fortunate, however, that in 1889, when by proclamation of
President Harrison the Oklahoma Territory was thrown open, the intense
race prejudice of the white immigrants and the rule of the mob prevented a
larger number of Negroes from settling in that promising commonwealth.
Long since extensively advertised as valuable, the land of Oklahoma had
become a coveted prize for the adventurous squatters invading the
territory in defiance of the law before it was declared open for
settlement. The rush came with all the excitement of pioneer days
redoubled. Stakes were set, parcels of land were claimed, cabins were
constructed in an hour and towns grew up in a day.[23] Then came
conflicting claims as to titles and rights of preemption culminating in
fighting and bloodshed. And worst of all, with this disorderly group there
developed the fixed policy of eliminating the Negroes entirely.

The Negro, however, was not entirely excluded. Some had already come into
the territory and others in spite of the barriers set up continued to
come.[24] With the cooperation of the Indians, with whom they easily
amalgamated they readjusted themselves and acquired sufficient wealth to
rise in the economic world. Although not generally fortunate, a number of
them have coal and oil lands from which they obtain handsome incomes and a
few, like Sara Rector, have actually become rich. Dishonest white men with
the assistance of unprincipled officials have defrauded and are still
endeavoring to defraud these Negroes of their property, lending them money
secured by mortgages and obtaining for themselves through the courts
appointments as the Negroes' guardians. They turn out to be the robbers of
the Negroes, in case they do not live in a community where an enlightened
public opinion frowns down upon this crime.

During the later eighties and the early nineties there were some other
interstate movements worthy of notice here. The mineral wealth of the
Appalachian mountains was being exploited. Foreigners, at first, were
coming into this country in sufficiently large numbers to meet the demand;
but when this supply became inadequate, labor agents appealed to the
blacks in the South. Negroes then flocked to the mining districts of
Birmingham, Alabama, and to East Tennessee. A large number also migrated
from North Carolina and Virginia to West Virginia and some few of the same
group to Southern Ohio to take the places of those unreasonable strikers
who often