Volume 10 , Issue 4

No Man's Land & Cimarron Territory

We found this interesting bit of information concerning No Man's Land in A Standard History of Oklahoma, pp. 599-602, Vol. 2, by Joseph B. Thobrun.

No Man's Land was that part of the lands ceded to the United States by Texas in 1850, which was bounded on the north by Kansas and Colorado, on the east by the Cherokee Outlet, on the south by the Texas Panhandle and on the west by New Mexico. It remained unattached to any state or territory until statehood, November 16, 1907.

It continued to be a part of the wilderness of the Great Plains region until the virtual disappearance of the buffalo herds and the retirement of the Indians to their reservations, about 1875, though a few cattle ranches had been established in the region of the Upper Cimarron River, as early as 1869.

After 1875 the number of cattle ranches was greatly increased. In 1882 and 1883, most of these ranches were purchased by two of the big British syndicates, which controlled most of the region until the fences were ordered to be removed from Government lands. In time, this strip of land, which was not attached to any state or territory, came to be called No Man's Land.

In 1885-86, there was a heavy tide of immigration into Southwestern Kansas and Southeastern Colorado. Soon the settlers began to swarm across the border into ,i>No Man's Land. In 1886 two coal mines were opened in the western part of the present Cimarron County and a townsite, known as Mineral City, was laid out. Several towns were also projected in the eastern part of No Man's land, including Beaver City, in the valley of Beaver Creek. In the spring of 1887, it was estimated that No Man's Land contained a population of about 6,000.

There were no government land offices, so there could be no absolute ownership of lands. The settlers were also without law, either local or national. As a class, they were peaceable and orderly but a land without law always has it attractions for turbulent and unruly spirits, so desperadoes and horse thieves soon made trouble in the No Man's Land settlements.

The people promptly organized vigilance committees and put such a check on the outlaw class that a measure of order was restored. In No Man's Land, as elsewhere, when the people had to take the law into their own hands, the measures resorted to were sometimes harsh, but when evil doers had no respect for the rights of others, it was necessary to fill them with terror.

The settlers could not file on homesteads because no government land office had jurisdiction over the public lands of No Man's Land. Disputes over claims were numerous and the lawless element made claim "jumping" a regular business. The settlers held a meeting at Beaver, at which there was organized a "Claim Board" for the purpose of passing upon such disputes. A set of rules was also adopted for the guidance of the "Claim Board" in its deliberations and actions. The "Claim Board" held it meetings at the Town of Beaver, which was the metropolis of No Man's Land settlements. This town had a population of about 700, in 1887. The nearest railroad station was at Dodge City, Kansas, about 80 miles away.

Many of the settlers in No Man's Land believed that a territorial government should be organized to supersede the makeshift vigilance committee and claim board organizations. The claim board issued a call for an election to be held in November, 1886, for the purpose of choosing delegates to a convention which should consider the matter and take such action as might be deemed expedient.

The delegates thus chosen met at Beaver, March 4, 1887, and, after due consultation and deliberation, passed a declaratory act, organizing the Territory of Cimarron, with the capital at Beaver.

The No Man's Land country was divided into five counties, named respectively Benton, Beaver, Palo Duro, Optima and Sunset. The members of the convention were constituted a legislative body, which proceeded to enact numerous laws.

O. G. Chase was nominated by the Beaver convention as a candidate for delegate to Congress. Another party, led by Rev. R. M. Overstreet, then called a convention to be held at the rival of Rothwell. It placed John Dale in nomination as a candidate for delegate to congress, favored the attachment of No Man's Land to Kansas for judicial purposes, proposed to divide the tract into three counties and urged the establishment of a Government land office at Voorhees, Kansas, with a district jurisdiction that should include the No Man's Land country.

An election was held in November, 1887, at which a full set of territorial officers, a new Legislature and a delegate to Congress were chosen. Dr. J. R. Linley was elected governor, Thomas P. Braidwood, secretary of state, and O. G. Chase, delegate to Congress.

When Congress reconvened, in December, 1887, O. G. Chase presented himself at the capital and asked for recognition as the duly elected delegate from the Territory of Cimarron. The prevailing sentiment seemed to be in favor of his recognition as a territorial delegate and a resolution was offered by Representative William M. Springer of Illinois, giving him a seat in the House as such. John Dale, who had been the rival candidate, contested his election, however. The Springer resolution, together with the Dale contest, was therefore referred to the committee on elections, which never rendered any report.

The 2nd Legislature of the Territory of Cimarron was in session most of the time during the winter of 1887-88. Representative James Burns, of Missouri, introduced a bill in congress to provide for the organization of the territory of Cimarron. In the spring of 1888, the opposition to the Oklahoma Bill (which was being pressed for action), made a desperate effort to have the No Man's Land country annexed to Kansas, hoping thus to cripple the Oklahoma movement, but the attempt failed. The Beaver legislative party, anticipating the passage of the Burns Bill for the organization of the Territory of Cimarron, proceeded to hold another election in November, 1888, at which a full complement of territorial officers were chosen and also a new delegate to Congress.

The whole contention was due to the activities of the promoters of the rival townsites of Beaver and Rothwell and to the machinations of ambitious politicians. During the summer of 1888, several men were killed in No Man's Land as a result of a county seat war across the line, in Stevens County, Kansas. This event served to strengthen the popular demand for local civil government.
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