Payne Boomer Campsite - Oklahoma City, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 28.793 W 097° 29.970
14S E 636124 N 3927297
This marker commemorates one of the Boomer camps settled between 1884 and 1889.
Waymark Code: WMM3EM
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 07/14/2014
Views: 8
What is a "Boomer" ??
Wikipedia sums it up nicely: The term "Boomer" relating to Oklahoma refers to participants in the "Boomer Movement," white settlers who believed the Unassigned Lands were public property and open to anyone for settlement, not just Indian tribes. Their belief was based on a clause in the Homestead Act of 1862 which said that any settler could claim 160 acres of "public land." Some Boomers entered the Unassigned Lands and were removed more than once by the United States Army. Charles C. Carpenter was the earliest leader of the Boomer movement, succeeded by David L. Payne, who was succeeded by William L. Couch.
This marker stands at the site of David L. Payne's Boomer Camp. The site is now part of the OU Health Sciences Center campus. Presbyterian Hospital has generously funded the establishment of a park at this location, which is a beautiful oasis amid the medical buildings. The park is a green belt, nestled lower than the surrounding streets. A rock retaining wall separates the grass area from the plantings.
On the grass, a bronze plaque is mounted on a concrete and pebble pillar, which reads:
PAYNE BOOMER CAMPSITE
In April 1884 on the Cedar Springs site, David L.
Payne established the Central Boomer Camp among
those established from the Deep Fork Creek to the
North Canadian. For five years, he had led those
who sought the opening of the Unassigned Lands.
Their efforts hastened the land opening in 1889.University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
and
Oklahoma Heritage Association, 1976