David L. Payne
David Lewis Payne (December 30, 1836 – November 28, 1884) was an American soldier and pioneer. Payne is considered by some to be the "Father of Oklahoma" for his work in opening the state to settlement.
He organized, trained, and led the "Boomer Army" on its forays into the Unassigned Lands. Payne's excursions into the Unassigned Lands, trips led by others, and lobbying of Congress by railroad interests eventually convinced the government to open the Unassigned Lands for settlement in 1889, about four years after Payne's death. The formation of Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory followed, and Oklahoma became a state in 1907.
Read more about David L. Payne: Early Life, Soldier and Politician, Boomer
Famous quotes containing the word david:
“Met face to face, these Indians in their native woods looked like the sinister and slouching fellows whom you meet picking up strings and paper in the streets of a city. There is, in fact, a remarkable and unexpected resemblance between the degraded savage and the lowest classes in a great city. The one is no more a child of nature than the other. In the progress of degradation the distinction of races is soon lost.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)