The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-04-20
UNHAPPY BOOMERS.
The Rush for the Cheyenne and
Arapahoe Reservation.
IT is NOT A GARDEN OF EDEN.

An Area of Land Containing Four
Million Acres, Most Of IL Very
Ordinary Prairie Land The In
dians Had Selected the Choicest
Sections.
GUTHRIE, o. t., April Dispatches
from all along the line of the Cheyenne
and Arapahoc reservation report that the
start for the newly opened territory was
effected promptly at noon yesterday
A riot occurred in front of the Okla
ihoma City land office at the hour of
opening, and a number of people were
badly injured. At 10 o'clock Register
Leach announced that the first person to
get in the door would have the first fill
hg and others in succession as they ar
rived. This precipitated disgraceful
fight and for time it seemed as though
many would be killed. Several women
who were in the crowd were crowded
until almost ready to faint, but escaped
with no injury. One man had his head
cut open with blow from a pistol and
blood spurted over everybody near him.
Windows of the land Office were smashed
and other damage done. rtre-a
The Cheyenne and Aropahoe reserva-
tion is situated in the Indian Territory,
between the Cherokee outlet on the
north, and the Kiowa, Comanche and
Apache reservation on the south. Its
eastern border adjoins Oklahoma, and
ats western the Panhandle of Texas.
D A Large Area.
It's area is much greater than is gen
orally understood to be the case. 1t
would make two Oklahomas or five
Rhode Islands, while the whole states of
Connecticut and Rhode Island could be
set in it and there would still remain
room for four Districts of Columbia. 1t
contains 6,500 square miles, or 100000
acres. Out of this the resident Indians
have been allotted by the government
1886, ,960 acres, giving to each of the In
dians 100 acres. There was thus left for
general settlement about $500, 900 acres,
which, allowing u quarter section, or
$50 acres, to each homeseekcr, would ac-
cOmodate about ~ 900 settlers outside of
the town sites.
Very few of the thousands who have
been waiting for weeks on the border
and in the frontier towns for the final
rush had anything but the vaguest idea
as to the real character of the land they
were SO anxious to possess.
Not a Garden of Eden.
Exaggerated reports of the wondrous
fertility of the land were readily be-
heved and were not easily contradicted,
dor only very few people had that init
mate knowledge of the country upon
which to base successful contradiction.
So when the rush was made, the boom
ers believed they were entering into
yeritable garden of Eden. When they
had reached their claims and had staked
Hhem off, and had taken the opportunity
NO survey their broad acres they found
that, instead of a garden of Eden, a
promised land flowing with milk and
honey, as they had fondly believed, they
had really possessed themselves of a sec
tion of very ordinary western prairie
land, flowing with nothing but high
grass and very brackish streams, bitter
with alkali That at least, is what
great majority of them found.
Some of the land, as matter of course
that along the river bottoms and that
an the yalleys-is excellent farming land,
but the indians were sensible enough to
choose most of it, OF the land remain
ing to the white settlers, some of it was
good, but most of it was poor. Many of
Those who rushed in full of hope will
Blip out quietly to take advantage of the
next gift of land by the government