Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1893-09-23

' grounds OF the rockies. There were
over 5000, 900 acres in this tract, but
the powers at Washington considered
all this country a part of the Great
American Desert" and, consequently,
worthless, SO it readily gave
the Cherokees the right to use tho
land for hunting purposes forever.
In 1892 Washington Irving visited
this tract Of land, and describes
a buffalo and wild horse hunt there in
his book entitled "A Tour of the Prai-
%ries," painting in most glowing terms
the beauty of the land, and predicting
for it a future even beyond the imagin-
alton of the most ardent boomer OF
later days. Designated in the treaty
of 1882 as the Cherokee outlet, this
land later became known as the Chero-
lee strip because Of it's shape.
Long before those first Kansas boom
ers began to covet the land the outlet
had ceased to be used by the Indians
for the double reason that there was no
large game to hunt, and no Indians
who cared to hunt II.
Then il was that the Texas cattle
men began bringing their great herds
up and pasturing them on the rich
grass that covered the whole outlet
like a green mat.
The Indians derived n evenue from
this p~asturage for several years until
the government decided they could use
the strip only for hunting purposes.
and had no right to lease it and ordered
the cattle off.
AS regularly as spring anne around
after the removal of that first little
company of settlers by the soldiers, the
boomers and agitators would organize
a company to invade the strip, only TO
be hunted out and removed by the mil
itary.
This seemed a senseless proceeding
at first, but after it had been repeated
-four or five times this spectacle of the
soldiers in United States uniforms drag
ging n few ragged boomers and their
dilapidated outfits off this vast tract
of land, while thousands upon thousands
of cattle belonging to wealthy cattle
men were allowed TO remain undis-
turbed, began TO attract attention all
over the land, and the newspapers and
the people everywhere took up the cry,
and asked that the and be turned over
to the homeless.
The forces of the boomers became
reinforced each year until finally the
cry, ION TO the Cherokee strip" could
no longer be UNDECIDED by congress.
Four years ago congress abandoned
the impracticable idea of organizing an
Indian state of the Indian Territory
and took action toward opening Okla
homa TO settlement, and providing for
the appointment Of commissioners to
treat for the strip.
The opening of Oklahoma detracted
the attention from the strip for awhile,
but most of the old time boomers re-
manned true TO their first love, how
ever, and took up battle against the
cattlemen who now sought to induce
the Indians TO refuse TO sell. Nor
nearly three years the struggle con
tinued. Then, one day, there was great
rejoicing among the boomers and their
friends everywhere, for the C~herokees
had agreed to sell.
Another yearof weary waiting passed
round before congress acted and rati-
fed the deal, and even then there was
work TO do, for the interior department
was slow to act and undecided as To the
arrangements for the opening.
At last, on August 10, the presidents
proclamation declaring thai the land
would be open for settlement on Sep
TENDER ii was issued, and the boomers
work was done.
For nearly n quarter OF a century
they have stood on the border of the
promised land awaiting the command
to pass over and take possession, and,
like Moses of old, many and many a
one will never enter in.
Few there are that are left of that
little band of pioneer boomers, but
children have grown up about them,
and recruits came in from all parts OF
the nation until a mighty host was
gathered to sweep everything before
them.