The record-union., 1891-09-23
Exciting Scenes Along the Border
of the Indian Country.
MAD RUSH FOR HOMES WHEN THE
NOON HOUR ARRIVED.
Company of Young Ladies, Mounted
on Texas Ponies, Attfred in Cowboy
Costume, Armed With Revolvers
and Equipped for Camp Life. Form
One of the Unique Sights Wit
Special to the REcoRD-UN1oE.

GUS Win Ine arrival OF In0 nOur OF noon
the homeseekers gathered on the border
made headlong rush over the line into
the coveted country, and onto the quarter
sections upon which their eyes had been
feasting for some days, and others for
weeks and months.
The rush was mad one, and was made
SO by the fact that the number of home
seekers greatly exceeded the number of
quarter sections available for settlement.
There is room in the lands for about
5000 settlers, allowing lG0 acres for each.
There were on the border waiting to
claim the available land fully $1,000 peo-
pie, so that there were three people for
quarter section.
It was no wonder then that the rush
wasa mad one. Like scenes were never
witnessed before, except in Oklahoma
two years ago.
The craze to become the owner of part
Of the new lands caused a strange COM
mingling of various elements of society
half hours diligent work would have
sufficed to prepare the most elaborately
equipped boomer for the race into the
new country, but the preparations were
begun long before the hour of noon.
Horses were hitched, wheels creased,
saddle-girths cinched, and everything
made snug as early as 10 o'clock, so anxi-
Gus was every one to be in readiness to
move at the appointed time.
When the noon hour did arrive all the
pent-up excitement found vent in the
firing off of revolvers and rifles and
shouting and singing, and the cracking of
whips and furious driving and running
The horsemen, of course, had the adj
vantage over every other man in the race,
and most of the racers were horSemen.
A man who proceeded to the border in
a prairie schooner with his family left
his schooner, family and one horse on the
border and mounted the other and be-
came a horseman. After locating his
claim he will return and direct his pos
sessions to his new home.
Some more desperate cowboys mounted
steers, and the latter Joining in the stam-
pede carried their riders to the interior,
while others were unceremoniouslY un-
horsed or unsteered not far from the bor-
der.
The boomers were distributed among
the various starting points about as fol-
lows: AT Tohee, 5000; Langston, 2,000;
on the Kickapoo border, 5000, and on the
Pottawatomie border, 2,000.
The allotment TO the Pottawatomie In
dams nearly exhausted the lands in their
reservation, so that the hoIneseeker had
little chance of locating claim there
At Langston negroes were gathered
by the Negro Colonization Society to the
number of l,500, and they were to move
en- nasse into the Cimarron Valley, the
most fertile region, and locate in bunch.
Five hundred whites, mostly cowboys,
also had their eyes on that section, and
each party made all sorts of threats of
taking the land by force
y force of Deputy Marshals and Dep
uty Sherif1s has been dispatched there to
preserve order, and it is believed they
viii be able TO maintain peace.
One of the unique sights of Tohee was
company of young ladies from Guthrie,
who had formed a colonization company
10 proceed to the new lands and settle on
adjoining claims. They were mounted
on Texas ponies, and were attired as near
az might be in cowboy costume, armed
with reyolVerS and equipped for camping
out. They made the race in body.
The rush from here to the border be-
gan before daylight this morning Ten
thousand persons would be moderate
estimate of the people who passed through
this city en- route for the new country.
The Land Office here opened at four
seconds past L o'clock to-day, and the
first man to present his papers was S. f.
Diamond, who stood in line day and
night since last Friday. He was almost
exhausted from exposure from want of
sleep and rest, and as he staggered up to
the window 1t was necessary for friend
70 assist him.
The second man was J. T. Kalkloich.
and the third man was Thomas 3. Knapp.
There was no disturbance about the of
ice, and business proceeded quietly and
swiftly.
At Z O'Clock all the old soldiers had got
IN their papers. The line did not de-
crease in length, however, as the settlers
who had located their claims in the new
lands began TO arrive to file their entry
notices. The Land Office kept open until
O'Clock. At that time fully 200 men
were still in line, and others were arriv-
ing every minute.
dispatch from Oklahoma City saws:
It was expected that there would be riot
at the Land Office when it opened for
business at noon to-day. The crowd
which has surrounded it for the last four
days became very boisterous last night,
and this morning it was found necessary
20 guard the office with Deputy MarshalS.
The latter succeeded in preserving peace,
and there was no disturbance.
Government supervision of the OPEN
ing seems to have been sadly deficient
The entire Government force was COM
posed of two companies OF troops, 200
men. and the forces of three United
States Marshals, numbering about go
men. OF the latter, fifty were sent to
Langston TO preserve peace between cow
boys and negroes, fifteen were required
at each of the three land offices, and
twenty-five at 1Ohee. OF the regular
troops, squad of men was stationed at
each of the two county seats. This left
only some 300 men to patrol the borders
Of about 200 miles extent. The men were
not stationed at regular intervals In
some places there were ten and fifteen
men to the mile, while at others there
We're stretches of five and ten miles en-
tirely unguarded. Under these condi-
tions it might have been expected that "a
number of boomers would enter before
the appointed time, and they did.
Two miles north of Tohee about 200
boomers had gathered in a secluded spot,
knowing that the Government force
would be masSed at the border towns.
They all set their watches three hours
ahead last night, so that their testimony
would agree as to the time If the claims
were contested on the ground of their
being "Sooners.v At nine o'clock their
watches indicated the noon hour, and
they rushed over the border and began a
race for the choice sections of land.
''Sooners" at other unguarded portions of
the border were also very numerous, and
il IS estimated that fully 5000 settlers
entered the land before the legal time
Tohee TINS morning was an Indian
town. Tonight it is a white mans city
of 1850 inhabitants. 1t fell into the hands
of townsIte company organized here by
the President of the Board of Trade, the
President of the First National Bank.
Joseph Mcneil, and the City Marshal of
Guthrie. A representative of the com
Sany this afternoon filed at the land