Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1889-04-30
OKLAHOMA BOOMERS.
A RETURNED SETTLER TBLLS HIS BXPERI-
BNCB IN THB NEW TERRITORY.
Oklahoma IS Great Country and is the Land
Of Plsnty-He Has a Splendid Claim
Which lie Will Hold.


tional
All the newspaper men who were sent
to furnish the reading public with an
account from day to day of the opening Of
Oklahoma, and the occurrences incidental
thereto, must have been of one or the other
of these classes, if we are to believe reput-
able citizens, who were there and are now
at home sgin, and possessOrs of fine
clsims, which with two years cultivation
will yield as.much in crops as a ten thOus-
and dollar farm in this vicinity.
A REGISTER man last evening had the
pleasure of sitting in company with Mr..
David B Lady, of Martins Ferry, for an
hour, while that gentleman told of mis- trim
and experiences from the time he lett his
home till be returned. He and his SOD,
David H. Lady, aud john McCabe, of the
firm of McCabe Bros, left Martins Ferry
together and arrived at Purcell, Indian
Territory, two days before the opening
when the boomers took complete pos
session OF the coveted land, which has for
years bsen used as play ground by the
Indians from surrounding reservations.
Mr. Lady said, during the evening: During
the two days we stayed at Purcell. we
spent tie time wandering about the
streets, and posting ourselves on the
topography and location of that part of the
new territory We wished to enter. During
the nights we slept in the depot of the
AtchisoD, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad.
and we were lot alone either, for there
were no less than five or six hundred men
had no other shelter but that afforded by
by the depOts snd the outside corners of
buildings. Purcell is a town of about
three thousand people, aud their principal
IN fact their only, occupation during
the time we were there, seemed to be
gambling. Faro, keno, three card monte,
shell games, wheels OF fortune, ard every
conceivable gamhliI device, even down
to the pitchirg OF dollars, Was INDUCED in
with the utmost freedom, there being no
effort made to keep the games secret
Daring those two days, however, saw
not single fight or even a quarrel
Everybody seemed bent on one of two OBJ
jects-either to get a home in Oklahoma or
to fesce some one out of his money al
some game of chance.
''At II 80 on the 22d we got aboard the
train at Purcell. 1t consisted of twenty
one passenger coaches drawn by two loco
motives 1t ran up 10 the bridge over the
Canadian river, which forms The BOUNDARY
of the Oklahoma lands, ana there stood
till the hour of twelve struck, when it
started with all possible speed into the
promised land
The first stop was made about three
miles from the border, but no one lef. the
cars The next stop was az Norman Sta
ton, Elk miles inside the Territory, and
that far from the Canadian river Here
the boomers commenced booming in real
earnest, and in a ew minutes men were
scurryiug IN every direction and claiming
everything in sight. got out in d hurry
ant wa followed by Dave and John. W.
forgot lot of things in cur rush, includ-
ing kettle, axe, butcher knife and other
reafnl uten-'i~. which u1sn1 - - Tho -
Other fellows were even more excited
than we, for there wors dozsns of
Winchester niles and even trunks fall OF
clothing lefc en- the train.
The claims were all surveyed about eight
years ago, and in many instances sll
marks If boundary were obliterated
At Norman Station, however, d
line o. well marked claims runs out
dice, from the depot and by taking
the right direction / was able 10 keep right
along the line between two tiers ofclaims
When we got off the train the crowd was
very thick, but ss thsy ran in different
directions they dive7ged till there wa
plenty Of room / ran steadily and a.
swiftly as possible for a mile and
a half, when I began to feel tagged. l
stopped and locked round and fourd no
one near me, and no one in advance, ex
cept a solitary man who had been on a
claim all night, having sneaked through
the lines. He assumed threatening as
psct and remarked, You keep away from
here: this ia my claim Both of us were
armed. so went up TO him and asked
where his claim was located, and ne in-
formed me that he was standing on the
corner of it I then stepped across the
line. and took the next corner, and In
formed him that it was my claim. he
told me where 10 find some brush, and IN
an hour had it staked of, and dug up
part of it, in accordance with the rules OF
the land agencies uader the Interior
Depsrtment. In a little while all who had
gotten Il had scented Gains IN one direc'
ton or another, and We were gathered IN
pairs and trios near cur possessions chat
ting in a friendly manner. McCabe and
Dave took claims ia the same section with
me and the three of Us hold thTee-quar-
ter section. If there had been another man
in The patty we could have had the whole
section.
The water supply is no: q. all limited.
True. in Guthrie, Oklahoma City and otter
newly made towns water was scarce, but
that was simply because no wells
mad been dug, and there were 70
means provided except for the accom-
mediation of the railway locomotives.
cat Norman Station, when l came back,
7 found good sweet, soft water drawn by a
common red Jacket pump from a well
only sixteen feet deep. An old-time boom
or. who settled near me, stated that he
had found water years ago IN that vicinity
at from twelve to twenty feet below the
surface NV claim is six miles from the
Canadian River and is in rolling country
The section is crossed by three running
hooks and that are of some consequence
after any light rains. The running streams
are good water snd it is quite drinkable.
'There has been much said about the
red CLAW and red sand in the country. l
went back into the prairie, four
miles from my claim, on each side, and
e,emined the land 1t is not
crown up in buffalo or bunch grass, but is
covered with solid mass Of sod as firm
and compact as any ever saw. Along
the streams l saw that the red colored
CLAW showed up to within five inches OF
the surface. An examination, however,
proved that the red appearance of the
sdOe of the bank came from sediment
dried or the surface. Digging down l saw
-, :1 a. he fronn four 10 five feet deep.