Omaha daily bee., 1893-09-17
woN a wArEHLnss WILDERNESS.
Prairie Fires and Drouth Had brought
DeNOlntiNn ON tho SIrin.

was AT, he was sore, very sore. The maj
who had taken up n homestead found him
self located upon about as apparently undc
sirablc a patch of land as could well b,
found in the whole breadth of Uncle Sam.
douain Prairie fires had swept great tracts
OF lana and left them black and uninviting
Other tracts had been cut clear of hay bN
men who have made II living, and some o
them fortunes, gathering the prairie grass
What hay had been left by the fires ana hay.
makers was marched to a crisp Nv the reccn
not winds aud matted on the ground by the
same agencies.
me prospect was a drcary one. Prairie
cXtendiug as far as the eve could reach, re.
licved by no si"ns of human life excepting
those brought into the dcsolatc waste by the
settlers themselves. Few of the hOmestcads
were provided with natural water. The
lack OF water will be the great obstacle in
the way of the hOmcStuadcrs' comfort and
that OF his flocks and herds.
The season has been unusually dry. even
for this dry climate. But little rain has
Fallen for a full month and none for'thc past
two weeks. Thecrccks have run dry and the
Arkansas and ClmarrOn rivers have reached
IA condition of stagnatiOu, so that what
little water Is obtainable is OF bad quality.
There are very few springs IN the Strip and
the digging of wells in the sandy soil is a
long and ariuous process. They must be
sunk ut least 100 feet and in some cases 100
feet before water is found. Pending the
digging OF wells or a fall of rain the settlers
VIII experience great difiiculty, and in many
cases, actual suffering, in providing water.
In any case they will be obliged to haul it
long distances from the rivers and then it
will be insufficient aud OF undesirable
quality. Most of the settlers have taken
with them to their claims an ample sCpply
OF food and no Inconvenience will be en-
Countcrcd on that score.
Tough on Townsiters, Too.
The townsitor was also a disappointed
,,,np ,rhan ln found I;n,.n1 -, - =
a much-covetcd lot. In his dreams ard fan
cies had pictured to himself Il town at
least. When he got his lot he found
that he had a tw~cnty-five-foot
piece of land in the open prairie exactly
similar TO 1000 other pieces. divided from
each other only by imaginary lines. At the
government townsites only the blocks had
been surveyed and it was impossible
for a man to tell just where his lot was. even
after he had got it. The fact that the lots
were not surveyed led TO endless confusion
and numerous disputes, for in Il given block
more men would claim lots than there were
in a block and some would get left. The
first buildings that went up on the lots were
of canvas they were tents erected by shop
keepers, who soon stocked them with their
wares and were doing a thriving business
before sunset.
The people who settled today upon the
Cherokee Strip do not differ much. except III
point of numbers, from the boomers who
have taken possession of public lands on
former similar occasions. 1t is estimated
that fully 10000 people have pre-emptcd
homestead claims or town lots. Estimating
the number in families at one and n half 10
each clalmcr, the number of people now
camping on the Strip is about Ia, 900. far
exceeding the number who raced into Okla
hOma when nearly twice thcnumber of acres
were thrown oucn to settlement in that
territory. Spectators, the townloters,
gamblers and confidence men composa a
greater portion of the population than when
Oklahoma was opened. The tOwnlOterS are
especially numerous. They are mostly men
who have been thrown out of work
by the recent financial stress and who hope
to make "A stake by selling their claims.
Among them. however, is the professional
townloter IN Kansas ANA OklahOmi who is
always on hand on occasions Of this kind.
All the county seats and tOwnsitcs have
them in numbers, but they also boast their
full quotas of mechanics, merchants, small
tradcsmen and men Of the professions. Doc
tors are present To administer to the
physical needs of the settlers LAWYERS to
their legal needs, ana newspaper men TO
their mental requirements. Every county
seat VIII have a ncWSplpcr which hopes TO
obtain county and government printing. and
every townsiUe has one to boom it as the
Peerless Princess of the Plains" Carmen
tiers and masons are plenty. There has not
been much building in cities these hard
times, and they have taken the oppor.
tunity to seek employment at big wages
IN putting up Illt new Towns DcSllcS SeCur-
ing Il town lot or farm. Many of the gamblers
and confidence men quit the game when
the race began. Their golden opportunity
was while men were idlinG the hours away
waiting for the opening, Some of them,
however, went IN with the crowd, ana hay
ing taken up IA lot will do business as long as
IL is profitable.
Farmers Most Numerous.
The boomers as a rule are n adventurous
people aud during the settling Of Oklahoma
| many of them played with homesteads and
town lots for stakes, and on this occasion
the professional gambler has not found "A
deaTth of business. The newly formed local
governments, with no local laws and few
facilities for administering the territorial
laws, Will find 1t Il hard matter to Zeal legally
with the gambler ana he will flourish until
the law can lay a stern hand upon him.
But If all the classes TO settlers the
farmer is the most numerous, and, as II rule,
the most reputable. Farmers have come
from all over the country, some alone on foot,
some on horseback, some by the railways,
but the majority in the ola prairie schooner.
lhcy nave gone into the land new with an
honest desire to provide for self and family
"A home and "A means Of livelihood. They
will knock together n house IN which TO pass
the winter, viii gather what prairie hay
has been left By the prairie fires and hot
winds, and will begin AT once 10 transform
the barren domain Of savage tribes into an
empire OF American homes. IL is upon this
class That the future of the Strip depends,
and upOn which the boomers have based
their faith. Most of the farmers made their
run for farms in the eastern and middle por-
tiOns of the STRIP, where the land is richest
and the water most abuunds, Others who
have brought with them the nucleus Of a
herd Of cattle also went into the middle
portion. Many large families went into the
western portion. whore their members could
take up adjoining claims and thus secure
large cattle ranges; a family OF five mem
bers Of legal age could secure a range Of 800
acres, which would afford grazing TO a very
respectable herd OF cattle.
The Land and Its Owners.
The Cherokee Strip, comprising G,3Ss, $50
acres, lies IN the northwest corner Of Indian
Territory. It's northern boundary IS the
southern line of Kansas aud its southern
boundary parallels its northern line, giving
IL u width of fittS-seyen miles and a length
varying from 1914 to 2lO miles. The extent
Of tho tract is not easily comprehended with
out comparison. II is equal 10 the combined
area Of two Rhode Islands, Delaware and
Connecticut, %ith lG1 square nlles TO spare