The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1891-10-01
THE RUSH FOR HOMES.
THREE TIMES AS MANY PEOPLE AS
THERE ARE HOMESTEADS.

GUTHRIE, o. r., Sept 22..--"Thc
land is yours" That Is what every
time|iecc on tho border Of the lands
opened to settlement today proclaimed
when It's hands pointed to the hour of
noon. Simultaneous with that hour tho
home-seekcrs gathered on the border,
madc q hcadlong rush over the line into
the coveted country and Oh to the quar-
tor sections upon which their eyes had
been fcastin%, some Tor days aud others
for weeks and months.
The rush was Il mad one and was
made so by The fact that the number of
homc.seckers greatly exceeded the num-
ber OF quarter sections available for
settlement. "First there, first served"
vas the motto Of every racer. There
was room in the new lands for about
5000 seekers, allowing 100 acres for
each. There were on the border waiting
to claim the available land fully $4,000
people, so that there were three persons
Tor each section. 1t was no wonder that
the rush was mad one, for in this case
at least the race was invariably to the
swift.
Like scenes have never been witnessed
before except when Oklahoma became
the peoples two years ago. Some Of
the more dies peratc cowboys mounted
steers, and the latter, joining in the
stampede, carried their riders to the
interior while others were unccrcmo-
niously umhorscd or mstccrcd not far
from the border. The boomers had
gathered Tor The race most at Tohcc on
the Iowa reservation border directly cast
ct Guthrie; !.an"hton, at the middle Of
the y Jrthvln Iowa reservation border,
inside the boundary OF the klckapOO re-
scrvat!on (whicl was not included in the
opened lahdS) and at a point on the Pot
tawatomic border directly east of pur-
cell.
The most desirable of the lands is
situated in the Iowa, Sack and Fox
reservations, ana the greater number of
boomers naturally congrcyated around
them. The boomers were distributed
among various starting points about as
follows, at Tohcc 5000, LangstOn 1900
negroes, and 500 whites, on the Kickapoo
border 5000, and on Pottawatamic bor-
der 200o. Tho allOtmcnts to the Pottawa-
me Indians nearly exhausted the lands
III their reservation, so tho home seekers
mad little chance OF locating Il claim
lhalc. At Iangst0n negroes had been
@athrrc! by the negro Colonization
society to the number of 1900, and they
were to move Gil masse to CimarroI
valley. most fertile region, aud locate
III bunch. Five hundred whites
mostly cowboys, also had their eyes or
mat scctlcn, and each party had mad,
all sorts of threats OF taking the land b,
lorce. a force of deputy marshals ant
deputy shcritls under the sheriff Of thi
county had been despatched there tc
preserve order, and it is believed tina
lhrY VIII be able to maiGtaln peace.
One OF the unique Sights at Tohc,
was company OF young ladies from
Guthrie, who had formed colonization
company to proceed to the new land
ana settle on adjoining claims. The
were mounted on Texas ponies and wcr
fttlrcd rs near rs might be in cowbo
costume, armed with rcvOlvcrs an
equipped for camping out. They mad
the race in Il body. So far rs has beer
aSccriaincd, up to the present time II,
serious conflict has taken place between
the rival claimants, and the country has
been peacefully occupied.
Government supervision of the open
lngs OF the lands soem; to have beer
l"rcc was composed of two companies
OF nited states troops, or two hundred
men, and the forces of three United
States mnrshals, numbering about two
hundred and fifty men. or these latter
lty were sent to I.anWston to preserve
peace between the cowboys and negroes;
iIitcen were required 1T each of The three
Jand offices, and twenty-five at TOhcc
nr,.
were stationed at each Of the two coun
ty seats. This left only some 300 mcr
TO patrol borders Of about 200 miles il
extent, or one man to every two-third.
OF mile of border. The men, however
were not stationed at regular intervals
In some places there were ten and If
teen men to the mile, while at other
there were stretches OF five or ten mile
entirely unguardcd. Under these con
dtlons it might have been expected tha
numbers OF boomers would enter bcior,
the appointed time, and they did. Tw,
miles north OF TOhcc about POO boomer!
had gathered on 4 secluded spot, know
ing that the government force would bt
masscd at the border towns. They hac
all set their watches three hours ahcat
last night so that .hcir testimony woul(
agree ii ever their claims should be con
tested on the ground of their being
"soOncrs."
At . O'Clock their watches all indica
ted the hour of noon, and they rushed
over the border and began the fray for
thc choice sections. The ''sooncrs" a
othcr unguartcd portions of the bordt,
were also very numerous, and it Is est
mated from all reports that the number
OF settlers who entered the land before
lle lcSAl tlmc was fully 1000.
Ionec this morning was an Indian
town Just over the Iowa border, due cast
from this place; tonight it is white
mans city OF 1900 inhabitants. 1t fell
INTO the hands of the Town Site com.
pany' organized here by the president
OF the Board of Trade, the president o.
the First National bank, James Mcneil
anu inc clty marshal OF Guthrie. A rep
resentative of the company returned tc
illls pace this afternoon and filed at the
land oillce plat OF town and count,
CLAIMS. lie reports that an clccbnp no.