The bronze movement of Oklahoma City's Centennial Land Run Monument

Situated in Oklahoma City's Bricktown district, the Centennial Land Run Monument is a bronze sculpture capturing the excitement of the 1889 land rush. The work depicts horsemen and wagons racing over the Oklahoma landscape, creating a scene of motion and history. To many residents, it is a monument that combines a celebration of the past with a complex contemporary dialogue regarding the land itself.

Created in 2019 by sculptor Paul Moore, the project took over 20 years to complete. The installation features between 45 and 47 bronze statues, each being one-and-a-half times life-size. The entire piece covers a total area slightly larger than a football field, creating a sprawling, immersive scene of the historical event.

According to its commemorative plaque, the monument is meant to pay tribute to the courageous settlers who arrived on April 22, 1889, as well as present-day pioneers who worked to immortalize this moment. However, the monument remains a point of significant contention. In 2020, the Society to Protect Indigenous Rights and Treaties (SPIRIT) held a protest at the site, highlighting how the monument erases Muscogee Nation and Native American history.

Critics and local residents have described the statue as a celebration of colonization and the stealing of Indigenous land. While some residents suggested adding spaces for Native art and QR codes providing historical context on removal treaties, many others expressed a preference for the monument to be taken down. SPIRIT has proposed a process involving Indigenous historians and artists to create a new public monument that adds to the story without eliminating the existing narrative.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons