Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-09-18
THE SETTLEMENT OF PERRY.
DiscomfOrts of the Land -Hunters-Hun-
dreds Leaving ON Every Train

Dlscomforts of the Land-Hunters-Hun-
dreds Leaving on Every Train.
The following statement of the situa-
ton at Perry will do for every town site
IN The territory: Sunday in a new town
especially town made on Saturday after
noon-is never a very enjoyable day, and
1t was less so than usual in the little city
of Perry. The great majority of tents and
supply wagons did not arrive until late
IN the night and everybody was busy put
ting up tents or shanties or trying to get
away from the gale blowing from the
south, filling eyes, noses and mouths with
sand and making it impossible to see
farther away than forty feet. A few min
isters tried to preach, but could not make
much headway against the wind and sand
and the anxiety of people to get up some
sort of shelter.
So terrible was the day and so great the
discomfort of the people that hundreds nre
leaving on every train. Still there are
enough left in Perry to make it the biggest
city in the territory. Thieves and gamblers
are thick, and people are robbed right and
left. Two men were badly hurt and one
was killed by the thieves The number of
fatalities will be much greater than at first
supposed, but nine-tenths of the killed or
injured were the victims of accidents.
Thomas Mcbride, of Oklahoma City, had
his skull crushed by stake in a quarrel
over lot One unknowa man was shot
but not killed in Red Rock creek. Jesse
Strong was cut in the head and neck in a
quarrel over pony, aud an unknown man
was shot near Turkey creek.
Among those hurt or killed by accident
were Mrs. Charles T. Barnes, of Eldorado.
Has, run over and killed; Mrs. Sarah
Hughes fatally crushed while getting ON
train; Miss Sallie Freen an, of Louis
vile, KY, leg broken; George Gillett, foot
bruised by train; John Wheatley, shot in
leg by accidental discharge of his own pis-
tol; William Browning, of Texas, fatally
crushed under his horse; John Mealy. leg
crushed by train; Carl Byers, of Atchison,
kas., thrown from horse and killed; Henry
Pointer, of Ohio, skull crushed by falling
from horse; Harvey Cheney and Harvey
Matthews, killed by riding over a bluff.
Many riderless horses are coming in and
1t is feared that other persons are badly
injured.
1t was at Perry where the Sooner got
in his most notable work When the peo-
pie from outside got there they found hun
dreds of claimants already on the land.
AT l2:G1 o clock this was fact, and it took
hIlf an hour for the fastest riders to reach
Perry from the line. The fraud was pal
pable. Most of the sooners rode into the
town site. As they came in all of them
bore down upon the new one e-story frame
building which is to serve as one of the
two land offices for this district 1t was
around that as n center that the new town
was formed. 1t was apparently taken as
the center Of the future city, for to it all
the earliest riders came and around it all
of them staked their horses and claims.
Within the next half hour of the opening
200 horsemen and their horses stood on as
many different claims.
The legitimate settlers arrived later and
took what they could get. Perry is now
city of 10000 people. Everything is wide
open, and saloons and dance houses
abound. There are seven hotels already.
Dead horses are frequent along the road.
They had been ridden to death. The horse
of one man stumbled and broke his leg
few hundred yards across the line. The
settler shot his horse, and making the best
of his misfortune staked out a claim right
there as the others swept past him.