The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1892-04-21

boomers Delleved they were entering
into a veritable Garden of Eden.
When they approached the claims,
staked them off and taken an oppor-
tunity to survey the broad acres they
found instead of Garden of Eden,
promised land flowing with milk and
honey as they fondly believed, they
really possessed themselves of quar-
ter section of
VERY ORDINARY LANDS,
land flowing with nothing but huge
grass and very brackish streams, Bit
ter with alkali. That at least was
what most of them found. Some of
the land, as matter of course, along
the river bottoms and valleys, is ex-
cellent farming land, but the Indians
were sensible enough to choose most
of it. Of the land remaining to the
white settlers some is good, but most
very poor. Many of those who rushed
in full of hope will soon rush out to
take advantage of the next gift of
land by the government.
The Cimarron river runs across the
northeast corner Of the new country,
with the north fork of the Canadian
river and further south the south
fork of the Canadian, and still further
south the Washita.
BOTTOM LANDS
along the river have been all or mostly
all taken up by the Indians. These
bottoms are not very wide and the
land on both sides of them rises very
rapidly into grassy plateaus. Over
the divides the lands become
level prairies, poorly watered SIM
liar to much of Western Kansas.
Between the two branches of the
Canadian is rather rough but much
good farming land. The Canadian
forks are neither very reliable. The
north branch runs dry about every
five years, while there are times when
the South Canadian is nothing but a
long chain of brackish mud holes.
The greatest trouble settlers will en-
counter in raising crops in this Cana
dian country will be from drouth.
Those familiar with the country say
settlers will be fortunate if they raise
one crop in three.
SAMBO NOT IN 1T.
Scarcity of negroes is one of the
surprising things of the occupancy OF
the new lands, taken in connection
with the reports of the formation OF
negrotolonies and their journeyipgsto to-
ward the new lands. An estimate by a
newspaper man who has ridden nearly
around the whole border during the
past week, places the proportion of ne
grres to the whole number of settlers
at 16 per cent. 1t was confidently ex.
pected they would comprise fully one.
half of the homeseekers.
The greater part of the negro set
tiers gathered at Langston and
Cimarfon, negro towns organized or
the eastern reservations a year ago
From those two towns they proceeded
OH foot to the eastern and southern
boundaries of the Cheyenne country
where,all settled as near to one an
other As possible in punches. Nearly
all theremaining negroes entered the
landslfrom the south and west, some
coming from Texas. There was NJ
, organization among the latter anC
they took up claims independent o
each other much after the manner o
their white brethren.
The best and richest part of the new
country is along the valley of the
Washita river The Washita river In
County HI is considerably smaller
than the Canadian, but never goes
, dry and it's valley is always green
There is also some very fine country
, along Deer creek which flows through
, county HI and empties into the South
Canadian in the Wichita reservation
The land in county e, the northwes
} tern county, is part of the Grea
J Western desert. 1t is waste of sane
and hardly fit to pasture goats on.