Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1893-12-08
RNM0NS IN CHEROKEE
An Interesting Letter From One of
the Early Pioneers of the
NJ ssouri Slope.
Experiences of a Home-Seeker In
Obtaining a. CLAIM on the
Cherokee Strip.
Turnips, Cayenne Pepper and Hope
For Food, and Water Scarce
At 1Oc. a Glass.

EIMnOue, oue VI tuo plOneerS OF Burlel0h
county, now-twenty-two years later-a
pioneer of Oklahoma, written to Mrs.
Lucy Bailey Of this city, will be read
with deep interest by all old time friends
of Mr.. Emmons; and to the Missouri
slope settler who has experienced the
difficulties and discouragments of pic.
neer life in this region, and who at times
has had visions of, and longlngs for a
"better land"-to such pioneers the
Oklahoma picture, painted in simple
words by nj of Bismarck's citizens of
twenty years ago." will lend a peculiar
and instructive misunderstanding the
fact that, after all, North Dakota pre-
sents attractions and advantages incom-
parably superior to those offered by a
region upon which thousands of deluded
people have been pleased to look as the
promised land"
PAwNEE. STONEwALL FARM,)
COUNTY 2, OKLA, Nov. 26, 1898.
Mis-. LUCY BAILEY, Bismarck, n. D.
Your avant courier, the Bismarck TR1B-
rNE, sent in search OF us, fulfilled its mis-.
sion. and its sketches OF "rwenty Years
Ago" bringing back the memories and
string events of that time, were truly in
teresting. My name appears so much that
| think when Brother Jewell lets out a
column for character biographies OF the
old settlers l will send him mine. l prom
ised you the first chance or time l had to
spare l would write you of my Cherokee
strip trip. This beautiful Sunday finds
Mrs. Z. and myself we'll and alone in our
little log cabin on our claim, with time to
spare. To our worldly goods, l inventoried
in my last, l have n item to add. An old
friend whom l had helped, hear that l was
af0Ot so he sent us q pony. You can add it
to the invoice, appraised value SIS. But
we are happily enjoying the pioneer
poverty depicted by your favorite states.
man, James G. Blaine, in his eulOgy over
his dead friend, Garfield.
Now for the trip. On the LIST day of Sep
TENDER 1 resigned my "bread and butter"
position on the West and South and went
out to my brothers farm six miles from
Guthrie to harden up my muscle. For
this line he had a mile or two of wire fence
to put up and the posts to drive with a
15-pOund hammer, and it was a hardening
process which, assure you, very nearly
laid me out the first hot day, but 1 got
through.
On the 9th day of September l concluded
| was tough enough to stand the race for a
homestead, which l badly needed. a party
OF eight was made up and we started for
the registering booth on Saltwater creek,
thirty miles away-I on All old gray horse,
with a sack of summer turnips and a bottle
OF cayenne pepper for provisions, "a favor
lite dish with hungry newspaper men, My
horse proved to be so accurate in his calcu-
lations on bad roads that l named him
'Bonaparte." l bid farewell to Mrs. E and
left her among kind friends. Saltwater
booth was reached or the 10th, and Two
long lines of anxious men, numbering some
2,WO. were ahead of our party. All night
long trains of wagons and horsemen were
moving, reminding me Of the dark days of
the national tragedy of civil war. But it
was All army on a strange mission, such as
the world had never witnessed before. 1t
was composed of homeless men and women
some of whom had waited and watched for
many years for the opening for free home
steads of the garden lands of the American
continent-bounded IN the north by Kan
sas. on the west by Colorado and New
Mexico, on the south by Texas, on the east
by Missouri and the Indian territory, no
one doubted its immediate value and fer
tllity. But the sutferings at the booth were
intense. The weather was hot and a hot
wind came up and blew until everything
human and vegetable was wilted, burned
and parched, and as the horde of people
Increased the dust became sickening and
unbearable. Water, water, was the cry,
and it was scarce at 5 and 10 cents a drink.
Hundreds of strong men fell out of the
lines famished anG: faint to be carried,
some to their homes and some to their
graves. On the first afternoon l was for
tunate enough to get registered, but some
OF our party were so unfortunate as to lay
in line for two days, and the fortunate ones
had to carry them water and eatables. All
finally got through with the booth, and we
left for a point to enter. l told my friends
| would be satisfied with q claim that no
one else wanted.
On the night of the 18th we camped on
the border of the promised land, the south
ern gale still blowing hard. After dark
wicked people set the prairie on fire and
,he tall grass being dry it swept like a
whirlwind and came near burning us up.
On the 10Th the SUI came up from behind
the Cat Tail mountains like a ball of cop
per. but all the country was black and
desolate-fire swept, the trees scOrched and
yellow. BY 10 o'clock the reserved 100
feet on the boundary OF the strip was filled
with eager, anxious men and wOmen-yes,
women, and In pants, so they could make
the swift ride for claims. At II o'clock the
signal gun was fired and at last, after four
centuries had passed from the discovery, a
fair land was to be peOpled. Strange
wasn't it. that a great free government for
a century had kept its people from making
homes on these fertile lands.
My old horse, Bona. was not a race horse,
so l c0mf0rted myself with the thought
the race was not always won by the swift
and the strong. On the 18th my party had
down tt two. The black, burned,
desOlate prairie had done its work-taken
the nerve out of thousands; but l needed
a home and had seen desOlatiOn before.
On the 18th my lone companion and L
reached Paunee agency, once again among
the Indians l felt at home. On the 10th
we started southwark. After l had read
people playing heroic parts; a kind
providence saved and guided me to save
others. Two miles from the agency as we
ascend a hill l saw the smoke and heard
tho hntnR,,1 n,no1rtrv c<,-J ~ nvNOtbSAr