Una Belle Townsend, Children's Author: The Oklahoma Land Run

Reviews for The Oklahoma Land Run

The picture book, The Oklahoma Land Run, is perfectly suited for elementary children.
The colorful book written by Una Belle Townsend and illustrated by Emile Henriquez, tells the story of one small family's struggle to claim a part of the unassigned lands the U.S. government was giving away.
This one family's dreams of owning their own land was almost crushed due to an unfortunate fall "pa" had a week before the run. With his arm in a sling, he was about to give up on his dream of claiming part of the former Indian Territory for his family.
Jesse, the family's nine-year-old son, was convinced that he could handle the team of horses and drive the wagon across the starting line to find a parcel of land. Pa didn't want to agree to this, because he feared the boy would be hurt by all the chaos and danger surrounding the land run.
In the end, Jesse convinced his pa that he could do this for his family, and the two lined up with the hundreds of other people wishing to better their lives with the promise of free land.
This book is perfect for younger children as it tells of the historic run leaving out the graphic danger surrounding the historic run on April 22, 1889 and shows how a family that works together can achieve their goals.

Darla Welchel
The Newcastle Pacer
Newcastle, OK April, 2010

The Oklahoma Land Run by Una Belle Townsend March 28, 2010

One of the best ways to get children interested in studying history is to read them age-appropriate, historical fiction. This gives children a context through which they can better understand historical events.

The Oklahoma Land Run by Una Belle Townsend provides such a context for a study of the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889. The book is about nine-year-old boy, Jesse, who must drive the family' wagon in the big Land Run race because his father has injured his arm. Children will relate to Jesse's courage, fears, and resourcefulness as he undertakes a tough mission for the good of the family.

Throughout the story, readers are introduced to just enough facts about the Land Run and Oklahoma to excite interest in learning more. Best of all, the illustrations are absolutely delightful, making this book a joy to read for both young and old.

A must-have book for those of you teaching Oklahoma HIstory, as well as for parents who are looking for enjoyable children's literature that also teaches.

Seeing the land run through the eyes of Jessie, the main character, helped make this period come alive for me. Kids will love following Jessie as he and Pa participate in the Oklahoma run. Tension runs high when Pa gets hurt and Jessie has to take charge. Susan Meyers

Links

https://youtu.be/vTMfOb-nPOs I give information about the Land Run of 1889.

smore.com/jcf6s A reading of The Oklahoma Land Run and some land run activities

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9GW0MFZxxU&fbclid=IwAR0Ob_Xebq5o6dHSQD7j3u8BZm7QDXkdclSFlHC1e_BbIYacdTjRcGoLung A reading of The Oklahoma Land Run

https://www.edmondhistory.org/i-am-lonesome-awful-lonesome/

Teachers: I’ve compiled a list of some of the chores boys and girls would have been responsible for as they grew up around the time of the land runs. Even before and after land runs, they would have had many chores and were expected to do them.

Chores for Boys and Girls

Feeding animals

Gathering Eggs/Milking

Cooking/Churning

Washing clothes/making soap

Beating rugs/sweeping

Canning/Preserving foods

Hunting

Chopping wood

Help with farming

Plowing and planting

Weeding and watering

Harvesting

Building or Repairing Houses, sheds, barns and wagon wheels

Working in the hay fields

Sewing

Sewing and Patching clothing

Repairing shoes

Darning socks

Making quilts

Taking care of young children

Land Run Constellations

On April 22, 1889, the first official land run took place in what is now Oklahoma. Towns sprang up overnight and housing was not always available. All who staked land had to improve it in order to keep it, and many settlers began immediately to work on building their homes. Unfortunately, there were areas where lumber was not readily available. Most families had no money to buy lumber. Many areas had no trees at all; so, the first houses constructed were either sod houses or dug-outs. Both often had spiders, tarantulas, and snakes in them. Snakes would drop from the ceiling while settlers were sleeping. Spiders and fleas often covered the walls and floors.

Many people chose to spend their nights under the stars. There they could see the constellations overhead.

Now it’s time to make some new constellations called the “Land Run Constellations”.

Making Your Own Constellations

To make your constellations, you need black or dark blue construction paper, white chalk or white crayons, glue, and any “o” shaped cereal. Children make their own “land run” constellations by drawing a boot, star, wagon, horse, snake, trunk, stake, the shape of Oklahoma, or anything related to the land run with their chalk or crayons. They can create their own constellation names such as “Big Ole Boot”, “Slithering Snake”, “Lanky Horse”, “Yee Haw Oklahoma”, “Wobbly Wagon Wheel”, “Wandering Wagon,” “Shimmering Star”, “The Food Bucket”, “Awesome Oklahoma”, or “Crooked Stake.”

After each child draws his own constellation, he glues a little piece of cereal about every two inches around the entire constellation.

Be sure that he leaves room for the title of his constellation and make sure that the title is large enough to be seen across a classroom. Hang these new constellations around the room or make a bulletin board with them.

Students can snack on some cereals as they work.

Students may also use small stickers, paint, pretzels, glow-in-the-dark stickers, or buttons instead of cereals.

Pa’s Favorite List of Words

Jesse drove the wagon so fast that Pa’s list of favorite “land run words” became all scrambled. Please help him unscramble his list.

l. ooerssn ______________________________

2. ketas ______________________________

3. keyrj ______________________________

4. stbsiciu ______________________________

5. lipar ______________________________

6. arndnul ______________________________

7. eessj ______________________________

8. tlteoeism ______________________________

9. gasnow ______________________________

10. aooalkmh ______________________________

11. aistrn ______________________________

12. hrseso ______________________________

13. mcial ______________________________

14. nnnoac ______________________________

15. rekec ______________________________

Many of these ideas would work for a pioneer or western unit, too.

What’s in Your Wagon?

Usually your wagon held everything you owned. It wouldn’t have been much, because you either didn’t own much or you had a very limited amount of space in the wagon. For boys, it might have included marbles, a top, a few small, wooden toys, or a “juice harp”. For girls, it might have been a little locket or ring, jacks, a doll, a special handkerchief, and a bonnet. What tools or kitchen items would your mother and father need to pack?

What do you have that you would have wanted to carry with you on your land run adventure? It would have to be small. It would not contain a battery of any kind, or need electricity. Draw pictures of what you would have carried with you.

A Settler’s Wash Day Activities

Read up on wash days. How often did one’s clothes get washed? Where did the water come from? If there weren’t any clotheslines, where were the clothes hung to dry? Did you make your own soap? How?

Using your Senses

Divide a pizza board (found at cake decorating places) into 5 equal sections. Write a different sense on each slice of the board. Then write down words or phrases that pertain to different senses that you would have noticed during the land run. Try to come up with 5 or more for each sense. Examples: cannons booming, animal noises, buggy whips, pistols firing, smell of gunfire or jerky, dust flying, taste or smells of foods, etc.

Home Sweet Home

Compare your home with a dugout or a sod house. Which is best for summer? For winter? Describe what you think a sod house would look like from the inside. Draw your home and a sod house. How are they different? Design and make a sod house or dugout. What materials did you use? Would your house have rooms? A roof?

Let’s Work on Some Math

Make up some math questions. Some may require some research. Include biscuit recipes with fractions, number of pounds of food for horses, size of a dugout or a sod house, number of feet in an acre, how fast a horse can ride in an hour, etc.

Have students make up a list of supplies to get at the general store before the land run. Decide what they would cost ahead of time. Bandanas might have cost 49 cents. How will you pay for your supplies?

Writing Activities

Have students keep a diary for 2 weeks. Have students make up their own stories and illustrate them. Include happy and sad events. Would you have any other people around besides your family?

If needed, you might give students some of the following topics to write about: snakes they saw on the trail, how hot or cold their houses or wagons were, crossing rivers with wagons and animals, quicksand, babysitting younger brothers and sisters and how to entertain them, making quilts, gathering cow chips for fires, making dolls, cooking over an open fire, living with snakes and fleas in your sod house or dugout, what you carried in the wagon and why it was important to have those items, etc. Use some synonyms, comparison, literary devices, etc.

Write 3 paragraphs about your adventures riding in a wagon or write 8-10 lines of poetry.

Art

Make a mural of a land run, wagon train, or a homestead.

Draw the inside of your wagon. Include something each family member would need during the land run or wagon train adventure.

Since you wouldn’t have a camera, draw pictures of the countryside as you travel.

Design a quilt. Either use scraps to sew together for a “string quilt” or block quilt or design your own quilt block pattern using paper.

Making Biscuits

Some teachers might want to provide a snack to their students. Many make butter and this biscuit recipe would be good with it. Or they could make a quick jam or jelly and have it with their biscuits. The following recipe is from the can of Clabber Girl baking powder.

Old Fashioned Biscuits

2 cups of all-purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder Clabber Girl)

1/2 tsp of salt

1/3 cup of shortening

3/4 cup of milk

1 Tbsp of soft margarine or butter

In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender, (or two forks), cut in the shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the milk all at once. Using a fork, stir just until moistened and dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl (dough will be sticky).

On a floured surface, lightly knead dough with floured hands for 30 seconds or until nearly smooth. Lightly roll dough to 3/4 inch thickness. Cut dough with a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, dipping cutter into flour between cuts. Place biscuits close together on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush tops with soft margarine. Bake in a 475 degree oven for 11 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Yield: Makes about 8.

**I hope these ideas were helpful.

Oklahoma Land Run

Una Belle Townsend

Pelican Pub. Co.

ISBN 9781589805668