The morning news., 1891-09-23
RUSH INTO OKLAHOMA.
TIE LAND OFFICE BEGINS BUsI-
NESS AT NOON.

NESS All MUM.
A Man Who Had Stood in Line Night
aud pay Since Friday the First to
Fils HIS Papers - The Rush From
Guthrie Under Way at Dawn
GUTHRIE, o. t.. Sept. 22.-The front
door of the land office here was opened at
four seconds past IL O'clock to>day and
the first man to present his papers was s.
F. Deamond, who has stood in line day and
night since last Friday. He was almost ex-
bausted from exposure and want of sleep
and rest and as he staggered up to the W iu-
dows it was necessary for a friend to assist
him. 1t required only tour minutes to ex-
anime bis papers. At the rate of filing now,
about 150 persons will have filed by 4
o'clock.
THE RUSH FOR THE BORDER.
The rush from here to the border began
before daylight this morning. Ton thous-
sand persons would be moderate estimate
OF the number who have passed through this
city en route for the new country. Every
description of vehicle has been pressed into
service for transporting passengers to the
border; farmers charge as much as $40 per
person for a ride in their farm wagons FOR
distance of eight or ten miles and will not
move a wheel until ten passengers are
seated and the money collected in advance.
THE LAND is YOURS"
GUTHRIE, o. T., Sept %, 10 A. M-"The
land is yours;~ that is what every time
piece on the border of the land opened to
settlement to-day proclaimed when its
hands pointed to the hour of
rival Of that hour the homeseekers
gathered on the border made a headlong
rush over the line into the coveted country
and to the quarter sections upon which
their eyes had been feasting, some for days,
and others for weeks and months. The rush
was mad one, and was made so by the fact
that the number of homeseekers greatly ex-
ceed the number of quarter sections availa-
bic for settlement First there, first
served" was the motto Of every racer. There
was room in the new lands for about 5000
settlers, allowing 100 acres for each. There
were on the border waiting to claim
available land fully $1,000 people SO that
there were three persons for each section.
THE MAD RUSH.
1t was no wonder, then, that the rush was
mad one, for in this case, at least. the race
was invariably to the swiftest. Like scenes
have never been witnessed before, except
when Oklahoma became the peoples two
years ago. Some of the more desperate
cowboys mounted steers, and the latter,
joining in the stampede, carried
their riders to the interior, while
others were unceremoniously unhorsed or
unsteered, not far from the border. The
boomers had gathered for the race in most
strength at Tohee, on the Iowa reservation
border, directly east of Guthrie, Langston,
at the middle of the northern Iowa reserva-
ton border, inside the boundary of the
boundary of the Kickapoo reservation
(which wes not included in the opened
lands aad at pointson the Pottawattomis
border, directly east Of Purcell.
THE MOST DESIRABLE LANDS.
The most desirable of the lands is situated
in the Iowa and Sac and Fox reservations
and the greater number of boomers nat
uraly oongregated around them.
;. me boomers were distributed among
Hs S1F0qs foors starting P2i9ts Pobts sSo1 sSS0t
LsnGston, 800 negroes and 500 whites; on
the Kiokapoo border 5000 and on the Pot
taNattomie border 1900. The allotment to
the Pottawattomie Indians nearly exhausted
the lands in their reservation, so tho home
seekers had little chance of locating a claim
there. At Langston the negroes had been
gathered by the negro colonization society
10 the number of 1,500, and they
we're to move en- masse to Cimarron Valley,
tha most fertile region, and locate in a
bunch. Five hundred whites, mostly cow
Doys, also had their eyes on that section
and each party had made ell sorts Of
threats of taking the land by force. A
force OF deputy marshas and deputy
sherliis under the sheriff of this county had
neen dispatched there to preserve order,
and it is believed that they will be able to
maintain the peace.
YOUNG LADIES IN THE RACE.
One OF the unique sights at Tohee was q
company Of young ladies fr om Guthrie
who had formed a colonization company to
proceed to the new lands and settle on
adjoining claims. They were mounted on
Ie8as ponies and were attred as near az
might be in cowboy costume. armed with
reVolVers and equipped for camping out.
1ney made the race In q BODY
present time, no serious conflict has taker
Place between the rival claimants and the
country has been peacefully occupied.
DEFICIENT SUPERVISION.
The government supervision of the opening
OF the lands seems TO have been sadly de.
nclent. The entire government force was
comp lsed OF two Companies OF United
states troops, or 200 men, aud the forces of
three U Unlted States marshals, numbering
about 100 men. OF these latter fifty were
sent to Langston TO preserve the peace be-
. %een ssen the cowboys and negroes
u!teen were required at each
and twenty-five a. Tohee. Of the regular
Toops squad Of men was stationed at each
u Tie two county seats. This left only some
eVV men to patrol the borders of about 2Ol
niles in extent, or one man to every two
aros OF a mile of border. The mau. ho ".
ever, were not stationed at regular inter.
ssS. sS. In some places there were ten and
Neen men to the mile, while at others there
eI9sretcaes OF five or ten miles entirely
ENTERED AHEAD OF TINE.
Under these conditions it might have
~ expected that numbers of boomers
hey did. 1f''A"'0u V'''i0' 0uu
baSo b%o niles north of Tohee about 200
Aers hed gathered in a secluded spot
hmg tnat the government force would
s5 5ISSed az the border town. Thev had
Ian u. V1eir watches three hours ahead
yo,,, ulght, so that their testimony v
r,saSrae II evertheir claims should be
''s.ou on the ground Of their being
in8i". At y O'clock their watches nli
over oyasl the hour of noon and they rushed
seetr. 09toer and began a race tor choice
eua.l.9 mo ''s0oners" at other m
veryna-p Portions of the border were also
repors ors-,.leFous, 4. and it is estimated from, ali
tered the number of settlers who en-
fbilySCoN auo 1eiore the legal time was
TA TOWN BORN IN DAY.
I just sov.,l9ls oyssas morning was an Indian town