| Show CO capt to ayne ic ts f a alo n sa C 0 U s W P 1 0 rl ta father cherof of TIP oklahoma U L sy by ELMO SCOTT WATSON E WAS the father of oklahoma yet except for or giving his name to one of 0 its original counties that state has haa done very little to honor capt david L payne true in 1 1929 2 there was a proposal to remove ills his body from wellington kan where lie he died just SO 50 years ago this month and rebury him in oklahoma city as a part of L J the program celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the opening of oklahoma territory to white settlement hut but this was not done because the citizens of wellington declined to permit the removal they pointed out that insofar as payne had bad made t Welling tori his home for several years and had died there it was perfectly fitting that wellington should be his last resting place moreover Nore over they suggested that his grave Is in a beautiful section of 0 prairie lawn cemetery where there Is plenty of room for a suitable memorial if oklahoma wanted to erect one evidently that suggestion was not acceptable since the only marker at lajnes grave Is a seven even toot foot monuments monument giving a brief account ot of his life which was paid for by popular subscription and erected a few years ago by the wellington G A H R post to take the place of the original stone marker which recorded the fact that le he was a captain of company F of the tenth kansas infantry so payne continues to sleep la in kansas soil and it Is not wholly inappropriate that he should for as a citizen of kansas he won his first fame as the cimarron scout long before he be became the father of oklahoma the state of indiana also has a claim upon this frontier notable for he be was born in the hoosier state As for other details of his early life there Is a dearth of reliable information J IV duel buel included a sketch of payee aasne in his heroes II eroes of the plains and later writers evidently depending upon buel for their facts but adding embroidery ot of their own served to contuse confuse the record badly for instance one of them calls him daniel L rayne payne and says that his mother was a cousin of daniel boone fred E sutton of kansas city author of hands up P I 1 published by dobbs bobbs in 1927 who was a follower of payne says cays his mother was a first cousin of davy crockett and that he was born in fairmont ind on december SO 30 since this was only a few months after crockett had died gloriously at the alamo in texas terns it seems reasonable to suppose oppose that his kinswoman would name her newborn new born son david paynes boyhood was spent much like that of any other youngster of the pioneer days in indiana and by the time he had reached young manhood he like thousands of others felt the urge to go west so in 1857 he moved to kansas territory and settled on a farm north of 0 atchison Atch lson kansas was then in the throes of a civil war of its own between the pro slavery men of missouri and the kansas Jay Jayhawk jayhawkers hawkers erg and it Is probable that payne like his future friend who was destined for tame fame as buffalo had his first fighting experience then at any rate when nhen the civil war opened he unlisted enlisted in a kansas regiment in the union army and served in it until when he be was discharged shortly afterwards he was elected to the kansas legisa legislature ture where he served with some distinction and at the close of his term be was made postmaster at fort leavenworth in indian raids in kansas became so menacing that the war department called upon governor crawford of 0 kansas to raise a force of volunteer cavalry to operate cooperate co with the regular army in subduing the ho hostiles hoat stiles lles payne was commissioned captain of one of these troops which served with gen george A ouster custer and the seventh cavalry in kansas and oklahoma during the next nest two years sutton says that payne was wag in the battle of the washita on november 27 1808 when custer destroyed the camp of chief black nettle kettle of the che caci ennes and it if he was he may have had bad an escape there from death which overtook him 14 24 years later almost to a day lt was evidently during this period in paynes career that he acquired the sobriquet of the cimarron Cli narron scout although his services in that role did not seem to have been as outstanding as duel and those nho ho followed him would have us believe at least custer in his my life on the plains first published in the old galaxy magazine Mog azine in 18 1872 42 73 does not mention payne by name nor Is he listed among the scouts prominently mentioned in any of mrs birs custers Ou books dealing with her husbands indian campaigns california joe wild bill hickok sharp grover and several others are referred to frequently by both the general and mrs custer but not payne which leads to the suspicion that the reputation of tho the cimarron scout was industriously built up by writers alth v U dime novel tendencies for instance duel bud in the rescue of two white women kap captives tives mrs morgan and ulas illas white from the tells a dramatic story etory of the subsequent events in it he has custer fearful for the safety of his command it if the ho hostiles host stiles lles should concentrate against him so the general holds 1 I a consultation with captain payne in whose judgment the entire command placed the greatest reliance and says bays captain we have got to send word to ft hays at once some one must act as courier to notify our friends ot of our positions and to carry the good news that the two ladles ladies are in safety with us un whereupon payne payee agrees to make the trip declines the escort of 0 50 men which custer offers him and says ill take jack cowan and charley picard and my purpose Is to set out from here in about fifteen minutes then the three men ride away mounted on mules and leading pack mules which carried 1800 rounds of ammunition and after a series of thrilling erper lences including an attack by hostile klowas reached port hays in one hundred hours the distance being miles before reaching hays payne bad to rub tobacco in his eyes to keep from 4 Z first alt 0 paynes grave lapayne I 1 7 7 0 I 1 Z N ei F col coppinger the camp of the boomers pawnee dill falling failing asleep it Is possible that payne may have had some ot of the adventures with indians which duel cue and the other writers attribute to him at this time cut but one Is inclined to doubt some of 0 the details of this yarn in view ot of custers Ou simple statement that after the rescue of the two white women the kansas volunteer troops marched back to fort hays where they were mustered out of service but whatever Nhat ever paynes record as an indian fighter was politics next occupied his attention and in 1870 lie was elected to the kansas legislature at the same time holding down a sedgwick county claim in 1872 he was nominated to the state senate but was defeated however he was consoled tor for this setback set back by being appointed doorkeeper of the house of representatives in washington a job which he held until 1870 while there he made the discovery as he believed that the lands in the western part of indian territory which had been ceded by the creek indians to the government for occupation by the other civilized tribes and by freedmen in reality belonged to the public lands of the united states and were therefore open to settlement ile he had seen the richness of these lands during his indian campaigning with custer and he resolved that the land hungry white men should possess them so lie he formed the oklahoma colony and for the next five years devoted most of his bis time to that project he was a born orator says sutton aud and he became the evangelist of that promised land going up and down the border preaching that it was a sinful waste for that rich soil to be held for a few indians who would not till it while so many farmers were eager to go in and possess it and improve it many thought him a dreamer and a crank but he knew that every colony that went and was expelled stirred up the agitation and hastened the day when w hen the land would be opened the principal opposition to paynes project came from the cattle barons who were using the land for tree free grazing and they had sufficient influence with the federal authorities so that every time payne led his boomers into oklahoma federal troops were sent to arrest and evict them despite studious efforts to keep the matter out of the civil courts where the issue could be tried on the merits of the file case payne succeeded eucce eded several times in getting it into court where lie he won out and started back once more to try again to aid in his project faytie established a newspaper which had one of the most unusual careers in the history of american journalism grace 11 ray bay of the school of journalism journal lsna at the university of oklahoma in her history of early oklahoma newspapers has this to say about it the oklahoma war chief established by david L payne as the official organ of his oklahoma colony was like the colony illegal in its operation and consequently had bad a turbulent and uncertain existence it was established and maintained solely for the purpose of furthering paynes policy of advocating the opening of the territory to settlement the first issue was published at caldwell Caldw cH kansas on january 12 1883 but it seldom published two issues in succession la in the same place for it was moved from town to town along the oklahoma kansas line as payne was forced to move his bis colony which was almost constantly pursued by federal officers the war chief was issued weekly more or less regularly but its size and style and sometimes even its name changed perceptibly as tt it was moved about sometimes it was entitled the oklahoma chief and sometimes the oklahoma war chief WAR CHIEF alj RM C 7 far vu EKr P hin L War Chief for capt payne in one ot of its issues the publishers stated that thai they had been having trouble in getting paper and supplies with which to print the paper this issue was printed on brown wrapping paper and was smeared with grease whether it had been printed on some paper in which the bacon and other supplies had been wrapped or whether it was stained with grease after being printed Is a matter for speculation but the result was a newspaper that was scarcely legible the two inside pages were blank indicating either that there were other shop difficulties dIfficult les besides the shortage of paper or that the camp was forced to move before the entire edition had been printed paine had bad made many visits to washington to argue his case before the federal authorities but without success after his last visit in he returned to wellington kan ann strengthened his colony and again entered the territory he was arrested again by the soldiers and taken to fort smith ark but there the court presided over by judge isaac parker the famous hanging judge of those days said it would have nothing to do with the case A week later payne was in camp in indian territory opposite fort smith badly crippled with rheumatism and suffering other illnesses caused by bad treatment at the hands of his captors or so lie he alleges I 1 la some of his letters which are preserved by the tha Okla oklahoma boma historical society on september 7 he wrote from fort gibson this makes three days here do not think they will undertake to hold us longer than five they may yet take us to fort scott one thin thing seems evident now and that Is to keep us ua up in the territory until the court at wichita adjourns they do not want us to got get before that court now from which it will be seen that payne was just being pushed around by the tha authorities who were loath to bring the issue to a court test two months later lie was in wellington again and there on the morning of november 23 28 lie died quietly while sitting at breakfast in the tha hotel de barnard of his death sutton says ills friends believed then and I 1 believe yet that he was poisoned by those who opposed the opening of oklahoma ills death filled the oklahoma homa boomers with resentment focused public attention upon the opening of the territory and hastened it the first opening camo came soon thereafter moses led the israelites to tho the edge of canaan but died just before they went in to possess it so payne led his oklahoma boomers boomer through a wilderness of struggle and was permitted only to view the promised land he will live in history as the rather father of oklahoma paynes work was carried on by some of hla his tollo folio ers notably capt W L couch col samuel crocker captain cooper sidney clark and maj gordon W lillie pawnee bill who came to be known as the abig big five they lived to see oklahoma thrown open to settlement by proclamation of the president and to take part in the big run of april 22 1880 but of all these only one survives today pawnee bill chief little bear the white chief of the pawnees Paw nees who Is spending his declining years in peace and comfort at his buffalo ranch blue gawk peak near pawnee okla A 0 by eitra witra U balo 1016 |
