Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-04-23
Got the Word to Go.
High Noon Inaugurates the
Great Homestead Race.
0KLAH0ms. sWARMs WITH PEOPLE
Men Ride for Patch of Earth ss>ff fol
Their Lives and Lay Ont Work
for Lawyers.

CONFLICTING Cls&fns Mark the First Hour of
'"e %feat Invasion-Thirty Thousand
setINrs Arrive by Railway-The Re-
markabie Scenes at Purcell and Guthrie
Crush ON the Trains-Intense Ex-
citement While Waiting for the Word;
Wild Enthusiasm When It Is Given.
GUTHRIE, 1T, April 23-The gates of Ok
lahoma were swung open at noon yesterday,
and resistless torrents of humanity began to
pour over its soil From the Cherokee strip
came the great feet of prairie schooners
across the Canadian; from The Chickasaw ma
ton came troop after troop of sturdy ponies,
each one carrying boomer; from the Ara.
pahoe and Cheyenne reservations on the
west, came yelling mob of horsemen. who
fired volley after volley to celebrate their
hnal victory. The Kiowa of the southwest,
and the Cherokee and Greek nations on the
east, also furnished their contingent of
boomers.
The Welkin Rang With Cheers.
At the starting signal they moved all to-
gether, great waves of cheering breaking
upon the air. The wagons continued on over
the level green plain until they were about
half way across the northern tier of claims.
and then upward of hundred of them were
brought to a siandstIll. The others rolled on
to the lower tiers. Men, women and chill
dren poured from the stationary schooners,
and in an incredibly short time the founda-
tions for the pioneer homes of Oklahoma had
been laid by willing hands.
The Tug of War Begins.
Every farm had more than one claimant,
all::ready to swear that they crossed the
border first, and that their were the first i'm
provemen,s. So it is all over the territory,
and eS, scially on the sections adjoining Guth-
RE and Oklahoma City.
Tens of Thousands by Rail.
Between 10000 and 10000 people were
dumped here yesterday by the Santa Fe road,
which ran twenty immense trains from Ar
kansas City. The trains movl,,, across the
Cherokee strip cautiously and slowly, and
arrived here scarcely more than five minutes
apart As they approached the land of
promise thousands of heads protruded from
the windows, and curious eyes Toasted on the
green panorama that lay before them There
was much fighting to get out of the cars
when the little building which answers for a
station was reached Nobody was hurt,
however, and the coaches were soon emptied.
Dazed by the Prospect.
1t was curious sight to watch the boom
ers after they had got fairly on foot The
majority of them seemed t. be dazed by the
vastness of their surroundings Many of
them gazed stupidity the north southeast
and west, and then moved ahead like men
who were lost. Others started for the hills,
and still others bent themselves to the task of
raising tents which they brought with them,
to open various kinds of business. Those
who went for the hills We're after claims
Just how well their explorations succeeded
Is not known, for very few of them have re-
turned. Ii is safe to say that last night every
farm in the territory was in possession of
are from twenty to thirty thousand more
wandering aimlessly in search of land. xsr.
Besieging the Land ONCE.
The rush at the land office here is terrific.
The building is surrounded by mob of howl
ing men, which is being constantly augment
ed by horsemen who are galloping in from
every quarter. Land Agent Dilley and his
force of assistants are unable to give atten
ton to hundredth part of the business that
is being forced upon them. The detachment
of troopers which has been detailed around
the building with a view to keeping the mob
in an orderly line, is completely worn out.
A Great Rush Everywhere.
A dispatch from Oklahoma City states
that the rush there is even greater than
here. Over at Kinghsher or Lisbon where
the crowds brought in on the Rock Island
are gatheri ng, there has been no trouble as
yet.