OCR Text |
Show THE LEIII SUN. LEIII. UTAH 1"! lath 'each lay, bet it isr. ?er nant s are bak: audi;" peaa: Bel; U ed 9 wr. Pit ftCtfl 'The Most Eventful Horse-Race In History' Run in Oklahoma Just 50 Years Ago This Month I ' V -v' : : :-- : : x : :: ' . x : :: -:::: : ::::::;::: - v.v.: : :-' .; : x : . . :;;. :vXx:.:. ;.. ... :. -:- .; t--V :.y .v . : . -v.:.?.:.: ;v:m,t. -x j I Part of the crowd S009 that By ELMO SCOTT WATSON Western Newspaper Union. FIFTY years ago this month occurred "the most eventful event-ful horse-race in history." On April 22, 1889, an army of more than 50,000 Americans from nearly every state in the Union had gath-Qimiff gath-Qimiff the borders of a lone-forbidden territory. At noon en J C t o htil cfiflC Signal wiutu ociiii uicui vii mcii nidu xusii uiiu uie Promised Land ana wnen a new aay aawnea tney were steady busy transforming a wilderness into a land of cities and farms. iTever before had America witnessed such a scene and it is not likely that it will ever see it again. But out of fci dust and confusion and turmoil of that day arose a new commonwealth and Ok-kfjoma, Ok-kfjoma, "the land of the red Meple," added a new star to th American flag. Back of this historic horse-race ot "the run," as they refer to it in the Oklahoma of today is the age-old story of a land-hungry people. Soon after the Creek and bpinole Indians, assembled in a TBt Indian council at Fort Smith, Lit, in 1866, ceded their lands ; st of the ninety-eighth meriai- to the United States government, govern-ment, the agitation for opening thif country to white settlement .-"irted. In a few years came the rail-pis rail-pis and in their wake the "Ldomers." Between the two tie was a close connection, at k st in the initial stages of the ir.ovement. t 1870 the M., K. & T., the first railway to enter the Indian Territory, began laying tracks southward from the Kansas bor- ierf Its construction was rushed acrpss the Cherokee, Creek and Chsbtaw nations, and thence acrpss Red River into Texas. The P. (Frisco) built its line actlss the Shawnee and Wyan-kte Wyan-kte reservations, entered the irokee nation and affected a ' Jrtion with the M., K. & T. at VJta in 1872. I The Boom Begins i 1834 the Santa Fe line began tuiding straight through the cen-'erjjf cen-'erjjf the territory from north to uth. This line, completed in 158, passed directly through the leveled "unassigned lands" and Ks Coming was the last clarion to homeseekers. The big wm-the irresistible cry for the ie lands for white colonists swelled into a national demand. lies lll.k L naing "gure among I It 4 boomers" was Capt. David 0 1 r f ayne' who had been a scout :-.s me Indian wars on the thern plains in the sixties and Unties. As earlv isnn Po,m iff f a colony to the North Cana-iCe0: Cana-iCe0: jaa river and attempted a settle- ;m1 near the Present site of -homa City. He was arrest- and his colonists conducted , aiross the border- Within i .T"11" Payne was back with IM er colony, which met the - fate. Sat he never relaxed his ef- . Cpkny after colony was nized under his leadership shed,acrss the forbidden g. only to be met by the fets of Uncle Sam's soldiers, fe was finally indicted by n lh.ngton' Kan., inthe fl t another forward move- l'nr!!?0Ied this dustrious Sn? "Vomers" from '5: Ti,ned, on by Willia l. le fii . ,St invasion was placed uJm' When Couch lie rPitodfr arrest. and his e remov from the ferri tbeJ 151. lhe eral au ire -"-""stun were De-;iJo,J?- BiU after $ed anH 2 i "Penmg was UbtUe?Med- M last frdSf. giV Participated byS? ?vnd s,pecial ter-M ter-M ti?Snoe 9Wahoma bill V tacked on r..dJie' ally 1 aDDrnr,,- : ,iaer 10 the n rriT:r"o.'130a- resi- a proclama- i massed on "The Line" awaiting tion setting the date of the opening open-ing on April 22, 1889. Like wildfire the slogan "On to Oklahoma" again swept through the country and the prospective homeseekers, now clothed with legal powers, began everywhere to assemble for the grand rush. Two million acres in the unassigned unas-signed lands were surveyed and staked into quarter sections and townsites. Detachments of cavalry were deployed to patrol the borders of the new lands. Registration offices of-fices were opened at Guthrie and Kingfisher. Arrangements were made with the railroads to run as many trains as possible into the new territory on the day set for the opening. The Great Day Dawns A graphic account of what took place on that historic April 22 is given by Carl Coke Rister in his book, "Southern Plainsmen," Plains-men," published recently by the University of Oklahoma Press. He writes: "The morning of the eventful day dawned bright and clear. For many miles along the northern boundary of the land to be opened thousands of homesteaders were camped, and hundreds of others were coming in hourly. Soldiers patrolled the southern side of the line to keep back any overly ambitious am-bitious contestant, yet a majority of those who were present accepted accept-ed such restrictions without complaint com-plaint and a spirit of good cheer and friendly banter seemed to prevail. Still, as the morning wore away, the waiting people A view of the town of Guthrie became restless, and long before the time came to start they were arranging themselves in line along the boundary. "A signal officer, with a flag in one hand and a bugle in the other, took a position where all could see him. Promptly at twelve he sounded the note which sent thousands thou-sands in a mad headlong dash towards the south; and other officers of-ficers stationed at intervals along the boundary relayed the signal down the line. The din and confusion con-fusion which followed is indescribable. in-describable. Many horses hitched to vehicles became frightened with the sudden noise and clamor and broke away in runs, overturning over-turning vehicles and spilling their contents on the prairies; a choking chok-ing cloud of dust enveloped the racers making it difficult for one to see another and thereby imperilling im-perilling the lives of heedless contestants; con-testants; the speeding trains disgorged their shouting and exulting ex-ulting passengers, who were sent sprawling on the ground or who struck the earth running; and horseback riders, leaning low the signal to make the "Run." over their laboring mounts, were strung out across the prairies or they raced side by side, and their loud oaths, laughter and shouts accentuated the thundering hubbub. hub-bub. "Along the southern boundary of the land to be opened the confusion con-fusion was almost as great. Thousands Thou-sands of contestants had congregated congre-gated at Purcell and at other points on the southern bank of the Canadian river. This silt-filled silt-filled river was an effective barrier bar-rier which made the work of patrolling pa-trolling soldiers easy. Several days before the opening, desirable desir-able crossings were located, and before the start was made long lines of horseback riders followed by vehicles were opposite Purcell, Pur-cell, on the north bank of the river. A Tense Moment "A short time before the starting signal was to be given Lieutenant Lieu-tenant Adair of the Fifth cavalry, caval-ry, mounted on a white horse, took his station on a hill where all could see him. The atmosphere atmos-phere seemed to be charged with excitement and tenseness as the watchers saw him lift a bugle to his hps; and it is reported that even before the notes of the instrument in-strument were heard along the south bank, reckless horsemen were plunging into the turgid waters wa-ters of the stream, making for the opposite bank, and that vehicles, ve-hicles, in some cases loaded with families and household effects, were following closely behind them. Some of the vehicles mired in the quicksands, but the drivers driv-ers unhitched their teams, mounted mount-ed their favorite horses and continued con-tinued the race. Within an hour the prairies on the northern side of the river were covered with excited homeseekers, some pegging peg-ging down stakes on their claims, some engaged in heated controversies contro-versies over priority rights, and some speeding on to other sites." No less an amazing spectacle than this epic "run" was the sight which followed immediately, immediate-ly, of towns springing into exist- a few days after the "Run." ence on the prairie overnight. It is said that within two hours after the homeseekers had crossed the Canadian, a townsite company was laying out the municipality mu-nicipality of Lexington, not more than a mile distant from Purcell. That night Guthrie was a tented city of 15,000 population and Oklahoma Okla-homa City had more than 10,000. All in all more than 100,000 people peo-ple had entered Oklahoma on that historic April 22. Not all of them stayed. Thousands Thou-sands became discouraged when they failed to establish claims or became involved in quarrels, fights and litigation over the land they wanted. For them the Promised Land proved to be only a mirage, so they drifted back to their old homes in other states. But many more thousands did stay and, enduring all the privations priva-tions of life on the last frontier, they helped build the commonwealth common-wealth cf Oklahoma. Today as they join in celebrating the golden gold-en anniversary of their state, they look back upon their work and call it good. An Interesting picture of the 6tirring scenes which preceded the "run" is given in the following follow-ing newspaper dispatches: INDIAN TRRI-fcORY, April 19, 1889. Within three days the peaceful prairies of Oklahoma will become the arena for the most picturesque race the world ever has seen. Long cavalcades of canvas-covered canvas-covered wagons have been arriving arriv-ing at Fall Creek all day, where temporary headquarters of the in-rushing in-rushing hordes of settlers has been made. Tomorrow, permission permis-sion will be granted by the government gov-ernment for settlers to cross the Cherokee Strip to the edge of Oklahoma, so that settlers from the north will have the same show as those now established at Purcell station. The line as far east as Arkansas Arkan-sas City is patrolled by soldiers, and special guards have been detailed de-tailed to watch ivery bridge and ford. Guards on the Santa Fe lines will not permit any passenger passen-ger to alight within the unopened territory. An Unnamed Town This town is unnamed. Its streets are formed by wagons. Its population numbers fully 18,-000 18,-000 people, roughly dressed, all armed and all alert for the bugle note on April 22, which opens the territory where no law prevails. 5 Very few women are in the train. Fakirs who spread their green tables on every vacant spot, and in every available shack, are reaping a harvest from their games with which set- GEN. WESLEY MERRITT tiers while away the time. Here one sells a prize package soap; there one has a patent medicine ; another offers hurriedly written maps of Oklahoma, on which the most desirable places for settling are said to be shown. Saloons have their share of faro and stud poker. Only last night a young fellow turned back home, because he had nothing left with which to pay his registration regis-tration fee for a claim. The crowds are increasing every ev-ery hour. Hotels, such as they are, were filled to capacity several sev-eral days ago, and tonight men are asleep on the bare ground, near their wagons. Blankets are at a premium, for although the days are very warm, the nights are chilly, and many fights have resulted over lost covering. Shacks which serve as saloons are a bedlam of snores, clinking glasses, and coarse conversation. One blue-eyed, middle-aged man just finished exhibiting his expression ex-pression of humor on a sign which he took from his wagon, "Chinch bugged in Illinois; cy-cloned cy-cloned in Nebrasky; whitecapped in Indianny; bald knobbed in Mis-soury; Mis-soury; prohibited in Kansas; OKLAHOMA OK-LAHOMA OR BUST." Merrltt's Report WASHINGTON, April 19, 1889. Reports filed today by General Merritt in the Indian Territory state that every precaution is being be-ing taken by military authorities authori-ties to prevent violence on the part of boomers in their alleged attempts to delay settlers on the day of the Oklahoma opening. Bridges are being guarded, and soldiers are posted everywhere in the territory. Indians in the Cherokee strip were reported in an ugly frame of mind over the encroachments of settlers along the north boundary of the territory. terri-tory. ARKANSAS CITY, KAN, April 21, 1889. We newly arrived newspaper news-paper men have given the barbers bar-bers a holiday, boycotted the bootblacks, scorned boiled shirts, and stiff hats, discarded suspenders, suspend-ers, buckled . on , our belts and climbed into long-legged boots, which are as pliable as a strait-jacket. strait-jacket. Nevertheless, our tender feet plainly can be seen through our stirrups. Sun-dried boomers shout all sorts of ironical advice as we pass by on our unruly mounts, and cowboys persist in challenging us to a race. Falling back to let us go ahead, they leap forward and as they whirl by us, they lash the tails of our already fidgety mustangs, and we hang on by grasping the saddle horn with both hands, while our sombreros sail away. From the menagerie we bad planned to stage, we have become the roaring roar-ing circus of the camp . . . (From a dispatch by James Mor-Ean Mor-Ean to the Boston Globe.) Bin Show's rv hL " ?v -t'h " v I T if 1 Reverend Charles Elslandcr, pastor of St. Martha'i church and circus chapel In Sarasota, Fla., winter home ot Rlngling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus, gives the big show his annual blessing as It entrains for New York. Left to right: Joseph Steier, altar boy; Reverend Charles Elslander, Reverend John A. Lynch and Reverend Patrick O'Brien. Radio Amateurs l: On the day of his birth Edward Noble sounds oft with a lusty yell In his radio debut. The little fellow is destined to do a lot of broadcasting, for both bis father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. William Noble of San Francisco, Fran-cisco, are licensed amateur radio operators. They have a powerful radio station at their home, and the cab Mr. Noble drives Is equipped with a tiny low-frequency receiver-transmitter, A small transmitter and receiver were installed in the hospital for Mrs. Noble'a benefit. 1 OVER-BOOTED ANGLER Opening of the New York state trout season, April 1, didn't catch young Albert Welch unprepared. Not to be outdone by the many men who were out for their first fish, the over-booted over-booted angler caught this prize near Theresa with an old pole and line. 'Oscar' Grades f 'A 1 v. : It comes under the heading of recreation as these University of Richmond students, Margaret Harris and Kenneth Bass, submit to a test In the dynamics of kissing, whlcU can be tested with great precision by the machine Donald Morrill Is operating. The machine is the Invention of Dr. R. E.. Loving, faculty physicist at the Vkgin'a school. Me calls it an oacolometer, but the students have named It "Oscar." tT Mx w-.v Solve Communication Problems Musical Bleats v ", wi I f l sir"; f 'Vx T' 4 While Victor Angerame, New York city, holds the musical Instrument, "Bum," bis pet lamb, sounds off a tune on the harmonica to win first prize as the most artistio pet in the Kip's Boys club's fifteenth annual pet show recently. "Bum," according to his owner, did not pull the wool over the: judges' eyes. 'Oomph' Behind $ '4 f V I, ft FT7! I I' i J SUN-TAN FOR CHIEF f ym Mm .v. ftt,,,-.,?, W9rW j " -f- j H 1 Although he's a full-blooded Cherokee, Cher-okee, Chief Thunder Cloud, In whoso veins flows the blood of the mighty Red Hawk, has to take a daily course of sun-lamp treatments to acquire a convincing tan on his body for the title role of a new picture. Win Prize for Pet V Ji Students' Kisses , ' ' ( Q x ' (X . ; j , Vi , - I ' ' ' 1 " f. H 4 t |