San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1889-04-25
0KLAHOMA'SB0OM
A General Sketch Of the Pro-
t posed Territory.
ROUGH LIVING THERE.


ROUGH LIVING THERE.
Sorrows, sufrerings and Crueitics In tho
Promised Land.
That booming Oklahoma was not on tho
whole life Of constant pleasure may be gath
cred from perusal Of what has already been
written. As has been intimated, they lived In
tents, In wagons, In holes In the ground.
Their food was coarse, and for lack Of stoves
and other conveniences was often Ill cooked
and worse served. They were obliged to live
on scant allowances. They were wet by the
rain and sleet of winter, and by tho streams
they had to ford during high water. Worse
than all these physical discomforts, they were
constantly harassed by fear Of meeting the
almost omnipresent soldier, and enragcd by
the sense of wrong done them.
Among many cases Of individual suffering
that of Mrs. Anna Bucher excited widespread
sympathy. With her husband she was living
IN tent on tho North Fork Of tho Canadian,
not for from Oklahoma City, In April, 1887.
The Buchers were ono of tho many stray
boomers who have gono into Oklahoma
singly, hoping thereby to escape the soldiers
and hold down claim. On April 10 a girl
baby was born, with no ono to caro- for
mother or child save the father, who could
not, of course, leavo her, let alone go hfty
miles for the nearest slsilled help.
Three days later, while tho life Of the
mother still hung In tho balance, came a
troop Of soldiers and ordered the family to
leave at onoa Mrs Bucher became wild at
once and the husband very nearly SO. The
soldiers had orders to instantly remove oil
settlers found In tho territory, and thcy werc
Just we'll enough trained to want to obey
orders. no matter what the consequences.
Tho corporal In charge finally agreed to con-
suit superior officer before using force on
the helpless family. The lieutenant reported
the case to the commandant and, as special
favor, stay Of execution Of eleven days was
granted. On tho day tho baby was two
weeks old, although tho mother was still
unable to walk, the whole outfit was tumbletl
into springless army wagon and started Tor
the line. Purcell had ut that timo just been
laid out as q town, and tho Buchers wero per
mitted to stop there.
This child was tho second white baby borl,
In Oklahoma. Her namc.is Oklahoma Bucher.
Tho case Of Mr.. and Mrs. Alfred Tyrrcl
was worse still. They were driven from their
cabin when sho was near confinement, she
unable to walk, being laid In common
wagon. It lodged In quicksand In thu
| Cimarron, and wns not released for hours
What with tho distress over the abuse hel
husband had received, the forco Of the fall IL
the wagon box, and the exposure to tho hea
of an August sun on breathless day, Mrs
Tyrrell was prcmaturely confined after reach
ing a point two miles further OH. AT the
end of eleven days she was dead.
The boomers, as q whole, included very
great variety Of people. There were farmers
mechanics, professional men, scouts, COW
| bows, and every other sort OF men who go u
mako up frontier town. There were not q
few college bred boomers. But majority
were of the class described rs "strollcrs In tht
Ozarks.n They were the discontents OF the
frontier. They wero down on their luck
They were forever seeking and mover finding
q good neighborhood. A team OF ponies, q
dccrepit wagon, with tattercd duck cover
a half dozen children and three dogs com
prised tho outfit But there arc aristocrats
In all communities, and by common consent
tho aristocrat Of tho boomers present town L
allowed to be the Rev. William Abbott
Presbyterian clergyman.
| Mr.. Abbott lived in Dakota for thirteen
years previous to last September He con
cluded after 80 long an experience to &c
south. Thereupon he constructed a unique
outfit for overland travelling. Taking good
prairie wagon without the wagon box, he
built light strong frame, as II for house
that occupied the place Of tho wagon bed
Above the level Of the wheels 1t spread out tt
an internal width Of 8J< feet. 1t rose to @
height Of 61f feet. 1t was 1917 feet long ovel
all. Across the front and back In IL inche:
he built bulkhead, thus forming an alcov'
In front for the driver to sit In.
The sides and rear were inclosed With mar
row siding The top was rooted with shoe'
| iron, and the whole was neatly painted III
the rear was a two foot wide door with a foo
square window in II. On each side was q
three pano window with glass 6x10. A win
dow like the one In tho door was put In thu
bulkhead forward. All the windows wer'
made to open to secure ventilation. SUD
stantial muslin took the place OF plastering
! Il was, In fact, house on wheels, tight
strong and comfortable.
The floor, which was nearly three fee
wide, was covered with carpet. Across th'
front end two comfortable spring beds wer'
secured. one above the other, bunk fashion
The platforms that were formed where tn
! frame widened out above the wagon wheel
| served, when cushioned, at once as sofas ant
| chairs. On one side q wide board was hinge
| so That Il could be let down to form tabl
after the manner Of making tables In zach
/ cabins. When not in use the table buttone'
up against the side.
! In one corner clear aft stood a two Lid stow
I that was complete II II was small IL woul'
bake a loaf Of bread or prairie chickei
nicely. Opposite was a cupboard that held
! sufficient assortment OF dishes and n stock o
/ food Beneath tho beds was a chest for spar
I clothing.
The walls, where not occupied by the ncces
sary articles already mentioned, were orna
mented with q good map Of the Unite
Stntes. a number Of lastly arranged colore
lithographs, a mirror. and this motto, also I
colors: "If ye love Ne, koep Ny command
uoentEs In the elcove in front was box 10
feed. a comfortable sat and a therInonete
l 20 tell tho driver how cold be waA
I Another wagon, Substantially Ike this ons
7 excert for the stowe, cupboard and table, Wa
tlen built. when 70 l. told that In camp th
sseus by which the wagons were entered wer
sltpt.ed 20 one kde and the wagons wer
rlacs.i class together. reAr b rear, and oor
pecsei by q utdo plank, and that then n
. orea suace between then was hoodsd In wit
a rsecs of duck, the similarity b . vestibul
train l. very clo@a Mr.. Abbott had the vet
trsle train IN n.iad ubsn be made the Psrips
tetic bousz A baggage wagon oonI'lete
the outft
I rbsrs E.rs N people in tbe party, inrlod
inz NJ. Abbott, biE wife and child, "a. sast1i
IL rDotber and his rrand1other- Ihe 81
lsdy s.s s. ysars oi1 Tbs ehild 80 yea
/ old 70 ocs e1Soys1 The trip u,ors than n
ga laIy. At "a fat On r. i took tbe-
to rr,o-.fts % trarsl fru-n Fs1lE coz7ty. 7