The restless land hunger that drew thousands of men into the Boomer Movement to open the "Oklahoma" district of Indian Territory to settlement is a phenomon of power and human determination. The movement was best expressed in the character of David L. Payne, an Oklahoma Boomer and border adventurer in the mold of Sam Houston or Buffalo Bill Cody. Payne was not content to settle down to the tedium of a sedentary life. He was a border leader, searching for places where a restless spirit could meet the challenges of a hazardous life. American Indians of the "Five Civilized Tribes," cattlemen,...