Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1893-09-21
INTO THE STRIP.
Six Million Acres OF Land
Thrown Open to Settlers.
Over a Hundred Thousand Peo.
pie Join in the Mad Rush.

The Sooner" Element Prevailed, and
Many of the Boomers Found Their
Claims Occupied When They Reached
the Coveted Prize-No Attempt Made to
Examine Certificates--A Scene Never
Witnessed Before at Any Land Opening.
Details of the Event.
ARKANSAS Cry, Kan, Sept. 1e.-One
hundred Thousand boomers and their
families settled upon the Cherokee strip
Saturday. At noon the signal was
given announcing the passing of the
title of the land from the United States
government to the boomers, and race,
such as was never witnessed before, and
will probably never be seen again, was
begun. On the lines in the vicinity
OF the various border towns the boomers
had gathered in great numbers. AS far
as the eye could reach in either direction
could be seen men mounted and in wag-
ons and on foot, closely packed together,
making a solid column 200 feet or
more wide in the middle, and tapering
away to a mere streak Of black in the
distance.
The scene when the column broke at
the hiring of the signal gun and each
individual entered the contest for COM
mon prize, can be imagined better than
described. Confusion reigned every
where. So closely were contestants
packed together that the start was a
hazardous one. Horsemen were un-
seated, wagons overthrown and pedes-
trlans prostrated in the mad rush to be
Off. The cries of angered men, the
nelghing of panio-stricken horses, the
shouts of the racers, the lattering of
hoofs, the rattling of wagons and the
shrieking of locomotives commingled
in a roar similar to that accompanying
the progress of tornado.
In the race many men were injured
and some killed. OF the latter some
met death by accident, and two were
murdered. The details of the crimes
are not known, but the dead bodies,
one stabbed and the other shot through
the head, tell the manner of death.
Many dead horses have been found on
the prairie. Some died of over-exer-
ton; some were killed by falling in the
race and Others receiving broken
limbs in the rough prairie, and were
shot by their owners.
In less than II hours the strip had
become populous country. Four of
the new town sites have populations
estimated at 5000 each. Others boast
populations ranging from 1000 to s, 900.
Every desirable claim has at least one
claimant, and many have two or four.
Contests will, of course, be numerous. |
The reports of crimes resulting from
the settlement of the land are few, and
the government officers who superin-
tended the opening are congratulating |
themselves upon the comparatively |
peaceful manner in which the settle
ment was made. Unfortunate occur
rences were the shooting down of
't,sooners" near Saltwater, O. T., and |
Arkansas City, Kan. The soldiers who |
did the shooting were instructed to pre-
vent ''sooners" at all hazards and they |
point to their orders in justification Of |
their action.
Wagon and freight trainloads of sup
plies followed the settlers into the strip.
The teams distributed provisions at the
various county seats and town sites,
where stores have been opened in can
vas tents pending the erection of build
ings.
The recent drouth has closed up !