Volume 18 , Issue 38

Walking With Old Sweet Sadie

It was at noon, 22 April 1889 the wild rush was to be made for the promised land of Oklahoma by thousands of easier would-be homesteaders.

Thirty-thousands of them yesterday took a longing, lingering look from the neutral land at the green fields of the place they yearned to call their home. Several stampedes were made the day before at Purcell, but the officers were able to overtake, take back to the line all offenders. The suspense wasn't for many hours longer, but it was intense in the extreme.

Only a small portion of the Oklahoma domain which Mr. Springer's bill proposed to allot to the territory of Oklahoma. That would have included the western section of the Indian territory, and nearly two-thirds of its entire area. The eastern section was occupied by the five civilized tribes, the Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, Choctaws and Chickasaws.

In the whole of the Indian territory as it was there was a population of about 70,000, for whose occupancy there were thus reserved more than 44-million acres of land, most of it good, thus giving more than 600 acres to every man, woman and child in the tribes. The bulk of the Indian population was comprised among the five civilized tribes in the eastern part of the Indian territory. In the proposed new Territory of Oklahoma there were about 13-thousand Indians, remnants of 17 tribes, to whom it was proposed to assign lands in severalty. But the proposed new territory also included the strip known as No Man's Land, which had the rear distinction of having no government of any sort save that provided by the common consent of its 7-thousand people, over which the United States exercised no supervision and which had no law but lynch law. When the northern boundary of Texas, and later the southern boundary of Kansas were fixed, this strip of land, containing 3,700,000 acres was left out, and had remained out. Adding this to the section proposed to be cut off from Indian Territory, Oklahoma would contain 23,267,710 acres, mostly fertile land, with a mild and equable climate, and offering every, inducement to the settler.

The North Canadian Valley was the garden spot of the Oklahoma country - the Canaan of the boomers. Soil of the utmost fertility, water in abundance - rivers, springs, lakes - timber on the river banks and here and there over the prairies, giving the entire scene a park like appearances and a climate that knows not extremes, all combine to enhance the beauty of the country, and to assure in the future a land flowing with milk and honey.

Every mile or two after leaving the metropolis of Southwest Kansas trains of covered wagons were seen winding their way toward the Kansas line.

Good Night! Good Luck! Remember, "Love conquers Hate!"
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