The Red Cloud chief., 1893-09-22
SOONERS THERE FIRST.
MANY WEARY BOOMERS TAKE THE
BACK TRACK.

heir Labor and Money Gone for Nothing
Thousand Of Them Pass Through, Kan
cas- C%ity-Perry q Town Of 10000 Inhab-
itants-One Rider Killed by . Soldier.
KANSAS CITY, Sept. 1s.-Over 1000 Ok
boomers passed through Kansas City en-
route TO their homes in all parts OF the
country from the Cherokee strip. A more
tired and Disguised lot Of men was never
seen together. They had gore to the
opening unprepared for such q tremen-
dous rush a. occurred and were mainly
those who had depended on the trains to
take them into the strip; but the trains
were o~ut-distanced by the horsemen and
wheelmen and they got to the heart OF the
promised land only TO ind every CLAIM,
pre.empted and every town lot gone.
The FIRST great contingent Of these dis
appointed men arrived On q special Santa
re train too late for eastern connection.
They at once took possession Of the wait
Ing rooms at the Union station aud turned
them into a barracks, where they slept on
the ha,d floors. Several women were In
The company. one with a babe which WINS
desperately III, but all seemed too tired to
note anything that went IN about them.
Many Of the men were from Illinois, Iowa
and Indiana, but there seemed a sprink.
ling from all the states. They told pitiful
stories Of waiting in the line for days for a
certificate and then going in or packed
trains only to find everything gobblcd.
Features Of tho Great Rnsh.
Eut the Cherokee Strip Is open, and
those disappointed ones were too much
taken mp with their own disappointment
70 DO able to tell the story Of the rush. To-
day, where for centuries untold the Indl.
an and the wild beast has had complete
dominion, the campfires Of the settlers are
sending the smoke Of Caucasian civiliza.
ton skyward. IL Is estimated that the TO-
tnl number that made the rush was ~, 900.
And such a rush as II wasi The Oklahoma
race was mot In IL" with that which at
noon Saturday swept across tho line Of the
Cherokee Strip.
As tho hands OF the clock pointed "a
noon n volley Of rifle fire ran along the
border from end to end, and before its echo
had died away a cloud OF dust was all that
remained OF tho throngs which started
into the promised land from Arkansas
City, Orlando, aud the other points Of de.
parture. As tho cracks Of the rifles were
heard the widest yell imaginable broke
out from the invading host. The regulation
prohibiting tho taking OF arms into the
territory was a nullity. Before the puffs
Of white smoke which shot upward into
the air, announcing that the supreme hour
had come, had been blown away by the
west wind there was a CLEAN and glitter
Of steel above the heads Of hundreds OF
riders in the line. A roar as OF artillery
came from 1000 pistols, discharged almost
instantRneously, followed by a smoky pail
which almost covered from sight the NOV
Ing ranks, and then chaOs.
Faith. FOrtitudc or Whisky Needed.
The scene was calculated to strike ter.
ror into the heart Of any boomer not well
fortified with faith, fortitude or whisky.
" was doubtless prearranged TO have that
effect, for Cattle King Jim Hewing had a
small army Of cowboys running for claim,
to DO taken In adjoining quarter sections
enough TO constitute q township, and
transferred to him after proof mt the lane
office. Others OF the cattle barons wer,
similarly supplied with fast horses ant
reckless riders, for these were the last o
the great grazing grounds outside Of tn,
Usage and Otoe reservations, where sew
eral thousand head Of cattle arc nov
quartered. There Is no place for TIT
stOckmen to 90.
But there were more reckless riders II
the column, There were men there mad
desperate by months and years Of wear.
waiting and watching. There were mel
there who had lain In dugouts during th'
rain and drought, who .hivcred under tb'
icy tempest Of tho north and the sting
ing bite Of desert winds. There wcr,
others whose families hal endured lon.
privRtions and suffering In the RnxiouI
waiting for y homo and before whose over
wrought Imagination tho appealing face
OF wife and children were ever present II
this mad chase. Like Richard ut Bos
worth their lives were cast upon q stalk
and they were ready to stand the hazard.
RACE BETWEEN TRAIN AND HORSE
Thu Uonnnnrs ~ v0nvrcrar Hal .h.s