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Show ;he Most Eventful Horse-Race 5 In History1 Run in Oklahoma ! Just 50 Years Ago This Month i An interesting picture of the stirring scenes which preceded the "run" is given in the following follow-ing newspaper dispatches: INDIAN TERRITORY. 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 every 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. 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- : : '"rWf" ?n H ? f " : : J " :::: : -: ; C 'M'-'&WfMiirm :B - -; V: : W'mM e', of the crowd of 50,000 that massed on "The Line" awaiting the signal to make the "Run." By ELMO SCOTT WATSON y , Western Newspaper Union. in'Y years ago this month occurred "the most event-horse-race in history." 1 tOn April 22, 1889, an army of more than 50,000 5 '.ns from nearly every state in the Union had gath-S",ng gath-S",ng the borders of a long-forbidden territory. At noon " signal which sent them on their mad rush into the hid Land and when a new day dawned they were s'-busy transforming a wilderness into a land of cities 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 lips; 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 the-sight which followed immediately, immediate-ly, of towns springing into exist- ;. bns. fibefore had America d such a scene and likely that it will ngtit again. But out of m ' and confusion and eSf that day arose a om imonwealth and Ok-iinj:'"the Ok-iinj:'"the land of the red :e. added a new star to ixferican flag. c'this historic horse-race r:, run," as they refer to -"'Oklahoma of today is "e' story of a land-hungry cu'')on after the Creek and ier; ndians, assembled in a e isin council at Fort Smith, whe:866, ceded their lands "-5 ninety-eighth meridi-whe: meridi-whe: United States govern-les govern-les s agitation for opening ;he fy to white settlement aitiii r tjs years came the rail-lishi rail-lishi in their wake the legs ' Between the two ideca close connection, at feree initial stages of the got: the M., K. & T., the iv to enter the Indian i began laying tracks jk jfrom the Kansas bor- 'instruction was rushed Cherokee, Creek and j Ufiations, and thence a w River into Texas. The dim Frisco) built its line 4 An Shawnee and Wyan-ww-vations, entered the J1 Jjtiation and affected a r V(Dth the M., K. & T. at ' Boom Begins S 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 unas-signed 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 wrth 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 Xx vx xx Xix'x xl - 1 i gjf. f- -X , xJ- y x"" 1 f I u iff tLtg&i fl M ' ? x. n 'i'v. i S,ijiiv jj 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." Merritt'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 had planned to stage, we have become the roaring roar-ing circus of the camp . . . (From a dispatch by James Morgan Mor-gan to the Boston Globe.) A view of the town of Guthrie a few days after the "Run." dierikiie Santa Fe line began rminiajgh.t through the cen-la cen-la sndkrritory from north to mmis jIle completed in ita directly through the nassigned lands" and was the last clarion "wieseekers. The big si P'eiirresistible cry for the Cen'i for white colonists 'o a national demand. Iitanding figure among 'Juki's" was Capt. David lllwho had been a scout Indian wars on the JnJfcains in the sixties and oyoiAs early as 1880 Payne JJ'iy to the North Cana-bam'nnd Cana-bam'nnd attempted a settle- ,l'n- thc Present site of , " City. He was arrest-'Pjs arrest-'Pjs colonists conducted jjrves the border. Within wjtf'nyne was back with "'f,ilony, which met the Uion orf never relaxed his ef-ony ef-ony after colony was sss under his leadership i across the forbidden '.ily to be met by the (! Uncle Sam's soldiers. . nis finally indicted by J grand jury, but his i-jrtd'ellington, Kan., in the Jjrnother forward move-. move-. (iovcd this industrious "J the "boomers" from ' j Ilis work was taken riod on by William L. jwrrlie last invasion was )'fs'f. of 1S85. when Couch funfjjl under arrest, and his " aoved from the tcrri- w, time the federal au-'W,'- Washington were be-N be-N get busy. Bill after $Uizin8 the opening was ntr'ad defeated. At last ;.-ter light, participated tl,Ans and Indian agents, uppns and special inter-,ts inter-,ts its, the Oklahoma bill nils. house in February, in the senate, finaliy ,tttl on as a rider to the rf4ropriation bill and be-tlf be-tlf March 3, 1889. Presi-Bson Presi-Bson issued a proclama- 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 X 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 of 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. |