A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I, Part 32

Author: Hill, L. B. (Luther B.)
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pubishing Company
Number of Pages: 645

USA > Oklahoma > A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I > Part 32

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

From one phase of the Oklahoma open- ing was coined a new word for the Eng- lish language, and its slangy significance had a vogue through the country for sev- eral years afterward. The regulations, pre- scribed by Congress, that none should en- deavor to enter the country as homestead- ers until the hour of opening, under penalty of forfeiting all right to homesteads, were difficult to enforce against a body of eager land claimants, many of whom had for years schemed and hoped for possession in

Harrison for his signature, fixed the day of open- ing on Saturday. The president, who was quite precise and scrupulous, after looking the docu- ment over, turned to his secretary and asked: "On what day of the week does the 20th fall!" "The 20th is on Saturday, Mr. President." "Why, this will never do," said the president, suddenly manifesting great concern. "If that

this magnificent country, and who now, finding that the prize was to be presented to all the world on terms of equal oppor- tunity, resented this invasion of what they believed their prior rights. To anticipate the rush, and to make sure of the claims they had selected during previous residence or while passing through the country, was a temptation that hundreds could not resist, and that drove them to every sort of eva- sion, and even to armed resistance, in cir- cumventing the guards and establishing their locations before the day set for the opening. Hence arose the term "sooners" in referring to that class. And though "sooner" was generally a term of reproach, that later was applied loosely in a signifi- cance far from its original meaning, the cause of the "sooners" was one that, in some of its aspects at least, deserved sym- pathy and was not without argument to support its departure from strict legality. They were, as a class, the vanguard of Oklahomans, men who had planned homes in this country long before the great mass of settlers ever considered locating here. Some of them had been in more or less in- terrupted occupation, though illegally, of land in the Oklahoma country for a year or more, deeming themselves as well justified in living there as the cattlemen whose herds were all around them. After enduring so much for the sake of living in a forbidden land, it was perhaps natural that they re- garded with hostility the approach of thou- sands of newcomers who would have equal chance with themselves in entering this

country is opened on Saturday, the people will spend all day Sunday in working to build their homes and getting settled." In the interest of proper Sabbath observance, and to allow the boomers a day of Sunday calm before the rush, the president had the proclamation returned to the department and the date changed so that it would fall on Monday.

Digitized by

Google

· 210

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

land, and might outrace them at the open- ing and secure the very homestead around which the "sooners" had set their stakes and often had improved by the plow and with fences and dug-out homes. It is proper to give this point of view before cen- suring this class, and it may be said that the real "sooners" above described were en- titled to more consideration than the other type of settlers who, while anticipating in an equal degree the opening hour, had taken no part in the long campaign for the opening and endured none of the hardships connected with a real "sooner's" experi- ence.º

Long before the day of opening the coun- ' try was filled with these settlers. The sol- dier guards patrolling the border of the country were powerless to prevent the en- trance of individuals and small parties with- in the lines, and the most the officials could do was to raid the vicinities where the sooners had established themselves. In describing the opening of the Oklahoma country for the information of later gen- erations, the general statement should be made that all those who took part in the memorable rush of April 22d were not lined up on the border around the territory before the signal gun was fired, nor was the race altogether to the swift who hur- ried over the prairies at the report of the pistol. One of the sooners who himself took part in the movement into the territory before the legal time said that on the night before the opening it was impossible to move along the gulches and among the bushes about the favored locations in the country without running into another sooner. Allowing for the exaggeration in- cident to such a relation, it is clear that

"See views of Asa Jones on this subject, else- where in this work.

hundreds were on the ground many hours before noon April 22.

The removal, on different occasions be- fore the opening, of bodies of these settlers was accompanied by the hardships which always go with eviction. In some cases the illegal tenants resisted the soldiers, and several deaths that followed became the subject of widespread comment on the part of the newspapers, those friendly to the boomers exaggerating the circumstances and by far-fetched comparisons exciting public sympathy for these honest and poor homesteaders thus shamefully driven from their lands by a cruel soldiery. Two quota- tions from the contemporary press will illustrate some phases of this matter. A Wichita correspondent of a Chicago paper of March 16th says:

"Troop G of the Fifth Cavalry arrived at Oklahoma station today under Lieutenant John M. Carson. The boomers, having been advised of the expected arrival the night before, were in a demoralized state and fled to the woods and underbushes to conceal themselves. The scouts, however, managed to find over a hundred of them and rounding them up, drove before them men, women and children, with teams, on horseback and afoot. Those who resisted were taken with force. The dug-outs and tents were torn down, houses burned, and claim foundations and marks torn up and obliterated. The body thus gathered are now being taken north to the Kansas line.

The second dispatch is dated March 19, and is as follows: .

"There are at Fort Reno some six hun- dred regulars, and in that neighborhood are 2,000 or 3,000 boomers. . . . The set- tlers have been going into the forbidden lands and blazing the claims they intended

Digitized by

Google

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

211

to pre-empt when the territory was opened. . Day by day they have been going out and marking the best homesteads along the streams, on the uplands and every- where. When attacked by the troops they fled to the timber, and as they could outrun the soldiers it was simply a picnic for the boomers to dodge back and forth."

The existence of organized bodies of boomers is declared in the following extract from the Chicago Tribune of April 13:

"For a number of years regularly formed associations have been prospecting over Oklahoma. The country to-day is literally covered with stakes, indicating where mem- bers of the different 'colonies' have located their claims, and in many places even town lots are staked out. The ground has been thoroughly surveyed many times, especially the desirable portions. The members of these societies are combined to support and protect each other in their claims, and they will do it. These bodies are ready to move in a rush, en masse, the instant the hour appointed strikes."

A report became current some days be- fore the opening that an attempt would be made by the boomers on April 21 to burn all the railroad bridges on the Santa Fe so that no trains would get in on the open- ing day. The object would be to allow the boomers to take possession of the claims they had staked out, before the arrival of the rush. A guard of the military was placed at some of the bridges to prevent any such attempt.

Simultaneous with the opening proclama- tion was reported the formation in Topeka of an Oklahoma Townsite and Improve- ment Company, of resident capitalists. The charter set forth the purposes of the com- pany to lease and plat, improve and sell townsites and lots thereon and additions in the public domain and elsewhere; also to

open, build and operate roads, tramways, ferries, and bridges in Oklahoma, and promote by lawful methods the rapid settle- ment and peaceful government, etc.

This introduces another important move- ment connected with the opening and set- tlement of the original Oklahoma. The company above mentioned was only one of various townsite companies that were formed, especially in Kansas, for the pur- poses above outlined. The part taken by such companies in the first weeks of Okla- homa's history is portion of the permanent record in the history of nearly all the towns of the original Oklahoma. Like the set- tlers' associations just spoken of, these . townsite companies were formed on the principle that in union and system there is strength and success. And as subsequent events proved, these organizations, by money, influence and systematic work, were enabled to gain a controlling power in the founding and in the early government of many of the towns, and in some instances successfully overcame the unorganized op- position and for several months kept com- plete control of the civil government. In part, their control, like that of all auto- cratic bodies, was oppressive and even tyrannical, and naturally excited the bitter hostility of those in the opposition. But on the other hand, remembering that Okla- homa was unprovided with civil govern- ment during the first year of its existence, the townsite companies and settlers' asso- ciations partially justified their existence in furnishing the backbone of the law and order movements by which the government of the towns and cities was administered.

In enforcing the regulations the presence of a large number of soldiers was neces- sary. On April 16, Brigadier General Mer- ritt was directed to go in person to Okla- homa so as to be on the spot and give such

Digitized by Google

212

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

orders to the troops as any emergency might require. "General Merritt will make such disposition of his troops as will enable him promptly to enforce order when he may be directed by the president to the the troops in the execution of the powers con- ferred by law on the president." On April 19 an additional order directed that "Gen- eral Merritt act in conjunction with the marshals of the United States courts hav- ing jurisdiction in the country . to preserve the peace, and will upon' the requisition of such marshals . use the troops under his command to aid them in executing warrants, making arrests and quelling any riots or breaches of peace that may occur. . . . He will also see that the laws relating to the introduction of ardent spirits into the Indian country are enforced."

The troops in Oklahoma at the time of the opening were stationed as follows, as described by General Merritt about May Ist: Four companies of infantry at Okla- homa station, under Lieut .- Col. Snyder, Ioth Infantry ; two troops of cavalry under Major Baldwin, 7th Cavalry, on Main Canadian north of Purcell; four companies of infantry under Captain Auman, at King- fisher ; four companies of infantry under Captain McArthur, at Guthrie. Also, two troops of cavalry in Cherokee Strip on the line south of Arkansas City, one troop of cavalry to the north of Kingfisher, and one to the east of Oklahoma station-all to keep settlers from intruding on Indian Territory.

In April the commanding officer in the Cherokee Strip reported that he was hold- ing a large number of citizens at the Kansas line. These complained that they were at a disadvantage as compared with those waiting in the Chickasaw and Pottawatomie nations. Accordingly on April 11 the sec-

retary of war sent the following instruc- tions to Major General Crook: "General Merritt will instruct his officers to allow the intending settlers to move by regular marches . .. along the public high- ways, post or military roads, or . cattle trails through the Cherokee Outlet. . The movement should not com- mence earlier than is necessary to give the settlers reasonable time to reach the Okla- homa border at noon on that day.

The Indians should be given to understand that by the passage through the Outlet there is no disposition to appropriate their lands, and that it will be continued no longer than is necessary after the first emi- gration to the Oklahoma country is over. After the passage of the emigrants the troops will scout the Cherokee Outlet and require all persons unlawfully there to move on."

Before the opening day people were massed on every side of the Oklahoma lands, on the west, on the north along the line of the Cherokee Strip, on the east in the Pottawatomie country, and all along the Main Canadian river on the south. Dur- ing the days of waiting, the border towns were crowded with a population of restless, eager humanity comprising every class from the honest homeseeker to the faro gambler. Arkansas City, which had been the headquarters for the boomers for sev- eral years, was a typical case of the border town during the closing days of March and the first weeks of April. A correspondent writing from that town a few days before the opening described some of the picturesque features :

"Arkansas City to-day looks like Lead- ville in its first flush of prosperity. Besides the thousands of genuine Oklahoma boom- ers whose number is increasing every hour, the streets are filled with the hangers-on of

Digitized by Google

213

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

every excitement. Every corner is oc- cupied by a 'faker' of one sort or another ; one is selling prize-package soap; another has a patent medicine; a third is setting forth the virtues of a patent bridle; and a fourth has cheaply gotten up maps of Oklahoma, professing to show the most de- sirable locations for intending settlers.

"The brethren of the green cloth of course are present in full force. Every saloon has its faro and stud-poker game, while many more are run in tents by them- selves. . . The crowd increases every hour. The so-called hotels were filled to overflowing several days ago, and men slept in depots or in stores-anywhere place could be found to unroll the pair of blank- ets which everyone carries with him. Now they have invaded the saloons, and with the clink of glasses and rattle of chips is mingled the long-drawn snore of some boomer who has stretched out beneath a table or in a corner to snatch a few hours' rest."

"A continuous string of prairie schoon- ers," said a dispatch from Caldwell, April 12, "is wending its way toward the boom- ers' camp on Fall Creek just south of the city. . . . Within two or three days permission will be granted to cross the Cherokee Strip to the edge of Oklahoma, so that settlers from the north may . have the same show that those do who are now at Purcell." The line from here as far east as Arkansas City is patrolled by soldiers, and every bridge and ford is guarded. No one can cross except those provided with a pass either from the Cherokee Strip Asso- ciation or from the military. On the Santa Fe line no passenger is allowed to stop at

" One boomer is said to have had the following legend on his covered wagon: "Chintz-bugged in Illinois, sicloned in Newbraska, whitecapped in

any point in Oklahoma. There are guards at every station."

Every day added variety to the excite- ment and numbers to the waiting multitude. A volume would hardly contain the inci- dents of the opening. Here was drawn a throng in which human nature was dis- played at its best and at its worst, but all under the strain of intense and eager excite- ment. Land and home hunger, speculative enterprise, and longing for mere adventure were dominating impulses in the dramatic events of that day in April when the rush was made. The conditions were truly American: the event called for supreme qualities of activity and alertness, and sat- isfied men's passion for rivalry-it was a race, in which thousands joined, while the entire nation looked on and was thrilled «with the unique spectacle. On that and the following days, people living hundreds of miles from the scene gathered in groups and discussed the "great run" with the same eager interest they would have felt in a national election or a great battle.

On that day, as in all scenes where a multitude vies in action, both tragedy and comedy held the stage, and from the trumpet blast at noon till the sun set and the stars shone on the tented fields humanity played its parts with the abandon of those released from the measured routines of life and driven on by the im- pulses of novel experience. It was a ter- rific race-a contest for the prize of land- without handicaps and each participant on equal terms with his rivals. It was a game in which the chivalry of mutual helpfulness and cooperation had no part. Each indi- vidual being for himself, and the qualifica-

Injianny, bald-nobbed in Missoury, prohibited in Kansas, Oklahomy or bust."

Digitized by Google

214

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

tions being equal, it followed that for the time every man was against his neighbor, and superior speed and shrewdness and even the display of threats and violence were considered legitimate means for reaching the goal. Riders of swift horses gave the dust to a widow driving a clumsy wagon in which were contained all her pos- sessions. Those who knew the country and its ways hurried on to coveted claims, leav- ing the ignorant to follow blindly in their wake. The timid had no recourse against the unscrupulous who enforced their de- mands at the point of a gun, and had to move on to less desirable lands. And yet

'A tribute to this disposition on the part of the settlers at once to settle down and observe the civil restraint characteristic of Americans, was paid in President Harrison's message in Decem- ber, 1889, in which he discusses the status of the people and law and order in Oklahoma. He says: "It is much to the credit of the settlers that they very generally observed the limitation as to the time when they might enter the territory. Care will be taken that those who entered in viola- tion of the law do not secure the advantage they unfairly sought. There was a good deal of ap- prehension that the strife for locations would result in much violence and bloodshed, but hap- pily these anticipations were not realized. It is estimated that there are now in the territory about 60,000 people, and several considerable towns have sprung up, for which temporary municipal governments have been organized. Guthrie is said to have now a population of almost 8,000. Eleven schools and nine churches have been established, and three daily and five weekly newspapers are published in this city, whose charter and ordi- nances have only the sanction of the voluntary acquiescence of the people from day to day.

"Oklahoma City has a population of about 5,000, and is proportionately as well provided as Guthrie with churches, schools, and newspapers. Other towns and villages having populations of from 100 to 1,000 are scattered over the territory. "In order to secure the peace of this new com- munity in the absence of civil government, I directed General Merritt, commanding the Depart- ment of the Missouri, to act in conjunction with the marshals of the United States to preserve the peace, and upon their requisition to use the troops to aid them in executing warrants and in quieting

it was all a part of the game, and those who suffered defeat for the most part accepted their fortune in that way, without the ranklings of injustice. The race being run, men once more resumed the habits and practices of social life, and the bitter rivals of yesterday became the fellow citizens of to-day, working harmoniously in the American spirit to upbuild such communi- ties and organized social institutions as they had lived under in their former homes."

It would be impossible to describe in de- tail the rush of April 22.' Every mile of the boundary line of Oklahoma restrained a crowd of intending settlers until noon. They

any riots or breaches of the peace that might occur. He was further directed to use his influ- ence to promote good order and to avoid any con- flicts between or with the settlers. Believing that the introduction and sale of liquors where no legal restraints or regulations existed would endanger the public peace, and in view of the fact that such liquors must first be introduced into the Indian reservations before reaching the white settlements, I further directed the general com- manding to enforce the laws relating to the intro- duction of ardent spirits into the Indian country.

"The presence of the troops has given a sense of security to the well-disposed citizens and has tended to restrain the lawless. In one instance the officer in immediate command of the troops went further than I deemed justifiable in support- ing the de facto municipal government of Guthrie, and he was so informed, and directed to limit the interference of the military to the support of the marshals on the lines indicated in the original order. I very urgently recommended that Con- gress at once provide a territorial government for these people. Serious questions, which may at any time lead to violent outbreaks, are awaiting the institution of courts for their peaceful adjustment. The American genius for self-government has been well illustrated in Oklahoma; but it is neither safe nor wise to leave these people longer to the expedients which have temporarily served them." 'For much information on the events of the opening day the reader is referred to: Sidney Clarke's narrative, in another chapter; to the more detailed history of the founding of Oklahoma City in the following chapter; and to the indi- vidual sketches of some of the 89'ers that appear in Volume II.

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

215

came in from the Cherokee Strip on the north, from the Creek and Pottawatomie country on the east, the Indian reservations on the west held their share of excited Oklahomans, while all along the Main Canadian from Purcell westward the home- seekers stood in anticipation of the noon hour. Thousands came in over the Santa Fe Railroad, starting from Arkansas City or Purcell. The number that entered the territory on that day can never be known with accuracy, and the estimates made are largely in the nature of a guess, but it is true that hardly one of the nearly two mil- lion acres opened to settlement was without a claimant when darkness fell, not to men- tion the thousands who were congregated on the various half-sections taken up for

townsite purposes. The number of claim- ants was much in excess of the claims, and for this reason most of the desirable quar- ter sections were found to be occupied by two or more settlers, each claiming priority, and ready to dispute his rivals with force or at law. From this situation was de- veloped the long and bitter litigation which filled the federal and territorial courts with an interminable docket of land suits, some of which were contested for nearly twenty years, and in some instances were settled in the supreme court of the United States. This phase of Oklahoma settlement must be reserved for later discussion, while the more immediate events of the opening are described.

Digitized by

Google

CHAPTER XXI

FOUNDING OF CITIES AND ESTABLISHMENT OF LAW AND ORDER

The inrush of perhaps fifty thousand regular pursuit of the various occupations people in a single day resulted not only in of a peaceful community. Of individual cases of injustice, of the exercise of ty- ranny, of the license and crime character- istic of a new country, many might be recorded. But the settlement of Okla- homa, on the whole, is the finest example in the world's history of the sudden trans- planting of a large population in a new land without the accompaniments of blood- shed, of anarchy, and manifestations of mob spirit. the staking out of all the available lands into homesteads, but also the congregation of hundreds at certain advantageous points, usually selected beforehand as the site for towns. The formation of townsite com- panies in Kansas and elsewhere has been referred to. In most instances a plat of the proposed town had been drawn before the opening day, in several cases the com- pany surveyors were at work on the sites before the arrival of the actual settlers, and plans had been carefully laid that the establishment of towns could be effected with the least possible delay and confusion.

It is necessary to advert once more to the novelty of the settlement of Okla- homa. Not even the history of California, following the discovery of gold, furnishes a parallel to the rush to this country in a single day. When the sun rose on April 23d Oklahoma was as densely populated as many states after an existence of years. The relations by which men work and live together had to be assumed or established at once. All the economic laws of supply and demand, of give and take, all the civic obligations that regulate the actions of the individual upon society, and the moral forces that restrain the evil and cultivate the good qualities of men, had to be called into existence and operation at once. And yet Oklahoma had no vigilantes organiza- tion, no reign of terror preceded the estab- lishment of domestic tranquillity and the

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I, Part 32

Author: Hill, L. B. (Luther B.) Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pubishing Company Number of Pages: 645

Author: Hill, L. B. (Luther B.)
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pubishing Company
Number of Pages: 645