Editing James B. Weaver (section)

==Farmers' Alliance and a new party==
[[File:James B. Weaver 1892.jpg|thumb|Weaver in 1892]]

The new president, Republican [[Benjamin Harrison]], set April 22, 1889, as the date when the [[Land Rush of 1889|rush for the Unassigned Lands]] would begin.{{sfn|Colbert|2008|p=191}} Weaver arrived at a railroad station{{efn|Oklahoma Station, where the settlers gathered, was the site of the future capital, [[Oklahoma City]].}} in the territory in March with an eye toward relocating there.{{sfn|Colbert|2008|p=191}} The would-be homesteaders welcomed him with great acclaim.{{sfn|Colbert|2008|p=191}} Although settlers were not allowed to stake claims before noon on April 22, many scouted out the land ahead of time, and even marked off informal claims; Weaver was among them.{{sfn|Colbert|2008|p=191}} After the rush, settlers who had waited challenged the claims of the "[[Sooners]]" who had entered early.{{sfn|Colbert|2008|p=192}} Weaver's identification with the group harmed his popularity in the territory.{{sfn|Colbert|2008|p=192}} His claim was ultimately denied, and he returned to Iowa in 1890.{{sfn|Colbert|2008|p=192}}

Weaver and his wife moved their household in 1890 from Bloomfield to [[Colfax, Iowa|Colfax]], near Des Moines, as the former Congressman took up more active management of the ''Iowa Tribune''.{{sfn|Mitchell|2008|p=138}} The Greenback and Union Labor parties were defunct, but he still proselytized for their ideals.{{sfn|Mitchell|2008|p=139}} In August 1890, Weaver addressed a convention in Des Moines where former Greenbackers and Laborites gathered, although he declined their nomination for Congress.{{sfn|Haynes|1919|pp=300–301}} The economic conditions that had created the Greenback party had not gone away; many farmers and laborers believed their situation had gotten worse since the Long Depression began in 1873.{{sfn|Goodwyn|1978|p=viii}} Many farmers had joined the [[Farmers' Alliance]], which sought to promote soft-money ideas on a non-partisan basis; rather than create a third party, they endorsed major party candidates who supported their ideas and hired speakers to educate the public.{{sfn|Mitchell|2008|pp=140–141}} Alliance-backed candidates did well in the 1890 elections, especially in the South, where Democrats endorsed by the Alliance won 44 seats.{{sfn|Mitchell|2008|pp=140–141}}

Alliance members gathered that December in [[Ocala, Florida]], and formulated a platform, later called the [[Ocala Demands]], that called for looser money, government control of the railroads, a [[graduated income tax]], and the direct election of senators.{{sfn|Mitchell|2008|pp=142–143}} Weaver endorsed the message in the ''Tribune'' and corresponded with the group's leader, [[Leonidas L. Polk]].{{sfn|Mitchell|2008|pp=142–143}} Weaver attended the group's convention in Cincinnati in May 1891, where he and Polk argued against forming a third party.{{sfn|Mitchell|2008|pp=142–143}} Another delegate, [[Ignatius L. Donnelly]], argued forcefully for a break from the two major parties, and his argument carried the day, although Weaver and Polk kept many of Donnelly's more radical proposals out of the convention's statement of principles.{{sfn|Mitchell|2008|pp=142–143}}