Volume 18 , Issue 38

NW Okie's Journey

It was 21 April 1889 when a mad rush was made from the Purcell side - impossible to restrain the waiting men any longer - many were arrested - five wounded and one killed. This was concerning the stampede beginning for Oklahoma country, 22 April 1889.

There was no mistaking the jumping off place into the Indian Territory (I.T.). On the one side were the cultivated fields of Kansas, on the other the vast expanse of rolling prairie known as the Cherokee Strip. The first stop made was at Willow Springs. Soon after leaving this point they entered the Ponca reservation, situated near the confluence of the Salt Ford. There is plenty of timber surrounding this little gathering of dwellings.

From Ponca to Mendota, a station near the Black Bear Creek, the country grew more rolling and better timbered in the vicinity of the waterways.

The Stampede Begins
The Pittsburgh Dispatch, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, dated 22 April 1889, Monday, page 1, headlines read: "The Stampede Begins."

Found on Newspapers.com

Purcell, I. T., April 21 (1889) -- The mad stampede for Oklahoma began that night. The boomers could be held in check no longer. They were now crossing the Canadian in crowds, and rushing pellmell on the green fields. There were 100 officers on the other side, and they were doing everything in their power to stem the tide. Every possible contrivance was being used to cross the river, which was still swollen. The boomers made a dash upon the officers, and some of them were successful in reaching the thickets. The rest were arrested and brought back to Purcell, I.T. Some of the boomers had crossed the river three and four times, only to be caught and returned.

That night it was a wild night in Purcell. Cowboys and boomers were riding through the streets with revolvers and threatening every person who may have attempted to stop them when they decided to cross. The gambling houses were deserted and everybody was out in the street, yelling and shooting.

An officer who had just returned from Oklahoma reported that five boomers were wounded and one killed in a fight with officers. The boomers ran into the brush. An Indian scout discovered them, and when they were found by the officers they showed fight. Those who were not wounded or killed after the first volley went deeper into the timber. Scouts were again after them.

It was claimed that the railroad bridges across the Canadian river would be burned before morning. A squad cavalry had been stationed along the river. If the present uproar continued there would be few boomers in Purcell the next morning.

Good Night! Good Luck! We are "Stronger Together!"
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