Let's talk about Smokefall Ridge.
Specifically, let's talk about settlement patterns in the Territory. Although our settlements are entirely fictional, it is entirely likely that they could have existed. All that would have been required is a little bit more industrial exercise by the intruding settlers, such as we have explored in our game.
Even the term "Boomer" (as we are so fond of in Oklahoma, for some reason) would not be "too" anachronistic. After 1870, non-native settlers began to pile into the Indian Territory. In fact, at this place and time more whites lived in the Territory than Indians. Studies have put the number of illegal 'intruders' at about 35,000...while the legal non-native settlers numbered over 100,000. Contrast that number with the 67,000 - 71,000 natives believed to be living in the Territory and you start to get the picture.
In 1879, members of the so-called "Boomer Movement" attempted to enter the Unassigned lands in defiance of government treaties with the natives. They believed it was public property and open to settlement. Officially, settlement of the Unassigned Lands didn't begin until 1889, but in other parts of the Territory it is entirely possible that some small settlements could have been completely overlooked until that time...especially in the World of Darkness.
The University of Oklahoma adopted "Boomers" as their team in 1895 (Sooners in 1908). The Boomer Movement first started in 1879, and was illegal. The first "land rush" was 1889.
The first organized football game in the Territory was in 1896. Statehood was 1907. Wrap your head around those dates, and lets put them in order.
- 1865 - End of American Civil War
- 1870 - Rebuilding of the Nation draws more people to the Territory.
- 1876 - Smokefall Ridge, Current Year (~35,000 'intruder' settlers in the Territory)
- 1879 - Beginnings of Boomer Movement into the Unassigned Lands (labeled Cherokee / Seminole on our map.
- 1889 - Land Rush
- 1896 - Sooners Football, baby!
- 1907 - Statehood
All this time later and we still have our priorities straight.
Our imaginary settlements of Smokefall and Primrose sit right on the border of two native sections. The Chickasaw on the east, and the Apache / Commanche territory on the west. One place is pretty rough, the other is rapidly beginning to approach "progress" as railroads and other infrastructure are built in the Territory. Remember also that the settlement of Oklahoma was unique in that "instant cities" sprung up out of the ground.
Since "none" of the original Boomers (or Intruders) camps or settlements became permanent, it's easy to say they came and went with no impact. Yet in many areas, the original structures built before statehood still stand. Usually it's in tiny towns in rural Oklahoma...the places time never caught up to, and consequently, never reshaped them. Anyone that lives here knows exactly what I'm talking about, and anyone who grew up here may experience negative time distortion effects if this is meditated on for too long.
So, it COULD have happened. With a nudge here, a nudge there, anything is possible. Just don't discount the encroaching civilization that governs these lands. The end goal of this long, long game is this: make Smokefall last. It may be a tiny town in 2016...maybe even a ghost town. Or maybe it will just be a few creepy foundations in the middle of the woods. Maybe...a city on the interstate? Who knows?