The Old Settlers Association of the Cheyenne and Arapaho County, the oldest Old Settlers Organization in Western Oklahoma will observe its 90th Anniversary on April 19, 2002. It will be the 110th Anniversary of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Land Run.
Cheyenne is the home of the Old Settlers Association of the Cheyenne-Arapaho County. It was here that the idea was first conceived of forming an association to preserve the early day history of this part of Oklahoma.
The first meeting for this purpose was on April 19, 1907. This meeting was called by “Daddy” Hez Cox, a businessman of Cheyenne, who had set up a business in this city on April 19, 1892, the day the town was established with fifty people. Purpose of the meeting was to establish a custom of meeting on this date, April 19, annually in order to commemorate the date of the Run for homes in the Cheyenne and Arapaho Country of Oklahoma. The first meeting was a picnic with a basket dinner, square dance and a horse race.