Boomer - Dillingham Garden - Enid, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 36° 23.570 W 097° 52.250
14S E 601263 N 4028112
This is one of six art relief sculptures depicting six era of Oklahoma history.
Waymark Code: WMDRAD
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 02/18/2012
Views: 3
Sculptor, Harold T. Holden (1940-) is a world-renowned Western artist. His works can be found in galleries throughout the world. He lives on a ranch near Kremlin, OK, and raises American Quarter Horses and Texas Longhorns.
Government Springs Park is located on the site of natural springs which provided a watering hole for cattle drovers, soldier and herds along the Old Chisholm Trail. The beautiful Dillingham Memorial Garden contains several of Holden's sculptures.
Mounted around a retaining wall which displays Holden's "Holding the Claim" sculpture, are six bronze relief art sculptures by Harold Holden. Each plaque depicts one of the six Eras in Oklahoma History. This one is called BOOMER and depicts the era of the Great Land Rushes, where portions of Indian Territory were opened for settlement. A settler is riding in full gallop, racing into the Cherokee Strip Outlet to lay claim to his piece of land. He is holding two stakes in his right hand, which he plans to drive into the ground when he reaches his chosen piece of land. The bronze plaque is approximately two feet square. A second plaque beneath it reads:
BOOMERby Harold T. Holden
The Great Land Rush
On September 16, 1893 the Cherokee Strip was Changed Forever by the
"Largest Most Spectacular Competitive Event in History".
The Sculpture Called "Boomer" Captures the Excitement of that Day
Better than any Piece of Art Ever Created. By
Executive and Legislative Proclamations of Both Kansas and Oklahoma,
Boomer was Dedicated as the Official Symbol of the 1993 Cherokee
Strip Centennial.
Northwest Oklahoma Osteopathic Foundation – Major Donor
[Excerpt from Wikipedia on the derivation of the term "Boomer."]
The term Boomer relating to Oklahoma refers to participants in the "Boomer Movement," white settlers who believed the Unassigned Lands were public property and open to anyone for settlement, not just Indian tribes. Their reasoning came from a clause in the Homestead Act of 1862, which said that any settler could claim 160 acres of public land. Some Boomers entered and were removed more than once by the United States Army.
Those who actually observed the official start of the land run and began the race for free land often found choice sections of land already occupied by Sooners or, in some cases, by Boomers.