Chapter I: Front Matter

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WE WERE THERE AT THE OKLAHOMA LAND RUN

BY JIM KJELGAARD

_Historical Consultant_: SAVOIE LOTTINVILLE

_Illustrated by_ CHRIS A. KENYON, JR.

[Transcriber Note: Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

GROSSET & DUNLAP _Publishers_, New York

Copyright JIM KJELGAARD 1957

_For_
ROSALYN LOUISE ALBERS

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NO. 57-5035
_We Were There at the Oklahoma Land Run_

Thousands of land-hungry people edged the Oklahoma border that April day in 1889, awaiting the signal that would send them across! What was in store for them? Wild riding! Possibly danger. Certainly adventure. And young Alec Simpson with his twin sisters, Cindy and Mindy, was to be a part of it.

It had been a long, hard journey for Jed Simpson and his family up the Cherokee Trail from Missouri. But the promised prize of a homestead in the rich, fertile land of Oklahoma was worth it.

Then came the long-awaited starting shot! And men on horseback, on foot, in buckboards and covered wagons careened across the border to stake their claims. Jed Simpson, riding alongside his partner, Pete Brent, leapt out in front. And just as fast, tomboy Cindy raced after them to give her father his forgotten gun. So it was three, rather than two, who staked claim to the sweetest land in all of Oklahoma.

Their joy was short-lived, however, with the sudden disappearance of gentle Mindy and the arrival of a short, swarthy man with cat's eyes. It took all of Alec and Cindy's own special brand of magic to spirit Mindy back.

The Simpsons had indeed earned the proud name of homesteaders. And for Alec, Cindy and Mindy it was a new life just begun in a golden land.

WE-WERE-THERE BOOKS are easy to read and provide exciting, entertaining stories, based upon true historic events. Each story is checked for factual accuracy by an outstanding authority on this particular phase of our history. Though written for young readers, they make interesting reading for boys and girls well into their teens.

Contents

I Witch Girl

II Pete's Story

III The Sooners

IV Ready for the Run

V April 22, 1889

VI Mindy

VII Wild Ride

VIII Alec

IX The Claims

X Hungry

XI Alec Comes

XII Plains City

XIII The Man with Cat's Eyes

XIV Spirits Walk

Illustrations

Pete gave one of the flags to Jed Simpson

Mindy vaulted to his back

"Go back or I shoot!" he said

"You dug that big a hole since noon?" asked the man on the horse

"Nothin' like a little fight to clear the air, Jud boy!"

Mr. Simpson added a big boulder to the cairn

When everything was ready, she called her father and Pete

"Need any law work done?" he asked

Alec went into the oak grove

He liked the rough and broken land

"Unless they turn their claims over to us, they'll never see the girl again"

WE WERE THERE AT THE OKLAHOMA LAND RUN