planted with wild prairie grass and contains the sculpture, “Holding the Claim.”

Government Springs Park is the site of an historic watering hole along the Old Chisholm Trail, where millions of cattle were herded to market from south Texas, through Indian Territory to the stockyards in Abilene, Kansas. This sculpture is memorializing the estimated 100,000 people who made the land rush in 1893 into the Cherokee Strip, to stake a claim on a piece of land.

The sculpture shows one of these land rush participants, squatting down in front of a campfire, “holding his claim,” probably while a companion rushes to the Land Office to register their claim. The man is wearing a cowboy hat and a long jacket. He has a large moustache, and is holding a metal coffee cup in his left hand. With his right hand, he is stirring the fire over which a metal coffee pot is sitting. Behind him, his patient horse is calmly eating grass. The horse's front legs are hobbled with a rope, to keep him from running away. Several personal items lay nearby, including a saddle, saddlebags, bed roll, canteen and a revolver.

A large bronze plaque attached to the retaining wall reads:

HOLDING THE CLAIM
by Harold T. Holden
The Cherokee Strip Centennial Sculpture
1893-1993

”Let ‘er rip for the Strip” was the cry in 1893 as the race began with a shot
from a cavalry officer’s gun. There were no cheering crowds for the winning
settlers in history’s largest most spectacular competitive event. They drove
their stakes to win their prize and then surveyed the Promised Land. Holding the
claim was their next concern as they waited until morning for families to arrive.

There were no celebrations in camp that first night…they were alone to
savor the victory. A contented sleep would finally come with
vivid dreams of life and new homes on the prairie.

This centennial monument is dedicated to the Cherokee Strip pioneers and all
caretakers of this great land past, present and future.

*************

The vision, perseverance and creation of this monument was made possible by
Dr. John Charles Ogle, Elizabeth Ogle and Harold T. and Edna Mae Holden
and all of those dedicated and generous citizens who shared the Centennial dream.

Cherokee Strip Booster Club, Inc. – Major Donor

TITLE: Holding the Claim ARTIST(S): Harold T. Holden / Garland Weeks DATE: 4/16/1993 MEDIUM: Bronze CONTROL NUMBER: IASOK000197 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: Dillingham Memorial Garden Government Springs Park 400 block E. Garriott Road Enid, OK 73701 DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: None noted

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