St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-07-04
OKLAHOMA'S FIRST BABY.
How the Privilege of Naming Her Was
Sold,

Sold.
Gentlemen, what am | bid for the
privilege of naming the first baby
born in Oklahoma Will you give me
an offer? Twenty-Five dollars? Do
hear twenty-five dollars? No? TWEEN
ty dollars, then, twenty dollars for
the privilege of naming the first baby
born in Oklahoma"
Five dollars!
Five dollars? Five dollars for the
extraordinary privilege of bestowing
a name upon the first baby born in
Oklahoma! Why, gentlemen, has
chivalry flown i'll these degenerate
days; has gallantry departed Be
hold, gentlemen''
What am bid for the nestimable
privilege of naming the first baby
born-a girl, gentlemen, a girl; don't
forget that-born in Oklahoma =?
Five dollars? Five dollarsl Why, I'll
give my corner lot over yonder my
self for the privilege!'
1t was an extraordinary scene,
surely. There, under the cotton
wood trees on the banks of the river,
in the early hours of the morning,
stood the throng surrounding the
auctiOneer mounted on the stump of
fallen tree-boomers, cowboys,
land-speculators, gamblers. Tents
and shanties were deserted; eating
houses had temporarily suspended
business; the long line in front of the
post office was no longer in quest of
letters from home;;" even the men
''holding down" claims on the out
skirts Of the town had mounted their
ponies and come to attend the auc-
ton. Beside the auctioneer stood an
old weather-beaten boomer in loose
flannel shirt, his trousers tucked into
an enormous pair of boots, orna-
mented with spurs weighing prodi-
giously, a gray SLOUGH hat drawn
over his face, the inevitable revolver
and cartridge-belt strapped around
his hips, and in his arms, covered by
the shred of torn blanket, the most
forlorn and frail-looking little bit of
humanity that ever lived to see the
light of day. Somehow or other the
face of the auctioneer seemed familiar
to me; | was sure | had seen him be-
fore. Yes, l could not be mistaken
l recognized in him a gambler run
out of Guthrie the other day for play
ing one of the forbidden games, a
graduate of an eastern college and
the son of very prominent lawyer
in a little town of New England But
l had no time to reflect upon the
strange vicissitudes of life, nor upon
the devious paths by which this man
must have trod to reach his present
station, for presently he resumed:
What am 1 bid, gentlemen Come,
now, attend to business, and don't
be fooling around there!'
Ten dollars! !"
Ten dollars; thank you Ten dol
lars is bid for the privilege of naming
the baby born yesterday morning to
Mr.. and Mrs. Lewis. Ten dollars,
ten dollars, ten golden dollarsl
Twenty dollars"
twenty-five dollars"
Thirty dollarsl'
Rather thought you would be
warming up by-and-bye. Thirty dol
lars is bid l see thirty-fve over
therel Do l hear thirty-fve! Thirty
five dollars have. Only think, stop
for moment to think, of the future
Oh IHlS DdDy WSHly years from
now she may be the wife of our con-
gresham, the reigning beauty at the
capital of the nation"
Forty dollars >"
much obliged-she may grow to
be the consort of the governor of the
great state of Oklohoma-"
''Forty-five dollarsn'
"Forty-hve dollars, thanks-and
wouldn't you feel like everlastinglv
kicking yourselves, gentlemen, if, in
time she became the wife of United