On April 22, 1889, bugler John H. Brandt sounded his trumpet for the start of the Land Run.

Mary Phillips
John H. Brandt, left, was wearing his old Army uniform, when he met actor James Cagney, star of "Oklahoma Kid," at Warner Brothers Studio in the 1930s. Brandt had blown the trumpet at the 1889 Land Run. This photo and story was published on Page 12 of the March 1, 1939, edition of The Daily Oklahoman.
John H. Brandt, left, was wearing his old Army uniform, when he met actor James Cagney, star of "Oklahoma Kid," at Warner Brothers Studio in the 1930s. Brandt had blown the trumpet at the 1889 Land Run. This photo and story was published on Page 12 of the March 1, 1939, edition of The Daily Oklahoman.

April 22, 1889.

Nearly 5,000 people waited along the Canadian River near Purcell for their chance of a lifetime.

On March 1, 1939, The Daily Oklahoman published this article about a little-known Land Run participant.

Almost 50 years ago, John H. Brandt, then trumpeter for troop L. fifth U.S. cavalry, sounded a blast that opened the run of 1889 into Oklahoma Territory. All day, April 22, 1889, he watched hordes of people stream past him into the promised land.

Then he returned to barracks at Fort Smith, Kansas (actually Fort Sill), with his company, and soon after moved to California. And in all the time since, he has never seen the state his bugle officially opened for settlement. His connection with Oklahoma has been purely vicarious.

Take, for instance, his appearance on the Warner Brothers motion picture set where "The Oklahoma Kid" was being made. He was curious to see how the movie studios went about reproducing the early day Oklahoma atmosphere.

Colonel — the honorary title conferred on him by the war department — Brandt was wearing his old army uniform when he met James Cagney, star of "Oklahoma Kid." Cagney struck up quite an acquaintance with the 74-year-old man, inviting him to lunch at the studio commissary and there heard a first-hand version of the Oklahoma Land Rush.

Actor James Cagney starred in the 1939 Western movie "The Oklahoma Kid." The advertisement promoted the world premiere of the film and announced that fellow actors Humphrey Bogart and Rosemary Lane would appear March 3, 1939, at the Criterion Theater.
Actor James Cagney starred in the 1939 Western movie "The Oklahoma Kid." The advertisement promoted the world premiere of the film and announced that fellow actors Humphrey Bogart and Rosemary Lane would appear March 3, 1939, at the Criterion Theater.

"There were more people and more kinds of vehicles than you ever saw," Colonel Brandt related. "Wagons, buggies, oxcarts more than two mile deep.

"Exactly at noon, Capt. William Forbush, my commander, signaled me and I blew a charge. Well sire, those eager-eyed, hopeful folks passed me at full gallop, and it took more than an hour before the last wagon rushed by. I sure did a lot of blowing that day, because I had to continue sounding the charge until the run was over."

Warner Brothers planned to send Colonel Brandt to Oklahoma City for the world premiere of "The Oklahoma Kid" at the Criterion theater Friday night.

They learned, however, that the Oklahoma Historical Society had arranged with him to come here April 22, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Land Rush, and the studio plans were dropped in deference to the more important occasion."

Brandt donated his trumpet to the Oklahoma Historical Society in 1925.

Thanks to the Oklahoma History Center Research Center staff for locating Brandt's files and to Heather Franks, curator of collections, for locating Brandt's trumpet, which is now on display at the Oklahoma Territorial Museum in Guthrie.

If you would like to contact Mary Phillips about The Archivist, email her at gapnmary@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Land Run bugler meets movie star James Cagney at Warner Bros. in 1939