The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1893-12-02
IN THE CHEROKEE STRIP.
The Experience OF a Drummer In
the Rush for Land.


the Rush for Land
He Pound He Had Made = Great Mis- |
take and Wss Glad to Get Ont OF
the Country Ahve--Trials Of Other
Wo0ld-Be Soonsrs.
No less than eight travelling men
were seduced into making a run to the
Cherokee strip In search Of quarter Sec
tions or town lots and the number
which returned disappointed and dis
gusted was exactly six. AS was one
of the number and hence am telling a
tale on myself, says writer in the
st. Louis Globe-Democrat, cannot be
accused of malice, unless it be against
mankind in general and the interior
department in particular. i paid
twenty dollars for turn to register,
and have ever since looked upon the
man who made the sale as a remark
ably smart individual l obtained
certificate and at twelve o'clock COM
menced to ride bright looking horse
into the strip. l might have got
good claim if could have controlled
the horse. But l couldn't The ami
NAL simply did his best to beat every
thing else in sight, taking the fastest
horse for peacemaker aud following
with praiseworthy assiduity. ] have
been under the impression that could
ride, and if sticking on horses back
means good riding have nothing to
be ashamed Of, for certainly did not
fall off. Otherwise was complete
failure as rider, for the horse went at
5 IL - l.
to and treated my desires with
contempt which was supreme. 1t
was nearly three o'clock before
he got SO tired out that l was
able to stop him, and by that time he
had got me into one of the worst sec
tions IN the strip, where the ground
| did not begin to be worth the amount
the government asked for it. Whether
| those who obtained the claims got in
! on balloons or whether they sneaked
in over night l am not prepared to say,
| but every claim with pretense of herb
| age or water on it was occupied, and
1 one man had a house half built. 1t did
/ not take me long to make up my mind
| that the sooner / could get back into
! Kansas the better, but had no idea of
I the enormous distance l had travelled
until had got well into the journey
on an exhausted horse which needed
both food and water badly. / had to
camp out all night, and finally got into
town on Sunday morning heartily
ashamed of myself, and with enough
dust on me to have started small
vegetable garden. My only consolation
was that hundreds of others were
equally unfortunate, and l believe
there was more grumbling and cussing
to the square inch all day Sunday in
this town than anyone present could
possibly realize. W.. who travels for a
St. 10 dry goods house, did not turn up
till just after supper on Sunday even
ing. Exactly what happened to him
no one will know until he regains his
temper. At present he will give no in
formation whatever, and all tina. is
known is that he went into the strip
on horseback and came back as an
extra passenger IN prairie schooner
or ex-boomer's wagon. A Chicago man
who went in with us on horseback
from here got hopelessly lost, and
finally found himself at Kiowa, where
he sold the quadruped and took the
travelling fraternity, who has always
boasted that he never got left, joined
town-site colony few days before
the opening and went in with them.
Half a dozen sooners were quarreling
over the quarter section they had
designed to make the metropolis of the
Indian territory when they arrived at
it, and all they could do was to drive
back. Our brother in affliction gives
most humorous account of his ex-
perieuce. Three of the number made
the run on horse back, the balance fol
lowing in wagons. When they met a,
the coveted spot and compared notes
they decided to camp out for the
: night and come back at their leisure
as they had enough food and drink or
hand to give indigestion, if not gout, tt
: the entire party. A remarkable diff
Guilty then beset them. Every inch o,
ground of the vicinity was claimed
/ and no one would allow them to camp
fearing lest it was trick for the pur
pose of securing evidence in project
I ed contest. Finally their resting plac,
was selected on the edge of one of tn,
countless branches of the Arkansa.
river. and after a hearty supper anC
: a rood wash in the river an attcmp
I. was made to sleep. The darkness
| brought with il thousands of mosqui
, toes and millions of insignificant
, creeping things which stung wors,
S than could be imagined, and camp wa
: broken before nine o'clock. Aftc
u that two or three more attempts wer
d made to secure decent resting place
n and finally it was decided to kee
d moving as the best opportunity TO
l comfort. Several miles were covere
: during the night, and in the mornin
r the heartbreaking discovery was mad
S that they were going south instead o
a north. They rctraced their steps an
/ finally got back into town in yer
y dilapidated and dirty condition an
|. with an immense amount of concei
: knocked out of them. We propose {
n resume our ordinary avocations as 500
u as we are rested up.
/. A Four-Story Tunnel
Il NJ. Uanemann, a well-known Ru
!. sian engineer, laid before the minists
$ Of public works at st. Petersburg r,
[ Gently plan of truneling the New;
r According to the Revue Francaise tn