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 thatthe U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

GROSSET & DUNLAP Publishers, New York

© 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 dayin 1889, awaiting the signal that would send them across! What was instore for them? Wild riding! Possibly danger. Certainly adventure. Andyoung Alec Simpson with his twin sisters, Cindy and Mindy, was to be apart of it.

It had been a long, hard journey for Jed Simpson and his family up theCherokee Trail from Missouri. But the promised prize of a homestead inthe 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 staketheir claims. Jed Simpson, riding alongside his partner, Pete Brent,leapt out in front. And just as fast, tomboy Cindy raced after them togive her father his forgotten gun. So it was three, rather than two, whostaked claim to the sweetest land in all of Oklahoma.

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

The Simpsons had indeed earned the proud name of homesteaders. And forAlec, 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, entertainingstories, based upon true historic events. Each story is checked forfactual accuracy by an outstanding authority on this particular phase ofour history. Though written for young readers, they make interestingreading for boys and girls well into their teens.

Contents

CHAPTER ONE Witch Girl
CHAPTER TWO Pete's Story
CHAPTER THREE The Sooners
CHAPTER FOUR Ready for the Run
CHAPTER FIVE April 22, 1889
CHAPTER SIX Mindy
CHAPTER SEVEN Wild Ride
CHAPTER EIGHT Alec
CHAPTER NINE The Claims
CHAPTER TEN Hungry
CHAPTER ELEVEN Alec Comes
CHAPTER TWELVE Plains City
CHAPTER THIRTEEN The Man with Cat's Eyes
CHAPTER FOURTEEN Spirits Walk

About the Author
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