A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I, Part 46

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

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Notwithstanding the need of haste pre- sented in this description by the governor, the lands of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes were not opened until late in the spring of 1892, too late for the cultivation of a full crop. The surplus lands after allotment were over four million acres, which were offered as homesteads by the president's proclamation of April 12, 1892:

"Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States, do hereby declare and make known that all of said lands hereinbefore described, acquired from the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians by the agreement aforesaid, saving and excepting the lands allotted to the Indians as in said agreement provided; excepting also the lands hereinbefore described as occupied and claimed by the Wichita and affiliated bands of Indians, or otherwise reserved in pursuance of the provisions of said agree- ment and the said act of Congress ratifying the same, and other the laws relating there- to, will at the hour of twelve o'clock noon (central time) Tuesday, the nineteenth day of the present month of April, and not be- fore, be opened to settlement under the terms of and subject to all the conditions, limitations, reservations, and restrictions contained in said agreement, the statutes above specified, and the laws of the United States applicable thereto."

The opening of the Cheyenne and Arapa- hoe country was not attended with the same rush of settlers for homes as the two pre- vious openings had been. In the eastern part of the reservation the quarter sections were quickly taken up. But there was a prejudice against the more western lands, based largely on the experience of settlers with western Kansas lands. As a result the settlement of the counties bordering on the Texas Panhandle went on slowly for

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many years, and in fact the greater part of the population of the present counties of Ellis, Dewey, Roger Mills has come within the past six or seven years.

The Cherokee commission, authorized by the law of March 2, 1889, was organized on June 29th following, and consisted of Lucius Fairchild of Wisconsin, Warren G. Sayre of Indiana (appointed vice ex-Gov- ernor Hartranft of Pennsylvania, deceased) and Alfred M. Wilson of Arkansas.

The commission was appointed to "ne- gotiate with the Cherokee Indians, and with all other Indians owning or claiming lands lying west of the 96th degree of longitude in Indian Territory, for the cession to the United States of all their title, claim or in- terest of every kind and character in and to said lands." In August, 1889, the com- mission made a proposition to Chief J. B. Mayes for the cession of all the Cherokee lands thus described, being that portion

' That the cattle syndicate was the principal obstructing cause in preventing the success of the negotiations between the Cherokee commission and the Indians was stated by President Harrison in his message in December, 1889. He said: "The cattle syndicate now occupying the lands for graz- ing purposes is clearly one of the agencies respon- sible for the obstruction of our negotiations with the Cherokees. The large body of agricultural lands known as the 'Cherokee Outlet' ought not to be, and, indeed, cannot long be, held for grazing and the advantage of a few against the public in- terests and the best advantages of the Indians themselves. The United States has now under the treaties certain rights in these lands. These will not be used oppressively, but it cannot be allowed that those who by sufferance occupy these lands shall interpose to defeat the wise and bene- ficent purposes of the government. I cannot but believe that the advantageous character of the offer made by the United States to the Cherokee Nation for a full release of these lands as com- pared with other suggestions now made to them will yet obtain for it favorable consideration."

. WHEREAS, That portion of the Indian Terri- tory, commonly known as the Cherokee Strip or Outlet, has been for some years in the occupancy

known as the Cherokee Outlet or Strip. The proposition was declined on the ground that the Cherokee constitution forbade its consideration.3

Other tribes were approached for a sim- ilar purpose, and the work of this commis- sion, continued for several years, brought about the cessions from other tribes which finally threw open to settlement the great- er portion of the country included within the lines of the original Oklahoma terri- tory.

A very strong influence was brought to bear upon the Cherokees to force the ces- sion of the Outlet. 'The attorney general had rendered a decision denying the right of Indian tribes to lease their lands with- out permission of the government. Presi- dent Harrison, by his proclamation of Feb- tuary 17, 1890, ordered all cattlemen to vacate the strip, and thus summarily cut off the income to the Cherokees, amounting, it

of an association, or associations, of white persons under certain contracts, said to have been made with the Cherokee Nation in the nature of a lease or leases for grazing purposes; and

WHEREAS, An opinion has been given to me by the attorney general, concurring with the opinion given to my predecessor by the late attorney gen- eral, that whatever the right or title of said Cherokee Nation or of the United States to or in said lands may be, no right exists in said Cherokee Nation under the statutes of the United States to make such leases or grazing contracts, and that such contracts are wholly illegal and void; and . First. That no cattle or live stock shall here- after be brought upon said lands for herding or grazing thereon;

Second. That all cattle and other live stock now on said Outlet must be removed therefrom not later than October 1, 1890, and so much sooner as said lands or any of them may be or become lawfully open to settlement by citizens of the United States; and that all persons connected with said cattle companies or associations must, not later than the time above indicated, depart from said lands.

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is said, to $150,000 a year. This measure, together with the urgent demands made by the would-be settlers then encamped on the borders of the strip, forced the Cherokees to terms, and a second proposition for the cession of the strip was finally accepted by the national council on January 4, 1892. The consideration was nearly $8,600,000, or about $1.25 an acre.

December 19, 1891, the Cherokees by agreement with United States commission- ers, yielded the cession of "that part of the Indian Territory bounded on the west by the one hundredth degree (100º) of west longitude; on the north by the state of Kan- sas; on the east by the ninety-sixth degree (96°) of west longitude; and on the south by the Creek Nation, the Territory of Ok- lahoma and the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Reservation created or defined by executive order dated August 10th, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine."

The agreement, as amended by Congress March 3, 1893, was ratified by the council May 17, 1893. Reservation was provided for allotment of eighty acres each to not more than seventy Cherokee citizens who had been residents and had permanent im- provements on lands prior to November I, 1891.

The Tonkawa Indians, whose reserva- tion consisted of four townships (Ts 25 and 26 N, R 1 W, and Ts 25 and 26 N, R 2 W) that had been conveyed by the Cherokees to the United States in trust for the Nez Perces on June 14, 1883, made an agree- ment October 21, 1891, for the cession of their lands after the allotment to the mem- bers of the tribe.

By agreement November 23, 1892, the

"The Saline reserves were withheld because of leases made by the Cherokee Nation prior to March 3, 1893, but it later appeared that the leases were never legally approved. July 27, 1898,

Pawnee tribe relinquished their title and consented to allotment in severalty of their reserve consisting of 17 townships between the Cimarron and Arkansas rivers (Ts 21, 22, 23, 24 N, R 4 E, Ts 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 N, R 5 E, and Ts 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 N, R 6 E).

These three cessions were to open at the same time, with the regular provisions for reserved lands for schools, military re- serves, etc.

The proclamation for opening, dated August 19, 1893, was as follows:

"Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, president of the United States, by the vir- tue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentioned, and by other the laws of the United States, and by said several agreements, do hereby de- clare and make known that all the lands acquired from the Cherokee Nation of In- dians, the Tonkawa tribe of Indians, and the Pawnee tribe of Indians, by the three several agreements aforesaid, will at the hour of twelve o'clock noon (central time) on Saturday, the sixteenth day of the month of September, A. D., eighteen hundred and ninety-three, and not before, be opened to settlement under the terms of and subject to all the conditions, limitations, reserva- tions, and restrictions contained in said agreements, the statutes above specified, the laws of the United States applicable there- to and the conditions prescribed by this proclamation, saving and excepting lands (The excepted lands were the Osage reserve, the Otoe and Mis- souria reserve, the Ponca reserve, and eastern, middle and western Saline re- serves. )5

accordingly, President Mckinley restored the re- serves to the public domain to be disposed of according to the policy of the government regard- ing Saline lands.

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The regulations for opening were de- scribed by law as follows:

"A strip of land, one hundred feet in width, around and immediately within the outer boundaries of the entire tract of coun- try, to be opened to settlement under this proclamation, is hereby temporarily set apart for the following purposes and uses, viz :

"Said strip, the inner-boundary of which shall be one hundred feet from the exterior boundary of the country known as the Cherokee Outlet, shall be open to occupancy in advance of the day and hour named for the opening of said country, by persons ex- pecting and intending to make settlement pursuant to this proclamation. Such oc- cupancy shall not be regarded as trespass, or in violation of this proclamation or of the law under which it is made; nor shall any settlement rights be gained thereby.

"The commissioner of the general land office shall, under the direction of the sec- retary of the interior, establish on said one hundred foot strip booths, to be located' as follows : One in Tp. 29 N., R. 2 E .; one in Tp. 29 N., R. 2 W .; one in Tp. 29 N., R. 4 W .; one in Tp. 29 N., R. 8 W .; one in Tp. 29 N., R. 12 W .; one in Tp. 20 N., R. 3 E .; one in Tp. 20 N., R. 2 W .; one in Tp. 20 N., R. 7 W .; and one in Tp. 20 N., R. 26 W., and shall place in charge thereof three offi- cers to each booth, who shall be detailed from the general land office. Said booths shall be open for the transaction of business on and after Monday the eleventh day of the month of September, A. D., eighteen hundred and ninety-three, from 7 a. m. to 12 m. and I p. m. to 6 p. m., each business day, until the same shall be discontinued by the secretary of the interior, who is hereby authorized to discontinue the same at his discretion."

The intending settlers were required to make declarations of qualifications in pres- ence of the booth officials. The declaration blanks having been signed, a certificate was issued, being in the nature of a permit to enter the lands at the time fixed for the opening.

On Monday, September 1I, the regis- tration booths were opened for the issue of registration certificates. At the booths at Arkansas City men had waited in line since the preceding Saturday. The weath- er was extremely warm, there had been no rain for some days, and along the narrow lane set apart for the booths and the wait- ing crowds, the ground was trampled into fine dust that rose in clouds and covered face and clothing until men were unrecog- nizable. Holding their places in lines a mile long, men suffered from thirst that was relieved with water at 10 cents a cup, bought from vendors who passed up and down. Weak lemonade and poor quality of food was also furnished in like manner. There were some in the lines who were without money to buy these necessities, and several instances were reported where per- sons were overcome and fell in their tracks. One fact should be noted: In spite of all these inconveniences, the sufferings of heat and thirst, and the extreme physical fa- tigue, good nature and the usual chaffing and easy wit of an American crowd pre- vailed over the grumbling and complaints of the weary and ill-tempered. Chivalrous conduct was often manifested, when men readily yielded their precedence to women further back in line.

At Arkansas City the booth clerks issued between 200 and 300 certificates an hour, but as the crowd numbered thousands and was constantly increasing, it seemed impos- sible to accommodate them, and many with-

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drew to other points. Similar scenes were enacted at Hunnewell, Caldwell, Orlando, Kiowa, and other places around the strip. The hardships endured about the registra- tion booths are described in a dispatch sent to the interior department on the 13th by the newspaper correspondents at Arkansas City :

"In the name of the papers we represent we respectfully request that you take im- mediate steps to alleviate the suffering of the homeseekers who are seeking registra- tion at Booth 9, near this city. The booth is situated on a dusty road, four miles from water and shelter. The weather is extreme- ly hot, and a regular Kansas hot wind is blowing. The suffering is great. A large number of the homeseekers have been stricken down, and some of them have died. Registration is progressing so slowly that thousands of men are compelled to stand in line for days, exposed to the sun, dust and thirst. Can you not cause the booth to be removed to this city and put on a larger force of clerks, or abandon registration at once? For the honor and welfare of the administration we beg you to take imme- diate action." On the following day addi- tional clerks were employed and several other booths opened, but even so the crowd increased too fast for the accommodations.

Throughout this week the work of regis- tration went on at all the booths until cer- tificates were issued to over one hundred thousand persons. In the meantime, the congestion at the different points of entry into the strip had increased to the point of danger. Troops of cavalry were patrolling the entire border, acting as guards at the booths, or engaged in scouring the in- terior in search of "sooners." Every day or so a party of the latter would be brought out, their personal descriptions taken, and

then turned loose, generally to return and try again to anticipate the rush. Traffic in booth certificates was freely charged, and no doubt practiced, many selling the cer- tificates and their chances for homesteads for a sum that could hardly compensate for the hardships endured to obtained them. Petty frauds and bribing were also perpe- trated in getting certificates. Some of the guards had a system of password and sig- nal, and those who were on the "inside" of the system were able to get certificates without the inconveniences of delay, the cost of such favors running from fifty cents to two dollars.

When Saturday, the 16th, came, over a hundred thousand people were ready to join in the run. It was a repetition of the Oklahoma rush, only intensified, and with new features that came from the previous experience. Hundreds of exciting tales were sent out by the correspondents to the press of the country, each description being va- ried by the writer's individual observations. Much that was said was true, much was overdrawn or only half disclosed, and though much severe criticism was indulged in, the confusion and excitement of the day involved the evil in a cloud of obscurity from which neither the inquisition of courts nor the inquiring mind of history can with certainty bring forth the facts. The evils of "soonerism" were as apparent here as in the Oklahoma opening, and there were charges that the townsites were occupied by sooners, acting in collusion with certain town companies, and that the soldiers fa- vored this occupation. There can be no doubt that the promises of speculation in the townsites attracted the larger number of those participating in the run. It is not disclaimed that the real homesteaders were in the minority in this and other open-

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ings. The thousands were here to get something which could be disposed of quickly at a profit to someone else. The old pioneer spirit, willing to sacrifice and endure long years of toil in making the land productive, was an actuating motive to only a comparatively small number of these boomers, and yet that small number re- mained to grow up with the country, while the thousands whom a speculative desire had brought here soon departed for other fields of enterprise or returned to their for- mer homes.

September 16, 1893, was the date at which the history of several of Oklahoma's most thriving towns begin. Contrary to the haphazard method followed in the set- tlement of townsites in the Oklahoma coun- try, the secretary of the interior had di- vided the strip into seven counties, and designated the places at which the county seats should be located. In advance of the opening, three trustees (no two of whom were from the same political party) were appointed for each of the county seat towns, and ample regulations were adopted for the proper entry of townsites. Naturally, the county seats were the centers of attraction for the majority of those seeking town lots, and as a result the cities of Perry, county seat of Noble county, Enid, county seat of Grant county, Alva, of Woods coun- ty, Woodward, of Woodward county, Pond Creek, of Garfield, and the county seats of "K" (Kay) and "Q" (Pawnee) counties, were settled on the same day, with popula- tions varying from seven or eight thousand down to a thousand. Besides these towns, others were entered. One townsite was planned to be occupied entirely by negroes, while some socialistic and religious colonies were reported to be planning towns of their own.

It should be remembered that the Cher- okee country was opened at a period of profound financial and industrial depression throughout the nation. As a consequence, many of those who took part in the rush were actuated by hopes of finding here a country of free gifts and bounteous plenty where their distress would be quickly re- lieved. In the line that day in September were persons who had been thrown out of regular employment by the panic in other states. Many were entirely ignorant of the conditions that confronted them, had no conception of the hardships of a new coun- try, were inexperienced as farmers, and without means to support themselves through the pioneer period. It is not sur- prising, therefore, that after the boom and brief period of hope and exhilaration that followed the rush, many hundreds yielded to their disappointment and left the coun- try. The results were well stated by Mr. Thomas Doyle, of Perry, some ten years later, in his testimony on the statehood question. He said:

"Under the provisions of the Cherokee Outlet law every quarter section was given to homesteaders, and today in Noble coun- ty that land has been settled on where a man with a family could not make a living ; but men will struggle on. Today in Noble county, which is a fair sample, being an eastern county, most of our homesteaders have purchased claims, from one to six, .. . Those people are there to stay. Under the provisions of that homestead law, after a man gets a title he sells it. The rural pop- ulation is less today than at any time since the country was opened in 1893."

In accepting the allotment system and its attendant conditions of individual citi- zenship, no tribe in Oklahoma territory proved more stubborn and unyielding than

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the Kickapoos. It was the desire of the government that they should take home- steads and their surplus lands be opened at the same time with the lands of the adja- cent Pottawatomies and other small tribes. But they could not be induced to relinquish their common lands until September 9, 1891, and the work of allotment proceeded slowly, one band of the tribe, refusing to submit to the new conditions and being in- duced by favorable promises, emigrating to Mexico where they found refuge from en- croaching settlers.º

' In the report of the commissioner of Indian affairs for 1906 is found the following account of this emigration :

Some years ago, Martin J. Bentley, who had formerly been United States Indian agent in charge of the Kickapoo Indians in Oklahoma, took charge of an exodus of a considerable number of these Indians from the United States into Mexico. The Indians who migrated were dissatisfied with the course of the Government in placing them upon their allotments and insisting that they should earn their living there; and their object in going to Mexico, as far as the facts have thus far been disclosed, was to seek a place where they could escape the conventional usages of our civilization and live more after their own fashions as Indians. Many efforts were made by the Government to induce them to return and live on their allotments in Oklahoma, but without effect. According to Mr. Bentley 's statement the Indians preferred him to the Government of the United States as a cus- todian and Mexico to the United States as a dwelling place. The money which came to them from time to time for lands leased or sold at their own home they placed in his hands for safe-keep- ing, he tells me, without interest and with no date set for its repayment. His representation of the case is that he uses this money for the purchase of land or water rights and other beneficial purposes for the Indians under his care.

After exhausting its resources of persuasion to induce the return of the Indians the office set afoot an investigation with the purpose of discovering what money was actually received for their lands by those allottees who had obtained by special legislation, in disregard of the wishes of the De- partment, the right to sell their allotments in Oklahoma. This investigation resulted in a re- port containing so serious allegations against the good faith of most of the parties concerned in

Finally, on March 3, 1893, Congress rat- ified the Kickapoo agreement, providing for the allotment of eighty acres to each mem- ber of the tribe. Two years passed before the work of the allotting agents was com- plete, and the surplus lands ready for set- tlement. The proclamation for opening was issued May 18, 1895:

"Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, president of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentioned, and by other the laws of the United States, and by the said

procuring the legislation and conducting the sales that the Department felt justified in refusing to act upon the legislation authorizing the sales until the whole matter had been laid before the Con- gress for its consideration, with a recommendation that the legislation unadvisedly enacted be re- scinded. No action was taken by the Congress, however, on this recommendation, but I was in- formally directed to proceed with the execution of the law as it stood. The full report of the results of the investigation, which to this office looked so damaging to the parties involved, was sent to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs for its infor- mation, but without producing any change of view there. Mr. Bentley and some other persons iden- tified with his interests appeared before the com- mittee and made an impression more favorable than the Indian Office had succeeded in making, and then the question arose why the office persisted in obstructing the free pursuit by the emigrant Kickapoos of their own preference as to residence and mode of life. At a session of the committee at which this matter came to a direct issue I answered that, as far as I personally was con- cerned, I thought that the Office had done all that duty demanded in the way of trying to keep these Indians in the general path of civilization, and that my only wish now was that if they were resolved beyond any possibility of a change of mind to stay in Mexico each Indian should be re- quired to conform his conduct to such a purpose, take all that the United States owed him, cut loose forever from the control of and allegiance to our Government, and sign off forever all indi- vidual claim thereon. In other words, if they were to be United States Indians they should live in the United States, and if they were bound to live in Mexico they should become Mexican Indians and absolve their original sovereign from any further obligation toward them.

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A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I, Part 46

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