A novel by the historical fiction author, Edna Ferber. Published in 1929 it achieved the number 1 best seller status in 1930. The novel has lost favor with many as it is looked at as being racist although it does depict historical events that occurred in our country.
Cimarron gets its name from the Cimarron Territory. The Cimarron Territory was an unrecognized name for the Oklahoma Panhandle or No Man’s Land, an unsettled area of the West and Midwest, especially lands once inhabited by Native American tribes such as the Cherokee and Sioux. In 1886 the government declared such lands open to settlement. Oklahoma at the time of the novel’s opening is one such “Cimarron Territory” though, in actuality, the historical setting of the novel is somewhere in the Cherokee Outlet, also known as the Cherokee Strip and probably the city of Woodward, Oklahoma.
The novel is set in the Oklahoma of the latter nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It follows the lives of Yancy and Sabra Cravat, beginning with Yancey’s tale of his participation in the Oklahoma Land Race 1893 land rush. They emigrate from Wichita, Kansas to the fictional town of Osage, Oklahoma with their son, Cim, and (unknowingly) a black boy named Isaiah. The Cravats here print their newspaper, the Oklahoma Wigwam and build their fortune amongst Indian disputes, outlaws, and the discovery of oil in Oklahoma. Upon its publication, Cimarron was a sensation in America and came to epitomize an era in American history. This novel became Ferber’s third successful novel and paved the way for many more historical epics penned by the author.
From Wikipedia Article
