Centennial Land Run Monument
The date of April 22, 1889 was a day of chaos, excitement, and total confusion in Oklahoma. This was the day of the incredible, and notorious, Land Run when more than 50,000 people rushed into the Unassigned Lands of Oklahoma Territory to stake their claim for a piece of two millions acres of free land. At the sound of a cannon shot at noon, the anxious settlers, armed with flags, surged forward in a tumultuous avalanche of wagons and horsemen all in one breathtaking instant. Many did not achieve their dream; in the chaos of the mad dash, people were crushed, horses fell, wagons toppled, and fights ensued. Besides hundreds, maybe thousands, of settlers had already sneaked in over the border a day or two sooner, to claim the choicest land. These "sooners", pretending to be exhausted from the mad dash (even having run their horses around in circles to get them all sweaty beforehand), made a show of slamming their flags into their chosen ground just as the first legitimate settlers appeared in the distance. To this day, the great Land Run of 1889 is remembered as one of the most dramatic moments of Oklahoma's history!
In commemoration of this event, the city of Oklahoma City commissioned a series of 45 sculptures to depict the events from that iconic day. All are cast in dark bronze, at one-and-a-half life size... so a standing human would be almost 9 feet tall and a horse and rider over 12 feet! They are sculpted in an extremely realistic style that anyone can appreciate, with amazing detail clear down to the wood grain on the wagons and the leather designs on boots and saddles. The sculptor is Paul Moore, of Norman, Oklahoma, a fifth generation Oklahoman whose great-grandfather participated in the 1889 Land Run. During his career he has sculpted more than 100 commissions, with works in both the U.S. Capitol and the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
Logging Requirements
To log this Virtual Reward please visit GZ and send me your answers and pic (either through messaging or via email) to these two questions:
- What is above the water barrel on the covered wagon?
- Find the soldier closest to the cannon. What is folded on the back of the gunbelt he is wearing?
- Send pic of your gps location on phone or selfie with cannon in the back ground.
**Please do not include the answers to these questions
in your log or your log may be deleted.**
****BONUS QUESTION****
I am adding an additional question for fun only and to make it an "Ultimate Virtual Caching Experience." Something will be happening here in the near future. Email me what it is with details and how you learned about it. If you are lucky, you will be at the right place at the right time to answer this.
Monument Access
Located at the south end of the Bricktown Canal, this monument is a city park and is open to the public year around. While the park is open 24 hours a day, the monument is best viewed during daylight hours. Parking is adjacent to the monument, just to the east (a parking waypoint has been added for your convenience). The entrance is at 200 Centennial Ave, just off Reno Ave, between the Bass Pro Shops and the Residence Inn Hotel.
Open: Daily
Admission: Free
Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.
<<<<<<<< Congrats to The6thHobbit for the FTF >>>>>>>>
Special thanks to CacheSleuth for assisting me with a helping hand.