Following the Civil War, the U.S. government purchased the land known as Indian Territory and opened the area for settlement. On Sept. 16, 1893, the largest competitive event in history – the Cherokee Strip Land Run – began. By horse, train, wagon and on foot more than 100,000 land-hungry pioneers raced for 40,000 homesteads and the valuable town lots of what is now northwest Oklahoma. Once settlers found their land, they then had to stake their claim at one of four land offices throughout the Outlet, one of them was located in what is now known as Enid. By nightfall, Enid was a town of 10,000 people.
While those settlers staked their claim for new adventure on their new land, visitors come to Enid today and stake their claim for current opportunities, like our amazing public and performing arts, one of the top hands-on arts and science children’s museums in the country, a ballpark that has played host to a World Series each year since 2009, and a heritage center that tells the entire story of that amazing day we now call Enid’s birthday. We invite you to explore Enid your way.