A novel about "the second land opening in which the surplus lands of the Iowa, the Sac and Fox, the Pottawatomie, and the Absentee Shawnee reservations were thrown open to homesteaders. It took place on September 22, 1891 ... "

Located along the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, at a stop known as Oklahoma Station, Oklahoma City was born on April 22, 1889, at 12 noon. By 6:00 p.m., she had a population of around 10,000 citizens. As with any birth, there were many firsts in the newly opened territory, and many of these landmark events have been captured and preserved in historic photographs. With images culled from the archives of the author‚'s own vast personal collection as well as the Oklahoma Historical Society and other collections, the stories of prosperity and development of the area‚'s first settlers are told through Statehood. In light of this perseverance, it is no wonder that Theodore Roosevelt announced, ‚"Men and Women of Oklahoma. I was never in your country until last night, but I feel at home here. I am blood of your blood, and bone of your bone, and I am bound to some of you, and to your sons, by the strongest ties that can bind one man to another.‚"

Nine-year-old Jesse convinces his injured father to let him drive the wagon during the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush.

After immigrants flooded into central Oklahoma during the land rush of 1889 and the future capital of Oklahoma City sprang up “within a fortnight,” the city’s residents adopted the slogan “born grown” to describe their new home. But the territory’s creation was never so simple or straightforward. The real story, steeped in the politics of the Gilded Age, unfolds in 1889, Michael J. Hightower’s revealing look at a moment in history that, in all its turmoil and complexity, transcends the myth. Hightower frames his story within the larger history of Old Oklahoma, beginning in Indian Territory, where displaced tribes and freedmen, wealthy cattlemen, and prospective homesteaders became embroiled in disputes over public land and federal government policies. Against this fraught background, 1889 travels back and forth between Washington, D.C., and the Oklahoma frontier to describe the politics of settlement, public land use, and the first stirrings of urban development. Drawing on eyewitness accounts, Hightower captures the drama of the Boomer incursions and the Run of ’89, as well as the nascent urbanization of the townsite that would become Oklahoma City. All of these events played out in a political vacuum until Congress officially created Oklahoma Territory in the Organic Act of May 1890. The story of central Oklahoma is profoundly American, showing the region to have been a crucible for melding competing national interests and visions of the future. Boomers, businessmen, cattlemen, soldiers, politicians, pundits, and African and Native Americans squared off—sometimes peacefully, often not—in disagreements over public lands that would resonate in western history long after 1889.

Annie Mae's family is looking forward to beginning a new life—on their own land. When the Oklahoma Territory is opened in 1889, they and thousands of other settlers race across the border to claim some land of their own. But there is not enough for everyone, and Annie Mae is afraid of trouble ahead. Even if they find their beautiful land, will they be able to keep it?

Jack White's intentions were to weave a story of a strong hearted people in a Territory of Greatness. From the discovery of golden fields of tall grass in 1541 by Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado until the United States' Congress made Oklahoma the 46th state in November 1907. Moving from family to family to transport the story from one generation to the next Jack intertwined enough mystery and intrigue to make the book a page-turner. This is definitely not a historical novel filled only with boring dates and unimaginative facts. The story flows and meanders like a winding stream until President Teddy Roosevelt witnesses John Abernathy, an Oklahoman, grabbing angry Lobo wolves with his bare hands. Jack White's goal from the first word typed was to put on paper a record of the history of the most interesting Territory in the greater United States. "Run Oklahoma Run" is a book you will pass down to your great grandchildren.

"The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger." -FATHER STANLEY FRANCIS ROTHER Father Stanley Rother was true to his word. He did not run. And he was martyred at the age of 46. Father Stanley arrived in Guatemala in 1968, and he immediately identified with his parishioners' simple, farming lifestyle. He learned their languages, prepared them for the sacraments, and cared for their needs. Father Stanley - or "Padre Francisco", as he was called by his beloved Tz'utujil Indians - had found his heart's calling. After nearly a decade, the violence of the Guatemalan civil war found its way into the peaceful village of Santiago Atitlán. Disappearances, killings, and danger became daily occurrences, but despite this unrest Father Stanley remained hard at work, building a farmers' co-op, a school, a hospital, and the first Catholic radio station, used for catechesis. In early 1981, his name was on a death list, so he returned to Oklahoma and was warned not to go back to Guatemala. But he could not abandon his people, so he went back, and made the ultimate sacrifice for his faith. "Pray for us that we may be a sign of the love of Christ for our people," said Father Stanley, "that our presence among them will fortify them to endure these su fferings in preparation for the coming of the Kingdom." Includes 16 pages of photos.